Looking back at my own experiences,
the events that led to my deep
appreciation for our religious tradition,
law, narrative and faith that make up
Judaism, I would say that despite my
many trips to Israel and the incredible
times I had travelling, studying, living
there and marvelling at the rebirth of
the Jewish people in the Land of
Israel, nevertheless, the trips I made to
the former Soviet Union were the most
significant Jewish experiences in my
life.
I went numerous times between 1984
and 1992, some visits more successful
than others: visiting refuseniks,
teaching Judaism, Hebrew and Jewish
history to young and old, dissidents
and students, and smuggling
dissertations, books and photos, which
have become part of the legacy of our
people’s freedom movement for Soviet
Jewry.
Between 1988 and 1992, almost 1½
million Jews found their way to
freedom in Israel and outside it. As I
said in the introduction to my book,
From Exodus to Freedom, the
liberation of Soviet Jewry will rank as
one of the greatest miracles of our
people’s history, second only to the
founding of the modern state of Israel.
Israel absorbed almost a million Jews,
the equivalent of the United States
absorbing the entire population of
France into its borders, and within just
four years!
My many visits to the USSR enabled
me to understand what it is like to live
in a nation of oppression, of
suppression of basic human rights.
They could not study, speak the
language of their choice or learn about
their religious faith without fear of
arrest and imprisonment. The bravery
of the Jews I met, from Sharansky to
Begun to Edelstein to Astrakhan, is
forever emblazoned in my heart and
soul. They taught me what the struggle
for freedom is all about, the strength
that comes from a deeply rooted faith
in right versus wrong, and the sacrifice
necessary to protect the freedom of
Jewish life today.
It is an amazing narrative we are about
to tell once again to ourselves and to
our children
and
grandchildren,
how 3,300
years ago, a
small slave
people,
powerless,
without
territory or
army, left the
mightiest
empire in the
world, Egypt, strengthened by hope
and faith in an unseen God and
unseen virtues, taught in our Torah.
We learn from the story of the Exodus
from Egypt that the strength of our
people which has enabled us to outlive
every mighty empire since the
beginning of time is based not on
chariots, arms or armies, not on
statues or monuments, power or
wealth, but founded upon the humility
of belief in the power of God, a God of
redemption, history and vision who has
taught the world that the sanctity of
human life is non-negotiable, and that
human beings are destined to be free,
not slaves. This is the story of a God
who has maintained this special
relationship with the people of Israel,
to be His eyes and ears to the rest of
humanity until our world is redeemed
for all.
And we tell the story of Passover
around our dinner tables, focusing on
the future, on our children. We parents
and grandparents teach them that our
memories will not be held in
monuments but carried through the
generations in words, values and
hope. This is a faith greater than
anything on earth, that binds the past
and future, forever a witness to the
human spirit and its connection to a
God Who is the greatest Power on
earth, the unseen force of life as we
know it. Our task is to build a world of
human freedom, based upon
responsibility and the dignity of all.
(Continues on page 3)
IN THIS ISSUE
Page 2: Recent Events: Photo Gallery
Page 3: Purim Reflections
100th Birthday
Page 4-5: Obituary: Eric Moonman
Page 6: Gay Development
Page 7: Belinda Harding: Art Show
Music of Exile
Page 8-9: Obituary: John Altmann
Page 10: Klopstick
Page 11: Community News
No 694 - Adar/Nissan/Iyar 5778 - March/April 2018
EXODUS – FROM EGYPT OR THE USSR
Shalom Chaverim,
Wednesday 28 February at 5.30pm
Falafel Dinner / Fancy Dress Parade,
Megilah Reading / Songs performed by the Youth Choir
Booking is required for catering purposes. Please contact the
Office on 020 7794 3949 or [email protected] and
also for parking vouchers as restrictions apply till 6.30pm.
ANNUAL ISRAEL DINNER
Join us in celebrating ISRAEL'S 70 BIRTHDAY
Thursday 19 April at Belsize Square Synagogue
• A great evening of music and dancing with Shir, London's leading
Jewish band
• A conversation with Jonathan Freedland
• Superb dining by our own chef, Adam Nathan
• Help support our deserving chosen Israeli charities
Tickets £50.00 from the Synagogue Office
Our Congregation - Page 2
CHANUKAH LUNCH 2017
On 16 December, 38 of us enjoyed a special Chanukah celebration, combining songs and stories with a delicious home-
cooked warm meal and, of course, latkes.
Gerda Oblath: “It was a beautiful meal. I thoroughly enjoyed it; lovely food and lovely warm atmosphere that enabled us to
enjoy the lunch.” Helen Kissen: “As a newcomer I was made to feel at home; a delicious meal and such good company.”
Many thanks to everyone who helped to create what member Maurice Mendel said was “the best ever” of our recent
lunches. And warm thanks to Claire Walford, for catering.
1st row on left: Maurice Mendel (partial view),
Walter Goddard, Jacqueline Goddard, Malka
Baker, Helen Kissen, Cantor Paul Heller, Margot
Kinstead, Stephanie Rothner (crown of head) and
friend. Volunteer Suzanne Goldstein standing at
side.
2nd row: Paul Fraylich and his mother Charly
Fraylich, Vivienne Kendall, Vera Kovacs, Gerda
Oblath (crown of head), John Hersov (Eve's
husband), volunteer Sue Schraer.
3rd row: Volunteer Philippa Strauss, Rabbi Stuart
Altshuler (standing), volunteer Jackie Alexander.
4th row: Volunteers Claire Walford (cook), Clive
Goldstein, Jimmy Strauss, Jeannie Cohen and
Jenny Lake, Brigitte Flynn, volunteer John Alexander, Joe Behrens and his carer, Abi.
Other guests included Alice Frank, Brigitte's Flynn's daughter Enid, and Anne and Gerard Goodwin.
Report by Eve Hersov
Cantor Paul Heller (baritone) with
the Wallace Ensemble under
conductor Ben Wolf at the BSS
Music Committee's highly enjoyable
Romantic Vienna Concert last
November.
From barrister to barista:
Adam Davis, QC in real life, became a
barista at our highly successful Chanukah
Market. Thanks to all who took part, as
cooks and bottle-washers, stall-holders,
suppliers, servers and just plain customers.
RECENT EVENTS AT BELSIZE SQUARE
SECOND SEDER
SATURDAY 31 MARCH
Rabbi Altshuler and Cantor Heller together with their families are delighted to
invite you to join them for Second Night Seder at the Synagogue following
the Service at 6.45pm.
Members - £30.00 Non Members - £35.00 Children under 13 - £15.00
Please contact the Synagogue Office if
you wish to attend:
Telephone: 020 7794 3949
Email: [email protected]
No 694 - Adar/Nissan/Iyar 5778 - March/April 2018 - Page 3
REFLECTIONS ON PURIM
As a member of the Liturgical
Committee, I chose Purim as my
"remit". Having a fun time seems a
good way to move forward and I’ve
been having fun playing around with it
for the last five years.
Fun, however, can be quite problematic
to achieve, one of the reasons being
possibly that Purim, like other Jewish
festivals and holy days, never seems to
fall on the right day or at the right time.
Too early, too late – the great parental
outcry. And of course you can only
have fun with help!
Now, however, it is time to let go and
hand over to new, fresh and young
blood. Michelle Samson is going to be
Lead Purim Player from next year
onwards, although I shall continue to
tuck into what’s on offer if required. I
am greatly indebted to her, she’s a
young mother and active participant in
Kikar Kids. She and they are our future
and need our full support at all times.
