Points of Jew

Tributes to Muslim leader

Members of the British Jewish community have expressed shock and sadness at the sudden death on Tuesday of Dr Zaki Badawi, Principal of the Muslim College in London and a well respected religious leader.

As a strong supporter for interfaith dialogue between religions, Dr Badawi, who was 83, was involved in many projects involving Jewish and Muslim communities including the Three Faiths Forum and Vice President of Maimonides Foundation

"I have known Zaki for many years. There are tears in my eyes as I say that he is unique and irreplaceable. At a time when the Jewish and Muslim communities have been put at loggerheads by extremists exploiting the Middle East situation for nobody's gain, Zaki was a rock and an unfailing dialogue partner," said Rabbi Tony Bayfield, head of the Movement for Reform Judaism.

"Dr Badawi was an extraordinary man who showed courage and leadership in reaching out to other faiths and communities. The areas in which he worked and had such a great impact will be the poorer for his loss,” offers Board of Deputies president Henry Grunwald.

Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks offered: "He was a man of conscience and courage and I cherished his friendship."

Interview with Irving

He may be in prison in Austria for his denying the Holocaust, but that hasn't stopped The Observer from getting an interview with David Irving from his Vienna jail.

Top quote from the interview:

Has the German dictator become a surrogate father figure for Irving, who grew up without his father? 'I wouldn't go that far,' Irving answers warily. But what does he make of Hitler? 'He's like the curate's egg - good in parts,' comes the somewhat quaint reply. 'I'm not right-wing, you see,' he continues. 'I do enjoy reading The Guardian.'

Community divides itself again

A number of leading Jewish businessmen have resigned from their involvement with the Jewish Association for Business Ethics following the denial of the organisation to allow non-orthodox rabbis to get fully involved.

Once again, it shows how some parts of the community, are actually dividing it, rather than trying to unite it. Sure, we may have some differences, but at the end of the day, we are still all Jews.

Outside of their respective synagogues, it's important for all sections of the Jewish community to respect each other. By preaching one thing of tolerance to all, but by excluding it to your own fellow Jew, it really is pathetic.

Among those leaving the JABE are Stephen Rubin of leisure and clothing company Pentland and Dixons-founder Lord Kalms.

The Jewish Chronicle reports:

Mr Rubin told the JC that he would quit the organisation — which was founded under the patronage of Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks — after several years in the chair. Lord Kalms and Gerald Rothman announced their resignations following a trustees’ meeting on Monday.

A proposal has been under discussion for several months for a non-Orthodox rabbi to address students of the Leo Baeck College-Centre for Jewish Education — the Progressive rabbinic training institute — under Jabe’s auspices at a neutral venue.

But some Orthodox rabbis are understood to have threatened to stop working with the association if the idea was implemented.

Lord Kalms, a United Synagogue member, pointed out that “the Chief Rabbi stood on a platform of inclusivism. Once again, after many other examples, he has tossed it into the long grass.”

I'm back!!!!

Well, after a few great days in Cannes, south of France, I'm now back in the UK, catching up with everything, so normal service on Points of Jew will be resumed shortly.

Meanwhile, if you would like to contribute to Points of Jew, then get in touch. We need some more writers and voices.

Doing the Cannes, Cannes

I'm in Cannes in France at the moment with my wife and enjoying a few days of relaxing break. Hence the lack of updates.

Normal service will be resumed when we return with various updates.

But in the meanwhile, we did manage to find somewhere kosher to eat Le Dany's.  Dany not only owns the place, but tonight (Thursday), he was the chef and waiter too!

Frum Jews on the move

Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire could soon be the home to orthodox Jews who have decided it is time to move on from Stamford Hill in north London.

Buying a Challah on a Friday and bagels on a Sunday morning could soon become reality.

Ynetnews reports (via Reuters):

One of Europe's largest Orthodox communities needs new homes for its young families because of a shortage of affordable housing in London, and they have set their sights on a 1960s purpose-built city -  Milton Keynes a city 80 km (50 miles).

Ultra-Orthodox Jews, known in Hebrew as "haredim," have lived in Stamford Hill since World War II. Now, there are around 20,000 haredim in the neighborhood in northeast London.

"(Stamford Hill) is bulging at the seams," said Jose Martin, who lives in Stamford Hill and worked as a liaison officer for the haredi community with the Hackney local council.

The plans are still in the very early stages: The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations has expressed interest in buying land for 300 family homes on a site in Milton Keynes.

The Union, which represents the haredim, will be able to make a formal planning application once the master plan for the Tattenhoe Park site - which will include several residential developments - is approved by city authorities.

"It very much depends on what the planning authorities will say. We are in their hands," said Shimon Cohen, a spokesman for the haredi community group behind the Milton Keynes project.

Stamford Hill's haredim now have a year to raise the money for the construction of the new homes. Some of the houses will be put on sale, while others will be rented out.

The end is nigh for 2nd Ave Deli

Speculation is mounting that New York's 2nd Avenue Deli may not reopen again following a dispute between its owner and the property company the owns the building.

Jewschool reports (via the New York Times):

The Second Avenue Deli has survived turbulence and tragedy in its 51 years. The decline of the Jewish enclave on the Lower East Side did not kill it. The broad-daylight murder of its beloved founder, Abe Lebewohl, in a robbery in 1996 shut it down but briefly. Dietary fashion campaigns against artery-clogging fare like brick-thick pastrami sandwiches and fat-saturated potato latkes seemed only to make the lines of defiant fans longer.

The Second Avenue Deli at Tenth Street, which has been a gastronomical and cultural fixture on the Lower East Side for half a century, may go out of business.

But the deli seems to have met its match in that implacable beast, the real estate market.

On Sunday, facing a $9,000 increase in his $24,000-a-month base rent, the deli’s owner, Jack Lebewohl, Abe’s brother, pulled down the grates on the glimmering restaurant at East 10th Street and Second Avenue. The closing was described as temporary, but Mr. Lebewohl said yesterday that the next time the place opens it might very well be to clear out.

The rent increase is actually built into the lease that Mr. Lebewohl negotiated with the previous owners 15 years ago. The new owners have volunteered to come down $3,000 in the new rent, but no further.

“If I don’t get this resolved in x number of days,” Mr. Lebewohl said, “I’ll vacate.” He declined to say what “x” equaled but implied that it was a one-digit number. “Less than weeks,” he said.

And so the mourning has begun.

So how was the conversion for you?

The Jewish Chronicle is reporting about a survey taking place by the Reform movement into people who have converted.

In 50 years, the Movement for Reform Judaism has converted 5000 people but to date has not really followed up what the experience was like.

The JC writes:

Rabbi Jackie Tabick of North-West Surrey Reform will be asking converts to complete a questionnaire formulated in conjunction with City University.

More than 5,000 people have converted through the Reform Beit Din in the last 50 years. This is the first time the Movement for Reform Judaism — formerly RSGB — has conducted research among converts, both those who are still members of Reform synagogues and those who have left Jewish communal life. The research will be incorporated into the movement’s 15-year plan, its “2020 Vision” programme.

“It is the only way we can learn how to improve the conversion process and also how we can make people feel more included in our communities after they have chosen to become Jewish,” she said.

Sharon suffers another stroke

Ynetnews is reporting:

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is suffering from a massive brain hemorrhage and is undergoing major surgery, Hadassah Ein Kerem Deputy Director Shmuel Shapira announced Wednesday night.

Full ongoing coverage at Ynetnews.