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With over 29.9 million overseas visitors to United Kingdom per year, the summer period has seen hundreds of tourists flock to Chabad centres around the country.

The annual Edinburgh Festival draws thousands of performers and hundreds of thousands of spectators to Scotland's capital city where Rabbi Pinny and Gitty Weinman greet them with Shabbat hospitality and a dose of Jewish spirituality.

Rabbi Weinman, together with rabbinical students, Yaakov and Hershy Hecht (pictured), set up a table on Edinburgh's Royal Mile where performers and visitors gather.

"We get hundreds of people stopping at the stall every day and around 30 people put on tefillin. We have also handed out around 150 Shabbat candles every week," Rabbi Weinman told the Jewish Chronicle newspaper.

"We did this on a smaller scale last year but we saw the influence of more than one million tourists in Edinburgh and now we have a much bigger presence."

With attractions such as Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, London draws the bulk of tourists visiting the United Kingdom.

In Bloomsbury, central London, Rabbi Yisroel and Devora Lew have welcomed many Jewish visitors to the capital from countries as diverse as Israel, Morocco and Iran.

Equipped with a new centre right in the bustling heart of the city, Chabad of Bloomsbury has welcomed increased numbers of tourists as well as the usual crowd of students and young professionals.

"Our new centre has allowed us to accommodate over 100 people - many of whom are visiting the capital on holiday or business - for Friday night meals. In the past we had to limit numbers and squeeze shoulder-to-shoulder into a much a smaller space," said Rabbi Yisroel Lew.

"We've never been to such a large Friday night meal with so many people from all over the world. The food was great, the atmosphere was very welcoming and we got to listen to an American diplomat speaking about his work in Israel," said New Yorker Beth Sussman, a resident of Kew Gardens, Queens, on holiday in the capital with her husband.

Although students in the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge go home during the summer vacation, they are replaced by throngs of tourists as well as visiting students and scholars.

"Chabad is a primary port of call for Jewish visitors to Oxford during the summer months. Although our regular student crowd has gone home, the influx of many tourists and visiting students and academics ensures that we still have large numbers coming through the door," said Rabbi Eli Brackman, director of Chabad of Oxford.

"Many visiting students are in their teens and it is their first time away from their families, so we are keen to provide a welcoming Jewish home-away-from-home for them," added Freida Brackman.

University students heading back to school in the United Kingdom will find their Chabad centers on campus expanding in new directions. Opening a daycare, Hebrew schools and mikvahs, Chabad on Campus UK is serving students as their lives take on the complexities of adulthood and family.

For Avi and Elisheva Machlis, raising three children on a campus without an active Jewish community may have been one of the more challenging aspects of Elisheva’s studies at Cambridge University, where she earned her doctorate in Middle East studies.

So when the university’s Chabad Jewish Society decided to broaden its mission and expand its services to include programming for children and families, the Machlis family was especially enthusiastic.

Students pursuing advanced degrees often complete their studies with a child or two in tow.  Addressing the needs of such students and their growing families is now a priority for Chabad on Campus UK.

At Cambridge University, 18,000 students study everything from Greek Theology to agricultural economics to sociolinguistics, but until recently, there was no Hebrew school  catering to the children of students and academics.

“A Chabad representative must be open minded about the direction of his work,” said Rabbi Reuven Leigh, director of Cambridge University Chabad Jewish Society. The Sunday school operated by the Jewish society graduated its first class last year thirty children are enrolled for the upcoming academic year. Additionally, the Society’s new child care service is fully enrolled. Chabad also runs a weekly after-school club, where  students are given the tools to advance their Hebrew reading skills and their knowledge of Jewish studies.

“For our children to have the ability to go once a week to Chabad formed an important part of their Jewish identity during our years in Cambridge,” said Avi Machlis.

This September, in Bristol, a new Hebrew school will cater to 18 local children. Rabbi Dovid and Leah Usiskin arrived in Bristol two years ago to serve the university’s Jewish student body of 300. But the city’s Jewish residents, totaling some 1,000 people, called on the young Chabad couple to address the needs of its more permanent community as well.

The lack of Sunday school options in particular was an issue raised repeatedly by local parents. Although some locals were initially suspicious of the Usiskin’s ulterior motives, the Hebrew school and other educational programs that Chabad has established here in Bristol has given the couple legitimacy in the community.”

At Cambridge, Rabbi Leigh’s approachability and involvement in Jewish life on campus and beyond landed him a pulpit position. He was asked to lead the Cambridge Jewish Traditional Congregation this year.