I suppose I’d like to say that this has
been a huge undertaking requiring
amazing skills and great expertise. But
of course I’d be lying and doing a
disservice to our wonderful Belsize
team who are actually the Purim
Producers: Cantor Paul Heller, Jeanie
Horowitz, Alyson Denza now
succeeded by Miles D'Cruz, Lee Taylor,
Adam Rynhold and, last but by no
means least and always supportive of
what we undertake, our Rabbi, Stuart
Altshuler.
I have not mentioned our choir or
megillah readers but that does not
mean they are not included in my
thanks. They are all at school, in some
cases doing exams, mocks, and so on.
Yet they rehearse during cheder hours,
they rehearse after cheder hours and
they rock up to the Purim Service after
school to do their bit, which they do so
well. No doubt their parents are now
wondering where they are in my thanks
– and, yes, parents, you are good. You
are producing our next and continuing
Belsizers, a very important job.
Have I had any worrisome moments
that, actually, Purim isn’t going to
happen? Well, yes, there have been
some, which ones would be telling. But
hats get pulled out of bags, voices
come out of throats, fingers move the
puppets and, somehow or another, we
have what I hope has been and will
continue to be, a fun time.
Photos and reports of this year's
celebration will have to wait till the next
issue of Our Congregation but will, of
course, be worth the wait.
Pat Hirschovits
Our member, Dr Geoffrey Radford, celebrated his 100th
birthday at a large party arranged by his family at his care
home, Jewish Care's Lady Sarah Cohen House. The party
included live musical entertainment, accounts of his life and
the presentation of the Queen's congratulations card from
the Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, Martin Russell,
who happens to have been born in Belsize Square itself.
Dr Radford was a GP in Johannesburg and moved on
retirement with his wife Grace to be near their children and
grandchildren, who were already in Britain. When he married
Grace Graff, who was left a young widow, he adopted her
four children (three boys and a girl). The Radfords joined our
synagogue in 1998 (Grace sadly died in 2012) and many of
their younger Graff-Radfords are also Belsize Square
members. The three sons and a grandson became doctors.
Geoffrey is known in the family for never missing a simchah.
He has attended every Bar and Bat Mitzvah, wedding and
birth. His birthday was on 30 January but the party was held
two days early to allow guests to come on a Sunday afternoon.
The Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, Martin
Russell, hands the Queen's congratulations card to Dr
Geoffrey Radford, surrounded by his family. From left:
grandson Keith, son Neil, daughter Jill. Sitting
opposite: granddaughter Mia and grandson Jackson. A
carer is seated at the end of the table.
100th BIRTHDAY PARTY - Eve Hersov Reports
(Continued from page 1)
When we open the Ark in readiness for
the Torah reading, we sing, “Vayehi
binsoa ha'aron vayomer Moshe, kumah
Adonai, v’yafutzu oyvecha, v’yanusu
m’sanecha mipanecha.” (Whenever the
Ark set out, Moses said: Arise, O Lord,
and may Your enemies be scattered
and those who hate You flee before
You.”)
I never understood what that verse
from the book of Numbers (10:35)
meant until I went to the Soviet Union.
How can the Torah scroll “scatter our
enemies, cause those who hate us to
flee from us?” On all my trips to the
USSR, I brought siddurim, tallitot,
Bibles, sacred Jewish texts. And on
almost every entry into the country I
was grilled, at times for hours, asking
me what I was bringing and told how
“dangerous” these books and items
were to the mighty Soviet Empire. I
wondered how that was possible. How
could an empire with nuclear weaponry
be afraid of any book, especially a
prayer book or chumash?
But then I understood the fear.
Authoritarian regimes are paranoid
about “ideas”, about values that
challenge the supremacy of might and
power. And then I knew the power of
my Judaism, the power of the word, the
spirit, of God, without armies and
nuclear bombs. The fear was palpable,
the fear that Jewish ideas might
destroy the basis of oppression.
What has changed in 3,300 years?
Virtually nothing. Our religious tradition
stands as strong as ever today, our
mission the same: to bring about a
world based upon God’s might and not
the ephemeral power of weapons and
war. Some day, Elijah will come and
the Jewish people will be free, and
then all humanity will be free, under
God. Next year in Jerusalem!
My wishes to all of you and your loved
ones for a blessed, joyous and
meaningful Passover 5778.
Rabbi Stuart Altshuler
Our Congregation - Page 4
Eric Moonman, who died on 22
December 2017, aged 88,
described himself as being "in
the advice business". This was
indeed the common thread in
his many-sided career, whether
as MP, industrial relations and
management academic, local
council leader, health authority
chairman or think tank director
in the wider community – apart
from the Jewish field, where he
held office in the Board of
Deputies and Zionist Federation
and researched terrorism and
anti-Semitism.
Eric was the child of Yiddish-speaking
immigrants from eastern Europe. His
father, Borach Moonman, came from
Berdichev, near Odessa, which he left
after serving in the 1904-5 Russo-
Japanese War. His mother, Leah
Bernstein, left Lithuania with her sister.
They met in Liverpool, where they
settled on landing, and set up a milk
delivery service, which included
collecting the churns from a nearby
farm. They had eight daughters before
Eric was born on 21 June 1929.
All the children helped with the milk
round. They were part of a poor but
hard-working, close Orthodox
community. Eric was enrolled in the
children's choir of the historic Princes
Road Synagogue to keep him out of
the cinema. He enjoyed the
camaraderie and singing but took
offence at one young singer's higher
earnings and left the choir, as he did
not think the other boys would join him
in a strike.
The other boy became a popular singer
and entertainer from the 1950s-1990s
and changed his name to Frankie
Vaughan, although there was little
indication at the time of his future
career. Eric remained proud of his first
foray into industrial disputes.
With Liverpool a major target for
German attacks on its port and
industry, the Moonman family home
was struck in December 1940 by a
bomb. The family were dug out of the
wreckage, fortunate to sustain only
minor injuries, and relocated to a
daughter's small flat in Southport, a
quiet seaside resort 20 miles away. His
father, deprived of a living, devoted
himself to the shul, which became
packed with evacuees.
Eric spent the next 18 months at three
different schools, disliking all of them
except one teacher at the third school,
who encouraged him to edit the weekly
school magazine. He also celebrated
his Bar Mitzvah, despite getting into
trouble for throwing sticky cream cakes
from the back of the ladies gallery. It
was done for a dare and ruined several
hats.
Desperate to leave school, he applied
for a vacancy in the local office of the
Liverpool Echo newspaper. This was
six months before his 14th birthday, the
minimum school-leaving age, and he
had to apply for special permission.
Under pressure from wartime
shortages, which also affected labour,
this was granted. His job was mostly
stamping the latest news – usually
racing and football results – onto the
Stop Press columns of the street
sellers' piles of papers. He loved it.
After doing this for over a year, he took
up, with his father's encouragement, a
seven-year apprenticeship at a small
printing firm in Liverpool, where he now
commuted daily. Seven years seemed
an eternity but Eric used it to catch up
on his education, studying economics
at night school at Liverpool College of
Commerce and taking part in regular
talks with members of Southport
Labour Party, which he joined at 16,
and formal debates at the YMCA.
He imparted his ideas to fellow-
apprentices and started a Guild of
Young Printers under the aegis of their
typographical union. His activity was
rewarded with a trade union
scholarship to an economic and
political conference at the International
Labour Office in Geneva – his first trip
abroad.
