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UK News

The latest news stories about Chabad Lubavitch from around the UK.

Synagogue Members Run 10k in Aid of Special Needs

funrun.jpgFour members of the Lubavitch Beis Gavriel synagogue in Hendon, North West London, have raised over £4,000 in the annual Maccabi Community Fund Run held last weekend.

The money raised will be split between the synagogue and Kisharon, which provides the Jewish community with support for hundreds of people with learning difficulties. Raising the money for Kisharon is of special significance to the members of Beis Gavriel since their congregation is housed in the organisation's Adult Services centre on Parson’s Street, Hendon.

The runners, David Abramson, Mendy Freundlich, Yaakov Potash and David Jason, had been in training since Passover and were each sponsored to run 10km (6.2 miles) at the run held in the grounds of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School.

“None of us had done anything like this before,” said David Abramson, a founding member of Beis Gavriel. “We are really proud to have managed to keep up the training and successfully run 10km in about one and half hours.”

“We are really happy to give something back to the school which houses our synagogue. The money will improve facilities and will help the student’s with their needs.”

Rabbi Menachem Junik, the synagogue's rabbi and director of the Jewish Home Network, praised the runners for their altruism and dedication.

“I’m incredibly proud of them for working so hard,” he said.

“It is wonderful that our members spent the time to train, run and fundraise. It wasn't just for the benefit of our synagogue, but also for the benefit of Kisharon. We feel a special connection with the charity as it is the home for our synagogue and, more importantly, it provides such a vital service in our community.”

Beis Gavriel synagogue is named in the memory of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg who were murdered in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attrocities which claimed the lives of 173 people.


 

Large Crowds Flock to Chabad Centres for Shavuot

ice-cream-cone.jpgHundreds packed Chabad centres up and down the country to enjoy Shavuot last week.

The festival, which commemorates the bringing of the first fruit in Temple times and the giving of the Torah some 3,322 years ago at Mount Sinai, is marked in our today with late-night Torah learning, dairy feasts and reading the Ten Commandments.

In Manchester, the Shavuot celebrations at L'Chaim-Chabad Lubavitch focused on bringing the beauty and joy of the festival to as many Jewish people as possible. Over 45 volunteers spread across the city to participating synagogues where they ran Shavuot Ice-Cream Parties for children in whose merit, according to the tradition, the Torah was given to Jewish people.

"Children had the chance to hear the Ten Commandments and to learn about the significance of Shavuot and its connection to Jewish children," said Rabbi Yisroel Cohen, director of L’Chaim Outreach.

"Our dedicated volunteers made sure every child felt included and enjoyed the event."

In Central London, close to 200 students and young professionals attended events organised by Chabad of Bloomsbury. Over 60 people attend the first festive evening meal, with 25 staying on until the early hours for a special class and discussion. During the day, some 70 people attended a special late reading of the Ten Commandments followed by a lively dairy buffet at Western Marble Arch Synagogue.

Centres in Bournemouth, Liverpool, Buckhurst Hill and Radlett attracted community members with special services for the reading of the Ten Commandments as well as ice-cream parties and dairy buffets.

To attract people who may not have gone to synagogue in the morning, Chabad of Radlett held a special a special reading of the Ten Commandments at 5:30pm which attracted some 70 people. In Liverpool, Rabbi Avremi and Golda Kievman hosted over 70 children and their parents who came to hear the Ten Commandments and enjoy a delicious ice-cream kiddush.

Despite the pressure of exams, hundreds of students took part in events organised by Chabad on Campus centres around the country.

"During busy exam period we decided to focus on making shavuot quick and easy," says Rabbi Mendy Lent, who serves Jewish students in Nottingham. "We held a special reading of the Ten Commandments for 40 students on the first day."

At Chabad centres in Oxford, Bloomsbury and South Kensington, students stayed up until the early hours for all-night Torah learning sessions on subjects ranging from reincarnation to genetic engineering.

In Leeds, over 60 students enjoyed the hot weather with a Shavuot Garden Party and a special reading of the Ten Commandments in the Leeds Student Chabad House.
 

 

Lady Jakobovits Passes Away at 81

ladyj1.jpgLady Amélie Jakobovits, widow of the late British Chief Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, passed away on Friday after a short illness at the age of 81.

Known affectionately by the Anglo-Jewish community simply as “Lady J,” she was eulogized by the current British Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, as “an extraordinarily vivid figure of seemingly inexhaustible energy and effervescence.”