“Reuven organizes the events for the holidays, and there is always something interesting going on,” said Ithai Rabinowitz, a post-doctorate neurobiology researcher. “He and Rochel communicate easily with everyone. They are accessible and have a broadminded approach. It helps form and fashion the community. It’s my replacement family.”

New programs, however, have not detracted from Chabad’s campus presence. Indeed, the couple continues to host Friday night dinners and classes that succeed at drawing crowds. As a result, there is always a steady supply of “relationships to develop” on campus.

Chabad of Cambridge’s next big project is a community mikvah, a vital component of Jewish family life. For now, the closest mikvah is a several-hours-long drive away. At Bristol, Mrs. Usiskin is determined to continue reaching out to Jewish people in the area, whether or not they are affiliated with the university.

“You have to flow with the tide, and go where you are needed.”

[From Lubavitch.com] 

Over fifteen yeshiva students got together for summer yeshiva in London from after Tisha B'av until the beginning of the month of Elul.

The programme, beginning at 8:00 am and ending at 10:00 pm, was held under the direction of Rabbi Chaim Rapaport. The idea of a summer yeshiva fulfills the directive of the Luabvitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory, to never take a vacation from learning Torah.

Other teachers included Rabbi Leibish Heller from the Lubavitch Yeshiva Gedolah in Kingsley Way, London, and Rabbi Y. D. Klein from Manchester.

There was also a two hour lunch break for recreational activities, when the bochurim played tennis, football and table tennis.

In the words of one of the students: "It would have been very hard to go through the whole summer without being in yeshiva, and I am very grateful to the organisers for the best summer I have ever had."

[Adapted from collive.com] 

Some 1500 children attended Jewish Summer day camps organised by Chabad Lubavitch centres in London, Edgware, Ilford, Wimbledon, Bournemouth, Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester.

Children from all religious backgrounds enjoyed a huge array of educational and recreational activities organised and run by experienced camp leaders and counsellors from the UK, USA, France, Belgium and Israel.

Rabbi Bentzi Sudak, chief executive of Chabad Lubavitch UK, commented on the growing numbers of children enrolled into camps across the UK, saying: “This is crucial step in insuring another generation of Jewish children who are excited about their Jewishness and Judaism. The numbers this year confirm Chabad Lubavitch as one of the largest providers of fun-filled Summer activities for Jewish children in the UK.”

London’s Lubavitch Day Camp had record numbers this year with over 400 children enrolled.

“It has been an incredible summer camp this year - our biggest yet!” says Rabbi Shmuly Karasik who runs the camp with his wife Chana.

This year’s theme was the coming month of Tishrei, which includes the High Holidays.

“The children were imbued with the joys of Tishrei,” said Chana Karasik. “We experienced Tishrei like never before with tashlich wading, apple picking, honey making, crafting Shofars, learning about the lulav and etrog and the excitement of Sukkot.”

North Manchester’s Lubavitch Day Camp also experience unprecedented numbers.

“When we started to run the camp 12 years ago there were only between 40 and 60 children,” says Rabbi Levi Wineberg, camp director. “Now we have over 500.”

“The ten percent increase over last year is a reflection of our non-judgemental approach and our acceptance of every Jewish child regardless of their level of observance,” adds Rivka Wineberg.

The camp takes pride in the fact that it represents the full spectrum of Manchester’s Jewish community.

“We have children from both Jewish and non-Jewish schools. They all thrive, flourish and get along with each other wonderfully,” says Rabbi Wineberg.

In South Manchester Day Camp, some 50 children enjoyed a wide variety of arts and crafts activities, trips and a family BBQ.

“By coming to our camp, the children get to experience a Jewish environment and take pride in their heritage," says Louise Weinberg who runs the camp with Rochel Jaffe.

"There is a lot of competition for children’s attention over the summer. If they didn't come to us, they would be going to a tennis camp or a football camp.”

“Camp has been amazing” said one camper at Camp Gan Israel Ilford, organised by Rabbi Odom and Henry Brandman and Rivky Kesselman, head counsellor.

One parent said: “Last summer my child spent one week at Chabad and one week at another camp. He said that this summer he only wants to go to Chabad!”

Edgware's Camp Gan Israel had close to 150 children in attendance over a three week period.

"We enjoyed activities such as trips to Adventure Island, Woburn Safari Park and Gulliver’s Land, as well as  sports, arts and crafts and a carnival," says Rabbi Yaron Jacobs, camp director.

For more photos, click here. 

When Rabbi Fishel and Esther Cohen came to Birmingham, England, in 1984, neither had any idea what the future would hold.