At 21 he was called up for National
Service, going on educational courses
for the next two years. He then applied
for a place at Liverpool University. His
father died the day before the
entrance exam but a week later
he was told he could sit a
special exam under an
invigilator. He graduated in a
diploma course in Social
Studies in 1955. In 1953 he
worked as a volunteer clearing
rubble from the earthquake that
struck the Greek Ionian islands.
With no openings locally, he
went to London to work for the
Daily Mirror on the production
side. But the next year he moved
to the British Institute of
Management (today the
Chartered Management Institute) as
human relations adviser until 1962,
then lectured for two years at South
West Essex Technical College.
At the BIM, he dealt with personnel
issues, incentive schemes and
communications, admitting to “learning
on the job". In 1962 he married his
research assistant, Jane Dillon from
Lancashire, at the New Liberal Jewish
Congregation (our Synagogue), under
Rabbi Jakob Kokotek.
Eric knew him from when he ran a
Jewish student cultural group and
came into contact with Liverpool’s
Reform Rabbi. Rabbi Kokotek served
there from 1951-1957 before
succeeding Rabbi Salzberger in
London. The newly-weds, now living in
Islington, joined the synagogue and
their three children, Daniel, Natasha
and Joshua, went to Cheder and were
Bar and Bat Mitzvah there.
Eric served on the synagogue board
from 1962-2007. He immediately
entered into its thriving activities,
editing this publication from 1964-1967
and establishing the Israel Committee,
which he chaired till 1993. The 1971
inaugural dinner was attended by Israel
ambassador, Michael Comay. A sub-
committee ran a lively cultural
programme. Jane was involved in the
1970s Soviet Jewry campaign.
When Eric arrived in London, he
stayed at the Stepney settlement of
Toynbee Hall, a vibrant and high-
minded centre for social reform. He
entered local politics and was elected
onto Stepney Council in 1961. He was
its leader from 1964 until Stepney
merged with Bethnal Green and Poplar
in 1965 to become Tower Hamlets, and
remained a councillor till 1967.
His shock at the terrible domestic
ERIC MOONMAN 1929-2017
MP of many parts
Eric Moonman with Lib Dem leader Paddy Ashdown at
an event held by the Zionist Federation, where Eric
served as chairman and president
No 694 - Adar/Nissan/Iyar 5778 - March/April 2018 - Page 5
circumstances of so many children in
the area made him sympathetic to
young people who came to him for
advice. He encouraged their sense of
their own abilities and worth and often
mentored them. He also helped a shy
young sculptress, Leeds-born Frances
Segelman, by introducing her to friends
who were interested in a sculpted
portrait of themselves.
His parliamentary success came in
1966 when he won Billericay in Essex.
He lost it in 1970 but regained part of it
in the redrawn constituency of Basildon
in 1974. He finally lost his seat in the
1979 election which brought in the
Thatcher era. He had a promising start
as parliamentary private secretary to
cabinet minister Patrick Gordon
Walker, but it came to an abrupt end
with Gordon Walker's departure from
Harold Wilson's cabinet in 1968.
He remained a backbencher but
chaired two parliamentary committees,
the all-party mental health committee
and Labour’s new towns and urban
affairs committee. He also became
known for his strong support of Israel.
In 1968 he opposed a parliamentary
campaign to ban shechitah. Shechitah
was saved, thanks to a devout
Christian MP, Peter Archer, and Eric
was invited to be his synagogue's
representative at the Board of
Deputies, which he did for the rest of
his life.
In between his two terms as MP he
worked as a research fellow at UMIST
(University of Manchester Institute of
Science and Technology) on
organisational changes. His work led to
an MSc in industrial relations and yet
another addition to the 10 or so books
he wrote on management and society,
as well as numerous articles for the
press and a 2017 memoir.
After losing his seat, he became
director from 1979-1990 of the Centre
for Contemporary Studies, a research
group which closed in 1992. It focused
on football hooliganism and racism,
riots (the Brixton riots took place in
1981), National Front recruitment at
schools and rock concerts, and
international terrorism.
During this time he chaired Islington
Health Authority, retiring in 1990. In
1991, the year of his divorce, he was
appointed OBE. Eric was always
concerned with the human aspect of
problems rather than ideological purity
and clashed with hardline Labour
members over private participation in
the NHS. Realising its endless need
for funds, he was prepared to consider
outside sourcing.
He clashed even more strongly when
he refused to implement a left-wing
MP's (Michael Meacher’s)
questionnaire on the political affiliation
of health authority members, and
resigned from the Labour Party in
1990. He rejoined a few months later,
after the questionnaire was dropped.
Following his health authority term, he
was asked by the International Red
Cross to advise Namibia in its plans for
a national skills and education
programme. For three years he went to
Namibia for a three-month stay to see
this project launched.
He also became busy in the Jewish
community. A self-confessed macher,
he was senior vice-president of the
Board of Deputies from 1985-1991 and
1994-1999, and chaired its Community
Research Unit. In 1997 he co-led a
secret meeting with Yasser Arafat in a
London hotel to persuade him to meet
Israeli leaders – which led to nothing.
In 2000 he became president of the
Zionist Federation, which he had
chaired from 1975-1980. He was also
chairman of Poale Zion (now the
Jewish Labour Movement) and served
on the World Jewish Congress
committee on anti-Semitism.
He indulged his love of popular
entertainment as governor of the
British Film Institute from 1974-80
(finally allowed to go to the cinema
without parental disapproval), as
chairman of Essex Radio from
1991-2002, and as member of the
Natural History Museum Development
Trust from 1989-1991. This involved a
visit to Canada to get ideas for the
presentation of dinosaurs – a project
which immigration officials thought
dubious, especially when combined
with the unusual name of Moonman.
He returned to the academic world as
visiting professor of management and
information at the Medicine Research
Centre of City University, London, from
1992-2011, and held another visiting
professorship at Liverpool University
from 2007-2009.
In 1986 he became a board member of
Bipac, the British-Israel Political Affairs
Centre, a pro-Israel lobby group from
1976-1999. His extensive research
into anti-Semitism and terrorism made
him an invaluable adviser but he
misguidedly tried to disguise himself as
a source, perhaps to exert greater
authority, by using a pseudonym which
also served as an address to receive
and distribute fees, including his work
on Bicom's EEC Monitor. The resultant
fuss when his cover was blown in
1987, inevitably led to his resignation,
which he felt very sore about.
Other activities included setting up an
association of ex-MPs, aimed not only
at getting easy access to their former
work place but speaking to schools and
colleges about parliamentary life and
work. In 2010 he became a trustee of
the Everton Former Players
Foundation, his lifelong football club, to
help retired players (who in those days
did not earn vast sums) to deal with
illness and injury later in life – and get
a pass to matches.
Among his many talks was one on the
work of the Board of Deputies,
delivered in February 2000 to the
Jewish Representative Council in
Southport, the town of his youth. The
vote of thanks was given by an
optometrist, who told him she had
studied at City University where he
lectured. When he phoned later to
enquire about her, he was told she had
enquired about him. Eric and Gillian
Mayer were married in 2001.
He never wanted to retire and
remained (almost) as active as ever,
commuting between London and
Southport. After a fall in his Islington
home in December, where he
appeared at first unharmed, he showed
signs of deterioration a few days later
and died in hospital. He was buried at
Duke Street Cemetery in Southport.
He is survived by Gillian, his three
children and seven grandchildren.