Born in Ansbach, Germany, the daughter of Rabbi Elie Munk, she survived the Holocaust by escaping to Paris in 1937 and then to Switzerland. It was there that she met Immanuel Jakobovits, shortly before he became Chief Rabbi of Ireland. He later went on to become the rabbi of New York’s Fifth Avenue Synagogue, a position he held until 1966 when he was called to the Chief Rabbinate of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth.

An indefatigable community activist and considered a learned woman in her own right, Lady Jakobovits founded the Association of United Synagogue Women, and was a patron and supporter of Emunah, Jewish Care, the Chai Cancer Care and WIZO-Women’s International Zionist’s Organization, as well as other many other causes.

As recently as the end of February this year, Lady Jakobovits visited the new state-of-the-art Lubavitch Children’s Centre in Stamford Hill, as well as being guest of honour at the Lubavitch Girls’ School’s Geography Fair.

scan1.jpgShe was no-stranger to Lubavitch House, the British HQ of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, being invited in 1968 as the guest of honour with her husband to consecrate the then newly-built centre. She is pictured (right) presenting prizes at the first Ideal Kosher Home Exhibition, held at Lubavitch House in 1978.

As a passionate advocate the Jewish laws concerning family purity, she was an ardent supporter of the Lubavitch mission to build mikvaot in Jewish communities throughout the United Kingdom and abroad.

“It meant a great deal to us that she contacted us personally to offer encouragement, blessings and support for our project to build a mikva in Oxford,” says Freidy Brackman, co-director of Chabad of Oxford.

Paying tribute to Lady Jakobovitz, Rabbi Bentzi Sudak, chief executive of Chabad Lubavitch UK, said:

"We were very sad to hear the passing of such a wonderful lady.”

“We will cherish the memory of her very recent visit when her encouragement and warmth towards all the children and parents she met were an inspiration.”

“She was a true eshet chayil (woman of valour) who we will sadly miss but her influence will remain with us for a lifetime.”

Rabbi Yitzhak Schochet of Mill Hill synagogue said: " She was a larger-than-life figure, widely known and loved. We will miss her deeply...  She was first on the phone with warm wishes whether in good or difficult times. I have letters sent on the occasion of Mazal Tovs. She even called me a little while back just to congratulate me after a TV interview. Such was her character. Always attuned, always aware, always there.”

‘Lady J’ and the Rebbe

My Encounter with the Rebbe, an oral history project established in 1998 to document the unknown and untold stories of the Lubavitcher Rebbe's life, was due to interview Lady Jakobovits the very day she was taken ill.

“We had an interview scheduled for Tuesday, May 4th”, explains the Rabbi Yechiel Cagen, My Encounter with the Rebbe producer. 

“The camera crew was packed up and en route, the questions were written, and the interviewer ready to roll. Early that morning her daughter, Shoshana Turner, called us in New York saying that her mother wasn’t feeling well, and that the interview would have to postponed for a couple of days... Two days later, on Friday morning, we heard the news that Lady J. had passed away.”

Although Lady Jakobovits passed away before she was able to give her account of her relationship with the Rebbe, she had given a number of details prior to the interview.

“What she did tell us, on several occasions,” says Rabbi Cagen, “was that she remembers the Rebbe visiting her father on Friday nights, and the two would spend hours discussing Torah.”
 

In addition to those memories, they had planned to discuss with her the Rebbe’s correspondence with her late husband.

“Their interactions covered many issues, including matters concerning the London Jewish community, and issues related to Israel’s security,” explains Rabbi Cagen.

“On several occasions, Lord Jakobovits met with the Rebbe in person in a private audience. Lady Jakobovits visited with the Rebbe several times, as well. Interestingly, she would ask to meet with the Rebbe by herself, without her husband.”
 

New JLI Course Attracts Capacity Crowd in Leeds

Iyar 133 - Copy.jpgA capacity crowd of over 40 people filled Leeds Lubavitch Centre for the start of the new Jewish Learning Institute course, Beyond Never Again.

The first session, entitled 'Struggling with G-d,' looked at faith after the Holocaust, asking how G-d could have allowed it to occur.

Arek Hersh MBE, an Auschwitz survivor and veteran of Israel's War of Independence, opened the course and answered questions about his experiences and beliefs.

Rabbi Eli Pink, education director of Leeds Lubavitch Centre, challenged delegates to reason how and why an omnipotent, omniscient and 'omni-benevolent' G-d could allow the Holocaust to happen.
 
"This was the best JLI session yet," enthused one regular JLI attendee. "The atmosphere in the room was electric."

 Iyar 129.jpg

 

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