He, a young Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi fresh out of school, had been asked to become the area’s first full-time university chaplain for the Midlands Region, providing religious and pastoral support to Jewish students attending universities in Birmingham, Warwick, Woverhampton, Derby, Coventry, Loughborough, Leicester and Nottingham. She, barely 20 years old, faced her own challenges in building a home and Jewish center far from her family in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Among the roadblocks was confronting a dearth of kosher facilities; running out of staples such as milk or bread was not an option.

“I was determined to make it work,” said Esther Cohen, who with her husband directs campus activities. “I learned how to plan in advance, and the community was very welcoming.”

Ask locals, and they’ll tell you that over the last 25 years, the Cohens have done more than “make it work.” Together, they’ve touched the lives of thousands of students, many of whom still regard the couple as friends.

More than 200 students, alumni, colleagues, friends and family members came out to show their support at a dinner held earlier this year. Sponsored by the Midlands Region Chaplaincy Board, the event honored the Cohens’ quarter-century of service.

Speaking after the dinner, Esther Cohen said that from day one, they focused on finding ways to help Jewish students, many of whom were away from home for the first time, cope with the various challenges of university life. They sought to establish innovative programs and activities with the goal of building a sense of community.

“We were always arranging events,” she related. “Our goal was to create a home away from home. Students would come to us when they were panicking about exams. Sometimes they would knock on our door at midnight to borrow some milk.”

Mendy Cohen, one of the couple’s four sons, compared the constant bustle of his childhood home in England to Grand Central Station in New York City, where he now resides.

“There were always students around,” he said. “It was like a second home to many of them.”

It wasn’t uncommon for the Cohens to prepare enough food for a Shabbat dinner for 20 guests when, without warning, 40 would show up.

“My mother would just make more salads and put up more tables,” said Cohen.

Esther Cohen started teaching and later earned a degree in counseling. In addition to assisting Fishel Cohen with his chaplaincy duties, she also serves as head of religious education at the King David School and runs her own clinic, Kadimah Counseling Service. She said that the research she conducted as part of her course work on the psychological needs of Jewish students was invaluable.

“It gave us both a very strong awareness of what students need,” she said. “There is a skill in working with them and not telling them what to do.”

Over the years, the Cohens’ programs ran the gamut of themes. In addition to their weekly Shabbat dinners and holiday events, they continue to host open houses during exam season, inviting students to drop in between study sessions for a home-cooked meal. Among their new projects is “Esther’s Café,” a group of 50 students who gather at a local Hillel House for a regular address by an educational speaker.

“We aim to create a new event every term,” said Cohen. “We’ve had camping trips. Fishel drove a mini bus filled with students to Scotland. It was a lot of fun.”

Holly Kilim, who attended Birmingham University from 2004 to 2009, met the Cohens during her third year of medical school.

“Until that point I wasn’t really involved in the Jewish scene at the university,” said Kilim, who now lives in Boston with her husband, Daniel Broniatowski. “With their warm hearts and non-judgmental attitude they both created a loving and nurturing environment for me to learn and grow, both Jewishly and personally. I will always remember Fishel coming to kosher the kitchen in my apartment, at my request, and the image of him standing there holding a blow torch to my kitchen taps.”

Kilim and her fiancé studied with the Cohens for several weeks before their wedding in London. Fishel Cohen officiated at the ceremony.

“I always thought that it was endearing, the way they referred to this time as ‘learning with us,’ rather than teaching us,” said Kilim. “I think this is a perfect example of the way they approach their work, not from the top down, but from an equal footing that they share with everyone.”

Louise Weinberg, a Birmingham student in 1995, has fond memories of all-night cooking sessions and lively holiday meals.

“I saw them open their home 24/7 to all who wanted or needed, and their home became my home,” said Weinberg, who lives in Manchester, but still maintains a close relationship with the couple. “When I recently gave birth to twins at 29 weeks, they drove through the night to be by the hospital.”

From their vantage point in the Midlands, the Cohens have witnessed Jewish life change in this corner of England. The Jewish student population, which was about 200 when they arrived, has grown to more than 2,000. To accommodate their growing needs, Fishel Cohen, who acts as a student advocate with administrations, fought to bring kosher food to Birmingham and Nottingham.

For his part, he said that he tries to visit as many students as possible in order to reach the unaffiliated. Esther Cohen, meanwhile, is a regular in the student library during midterms, distributing packages of homemade chocolate cake with “good luck” tags attached.