Eric Moonman's stone-setting will take
place on 15 July at 3pm at Duke Street
Cemetery, 10 Duke Street, Southport,
PR8 2LE. A Memorial Service will be
held in Westminster on 22 May, 7-9pm.
Bust of Eric Moonman by Frances
Segelman in the family house in Islington
Our Congregation - Page 6
Invitation to Nominate Candidates for Membership of the Board of The
Belsize Square Synagogue (The Synagogue)
The fifth Annual General Meeting of The Synagogue (the AGM) will be held on Monday 4 June 2018. Formal notice will be given in due
course.
The Board hereby invites the members of The Synagogue to nominate candidates for the Office of Chairman and for election to the Board
for a period of three years commencing from the AGM. There are 11 vacancies.
Nominations must be in writing, addressed to the Hon. Secretary and submitted to the Synagogue Office by twelve noon on Friday 13 April
2018. Each Nomination must be signed by at least five members of The Synagogue who are themselves entitled to vote at the AGM. Only
valid nominations which are received by that date can be considered. No member may sign more nominations for the Board than the
number of vacancies (namely 12).
In accordance with the Articles of Association of The Synagogue, the following 11 members will be retiring from the Board by rotation but
are eligible for re-election if duly nominated:
Joe Brookes, Paul Burger, Simon Cutner, Michael Horowitz, Adam Hurst, Dalia Lichfield, Annette Nathan, Marion Nathan, Sam Sanders,
Nick Viner, Michelle Wayne.
From 23 April 2018, a list of the candidates duly nominated will be available for inspection at the Synagogue Office and the formal notice of
the AGM will also include a list of those candidates.
Election of Deputies
Election of up to two Deputies to the Board of Deputies of British Jews to be undertaken as a postal vote. Nominations should be sent in
writing to the Hon. Secretary not later than Friday 13 April 2018, with names and addresses of the persons nominated, whose consent
should be obtained.
Any person eligible for nomination as a representative to the Board of Deputies must have been, for at least one year prior, not under 18
years of age or an undischarged bankrupt or convicted of a serious criminal offence or a paid employee of the Board of Deputies. Retiring
Deputies are eligible for nomination. Should there be more nominations than there are places, a postal ballot will take place.
Our present deputy is: Robert Sacks.
A celebration marking 50 years since
the passing of the Sexual Offences Act
1967 was held on Sunday 29 October
2017 at St John’s Wood Liberal Jewish
Synagogue (LJS).
Some 150 people were welcomed with
a delicious and plentiful tea and cakes
in the Montefiore Hall. We then moved
to the Sanctuary, where Rabbi Rachel
Benjamin introduced us to the Right
Worshipful the Lord Mayor of
Westminster, Ian Adams, and his
husband. Ian Adams spoke movingly
about his privileged position as a
Jewish and gay mayor, now able to
attend a synagogue with his partner.
Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah from Brighton
and Hove Synagogue spoke on the
impact of the "partial decriminalisation"
of laws aimed at men, through the
step-by-step reduction of the age of
consent.
The 1967 Act decriminalised sexual
acts in private between consenting
males over the age 21. It was passed
10 years after the publication of the
seminal Wolfenden Report, which
paved the way for this major shift in the
law of the land. In 1990 the age of
consent was reduced to 18 and in 2001
to 16, in line with the general age of
consent, except in Northern Ireland
which had to wait till 2009.
Next we heard from Judge Robert
Rinder who spoke on how the change
in law allowed him to "come out", as
well as the contrast between the
freedom one has in London and other
major cities with the position in the
provinces and rural areas, where
people are reluctant to declare their
homosexuality. He also emphasised
the 70 countries that still have laws
punishing homosexuality, in some
cases by death.
Siddurs were then distributed for the
musical Mincha service led by Rabbis
Shulamit Ambalu, Aaron Goldstein,
Emily Jurman and Josh Levy. Based at
North West London Reform
Synagogue, Alyth Gardens, Rabbi Josh
Levy teaches at Leo Baeck College
and is currently its Rabbinic Vice-
Chairman as well as a governor of
Akiva School. His special interest is
conversion.
Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris,
principal of Leo Baeck College, spoke
about the work of Rabbi Dr Leo Baeck
and appealed for funds to establish
chairs at the Progressive rabbinical
seminary in the names of the late
Rabbis Lionel Blue and Sheila
Shulman. Our speakers and organisers
included both "gay" and "straight".
A 10-minute break allowed people to
split up into discussion groups. One,
led by Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner
and Robert Rinder, discussed the
support needed for young people who
want to "come out". Another group, led
by Rabbis Colin Eimer and Daniel
Lichman, looked back over the past 50
years of change. Lev Taylor and Anna
Posner, both Leo Baeck rabbinical
students, looked at "queer themes" in
liturgy.
Rabbi Mark Solomon, who also led the
closing session, discussed the
relevance of LGBT (lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender) marriages.
In 2005, while minister of LJS, he
edited the Covenant of Love: Service
of Commitment for Same-Sex Couples,
published by Liberal Judaism in 2005
to coincide with the introduction of Civil
Partnerships in British law. He also
wrote the text for the new "gender-
neutral" ketubot (marriage documents)
introduced by Liberal Judaism in
September.
All these discussions were so relevant
and poignant to all age groups. The
combination of Leo Baeck, Keshet,
Reform Judaism, Liberal Judaism and
JGLG (Jewish Gay and Lesbian Goup)
brought a great mixture of Progressive
Gay Jews together for this celebration,
which allowed so many people to
follow their Judaism and their natural
inclination for same sex relationships.
Our thanks to St John’s Wood Liberal
Jewish Synagogue, who so generously
hosted this event.
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF LEGAL EXISTENCE
Helen Grunberg and Sue Arnold appreciate a turning point in social attitudes
No 694 - Adar/Nissan/Iyar 5778 - March/April 2018 - Page 7
BELSIZE SQUARE SYNAGOGUE ARTIST ON SHOW
Belinda Salmon Harding, the
professional name that Belinda
Harding uses as an artist, is holding a
retrospective exhibition of her work at
Burgh House, the Hampstead
Museum, on Wednesday-Friday 7-9
March and Sunday 11 March. It will
feature paintings, drawings and
sculpture from her life’s work. Burgh
House is in New End Square, NW3
1LT.
Belinda’s career started at the Byam
Shaw School of Art (now absorbed into
the Central Saint Martins College of Art
and Design), where her teachers
included Bernard Dunstan RA and
Peter Greenham RA. She won the
Drawing Prize for her year and
graduated three years later with a
Diploma in Fine Arts.
She has since obtained a BA in
Humanities, majoring in art history,
at the University of West London
and, more recently, a Masters Degree
from the University of the Creative Arts
in Farnham, Surrey. She has exhibited
her works in many group and one-man
shows, including the Royal Academy
Summer Exhibition, the Young
Contemporaries Exhibition and the Mall
Galleries, and the Edinburgh Festival,
Ben Uri Gallery and Boundary Gallery.
A large glass diptych, Dust to Dust,
which she created following her visit to
Majdanek, is on permanent display at
the National Holocaust Centre at
Laxton, Notts, and a second piece is
due to go up there soon.
Belinda’s work reflects her huge
breadth of talent as she paints in water
colour, acrylic and oil and sculpts in
stone, bronze, metal and glass. “I paint
what I see and make what I feel”, is
how she sums it all up. The Burgh
House exhibition brings together all
elements of her work. She uses her
skills as a draftsman and her visual
capacity to reflect what she sees in the
gaps between forms.
