Author: Glen Berd

Time capsule from 1873 goes on display but remains unopened Builders discovered the 150-year-old glass container at the Manchester Jewish Museum during renovation work.   The time capsule has gone on display for the first time A glass time capsule from 1873 has gone on display for the first time at the Manchester Jewish Museum, but its contents remain a mystery. Last year, construction began to add a multi-million pound extension to the museum, alongside a renovation of their Grade II*-listed Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. During the work, builders stumbled upon the time capsule, which had been buried deep in a wall cavity near to the synagogue’s Ark, dated to the building’s foundation in 1873. Read more about the discovery here The wax-sealed capsule, which is filled with papers, coins, and synagogue documents, is now on display in the window of the museum’s new Collection Store. Officials at the museum say they are working with paper conservators to safely open the capsule next year. The discovery of the time capsule The museum’s...

The Marranos of Mashhad: The Story of a Jewish Community That Led a Double Life for 120 Years By Ushi Derman While riding in a taxi for many long hours, en route from Russia to his city of birth, Benjamin Zar dropped the bombshell: “When we get to Mashhad,” he told Sarah, the woman he recently got engaged to, “my mother will give you a pendant that you have to wear. Otherwise, our lives will be in danger.” That episode took place in the 1920’s. A few months earlier, Benjamin’s father, a fur trader from Mashhad, Iran whose name was Yaakov Zar, was hosted by the Jewish community in the Russian city of Mur (which can no longer be found on the map) where he had come on business. After Friday night services, Yaakov spotted an attractive girl named Sarah and decided to ask for her hand for his son, Benjamin. The Fatima pendant, Mashhad, Iran, 1920s (courtesy of Benjamin Zar-Davidov. ANU – Museum of...

A young man named Avraham ("Avrumel") Greenbaum lost his entire family in the Holocaust. After the war, he came to America and wanted nothing to do with Judaism. He changed his name to Aaron Green, moved to Alabama and married a woman there, who, miraculously, was Jewish. The day his oldest son Jeffrey turned thirteen, they were not going to celebrate his bar mitzvah. Instead, Aaron decided to recognize the day by taking Jeffrey to the mall and buying him anything he wanted there. When they went into a big electronics store and were browsing, Jeffrey's eye caught something in an antique shop across the way. He was mesmerized. He couldn't take his eyes off what he had seen. He told his father, "I don't want anything from the electronics store. I want to go across to the antique shop." When they got there, the boy pointed to an old menorah and said, "That's what I want for my bar-mitzvah." His father couldn't believe...

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov: The Inextinguishable Fire by Peter Beyfus Most Jews do not go in for saints, sages, cults or even rabbis; we are not that keen on displaying reverence to fellow mortals. In some respects this healthy scepticism about assumed importance is a good thing, promoting free-thinking, but on the other hand it can lead to a closed mind and therefore a loss of opportunity to share experiences and the insights of others. But, occasionally, one encounters, either in reading or in person, an individual who makes a lasting impression; this could be an outstanding scholar or a person of enormous moral authority. One such man, in my opinion, stands out as worthy of our admiration, and that is the mystic, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.   He was born in 1772, was the founder of the Breslov Hasidic Movement, a revivalist sect that engendered hope and excitement at the prospect of the Messianic Age; a counter to despair and persecution that was...

Superman: A Jewish hero?  by Peter Beyfus The BBC has launched a new programme  entitled ‘Superman and Lois’. Unlike the usual plot where the “man of steel” confronts the evil doers of the Universe, this series, along with doing battle to save us from danger, sees Clark Kent and Lois happily married with two sons, one of whom, Jordan has inherited his father’s powers. It is surprising Superman is still so popular and perhaps there is a deeper, underlying reason for this, a theme I will explore in this article. January 16 2022 marks an anniversary, one that is unlikely to be celebrated by the majority of people, for eighty-three years ago the fictional character Superman appeared in a daily comic strip in 1939 and continued to do so until May 1966. At its peak, the strip was in over 300 daily newspapers and 90 Sunday papers, with a readership of over 20 million. The first actor to play Superman was Kirk Alyn, who...

Prime Minister honours teen who co-wrote great-grandmother’s Auschwitz memoir 'This is the signal for me and Lily to keep going, and to spread Lily’s messages and Holocaust testimony even further', said Dov Forman, 17 By JEWISH NEWS REPORTER    Prime Minister, Boris Johnson meets Holocaust survivor, Lily Ebert while hosting a Chanukah reception with the Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid . ( Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street) A teenage author who co-wrote his Auschwitz-surviving great-grandmother’s memoir has been honoured by the Prime Minister. Dov Forman, 17, was awarded the Points of Light Award by Boris Johnson at Downing Street during a Chanukah reception this week. The great-grandson of Lily Ebert, 97, has used social media during the pandemic to share her story, with a million followers on TikTok and thousands on Twitter. When the nonagenarian contracted coronavirus last year, Forman became determined to record her story, co-writing ‘Lily’s Promise’ when she recovered. The book is now a Sunday Times Best Seller...