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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."