Communities, charities and volunteers from Essex, and all around the UK, were honoured at the Annual Mitzvah Day Awards. Those recognised included Jewish Blind & Disabled’s tenants (some of who are pictured at the top and bottom of this article), spearheaded by two passionate volunteers living in Milne Court in South Woodford. For the last few years, JBD tenants have donated non-perishable food items for GIFT, toiletries for a local centre for asylum seekers and refugees, pre-loved books for Langdon’s online library and knitted twiddle muffs for patients with dementia. This year, JBD asked ..read more

Alan Katz – a resident of Jewish Care’s Vi & John Ruben’s House – was invited to Buckingham Palace to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Armistice of the Korean War. The 92-year-old attended the event with his son Phil (pictured above). Alan was born in Whitechapel in 1932 and conscripted into the army on 24th August 1950, where he was posted to Korea for two years. During that time, he served as the battalion barber for the Gloucestershire Army regiment in the and later went on to train as a hairdresser under the watchful eye of Adoph Cohen, who also taught Vidal Sassoon. The Royal R ..read more

Steve Klein – a member of Chabad Epping – represented Buckhurst Hill Bowls Club in making the final of a 64-team competition at Potters, the home of the World Bowls Championships. The tournament was played on championship rinks with Steve’s team of four winning seven games, out of seven, to make the final. The team then lost in a close fought contest to the winners Oyster Bowls Club of Whitstable. Other Chabad members playing in the tournament including Malcolm Rothstein and Ellard Swillman. Malcolm, who is Competitions Secretary for Buckhurst Hill, said: “It was a great week away wi ..read more

Eight children from Clore Tikva School got through to the semi-finals of the BBC’s 500 Words competition – with Yasmin Block (pictured) then making the final at Buckingham Palace and a place in the top 25. The UK’s largest children’s writing competition, more than 44,000 kids aged 5-11 took part in 500 words – including many from Clore Tikva and other Essex schools. Head Margot Buller said: “We at Clore Tikva are proud of the journey we have taken as a Storytelling School. Teaching writing through storytelling involves processes which are engaging, dynamic and creative. By developing the skill ..read more

Loughton Synagogue transformed into a jazz club for the night when it hosted Jeremy Sassoon and his Musicians of Jewish Origin concert. The concert had been organised and sponsored by Deborah Shulton, in memory of her late father Ken Turner. In Deborah’s welcome speech she explained that Ken was a big fan of Jeremy’s, after hearing his version of the beautiful Marc Cohn song The Things We’ve Handed Down when it was featured on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. Ken, together with Deborah and his elder daughter Tracy, subsequently went to a number of Jeremy’s concerts and became one of his bigg ..read more

Work Avenue raised more than £1million in 36 hours to support its work transforming the lives of members of the community who are unemployed, struggling with their career or experiencing issues with their business. Its Charity Extra campaign was backed by an incredible 2,583 donors and far exceeded an initial target of £750,000. Donations ranged from £5 to £30,000, as the whole community came together in a show of support. The money will be used so that Work Avenue can continue to provide information, advice, guidance, courses and one-to-one support – helpin ..read more

Two well-attended fundraising events have been held at Southend and District Reform Synagogue in aid of Israeli charities. The first was an afternoon tea and talk, which raised £672 for Magen David Adom – Israel’s National Blood and Medical Emergency Service. The speaker was Angela Cohen (pictured), the mother of TV star Rob Rinder. She opened by telling of her upbringing and life before speaking movingly of her father, the Holocaust and his experiences as a Windermere boy. This was followed by a question and answer session, during which she also spoke of her son Rob and his charity and telev ..read more

BBC Radio Essex has covered our campaign to raise £10,000 to keep the Essex Jewish News paper and website going for another five years. EJN editor Simon Rothstein was interviewed by the BBC’s Ben Fryer on one of the station’s flagship shows. In the chat, Simon told him: “Our paper gives people upbeat and positive news about what is happening in the Jewish community in Essex. “It tells you about the achievements of our local synagogues, schools and people – covering all parts of Essex and all denominations of Judaism. It really focuses on all the wonderful things happening in Essex. Speaking a ..read more

Oaks Lane Reform Synagogue unveiled a portrait of Rabbi Dr Jackie Tabick – Britain’s first ever woman rabbi – at a special Shabbat service to celebrate almost 50 years since her ordination. Rabbi Jackie grew up in the community when it was known as South West Essex & Settlement Reform Synagogue, under the leadership of the late Rabbi Dow Murmur, and it was there that she first became a Jewish youth leader. She made history when graduating from Leo Baeck College in 1975, at the age of 27, being ordained as the UK’s first female rabbi and going on to lead communities including West London S ..read more

Among those celebrating the recent rescue of two Israeli hostages in Gaza were members of Southend and District Reform Synagogue (SDRS), as Louis Har – who they ‘adopted’ as part of a Board of Deputies scheme – was freed. Southend is one of around 50 communities and organisations signed up to the Board’s ‘Adopt a Hostage’ campaign. They had been reserving a space for Louis in their sanctuary, by placing his photograph on a seat, and included him in the Shabbat prayers led by Rabbi Warren Elf. SDRS Warden Sue Lowey explained: “We wanted to keep people aware of the hostages still in Gaza and we ..read more