02.09.21
HERITAGE
Archives and Heritage Manager Dawn Waterman visited the Jewish Burial Ground at Cefn Coed, Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. Merthyr had a large, prosperous Jewish community dating back to the 1820s when it was a centre of iron production. Abe Sherman, of Sherman’s football pools, is buried there. The magnificent synagogue in Merthyr has fallen into disrepair but it is to be renovated and will become a heritage centre.
26.08.21
INTERFAITH
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff had a meeting with Revd Peter Cowell, Acting General Secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, and Imam Qari Asim, Chair of the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, to discuss opportunities and challenges in Christian-Muslim-Jewish relations.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg, Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff and Angelina Doherty, Eco Synagogue Project Coordinator, met the team from Friends of the Earth England, to discuss opportunities for collaboration to protect the environment, and around the COP26 Conference.
Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Chair of Eco Synagogue, joined a meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s Interfaith Liaison Committee to discuss plans for the COP26 Climate Conference.
Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff had a meeting with Amandeep Kaur from Eco Sikh, to discuss opportunities for collaboration with Eco Synagogue.
RACIAL INCLUSIVITY
Interim Chief Executive Michael Wegier and Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff had a meeting with Raymond Simonson, CEO of JW3, to discuss follow up around the Commission for Racial Inclusivity in the Jewish Community.
19.08.21
ECOSYNAGOGUE
EcoSynagogue Project Manager Andrea Passe met Anna Lawton, Campaigns and Public Affairs Officer at the Commonwealth Jewish Council to discuss possible collaboration for EcoShabbat, COP events and beyond
COMMUNITY
Regional Manager Sara Radivan met Jeremy Michelson, Deputy for Manchester Great, New and Central Synagogue to discuss further Deputy engagement and future work together.
Regional Manager Sara Radivan met Michael Rubinstein, Deputy for Whitefield Hebrew Congregation to discuss further Deputy engagement and future work together.
05.08.21
EDUCATION
Senior Vice President Gary Mond and Education Policy and Youth Engagement Officer Jake Berger met Ella Rose of the Holocaust Educational Trust, discussing Holocaust commemoration work in the community.
ARCHIVES
Archives and Heritage Manager Dawn Waterman met Raphael Knapp and Neil Marcus of the Jewish Music Institute to discuss their archives.
COMMUNITY
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Education Policy and Youth Engagement Officer Jake Berger met Rosa Shaul, Co-Chair of the HSBC Jewish Network, to discuss ongoing partnership work.
Regional Manager Sara Radivan met David Benson and Geoffrey Clements (Deputy and Chair, respectively of Birmingham Central Synagogue); Frank Maxwell, Clive Neuberg and David Gourevitch (President, Chair and Deputy respectively of Birmingham Progressive Synagogue); and Ruth Jacobs (Chair of The Representative Council of Birmingham and West Midlands Jewry) and discussed future areas of collaboration.
Regional Manager Sara Radivan met Russell Conn, Deputy for Manchester Holy Law South Broughton Synagogue and President of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and discussed future areas of collaboration.
Director of Operations Judy Silkoff chaired a meeting of the community’s HR and Operations Forum, attended by professionals from organisations across the Jewish community.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Eco Synagogue Project Manager Andrea Passe met the Eco Synagogue Rabbinic Steering Committee, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Rabbi David Mason, Rabbi Mark Goldsmith and Rabbi Tanya Sakhnovic, to discuss the Jewish community’s plans for COP26.
29.07.21
INTERFAITH
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff, met Acting General Secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, Revd Peter Colwell, to discuss current challenges and opportunities in Christian-Jewish relations.
RACIAL INCLUSIVITY
Interim Chief Executive Michael Wegier, along with Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff and Community Engagement Officer Lauren Keiles, met colleagues from the United Synagogue to discuss progress on racial inclusivity in the Jewish community, following the Commission on Racial Inclusivity’s report, published in April.
15.07.21
INTERFAITH
President Marie van der Zyl spoke at the Magen Avot-United Synagogue Conference on the persecution of the Uyghur Muslims of China, where she called on UK Government politicians and dignitaries to stay away from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in protest at Chinese genocide against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang region.
President Marie van der Zyl commented on the news that Anglican leaders plan to offer an “act of repentance” next year over antisemitic church laws passed 800 years ago. She said: “We appreciate this suggestion, particularly if planned in conjunction with the Council of Christians and Jews. This would follow in the spirit of the Church of England’s recent publication ‘God’s Unfailing Word’, and we continue to be very encouraged at all the work which has been done together in recent years in order to promote Christian-Jewish solidarity and understanding – something that our co-religionists from many centuries ago could never have dreamt would ever be achieved.”