And they still deal with the age-old problems of homesickness and pre-exam jitters. The economy, they asserted, has only placed more pressure on students.

“It used to be that you got a degree and were fairly certain to get a job,” said Cohen. “Now even a degree from a good school doesn’t guarantee that.”

Looking to the future, she predicted that Jewish life in the area would continue to grow.

“Life is unpredictable,” she said, “but we hope to carry on and keep growing. The more we give, the more we get back. We’re so full of energy, we want to expand.”

Leeds is opening a Jewish educational centre where children can take a walk through time into a 19th century eastern European shtetl.

The Jewish Heritage Centre for Children, due to open in October, is the brainchild of Leeds Lubavitch education director Shoshana Angyalfi and her project co-ordinator Ruth Bell, who gave the Jewish Chronicle a sneak preview of the museum.

Mrs Angyalfi said: "Each house in the shetl shows a different aspect of Jewish life. We have the scribe's house where we learn about the Torah. There is a succah, and a candle store where we learn about the different uses for candles - for Shabbat, for Chanucah, for yahrzeits (memorials).

"In the family home a sewing machine is set up and a Shabbat table - to show that during the week we work and on Shabbat we rest."

The houses in the shtetl have been deliberately built crooked, the narrow streets in between them are cobbled, and the ceiling has been painted to look like sky by local painter Judith Levin. She is the project's resident artist and also created the detailed stained-glass windows of the shtetl synagogue.

In each house, a video, shot by award-winning local filmmaker Simon Marcus and featuring costumed child actors, explains the meaning of the items in the house.

Some of the furniture was donated by members of the community, and the authentic metal lanterns which light the homes were donated after Mrs Angyalfi spotted them at a Chabad convention in New York.

Mrs Bell has come up with many innovative ways to teach visitors about halachah (Jewish law). In the shtetl stable, children can stamp animal hooves into sand to see if the hooves are cloven and establish whether or not the animal is kosher.

As visitors emerge from the shtetl, they enter a modern kosher play-kitchen and a mini-supermarket. Mrs Bell said: "We want to show that we still follow the traditions and laws of the shetl, but we do it in a modern way."

The £274,000 project was made possible thanks to a grant from the
Heritage Lottery Fund.

It will open as an extension to the existing Chabad Centre on Shadwell Lane, Moortown, and will include a café and soft play area. Cookery workshops, lectures, and arts and crafts will also be run in the centre.

Although the centre will not be open every day to the general public, Mrs Angyalfi said there was a huge demand for school visits and interest from adult groups, including the Women's Institute and the Gypsy and Traveller Association.

Mrs Angyalfi added: "The Jewish community in Leeds has been very supportive of the project - the Leeds Representative Council has held a meeting here already. We really want it to be something they are proud of."

RELATED ARTICLES:

Groundbreaking in Leeds for New Childrens' Jewish Heritage Centre
A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the Leeds Chabad Centre marking the beginning of construction of a Jewish Heritage Centre for Children funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
12 November 2009
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[From thejc.com] 

Some 150 people turned out last Sunday morning at Lubavitch of Edgware to a joint celebration making the groundbreaking of centre’s new mikvah and Rabbi Leivi Sudak 50th birthday.

Supporters, friends and rabbis from all over London participated in the symbolic turning over of the soil, the mixing of cement and the laying the first stones of the new building.  Among the honoured guests were Rabbi Nachman Sudak OBE, principal of Chabad Lubavitch UK; Rabbi Shmuel Lew, head of Lubavitch Senior Girls' School and member of the directorate of Lubavitch UK; Dayan Levi Raskin; and Rabbi Yitzchok Sandler, director of Aish in Edgware.

Rabbi Leivi Sudak spoke of his joy at being able to start the building work following the granting of planning permission.

“A farmer ploughs his field, cutting open the smooth surface of his land, so that he can 'receive' the blessing of the growth of his produce,” he said.

“A groundbreaking cuts open the ground, so that it may receive the blessing of the new build. Giving charitably 'cuts open one's pocket' so that we can receive the 'provident blessing of abundance'. May all who engage in this project be blessed.”

The new mikvah replaces the one destroyed by fire last year. It will be more than double the size of the old one and available for both women and men.  Half of the costs have already been pledged and construction work is anticipated to commence after the September High Holy Day period.

All adults and children attending were invited to dig some soil and place specially selected stones into the cement.  Following the ceremony, the participants were invited to a buffet celebrating Rabbi Sudak's 50th birthday.
 

Two student rabbis from the United States - Ahron Blasberg and Yossi Amos – visited Oxfordshire for two weeks to meet unaffiliated Jews living in the area.