“I love to set myself challenges”, she
says. “So the physical effort of
sculpture is essential to me, and
learning basic physics and
chemistry has been exciting – better
than cooking!”
Detail from sketch by Belinda Harding
of customers at the 1976 Chanukah Bazaar
,
BAZAAR
7s
G
v)t\
thanmon
ey
done.
Surely
a
message
here
for
a
wider populace,
and
u"l.'lopu
for-thJ
Tuture
ot
our
congregation.
.And
so
it
starts
all
over
again
_
the
continuous.
cycle
of
pta-nning,
coilecting,
setting
up,
seliing,
ant
ctearlng
away.
,,ls
it
worth
it?,,
we
agf
ourselves,
and
always
come
up
wtth
the
same
answer
_
yES!
WEDDINGS
--
FUNERALS
Qrtt"n
fllo*n*t
75
GOTDERS
GREEI{
ROAD,
N.W.II
45s
57041307s
Page
4
J
a"-
L,l
fu"
q
L€
6"fi
{t
t)
A/
{r,s
i1
7
6
The
or
is
nal
s ketc
h
ES
of
Bazaar
mp
resst
by
r
ssue.
He
exh
ons
Be
inda
Sa
lmo
n
(Ha
rd
ing
were
rod
uced
recent
ib
tio
n
dt
the
Wood
stock
Ga
ery
Bond
Q+
p
excl
usivel
for
th
)
pr
eged
to
be
ab le
to
use
her
ta
ents
to
reet,
was
most
favo
u rabl
v
received
an
d
WE
capture
th
sp r1
of
our
Bazaar
weekend
re
I
Sir Simon Rattle's return
to London has been
spectacular. In his first
season as Principal
Conductor of the London
Symphony Orchestra he
is bringing a series of
exciting works to the
Barbican. A group from
Belsize Square went to
hear Music of Exile. At its
heart was the Genesis
Suite, a little known work
written by refugees.
Towards the end of World
War II, with the overwhelmingly
appalling news of the
Holocaust, the destruction of old
Europe and the impending migration of
millions of refugees filling all the news
media of the time, Nat Shilkret, the
New York-born son of Jewish
immigrants from Central Europe,
persuaded six other mainly Jewish
composers to come together to create
the Genesis Suite. Accompanied by the
words of the King James Bible, they
musically depicted the dramatic stories
of the first chapters of the Bible.
Shilkret's vision and message were
clear. The stories of Adam and Eve,
Cain and Abel, the Flood and Tower of
Babel are all tales of broken promises,
murder and destruction, leading to
displaced peoples. The piece ends with
the words "and from thence did the
LORD scatter them abroad upon the
face of all the earth.” It begins with the
evocative chaos of Arnold Schoenberg,
which gains form, texture and rhythmic
focus in the Prelude. Shilkret takes
chaos and forms a musical world in
Creation. Alexandre Tansman depicts
Adam and Eve in eight scenes in the
Garden of Eden, ending with their
eviction. The Cain and Abel story is
described in the 1945 programme
notes as "the story of discord and
violence deftly underlined in music by
Darius Milhaud."
Europe had been covered by the storm
clouds of war and Noah's Ark was
buffeted in the musical storm of Mario
Castelnuovo-Tedesco but eventually
the sun came out and a Rainbow
appeared. The opening fugue, by
Ernest Tochof, is heard underscoring
the sanctity of the Divine
promise to Noah. Finally,
Stravinski gave a
downbeat portrayal of the
Tower of Babel story.
Interestingly, he refused,
on religious grounds, to
allow a solo voice to
represent the voice of
God. Instead, he assigned
biblical quotations to the
chorus.
In this performance,
music and text were
enhanced with a fabulous
film compiled by Gerard
McBurney and Mike Tutaj. It
was projected onto a screen
arching, like Noah's rainbow, over the
orchestra. News reel images of the
horrors of war and plight of survivors
and refugees, as well as political
figures, were shown with dramatic
effect.
It was fitting that Rattle chose to
include Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra
written in 1943. Bela Bartok had
originally agreed to write the Prelude
section but was prevented by ill health.
This was a tour de force and a brilliant
contrast to the earlier suite. Rattle
conducted without the score,
demonstrating true mastery of the
works.
Alasdair Nisbet is a Trustee of the
Barbican Trust
MUSIC OF EXILE: THE GENESIS SUITE
Alasdair Nisbet listens to an extraordinary performance
The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden
projected over the London Symphony Orchestra
Our Congregation - Page 8
John Altmann, who died on 3 January
2018 aged 87, had a crowded and
active youth. He was a Kindertransport
arrival who stayed in a hostel run by
the Sainsbury family of grocery fame.
As a volunteer in Israel's 1948 War of
Independence, he sailed on the ill-fated
Altalena. He fought in three locations
and ended up seeing an Egyptian ex-
prisoner-of-war he had guarded, walk
into his Edgware Road shop 30 years
later as a customer.
Born in Stettin (now Szczecin in
Poland) on 14 March 1930, he
remembered clearly hearing the
windows smashed on the ground floor
of their building when the leather
clothing shop there was looted on
Kristallnacht, 9/10 November 1938.The
torched synagogue smouldered for two
days before being pulled down. His
father and two friends hid in the loft as
Jewish men were arrested in the street.
There was nothing of value to take
from their flat as his parents had
dutifully taken all their cutlery (meat,
milk and Pesach) to the Finance
Ministry and, of course, been issued
with a receipt.
His father, a trouser manufacturer, tried
to get permits for all the family but gave
up and sent Hans and his older brother
Wolfgang, soon to be known as John
and Wilfred, on a Kindertransport in
March 1938. John had just turned nine.
Wilf, who became a journalist,
described how their parents had driven
along the route as far as they could go,
waving goodbye to the boys. Their
mother was seven months pregnant
but they never saw their baby brother
Raphael or their parents again. The
Jews of Stettin were deported to the
Lublin Ghetto on 12 February 1940. All
had died by the following winter.
John and his brother were among
those children not adopted by a British
family and placed in hostels. With 25
other boys they were sent to a house in
Putney, rented by the Sainsbury family
and complete with cook and matron.
They were sent to school and
introduced to native food such as
kippers, stew and custard.
"Granny Sainsbury" visited daily and
her two sons, directors of the grocery
chain (in pre-supermarket days) came
weekly to check their progress in
English and dole out pocket money.
“Granny" was born Mabel Miriam Van
den Bergh into a Dutch Jewish family
of margarine manufacturers.
When the London blitz started in
September 1940, the boys were
evacuated. John was fostered by the
Owen family in Reading, with whom he
remained in touch for over 60 years.
But at school he was bullied as an
enemy German and told by his social
worker to forget his dream of staying
on after 16 and studying engineering at
university (his parents' ambition for
him) since taxpayers' money should
not be spent on alien refugees.
He then became seriously ill with
osteomyelitis and faced amputation of
his arm but was saved at the last
minute by a young doctor who knew
about penicillin, which was only mass
produced in 1940, and got some. John
bore a deep scar for the rest of his life.
Returning to London after the war, he
entered catering college and joined
Betar, the youth wing of the revisionist
movement founded by Vladimir
Jabotinsky and inherited by Menachem
Begin, commander of the militant Irgun
Zvi Le'umi. John had no interest in left
or right-wing politics but he was angry
that Jews were still killed while the rest
of the world re-adapted to peace, and
he liked the movement's readiness to
stand up and fight as Jews for Jews.