24.06.21
INTERNATIONAL
Vice-President David Mendoza-Wolfson and Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg met Israeli Deputy of Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li and Director of Public Diplomacy Vivian Aisen at the Embassy of Israel in London, as part of a series of ongoing introductory meetings for David.
Vice-President David Mendoza-Wolfson and International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby spoke with Keith Black and Russell Langer from the Jewish Leadership Council about priorities of UK-based Israel advocacy.
International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby spoke with Andrew Srulevitch, Director, European Affairs and Assistant Director International Affairs from the Anti-Defamation League about areas of common interest such as combatting antisemitism.
Vice-President David Mendoza-Wolfson and International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby held an introductory call with the World Jewish Congress’ Executive Vice President Maram Stern, Chief Operating Officer John Malkinson, Executive Director of Operations Ernest Herzog and Andras Ligeti, European Affairs Manager at the World Jewish Congress, to discuss collaborative opportunities.
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg, International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby, Education Policy Officer Jake Berger and Public Affairs Officer Daniel Sugarman met counterparts at the Anti-Defamation League to discuss the recent surge of antisemitism on both sides of the Atlantic and respective efforts to counter the problem.
INTERFAITH
Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff joined a meeting of the Faith Communities Forum with the Home Office on the Protect Duty consultation and the Places of Worship Security Scheme.
Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff and EcoSynagogue Project Manager Andrea Passe attended the COP26 update for civil society and youth groups, hosted by the Cabinet Office.
ONLINE HATE
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Public Affairs Officer Daniel Sugarman attended a feedback session organised by Twitter to discuss additional measures which might prevent targeted abuse and harassment on the platform.
Public Affairs Officer Daniel Sugarman represented the Board of Deputies at the World Jewish Congress’s Online Hate Working Group meeting
17.06.21
ONLINE ANTISEMITISM
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Public Affairs Officer Daniel Sugarman met with the public policy team at YouTube to talk about tackling antisemitism on the platform, including in foreign languages following recent Jewish Chronicle reports.
INTERFAITH
The Board of Deputies convened a meeting for Scottish Jewish leaders with the new Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Lord Jim Wallace. Joining the meeting were Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg, Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff, SCoJeC Chair Alan Kay, Glasgow Jewish Representative Council (GJRC) President and BoD Regional Council Chair Paul Edlin and GJRC Deputy Paul Morron. The group discussed the fight against antisemitism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and opportunities for collaboration around COP26 and climate change.
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg co-chaired a meeting of the Camden Faith Leaders’ Forum. The group discussed community cohesion in light of tensions caused by the recent surge in violence between Israelis and Palestinians, and a rise in hate in the UK including antisemitic abuse on Finchley Road, of which Phil was himself a target.
ARCHIVES AND HERITAGE
Archives and Heritage Manager Dawn Waterman met Caron Sethill of the National Library of Israel to discuss working with the Board’s Hidden Treasures project.
Archives and Heritage Manager Dawn Waterman gave talks to the Seymour Group and the Out and About Group at the West London Synagogue and to the Cambridge Jewish Cultural Association about Hidden Treasures; celebrating Jewish archives in Britain. Do get in touch if you would like Dawn to give a daytime zoom talk about Hidden Treasures to your synagogue or communal group.
Archives and Heritage Manager Dawn Waterman met Wendy Prestney of the Nottingham Liberal Synagogue to discuss the synagogue’s archives. For more information on synagogue archives see the blog by Nicola Avery of the London Metropolitan Archives https://celebratingjewisharchives.org/news_feed/top-10-tips-for-synagogue-archives/
Archives and Heritage Manager Dawn Waterman met Rachel Joseph and her colleagues from Lauderdale Road Synagogue to discuss plans to celebrate 150 years of Lauderdale Road.
ECOSYNAGOGUE
Andrea Passe, EcoSynagogue Project Manager along with Rabbi David Mason, EcoSynagogue Rabbinic Team met with Helen Stephens, Church Relations Manager, A Rocha UK to discuss their Eco Church project and how we can share best practice and resources.
10.06.21
COMMUNITY
A regional Jewish Representative Councils Chairs and Presidents meeting, convened by the Board of Deputies, was held with discussions held about the rise in antisemitism in the different communities, following the recent Israel-Hamas conflict. The meeting was chaired by President Marie van der Zyl. Also in attendance, representing the Board of Deputies, were Senior Vice President Gary Mond, Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Regional Manager Sara Radivan. Attending the meeting, representing their communities were Neville Finch (Belfast), Marilyn Keen (Bournemouth), Paul Edlin (Glasgow), Simon Myerson (Leeds), Michelle Hayward (Liverpool), Russell Conn and Jeremy Michelson (Manchester), Monica Stern (Newcastle and North East), Laurence Khan (South Wales) and Ed Horwich (Jewish Small Communities Network).