The two students came as part of the Merkos Shlichus programme where rabbinical students take a break from their studies to travel to farflung Jewish communities throughout the world.
 
With an influx of five million tourists a year and hordes of summer school students, the rabbinical students had the opportunity to meet people on the busiest street in the centre of Oxford, Cornmarket Street.

Rabbi Ahron said that he has ‘never been in a place where people would just walk up to you, as a Jew, with ease and engage in respectful conversation.’
 
Two students studying in Oxford for the summer had the opportunity to celebrate their Bar Mitzvah, which they had not celebrated before, with a celebration held at the Oxford Chabad Society Friday night Shabbat dinner with their friends from their summer programme.

One of the students who celebrated his Bar Mitzvah said: ‘When I told my father about it, he started to cry and was so grateful! Words cannot describe how much I appreciate what you guys did for me last week.’
 
One place they visited was Burford, ranked sixth in US business magazine Forbes magazine's list of "Europe's Most Idyllic Places To Live", where they were greeted by the Mayor of the town, David Cohen, who runs the town’s two fabric shops. We had an enjoyable conversation and parted with a warm hug, Yossi related.
 
This was the second year running that rabbinical students chose to come to Oxfordshire to visit Jewish people unaffiliated with the Jewish community.
 
Rabbi Eli Brackman, director of Chabad of Oxford, who invited the rabbinical students to visit Oxfordshire, expressed his thanks to them for coming to Oxfordshire and making such a positive difference on so many lives in such a short period. He looks forward to hosting rabbinical students again next year to build on their success.

Chabad of Buckhurst Hill celebrated 5 years of service to the wider West Essex Jewish communitywith a special Canapé Appreciation Evening for over 50 close friends and supporters.
 
Rabbi Odom and Henny Brandman, directors of the centre, which was started in Buckhurst Hill 5 years ago in the front room of their rented home, felt that this was a fitting tribute to the dedication and support of their partners who help keep the centre and all of its activities running and growing.
 
Paul Groman-Marks spoke of the success so far but more importantly, the exciting times to come as there are further plans for development as the community continues to grow.
 
Simeon Osen spoke of the unique warmth he felt the community offered where Judaism was meaningful, fun and relevant.
 
Rabbi Brandman spoke of the special friendships and supporter base they had built up, without which their holy work was not possible and sustainable. All funds are raised locally and the community supported a wide range of activities that touched many lives.
 
Presentations were made to Neil and Alison Cohen, in recognition of the countless events and kiddushim they had helped cater for the Shul, to Paul Benham-Whyte for his services to the security of the Shul and for always being happy to lend a helping hand and to Paul and Martine Groman-Marks for their constant support.

Oxford University’s Chabad Society hosted Nobel laureate Ada Yonath, who told 100 students and faculty members gathered at the Slager Jewish Student Centre of her journey from poverty to the height of her field.

Yonath, a crystallographer who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz for studies related to the structure and function of the ribosome, echoed remarks frequently cited in the press that while being Israel’s first woman to win the Nobel Prize was certainly an honor, her only goal was to conduct research.

Introduced by Rabbi Eli Brackman, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Oxford and Sir Walter Bodmer, former master of Oxford’s Hertford College, Yonath took questions from the audience centering on the applications of her work to overcoming a host of obstacles.

Of her upbringing in Jerusalem’s Meah Shearim neighborhood, Yonath, who was born in 1939, said that as an only daughter, the first 11 years of her life were her most difficult. Still, at the age of 5, a teacher suggested that she learn mathematics and science after seeing her natural inquisitiveness shine through.

She remembered that she once tried to measure the height from the floor to the ceiling in her tiny apartment. She climbed on a chair that she placed on top of a table in order to reach the ceiling, but fell and broke her arm. That was one experiment she never completed, she said, even though she returned to the flat many years later to record a documentary.

People called her a dreamer, she said, a trend that continued much later in life. She was ridiculed for 15 years while she attempted to determine the structure of ribosome, an intracellular complex of RNA and protein that synthesizes amino acids.

By the late 1970s, she said, top scientific teams around the world had already tried and failed to crystallize ribosome. Yonath and her colleagues had to try 25,000 times before they succeeded in creating the first crystals, in 1980.

Over the next 20 years, Yonath continued to improve the technique. In 2000, teams at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel – where she directs the Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly – and the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg, Germany, finally determined the complete spatial structure of both subunits of a bacterial ribosome.

