Board of Deputies of British Jews
by Comunidad Judía · 16 Heshvan 5779 – 25 October, 2018
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Archbishop of Canterbury endorses Invest in Peace initiative at meeting with President of the Board of Deputies Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl this week jointly endorsed the Invest in Peace initiative – which brings together churches and synagogues across Britain to support Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding – at a meeting at Lambeth Palace. Invest in Peace events will be held in Cardiff, Birmingham, Bristol, Oxford, Bushey, Woodford and St Albans over the next two weeks.
The evenings, jointly hosted by the Board of
Deputies and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, will feature two young peace activists – one Israeli and one Palestinian – telling their stories of growing up amid the conflict; their experiences and their hopes for a future of co-existence. During their meeting, Marie thanked the Archbishop for the Church of England’s moral leadership in adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. They discussed ways to strengthen Christian-Jewish relations, and resisting antisemitism and other discrimination.
Judaism GCSE Religious Studies – The Definitive Resource. The Board of Deputies’ definitive guide for teaching Judaism in GCSE Religious Studies is available now. Judaism GCSE Religious Studies – The Definitive Resource by Clive Lawton provides an unbiased description of the diversity within the Jewish community, and highlights the issues that are of most relevance. The 140-page book is designed to be easy to use by both students and teachers. Each topic is headed by a list of key facts followed by fuller explanatory material. Vocabulary for the key facts has been carefully regulated to ensure it is easily accessible to GCSE pupils.
For more details and to order copies, click here.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair with (left to right) Board of Deputies Senior Vice President Sheila Gewolb, Chief Executive Gillian Merron and President Marie van der Zyl at an event in London to celebrate the centenary of the birth of former Israeli President Chaim Herzog ACTIVITY REPORT INTERNATIONAL Chief Executive Gillian Merron was on the judging panel at the Pitch for Hope competition – the United Kingdom portion of a global campaign to combat widespread racism, antisemitism and xenophobia in sports, launched by the World Jewish Congress and Chelsea FC. The Pitch for Hope competition called on young people aged 18-30 in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Israel to propose creative ideas for an initiative to harness the spirit of camaraderie in sports, and build bridges between people of all backgrounds, faiths and walks of life. The UK winner was Nick Spooner from Sheffield for his proposal, “Know The Score: Tackling Online Radicalisation and Offline Hate.” Senior Vice President Sheila Gewolb, Gillian Merron and International Relations Officer Marius Bischoff held discussions with Simone Rodan, Director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) based in Paris, and Julie Decroix, Director of the AJC’s Transatlantic Institute in Brussels.
Sheila Gewolb attended the Austrian National Day celebration at the residence of Austrian Ambassador Michael Zimmerman. The guest speaker was Sir Peter Bottomley MP, Chairman of the British-Austrian All-Party Parliamentary Group.
Sheila Gewolb and Education Policy and Youth Engagement Officer Jake Berger met Ralph Wein, from Stand With Us.
Public Affairs Director Phil Rosenberg attended a dinner with a delegation from the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago.
EDUCATION Phil Rosenberg, Education Development Manager Sara Perlmutter and Jake Berger met colleagues from the Catholic Education Service to discuss joint projects. Sara Perlmutter visited the Norwich Jewish community and cathedral education team to finalise details for the Jewish Living Experience exhibition which will be hosted in the region in January 2019.
Sara Perlmutter delivered a Judaism way of life session in Manchester in partnership with The Jewish Volunteer Network (JVN) as part of its Manchester programme. The session explored ways to explain the customs and practice of Judaism.
Phil Rosenberg and Jake Berger attended a reception at the Department for Education hosted by the Secretary of State and the ministerial team.
Phil Rosenberg and Jake Berger visited Yavneh College to talk to sixth formers about political engagement. They also met with Headteacher Spencer Lewis to talk about the school, integration and wider education policy issues.
The Board of Deputies has launched a scheme to support Judaism education around the country. Judaism ambassadors will offer educational presentations about Judaism as a living faith to schools, as well as in other educational settings in the non-Jewish world. If you would like to be involved in the pilot, please email jewishliving@bod.org.uk
GOVERNMENT Vice President Edwin Shuker addressed the Jewish Civil Servants Network to talk about the film Remembering Baghdad. The Board of Deputies sponsors the excellent work of the Jewish Civil Servants Network. Treasurer Stuart Macdonald and Phil Rosenberg also attended. COMMUNITY President Marie van der Zyl addressed the community at Edgware United Synagogue on Shabbat. ANTISEMITISM Phil Rosenberg met Amna Jatoi and Elliott Steinberg from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to discuss tackling antisemitism and other forms of hate crime. Copyright © 2018 Board of Deputies of British Jews, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed on our website, or because you are a deputy or designated under-35 observer of the Board of Deputies. If you would like to unsubscribe from this newsletter, please click here.