The Community Engagement Team hosted the “Deputy Celebration Event” to mark the end of the last Triennium and celebrated those Deputies who are not returning for the new triennium. The celebration was hosted by President Marie van der Zyl.
A Regional Deputies Assembly was held attended by 33 regional Deputies and Honorary Officers who delivered their regional considerations. A general discussion was held on matters relating to the regional Jewish communities and the Board of Deputies.
EDUCATION
Senior Vice President Gary Mond, Deputy Sally Strauss and Education Policy and Youth Engagement Officer Jake Berger met colleagues from the Community Security Trust and Stand Up! Education to discuss the recent rise in antisemitism in schools.
Education Policy and Youth Engagement Officer Jake Berger attended a meeting of the Department for Education’s Faith School Provider Group.
The Board of Deputies partnered with With Believe in Israel, British-Israel Trade Union Dialogue and the Partnership for Jewish Schools to arrange a meeting for Jewish teachers to share their concerns about recent events in schools and unions. Education Policy and Youth Engagement Officer Jake Berger attended.
ECOSYNAGOGUE
Andrea Passe, Project Manager, EcoSynagogue met Nir Giron and Aya Ephrati from the Israeli Environmental Umbrella Organisation Sviva to discuss areas of collaboration and to learn about Israeli environmental initiatives.
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Andrea Passe, Project Manager, EcoSynagogue, along with the EcoSynagogue Steering Group met Esben Lunde Larsen and Alberto Pallecci from the World Resources Institute to learn about the development of their standardised worldwide energy audit tool.
Andrea Passe, Project Manager, EcoSynagogue met Caroline Pomeroy, Director, and Alice Corrie from Climate Stewards, an associate organisation of A Rocha, to look at ways their Carbon Footprint Measurement specifically designed for churches could be used for registered EcoSynagogue communities.
Andrea Passe, Project Manager, EcoSynagogue presented the EcoSynagogue project along with Rabbi Tanya Sakhnovich from the EcoSynagogue rabbinic team to the Liberal Jewish Community movement briefing.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Vice President Amanda Bowman and Education Policy and Youth Engagement Officer Jake Berger met the Union of Jewish Students President James Harris, President-elect Nina Freedman and Head of Campaigns Amanda Sefton for a meeting to discuss plans for the forthcoming year. We look forward to working with Nina as she takes office in the coming weeks.
MEDICAL
Vice President Amanda Bowman and Medical Adviser David Katz, along with Burial Society representatives Sidney Sinitsky and Moishe Sinitsky and Government, Regional and Religious Affairs Officer, Daniel Elton met the National Medical Examiner Dr Alan Fletcher to discuss a faith sensitive service for bereaved families. Items included release of bodies, reduction of referral to coroner, supporting coroners in speeding up release of bodies and choosing non-invasive autopsy.
GOVERNMENT
Government, Regional and Religious Affairs Officer, Daniel Elton spoke to the Cabinet Office and the office of Tulip Siddiq MP, Shadow Minister for Children, about potential restrictions on residential summer camps for youth movements.
27.05.21
POLITICAL
Vice President Amanda Bowman and Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg attended a meeting with Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport about the rise in antisemitism and the upcoming Online Safety Bill. Amanda raised concerns about recent incidents of Palestinian flags being flown at football matches, which appear to have inflamed tensions, while Phil asked that IHRA become the standard definition for antisemitism on social media.
Defence Division Vice Chair and Senior Vice President-elect Gary Mond and Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg led a delegation of Charedi communities from Stamford Hill, Northwest London, Manchester, Gateshead and Canvey Island to meet with Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Steve Reed. The group discussed the recent spike in antisemitic incidents as well as the overall situation of Charedi communities. You can read more here: https://twitter.com/boardofdeputies/status/1396869331867348994?s=21
ONLINE HATE
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Public Affairs Officer Daniel Sugarman joined a communal meeting with Twitter’s public policy and content moderation teams to talk about tackling antisemitism on the platform.
CORONAVIRUS
President Marie van der Zyl attended the official opening of the London Blossom Garden: a living memorial to Londoners who have died from Covid, where she met Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. See photos here.
HIDDEN TREASURES
Archives and Heritage Manager met Jill Hyams, archivist at the Surrey History Centre, to talk about the Board’s initiative Hidden Treasures; celebrating Jewish archives in Britain
COMMUNITY
The Manchester Community Stars was organised by the Manchester Jewish Representative Council in celebration and recognition of the many people who have brought a smile and given support during the Covid pandemic. Among those nominated was Regional Manager Sara Radivan. You can watch the event here.
Director of Operations Judy Silkoff chaired a meeting of the community’s HR Forum, attended by professionals from organisations across the Jewish community.