Hanging around Speaker's Corner at
Hyde Park, a man asked if he was
interested in joining the cause. He was
given a prestigious nearby address and
found it was the home of the English
Betar leader, Major Weiser, a former
British Army officer now recruiting for
Begin. John accepted enthusiastically.
Shortly after the United Nations vote in
November 1947 to recognise Israel,
John received a train ticket to Paris. He
joined 20-30 other English recruits and
set off for secret army training in a DP
(Displaced Persons) camp near
Stuttgart in the American zone in
Germany. When the Americans
realised what they were up to, they left
for a hachsharah (agricultural training)
farm near Munich.
One night they were taken in a hay cart
to a spot in the nearby forest and told
to dig. A German soldier had sold the
secret of his army's weapons cache.
The recruits dug up the guns,
degreased and got them working, then
wrapped them in old clothing and
packed them in boxes as "Used
Clothes for Palestine".
The American authorities again got
wind of their activities and told them to
leave. The group took their boxes to
Munich railway station, where they
were joined by 700-800 DP camp
survivors as they travelled for three
days on a sealed train through to
Marseilles. They stayed in a tent camp
till their ship's previous cargo was
unloaded.
Down at the docks, they saw their ship,
renamed the Altalena, was a large
tank-landing craft. John was told it was
a "revisionist" ship. This meant nothing
to him (the name was an alias of
Jabotinsky) but when the North African
dockers saw the boxes labelled for
Palestine, they refused to load them,
so the Jews did it.
They also loaded cratefuls of guns
supplied by French army surplus with
semi-official approval. It took a week to
load and over a week to reach Kfar
Vitkin, near Netanya, on 20 June 1948,
five weeks after Israel's declaration of
independence by the executive head of
the World Zionist Organisation, David
Ben Gurion.
At Kfar Vitkin some 800 passengers
left, taking 20% of the small arms by
agreement with Ben Gurion, and Begin
came aboard. Next day at Tel Aviv she
caught on the wreckage of a previous
immigrant boat opposite the Kereta
Dan (now the Dan) Hotel. Ben Gurion
would not let the ship land unless the
remaining arms were handed to him.
JOHN ALTMANN 1930-2018
Kindertransportee, Israel Volunteer Fighter and Cook
Some of the "Sainsbury Boys" in April
1939 in the garden of the Putney house
provided by the Sainsbury family.
John, known for his cheeky grin and
twinkle in his eye, is in the centre of the
boys kneeling at the front. His
brother Wilf is 2nd left in the back row.
No 694 - Adar/Nissan/Iyar 5778 - March/April 2018 - Page 9
Begin, his political rival, refused.
The ship was fired on from the hotel
balconies by the Palmach, the pre-
state army's elite force. It had no effect,
so the soldiers moved along the shore
to the site of today's Hilton and fired a
25-pounder field gun. It killed eleven
people, including four boys from Cuba
whom John had taught to use guns. He
himself was nearly shot. After that, he
steered clear of Israeli politics.
The ship was exploding and on fire.
John was among the 100 or so people
who jumped into the sea, about two
metres deep. But he and another man
were first ordered by the captain to
toss two large crates overboard. He
later found out they were highly
sensitive detonators which could have
demolished the ship and sea front.
John, a non-swimmer, made it to the
shore. Everyone became ill from the
sewage in the sea. John was sent to a
family in Bnei Brak for a few days to
recover. He then walked to the nearest
army camp to volunteer. In July he was
sent to Latrun, at the foot of the
western road up to Jerusalem, where
the Arab Legion from Transjordan
blocked access to the city. After two
days of severe losses, Ben Gurion
arranged a ceasefire and sent the
surviving men north to the Galilee.
John was now based in Acco at the
northern end of Haifa bay, facing 8,000
Arab irregulars under the Syrian
warlord, Fawzi el Kaukji, who had
French 25-pounders. The Jewish side
had to wait a month before receiving
Czech machine guns and mortars and
it took another month to push the Arabs
out of Galilee to Lebanon.
Their problem was that they did not
know to operate these heavy weapons
and the instructions were in German.
Having left Germany at nine, John’s
linguistic range did not extend to
technical terms. He sat down with a
Jerusalem veteran of the First World
War and translated the instructions into
English without fully understanding
them. The experienced veteran then
translated them into Hebrew. John also
used his school geometry and
trigonometry to plot the trajectory.
They used the same method for the
German manual which followed with
Czech night sights, packed as “shoe
boxes". These gave the volunteer unit
a technological edge at Mishmar
Hayarden, north of Safed, and Ma'alot-
Tarshiha close to the northern border.
Then John got malaria and went to
hospital. That was the end of his front-
line duties.
Coming out of hospital with two weeks'
convalescence leave, he was sitting in
a cafe in Naharia when his sergeant
drove by and spotted him. He
cancelled his leave and sent him to the
Negev where the Egyptian army was
surrounded in the "Falujah pocket" by
Israeli forces. This "siege" lasted for
four months till the signing of the
Rhodes armistice agreement in
February 1949.
John had to shoot at Bedouin camel
convoys to warn them off smuggling
food to the trapped Egyptians. Then,
when the rest of the Egyptian army
surrendered at the end of December
and the United Nations evacuated the
ordinary Egyptian soldiers, John was
assigned to escort 30-40 officers, who
became prisoners-of-war, and guard
them at Atlit prison, south of Haifa. At
night, he played cards with them.
Because of his malaria, he was
released from the Israel Defence
Forces at the end of 1949. His army
service entitled him to free continuation
of his interrupted education and he
enrolled at the Hadassah School of
Hotel Management in Jerusalem. He
worked in a Naharia restaurant and in
Jerusalem, training under famous Chef
Nicholai, credited with bringing haute
cuisine to Israel. When Yitzhak Ben
Zvi became Israel’s
second president in
December 1952, his
wife Rahel asked John
to prepare his special
matzah balls for
visiting dignitaries. He
made this speciality
until his 87th year.
In 1953 his brother
wrote to him from
London to say that
Germany was now
making reparations. In
Israel this was a
hugely emotional and
controversial issue, causing riots. John
decided to claim from Britain. His
compensation for loss of family
property and business was just enough
to buy a second-hand Ford Escort
Estate. He was also called up for
National Service but rejected on the
grounds of his malaria.
Staying in Belsize Park with his father’s
cousin, Julius Rosenbaum, and his
wife, Adele Reifenberg, both Berlin
artists, John met his wife, Marlene
Goldschmidt, on the platform of
Belsize Park Station. They chatted and
found they came from the same part of
northern Germany. Their first date was
at the legendary Cosmo Restaurant.
They were the third couple married in
the newly bought synagogue in what is
now the kiddush room, in 1955. John
soon found that Marlene, a Holocaust
survivor with her own story, had strong
views. With a sick, elderly father she
did not want to go to Israel and she did
not like a chef's unsocial working
hours. John worked by day in a hotel in
Victoria and at night in another of the
refugees' favourite haunts, the Dorice
Restaurant in Swiss Cottage.
With money from his father-in-law, he
bought into a second-hand kitchen
equipment shop run by an ageing
Viennese couple looking for a
successor. He said the "stock was
greasy and dreadful but it was a good
location – the Marble Arch end of the
Edgware Road." After a trial fortnight it
became his living. He switched to
selling new goods, expanding across
three shops and was eventually joined
by his son-in-law. A customer who
came to buy a new oven in 1979
thought the owner looked familiar. He
turned out to be one of the Egyptian
officers in John's custody in Atlit. He
visited John in the shop every time he
came to London for over 25 years.
