By Simon Rothstein Jewish Care’s new Redbridge development has been given a huge boost thanks to generous donations from Lord Alan Sugar and his family, together with the Ronson family via The Gerald and Gail Ronson Family Foundation. Described as ‘game-changing’ by the charity, the pledges will help to fund the exciting new Jewish Care Redbridge Care and Community Campus development. Due to open in the summer of 2025, subject to planning permission, the campus will be situated on the current Redbridge Jewish Community Centre (RJCC) site, previously known as Sinclair House. It will be comprise ..read more

The Board of Management at Ilford Federation Synagogue are delighted to announce that their long-standing member and Honorary Life Vice President of The Ladies Guild, Mrs Rita Newmark has been awarded The JVN Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Jewish Care Award ceremony.   The shul’s community are so very proud of Rita and we all wish her a huge Mazeltov and congratulate her on being recognised for all her hard and dedicated voluntary work over many years. Mrs Rita Newmark The post Rita Newmark’s lifetime achievement award  appeared first on Essex Je ..read more

Ilford Federation held their Annual Melava Malka which took place on the 21 Jan for the first time in three years, due to the Covid pandemic.   Hosted by Rabbi David and Rebbetzin Judy Singer who welcomed back their predecessors, Rabbi Alex and Rebbetzin Eva Chapper who had spent 14 years at the former Coventry Road/current Clarence Avenue Federation shul.   Introduced by Chairman Melvyn Zeff, Rabbi Chapper, recounted his time in Ilford, as a happy and rewarding period in his life as well as “learning his trade” before talking about his position as a magistrate. His observa ..read more

By Manny Robinson ANY time you’re Wanstead way, any evening any day, you’ll find Doreen Golding doing the Wanstead walk, oi! That’s because the 82-year-old great grandmother is Pearly Queen of Old Kent Road and Bow Bells… and as far as she is aware, the only Jewish Pearly Queen in the country. Doreen, who says that the Pearly Kings and Queens are the original Cockney Londoners, has devoted her life to helping others and was awarded the British Empire Medal some years ago for her tireless charity work. She received a total of six nominations for her BEM, which was awarded during the late Queen ..read more

By Micaela BLITZ IN NOVEMBER, Chigwell and Hainault United Synagogue hosted a unique film screening with almost 140 people being able to journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp without even leaving their seats. The Triumph of Spirit is a gripping, powerful documentary created using VR (virtual reality) technology giving viewers an immersive 360-degree experience inside the camp. The hour-long film which was produced by three Israeli-based ultra-Orthodox women and narrated by world-renowned speaker and historian, Israel Goldwasser, shows the power of the human spirit and its ability to ..read more

THE impact of world events on the cost of living is affecting everyone, everywhere, and Jewish Care is no exception. Electricity costs alone have increased by 125%, and the charity’s energy use over the last year is an additional £1 million. Jewish Care’s services are vital to older people in the Redbridge and Southend community, and its staff and volunteers provide care and warmth every day. Many older people will come to Jewish Care’s community centres this winter, not just for the stimulating activities and the warmth that comes from sharing the company of others, but also for the warm buil ..read more

Part of the film showed at the event, held at StoneX, was filmed at Aztec House in Ilford and featured a range of tenants living there. Guests also heard first-hand from two JBD tenants, Diana and Gary, who were in conversation with TV star Rob Rinder. Diana and her husband Steve moved into their Jewish Blind & Disabled flat 15 years ago after both being diagnosed with hereditary conditions. Diana said: “We went from a normal working family of four to a family where three of us were too ill to work and Steve was caring for all of us, so had to stop working too. In 2000, I ended up in hospi ..read more

IN the mere three months since Rabbi Rafi Goodwin was appointed senior rabbi at Chigwell and Hainault Synagogue, exciting plans for 2023 and beyond are already taking shape. Included are a multi-million pound building and renovation project that aims to bring more families into the synagogue more often. In an exclusive interview, Rabbi Rafi told the Essex Jewish News: “Our existing building is old and dilapidated, the heating and lighting don’t work properly and we need to make this a warm, welcoming place where all can feel at home.” In six years as assistant to Rabbi Baruch Davis, Rabbi Rafi ..read more

LEYTONSTONE and Wanstead Synagogue (LAWS) are delighted to be organising a Leytonstone Menorah street party and candle lighting on Sunday 18 December at 5:30pm. Free latkes, doughnuts and hot chocolate will be served as Leytonstone rocks to foot-tapping live Klezmer music and the Mayor of Waltham Forest lights the first Chanukah candle. All are welcome at the event, which will take place just opposite Leytonstone underground station at the junction of Fillebrook Road and Grove Green Road. The Leytonstone Menorah was made using funds granted by Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture 2019 and ..read more

By Laurie Rosenberg LAST September I was at the stone-setting for my brother. As well as giving us a sense of closure, it also provided an indelible link in the chain of tradition that spans over 3,000 years.  We are taught that the soul is brought into Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) at a stone-setting. It’s a metaphor for permanence. A stone is immovable, enduring, and constant – traditionally we don’t often see flowers on Jewish graves since they will simply fade away and disappear, and so that’s why we have a tradition of placing stones on the grave. The Holocaust took away lives – six ..read more