ECOSYNAGOGUE
Andrea Passe, Project Manager EcoSynagogue along with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg from EcoSynagogue Rabbinic Team, met Karen Lewis, Associate Director of National Programmes at the American Jewish community sustainability organisation Hazon to discuss sharing of ideas and resources.
Andrea Passe, Project Manager, EcoSynagogue met with Marketing Executive, Jasmin Aziz and Events Executive, Nelly Lewis from BNJC (Brighton & Hove Jewish Community Centre) to discuss ways of incorporating the EcoSynagogue project within their community development and future ways to collaborate.
13.05.21
INTERNATIONAL
President Marie van der Zyl, Interim CEO Michael Wegier, Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg, International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby,and Interfaith and Social Action Manager Anthony Silkoff held a range of consultation meetings with colleagues in the community, in the political sphere and in different faith groups about the escalating violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
International Relations Officer Talia Ingleby attended two sessions of the World Jewish Congress’ 16th plenary entitled ‘An Inside Look into Big Tech, Social Media & How to Fight Online Hate’, an in-depth conversation on big tech and social media: what drives them, how they function, and how they see their role in fighting online hate and antisemitism, featuring the Vice President of Integrity at Facebook, Guy Rosen. The second session brought together the newly relaunched International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians (ICJP), a global network of Jewish legislators, government ministers, and other elected officials. The forum aims to promote dialogue and collaboration between Jewish parliamentarians; to support the principles of democracy, the cause of human rights, and the rule of law; and to combat racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, terrorism, and Holocaust denial by those means available to legislators and government ministers. The ICJP strives for the creation of an enduring peace in the Middle East and works to protect the welfare of Jews and Jewish communities worldwide.
COMMUNITY
Community Engagement Officer Lauren Keiles met the Chair of the Community of Finsbury Park Synagogue to discuss future relations with The Board of Deputies.
Community Engagement Officer Lauren Keiles met with the Chair of the Community of Enfield and Winchcombe Synagogue to discuss future relations with The Board of Deputies.
Community Engagement Officer Lauren Keiles met with Rachel and Lauren from The S&P Sephardi Community to discuss future collaborations.
29.04.21
INTERFAITH
Stephen Bush, Chair of the Board of Deputies’ Commission on Racial Inclusivity in the Jewish Community, along with Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg and Commission Secretariat Anthony Silkoff met colleagues from the Church of England and Lambeth Palace, to discuss synergies in our anti-racism work, in particular the Church of England Anti-Racism Taskforce, and the Board’s Commission on Racial Inclusivity, both of which released their reports on Thursday 22nd April, Stephen Lawrence Day.
HEALTH
The Board of Deputies recently organised roundtables for Jewish religious authorities and denominations with Public Health England Director, Professor Jonathan Simpson.
Government, Regional and Religious Affairs Officer, Daniel Elton spoke at the Annual Conference of Medical Examiners, and at medical examiner training sessions.
BURIAL
The Board of Deputies organised a roundtable discussion of synagogal organisations and burial societies to discuss potential changes to financial regulation of burial societies.
COMMUNITY
A regional Jewish Representative Councils Chairs and Presidents meeting, convened by the Board of Deputies, was held. Sara Radivan, Regional Manager, delivered a report about her first 12 months in post and moving forward. Presentations were also delivered by guests Neil Martin, Chief Executive Yom Hashoah UK and JLGB, Olivia Marks-Woldman, Chief Executive Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Brian Bloom, National Chairman, AJEX who spoke about how they will keep their national projects accessible to the regions once we can meet in person again. The meeting was chaired by President Marie van der Zyl. Also in attendance, representing the Board of Deputies, was Daniel Elton, Government, Regional and Religious Affairs who delivered a Covid 19 update and Judy Silkoff, Director of Operations. Attending the meeting, representing their communities were Dennis Coppel (Belfast), Marilyn Keen (Bournemouth), Laura Gold and Anna Grantham (Hull), Susie Gordon (Leeds), David May (Leicester), Michelle Hayward (Liverpool), Russell Conn, Jacky Buchsbaum and Jeremy Michelson (Manchester), Linda Scott (Newcastle and North East), Laurence Khan (South Wales), Sarah Wilkes (Sussex) and Ed Horwich (Jewish Small Communities Network).
MEDICAL
Community Engagement Officer Lauren Keiles and Regional Manager Sara Radivan met with Esty Bruk from The Friendship Circle – Manchester to discuss future areas of collaboration.
ECOSYNAGOGUE
Andrea Passe, Project Manager EcoSynagogue met with Eleanor Chapman and Jeevun Rohilla from the Faiths Forum for London along with EcoSynagogue Rabbi Mark Goldsmith to discuss involvement in the “Where Nature Meets Faith” project, in collaboration with the Royal Parks. This event will take the form of a series of webinars exploring the intersection between religious teachings and our public duty to experience and protect nature.