In the 1960s, John was an active
member of our Synagogue and the
long-running first Chair of Governors at
Barclay House, subsequently Mathilda
Marks-Kennedy Jewish Primary
School, which his children attended.
He was a volunteer cook, with Marlene,
for the Leo Baeck Lodge day centre
lunches and saw to its equipment. In
his late 70s he received an award from
the Fire Brigade Service for fighting
his way into his neighbour's burning
house to rescue the occupants.
Marlene predeceased him by nearly
five months. He is survived by his
daughter Alisa, son Daniel, seven
grandchildren and two great-
grandchildren.
John Altmann in front of the Kindertransport
Memorial at Liverpool Street Station
Our Congregation - Page 10
Dear Fellow Members
We have now dropped out from the winter months
und soon will be in the darling butts of spring. I hope
that you have waived good writtens to the schniffs
und schnuffs of the commoners cold that most did
ketch at some junction in recent times. It is a good
sing that the flew academic that was projected did
not turn out. This would have been hard for us olden
goldies to come over especially with the NSH in
such term oil.
I recently took an old friend of mine, Hermann
Steinreich, to a Friday night service. He is semi-
orthodox und was blown apart by the musical contempt at
Belsize Square. Both the quire und Chasan Heller were on
the top of there frum. The Rabbi also made a deep
impression shaking him on the hand with great wormth. The
only thing I would remark about the music is that I found the
first part very eglisi-estical. For a moment I sort I was in
Westminister Abbey. Then it turned more to the traditional
with what I am more used. Hermann new nothing from this
und was enarmoured with it all. I have to retort that at a
recent batmitzvah the children quire were particular standing
out. I give them won hunderdt procent out of won hunderdt.
Maybe it is because I am no longer in the first flash of use,
but I find that the constant up und down very disturbing. No
sooner have I struggled to get up, then we are sitting down
again. At won point I found myself completely out of sink with
the rest of the congregation. I would like to suggest that we
have some prayer books marked up for the olderly pre-
warning them about when to prepare to go up und when to
prepare to come down again.
I am sorry to have to inform you that I am at the moment not
on speaking turns with Mrs Klopstick. I can’t tell you
how many occasions I have becked my wive not to do
any more baking, but she won’t listen to me und
plops on regardless. But it is me who hat to explain
to the fire brigade why there was black smoke
bellowing out from our balcon window onto Finchley
Road. Und even verse, I also hat to try to calm down
all the inmates from Abernein Mansions who were
vacated from the building in there night entire.
This hole sing came from Mrs K’s attempt once
again to make Hamantaschen. In the first plaice
because she couldn’t find any poppy seeds, she
decided to use some other seeds witch she brought at
the garden center. She said it would be fine. I am happy to
say that I never found out if this was true oder knot.
Whatever she made for the pastry und the rest of the filing, it
turned out to be highly flameable. Why my wive decided to
go out yogging to Swiss Cottage vile leaving the oven on, I
will never know. Unfortunately, in this time I fell asleep
watching a documemory programme about narcolepsy.
When I woke up I was hardly able to breeze as the flat was
enveloped in sick smoke. I am pleased to report that no one
was hurt und the only sing to become charred to a sinner
were the Hamantaschens.
Because Pesach this year collapses right on top of Eastern,
Mrs Klopstick has come up with the idea of chocolate
covered matzo balls witch she will hide in the communial
garden for the children to find. She is calling them afikommen
eggs. I call them chocolate covered cannonballs!
With the best of intentions
Fritz Klopstick
Shabbat Candle Lighting
Friday 2 March Leora Hacker
Friday 9 March Ruth Kersley
Friday 16 March Deborah Samuelson
Friday 23 March Susan Schraer
Thursday 5 April Hilary Solomon
Friday 6 April Gillian Wray
Friday 13 April Jennifer Van Der Werth
Friday 20 April Hilary Woolfe
Friday 27 April Daniela Kotzmann
ANNUAL INTERFAITH TALKS RETURN
The topic for this year’s course is Exchanging Scripture,
responding to each other’s sacred Scriptures
27 February at St Peter's Church, Reverend Nicholson will look
at how Christianity understands the 10 Commandments
6 March at Belsize Square Synagogue, Imam Stubbla will look
at Mark 10:17-22, which deals with issues of “salvation, life
after death, the reward for deeds of lovingkindness”.
13 March at St Peter's Church, Rabbi Altshuler will look at al-
An’am, Sura 152-154, which deals with “when it is appropriate
to slay another, relations between children and parents, capital
punishment, the balance between justice and compassion”.
20 March at Belsize Square Synagogue will take the form of a
round-table discussion, including you as participants, on the
state of Christian, Jewish and Muslim relations, how we view
each other and reviewing lessons from the first three sessions.
This is a huge opportunity for us all to welcome visitors from the
Muslim community, as well as our “old friends” next door.
No 694 - Adar/Nissan/Iyar 5778 - March/April 2018 - Page 11
LOCAL LUNCHEON GROUP
The NW3 Group
Giacomo, 428 Finchley Road, London, NW2 2HY
1.00pm on Wednesdays 21 March & 18 April
Please phone Judy Field on 020 8455 0614
NEW MEMBERS
We extend a cordial welcome to:
Rosalyn Schofield
Robin & Evy Eden
Nicholas Kissen
Mark Kissen
Adam Graham & Sarah Cohen
Dana Rembiszewski
Leanne Thomas
Hannah Strauss
Jessica Bernberg
Diana Brookes
Tanya Magasiner
Janine Asserson
ENGAGEMENTS
Congratulations and best wishes to:
Melanie Nathan on her engagement to Daniel Cantle
David Kendall on his engagement to Natalya Dorfman
Joshua Kendall and Sarah Goodman on their engagement.
Mazel Tov to parents Sue & Steve and Sally & Peter, brothers
and sisters David, Lara and Emily and grandparents Florence
& Charles Benaiah, Vivienne Kendall and Jose Levene.
WEDDING
Mazel Tov to:
Jacqueline Van Der Werth & David Wiener who were married
on 7 January
BIRTHDAYS
Congratulations and best wishes to:
Mr A Behrens (97) on 23 February
Mrs B Flynn (98) on 5 March
Mrs E Block (92) on 9 March
Mrs R Simion (90) on 16 March
Mrs M Suchy (96) on 20 March
Mrs H Heineman (98) on 22 March
DEATHS
We regret to announce the passing of:
Eric Moonman who died on 22 December
Walter Block who died on 29 December
John Altmann who died on 3 January
Philip Evans who died on 7 January
Peter Batkin who died on 12 January
Alan Kay who died on 22 January
Michael Wheeler who died on 5 February
REGULAR SERVICES
Friday evenings at 6.45pm & Saturday mornings at 10.00am
Kikar Kids
Saturdays 3 March, 7 April, 5 May at 11.00am
Under-5s Service in the Crèche (Crèche opens 10am)
Junior Service for 5-9 year-olds in the Library
11.30am – Kids’ Kiddush
Often followed by a Pot Luck Lunch
Contact Frank Joseph on 020 7482 2555 to bring a dish
Religion School
Sunday mornings: 9.30am-12.30pm
End of Term – Sunday 25 March
Term Starts – Sunday 15 April
The copy deadline for the next issue of
Our Congregation is Sunday 8 April 2018
Community News
CANTOR HELLER'S KABBALAT SHABBAT CHAT
An invitation and opportunity for Bar Mitzvah class pupils
to make Kiddush, sing Lecha Dodi and
learn the lessons of the Parsha.