At the time, Science magazine counted the achievement among the 10 most-important scientific developments of that year. The following year, Yonath’s teams revealed exactly how certain antibiotics are able to eliminate pathogenic bacteria by inhibiting ribosomal function.

Today, Yonath has turned beyond the ribosome’s basic structure to investigate how the complex’s inherent flexibility contributes to antibiotic selectivity, findings which are crucial in the development of advanced antiobiotics.

Questions and Answers

At Oxford, one of the students asked Yonath if she ever had doubts about what she was doing. She responded that she had been accustomed since her childhood to dealing with difficulties. Nothing could deter her in doing what she enjoys, she said.

In response to a question about the role of ambition, she explained that she never intended to achieve anything in particular; she merely wanted to conduct research in an area that many had tried before and failed.

When the discussion turned to whether she had ever experienced discrimination as a woman in a male-dominated profession, she replied that as she had never been a man, it would be hard to compare her experiences to anybody else’s.

Yonath’s talk came as part of a series of events scheduled for the summer term by the Oxford Chabad Society. Past speakers have included members of Parliament, diplomats and professors from around the world.

 [From chabad.org/news] 

Veteran London educator Henny Sufrin, who co-founded the Chabad-Lubavitch center in the suburb of Ilford, Essex, passed away July 15 at the age of 76. As headmaster of the city’s Lubavitch grammar school, she touched thousands of young children, while her popular adult education classes drew thousands more Londoners over the years.

Born Hena Elka Woolfson to Chanoch and Chava Mera Woolfson in 1933, Sufrin spent her childhood in Dublin, Ireland, where the country’s chief rabbi, Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jacobowitz and his wife Amilie became formative influences to the young girl. When she graduated from Wesley College, she continued her studies in the United Kingdom at Gateshead Seminary, a Jewish school for higher education, where she developed a lifelong thirst for Jewish scholarship and instruction.

In 1952, she married Rabbi Aron Dov “A.D.” Sufrin in Dublin. They spent their first few years of marriage in his hometown of Manchester, England, and Gateshead, receiving guidance from the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, through Aron Dov Sufrin’s father, Rabbi Leon Sufrin.

Among the advice the Rebbe gave the young couple was a directive to move to a part of town lacking in Jewish infrastructure so that they could run programs in addition to Aron Dov Sufrin’s daily occupation.

“I trust that both he and his bride,” the Rebbe wrote to Leon Sufrin on Oct. 31, 1952, “will not only be able to hold their own, but will be able to accomplish things in the strengthening of Judaism there. As for your apprehension that your son may not have the proper strength to carry it out, we have seen from experience that the challenge itself brings forth additional strength to cope with it.”

In the mid-1950s, the couple moved to London to assist Rabbi Bentzion Shemtov, a pioneer Chabad-Lubavitch emissary, in running the Lubavitch educational system. In London, the Sufrins were among the founders of the Lubavitch Foundation, directed the Lubavitch primary and grammar schools, and in 1960, established the local Camp Gan Israel.

For many years, Henny Sufrin served as the headmistress of the new Lubavitch Grammar Girls School, where she also taught Classical Hebrew and Biblical Texts, honing her characteristic teaching methodology of approaching her subjects with a combination of humor and direct instruction.

At the Rebbe’s behest, the Sufrins established the Ilford center in 1975, running programs for the 30,000 Jewish residents of Essex.

“They were a great team,” said community member Rosalind Shere, who continues to attend programming at the center, which is now run by Rabbi Aryeh and Devorah Sufrin. “They were quite unbelievable together.”

In Ilford, Henny Sufrin founded the local women’s Jewish burial society and bolstered Jewish education for the area’s young children through a succession of projects. She organized a Jewish religious component at the Wanstead High School and opened a Sunday teenage center under the auspices of the United Synagogue. She also became active in the Beehive Lane Synagogue, and established a series of adult education classes at formal and informal settings in the area.

Among her greatest achievements was Family and Me Education, which continues to give women opportunities to study Judaism at their own pace and according to the demands of their individual schedules. FAME drew accolades for its women’s seminary, a weekly three-hour session of intense study.

“She taught in an interesting and fun way,” remembered Shere. “She loved to learn and she loved to teach.”

“She was not only a teacher,” confirmed her son, Aryeh Sufrin. “But she was also a lifelong learner.”

A Home for Everyone

At home, Sufrin created an open and welcoming atmosphere that left guests feeling as part of the family. On Shabbat and Jewish holidays, the table was always packed.

“Everybody wants to entertain the important people,” said Shere, “bur her thing was that she also wanted to entertain the people who had nowhere else to go. Her hospitality was known everywhere.”

In a letter dated Jan. 29, 1961, the Rebbe addressed Sufrin’s deeply-entrenched will to assist the downtrodden and encouraged her to do more.

“You are quite right,” he wrote, “that one should never despair of any Jew, especially a Jew that is still young.”

Every individual “gets a second chance,” he wrote in another letter dated April 30, 1964, “to do what he may have failed to do, whether through his own fault or through the fault of circumstance. As a matter of fact, sometimes a second chance provides advantages that were lacking the first time.”

Sufrin’s grandson, Rabbi Chanoch Sufrin, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in Brisbane, Australia, said that her care for each and every individual was legendary.

“She had total self-sacrifice to make sure that anyone was welcome in her home all hours of the day and night.”

On Fridays, when yeshiva students from central London would fan out across the city to hand out Shabbat candles to Jewish women and assist Jewish men in donning the black prayer boxes known as tefillin, Sufrin insisted that they stop at her home to recharge their batteries with some food and inspirational words.

She “took such a keen interest in everyone she came in contact with,” said Sufrin’s granddaughter Chanchi Goldstein, a Chabad-Lubavitch emissary at the University of Michigan.

For young people, Sufrin worked night and day to help them find a partner to marry.

“If others saw that someone needed to find a suitable match, they would pray for her,” said Baila Hecht, Sufrin’s daughter. “She would not only pray for them, but she also arranged dozens of marriages through her many contacts.”

June Noah remembered Sufrin as “a very special, feisty lady.

She “tried to make us better people with more faith and belief in the Jewish religion,” she said.

Henny Sufrin is survived by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, many of whom work as Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in Jewish communities across the globe.

[From chabad.org/news] 

Chabad on Campus UK hosted a reception on Monday, 12 July, in Central London, for close to 200 supporters. The event took place in Chabad of Bloomsbury's brand new venue located in the heart of London.

The reception was held to pay tribute to the generosity and encouragement of the organisation's supporters, as well as to showcase the hard work of the emissaries serving students over the past academic year.

“Having this reception as the very first event in our new venue marks the expansion and growth of Chabad of Bloomsbury in particular and parallels the extraordinary growth of Chabad on Campus across the UK in general,” said Rabbi Yisroel Lew, director of Chabad of Bloomsbury, who welcomed the guests.

The hosts for the evening were David Slager, founding supporter of Chabad on Campus UK, Allan Freinkel, executive board member of the Chabad of Oxford, and Alan Lee, a supporter of Chabad of Bloomsbury. Communal philanthropist, Mendel Tajtelbaum, was the guest speaker. Reflecting on his experiences as the son of a Holocaust survivor, he spoke about the importance of teaching young people about Judaism as way to respond to the trauma of the Holocaust and to ensure Jewish continuity.

“With over twelve centres on campuses in ten cities across the UK, the audience reflects the local support that Chabad on Campus enjoys,” remarked Rabbi Eli Brackman, chairman of Chabad on Campus UK and director of Chabad of Oxford.

David Slager, the principle supporter of Chabad on Campus UK, affixed a mezuzah to the door of the new venue. He then addressed the audience speaking about his appreciation for Chabad’s work while he was a student at Oxford University.

Drawing inspiration from Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, who taught that the purpose of existence is to create a dwelling place for G-d in the physical world, Slager said: “A Chabad house seeks to bring holiness into a mundane world, and more so into the staunchly secular environment of the university campus.”

Speaking on behalf of students, David Stern, a recent graduate, thanked Slager for his generosity and support for Jewish life on campus. “I don’t know what I would have done had it not been for Chabad on Campus at Nottingham University,” he said.

In a video (click here) made especially for the event, students spoke about the positive impact Chabad on Campus has had in their lives.

Reflecting on his time spent with Rabbi Mendy and Brocha Lent at Chabad of Nottingham, Daniel Tannenbaum said: “[It is] somewhere I can go to eat or for advice; somewhere away from home that has a young, comfortable and fresh environment... It's not cliquey.”

“Not only can I go to university and learn things that are on my course, but I can go to Chabad and learn a bit about Judaism which is really good,” said Meir Kojman, a student in Edinburgh where Rabbi Pinny and Gitty Weinman run a Chabad on Campus centre.
 

Over ninety emissaries, educators, community and campus rabbis from all over the United Kingdom gathered this week to participate in the annual Chabad Lubavitch UK conference.