On the second Friday of the month
5.30pm in the Library
Next sessions: 9 March & 13 April
SUNDAY MORNING ADULT DISCUSSION
4 March
10.00am-2.00pm Jewish Book Week. Book your own tickets.
Meet at 10.00 for coffee at Kings Place, Kings Cross
11 March
10.00-11.15 David Ruderman Lecture: Baghdad and the
Gaonic Age
11.15-12.30 Lilian Cordell on Miriam's Table, the Bukharian
cookbook
18 March
10.00-11.15 Rabbi Altshuler on Rabbis Avraham Isaac Kook
& Yehiel Michael Pines: Mizrachi/Religious Judaism
11.15-12.30 Jonathan Charles, former BBC World News
London anchor, on Reporting the Middle East: Is the BBC
biased? (Rescheduled from December due to snow!)
25 March
10.00-11.15 Rabbi Altshuler on Martin Buber's Zionism:
Vision of a Bi-National State, Brit Shalom (In dialogue with
Mahatma Gandhi)
11.15-12.30 In the Shoes of Sholom Aleichem - 2014 film co-
written by and starring Theodore Bikel
1 April, 8 April: No sessions - Pesach break
15 April
10.00-11.15 Rabbi Altshuler on Intellectuals in Search of
Roots: Bernard Lazar, Edmond Fleg and Ludwig Lewisohn
11.15-12.30 TBC
22 April (Rabbi Altshuler away)
10.00 -12.30 Carvalho's Journey - film and discussion
29 April
10.00-11.15 Rabbi Altshuler on In the New World:
Responses to Zionism - Solomon Schechter, Louis Brandeis,
Horace Mayer Kallen and Mordecai Kaplan
11.15-12.30 TBC
BELSIZE BOOK CLUB
Wednesday 7 March at 3:00pm
We will be discussing Imperium by Robert
Harris, a great page-turner.
Please contact the Synagogue Office for details
SHAVUOT SERVICES & STUDY
1st Eve: Saturday 19 May at 6.45pm
followed at 8.00pm by study session
1st Day: Sunday 20 May at 10.00am
2nd Eve: Sunday 20 May at 6.45pm
2nd Day: Monday 21 May at 10.00am including Mazkir
Our Tikkun (study session) theme is War and Peace
Speakers: Professor Antony Polonsky, Jonathan Paris,
Cantor Paul Heller, Susan Storring & Claire Walford,
Rabbi Dr Stuart Altshuler
SYNAGOGUE HELP LINES
THE BELSIZE SQUARE SYNAGOGUE
51 Belsize Square, London, NW3 4HX
Tel: 020 7794 3949
Email: [email protected]
SYNAGOGUE OFFICE HOURS
9.00am - 5.30pm
Fridays: 9.00am-2.00pm
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Lee Taylor - 020 7794 3949
BELSIZE MEMBERS’ GROUP
Co-chairs: Marion Nathan - 020 8361 2443
and Dilys Tausz - 020 7435 5996
CHEVRA KADISHA
Chairman: Rabbi Stuart Altshuler
Joint Vice Chairs: Helen Grunberg - 020 8450 8533
Cantor Dr Paul Heller
COMMUNITY CARE CO-ORDINATOR &
BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT SERVICE
Contact Eve Hersov on 020 7435 7129
or email [email protected]
or call the Synagogue Office for a leaflet
FUNERALS
During Synagogue Office hours phone 020 7794 3949.
Evenings/weekends phone Calo’s (Undertakers)
020 8958 2112
JUDAICA SHOP
Open during office hours and on Sunday morning during
term time only
KIDDUSH
Rota enquiries to Jennifer Saul in the Synagogue Office
(not Thursdays or Fridays)
LIBRARY
Open Wednesdays 10am - 12 noon
At other times please check first with the office
CHEDER
Enquiries to the Head, Jeanie Horowitz, in the Synagogue
Office, or email [email protected]
PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION
Chairperson: Frank Joseph - 020 7482 2555
YOUTH ACTIVITIES
Email the Youth Workers, Melanie Nathan & Zoe Cowan
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR CONGREGATION
Emails to: [email protected]
or to the Editor: [email protected]
LAYOUT AND DESIGN
Philip Simon: www.philipsimon.co.uk
CHAIRMAN
Jackie Alexander
RABBI
Rabbi Dr Stuart Altshuler
CANTOR
Cantor Dr Paul Heller
EMERITUS
Rabbi Rodney Mariner
[email protected] / 020 8347 5306 / 07956 352267
Charity Number 1144866
Company Number 7831243
The Belsize Square Synagogue
Our Congregation - Page 12
#PeopleOfJewishCare
There’s something special about coming together to celebrate all
festivals. That’s why for someone like Alan, who lives with dementia
every day of the year, we try and make every festival memorable.
We need to raise £3,000 every single day just to care for people living
with dementia.
Will you help make sure that no one has to face dementia alone this
Pesach and beyond?
To donate please call 020 8922 2600 or visit jewishcare.org/donate
Charity Reg No. 802559
We make
sure Alan
celebrates
every
festival
Belsize Square Pesach advert 134x96mm.indd 1 05/02/2018 16:03
Belsize Squared presents
SLEIGHT OF MIND
Sunday 29 April at 6pm
Our member, Jeff Salmon,
star of TV's "Four Rooms”,
will recreate his sell-out
Theatre show, using "five
senses to create the illusion
of a sixth sense".
Adults £10, Children £5
(Includes falafel supper)
All proceeds to the
Synagogue
Book by Sunday 15 April.
Contact the Synagogue
Office on 0207 794 3949 or
Watch demonstrations that
are thought-provoking, funny
and unbelievable. Plus bid
for an opportunity
of an afternoon at
his home, where
Jeff will teach
some of his skills.
Belsize Squared
Presents…
Sleight of Mind
Sunday 29
th
April 2018 – 6pm
Families are invited to join the Belsize Squared team for a falafel supper
and an evening of mind reading and illusion with Belsize’s very own
Jeff Salmon.
Tickets: Adult- £10 Children- £5
(All proceeds will go to the synagogue)
Please contact the office to book your family a
place by 15
th
April.
Email- [email protected]
Call- 0207 794 3949
B there and B
2
Mel & Zoë
Youth Leaders
B
2
Belsize Squared
Presents…
Sleight of Mind
Sunday 29
th
April 2018 – 6pm
Families are invited to join the Belsize Squared team for a falafel supper
and an evening of mind reading and illusion with Belsize’s very own
Jeff Salmon.
Tickets: Adult- £10 Children- £5
(All proceeds will go to the synagogue)
Please contact the office to book your family a
place by 15
th
April.
Email- [email protected]
Call- 0207 794 3949
B there and B
2
Mel & Zoë
Youth Leaders
B
2
Music at Belsize invites you
to a Night at the Opera
COSI FAN TUTTE
Sunday 18 March at 7pm
Tickets: £25
Mozart’s comic masterpiece,
sung in English by some of
London’s finest young opera
singers, with by a young
professional orchestra. This
production premiered at
Waterperry Festival in
Oxfordshire last summer
and we are thrilled to see it
come to Belsize Square.
Due to the number of
performers, seats are more
limited than usual. So book
your places quickly on the
website or via the
Synagogue Office.