The event, held in the elegant surroundings of the Palm Hotel in North West London, was the largest and most successful conference to date. It was also an occasion to celebrate the 50 years since the establishment of the Chabab Lubavitch movement in the UK, when Rabbi Nachman and Mrs Sudak, arrived in London as emissaries of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of blessed memory.

"It was amazing to see the increasing number of new faces that have continued to join the team over the past few years," said Rabbi Bentzi Sudak, chief executive of Chabad Lubavitch UK.

The conference, chaired by Rabbi Pesach Efune, featured a wide range of workshops, presentations and sessions reflecting the diverse programming of Chabad institutions across the country.

Guest speaker, Rabbi Aaron Dovid Gancz, a senior teacher at the Morristown Yeshiva in New Jersey, lectured on innovative and effective approaches in education, while PR professional Shimon Cohen provided expert advice on publicity and branding, and Andrew Kaye, of chairman of Chabad Lubavitch of Bournemouth, gave a lay leader's perspective.

Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice chairman of the Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, flew in from the United States to deliver the keynote address in which he emphasised the growing success of the movement in the United Kingdom since its humble beginnings 50 years ago.

The highlight of the conference was the farbrengen (Chassidic gathering) which followed the formal proceedings. Rabbi Kotlarsky and Rabbi Ganzc led the farbrengen, creating a vibrant and inspirational atmosphere which continued until dawn.

Commenting on the event, Rabbi Zalman Lewis, who serves students in universities on the South Coast, said: "The conference sessions and the contributions by Rabbis Kotlarsky and Gancz, as well as the general atmosphere, provided me with inspiration and a real sense of unity with my colleagues."

"It has given me the nourishment I need to return to my position on campus in Brighton re-energised and with renewed enthusiasm."

After 45 hours of classes, 19 young women graduated this Sunday from the Bat Mitzva Discovery course run by Chabad of Whitefield, Manchester.

Under the guidance of Sora Jaffe and Bassie Niasoff, the Bat Miztvah students have been participating in a unique course specifically designed by women for women. Since October 2009, they have been learning about what it means to become a Jewish woman and about famous Jewish women throughout history.

At a special event held at the Hilton Suite, Prestwich, the young women shared what they have learned over the past seven months with their guest. The event concluded with a symbolic candle-lighting to honour all Jewish women throughout the generations.

“At the Bat Mitzva Discovery course it's not just about sitting and listening; it is about stimulating activities, trips, and most of all focusing on Jewish feminity,” said Charlotte Olsberg reflecting on her experience.

“Our whole family has been incorporated in this wonderful experience,” remarked the mother of one participant.

“Daughters, mothers and grandmothers have participated together in family friday night dinners at the Jaffe’s home, challa baking and a mikva tour. We will treasure these moments forever.”

The course began in 2007 with nine participants and is now going into its fifth year.

“Thank G-d, word has spread and we now accommodate 19 participants in two classes,” said Sora Jaffe, co-director of Chabad of Whitefield.

 [Photographs by Flix'n'Pix]

Two mikveh projects in Cambridge and Edgware have recently been given the green light by their respective council planning authorities.

After a lengthy period going through the planning process, Cambridge’s Chabad House was given the go ahead to convert a garage into the city’s first Jewish ritual bath.

The mikveh will  dedicated in the memory of Chaya Rochel Paley – the sister-in-law of Chabad House directors Reuven and Rochel Leigh - who passed away two years ago at the age of 26, leaving behind a husband and a one-year-old son.

In an interview with the Jewish Chronicle newspaper, Rabbi Leigh, who also serves as the Rabbi of the Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation, said that he was "ecstatic" at the news.

"The plan will be to go ahead and build it as soon as possible. The mikveh will be a significant contribution and integral to married Jewish life in Cambridge."

Barry Landy, an executive member of the Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation, told the Jewish Chronicle: "We are completely delighted and hope the building will be completed soon."

In North West London, Barnet Council granted planning permission to Edgware Lubavitch for the construction of a permanent mikveh in a brick building at the rear of the Chabad House on Hale Lane.

The mikveh replaces a wooden cabin which burned down last year. The new structure is planned to be twice the size of the former mikveh, allowing it to be used at separate times by women and men.

"This is a very significant and useful additional facility," Rabbi Leivi Sudak, director of Edgware Lubavitch, told the Jewish Chronicle.

"The lack of a mikveh that women can use has up to now been the missing link in an otherwise perfect mikveh experience in Edgware. It means that women who live closer to our part of the area will no longer need to make the walk to and from the nearest alternative, in the grounds of Edgware United Synagogue. This is a potentially risky journey for ladies on their own after nightfall."