Category: NEWS

Israel’s ambassador to the UK presents credentials to the Queen Envoy Tzipi Hotovely appeared at Buckingham Palace for ceremony delayed by the pandemic, with Her Majesty participating remotely from Windsor Castle Queen Elizabeth II appears on a screen via videolink from Windsor Castle, where she is in residence, during a virtual audience to receive Tzipi Hotovely (centre), Ambassador from the State of Israel, and Or Hay Alon (right), at Buckingham Palace, London. (Press Association) Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely has presented her credentials to the Queen during an official ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The envoy arrived alongside her husband Or Alon, as she met with the Head of State via video link to officially become the first woman in the role. The former Israeli minister was supposed to present her credentials last year after being appointed in August 2020. However, the pandemic delayed the ceremony, while the Queen, who is remaining in residence at Windsor Castle, participated in remotely. Hotovely said after the ceremony: “It is especially exciting...

The Tanach on which Isaac Herzog laid his hand during the swearing in ceremony today where he officially became the 11th President of Israel once belonged to his grandfather Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi Herzog. He carried it with him throughout the post war years during a daring spiritual mission he took through the orphanages of Europe searching for Jewish children. One day in 1946, Rabbi Herzog arrived with this Tanach at a large monastery which was known to have taken in Jewish children sent away by their parents to protect them from the Nazi terror which had ravaged Europe. Now, the time had come for the children to return home. Letters discovered by chance in the National Library archives document Yitzhak Halevi Herzog's historic mission to redeem Jewish children taken in by Christian institutions and families The Rabbi turned to the Reverend Mother, thanking her for saving the lives of the children and requesting to receive them back to the Jewish People, now that...

Helena Rubenstein First Self-Made Female Millionaire Chaya Helena Rubinstein (1872-1965) was born in the Jewish ghetto of Krakow, Poland, the oldest of eight daughters in a very religious family. Her cousin was Martin Buber. At age 16, she was arranged to be married but refused to go along with it, instead running away to Switzerland, and then Australia. Although she spoke no English, the local ladies fell in love with her fashion sense and makeup. After agreeing to sell off most of what was in her luggage, she realized she could start a business. With help from an aunt, Rubinstein found her way to the region of Coleraine, famous for its millions of sheep, which produce lanolin, the key ingredient in her creams. Rubinstein worked as a waitress by day, and experimented with her creams by night. With some help from a wealthy admirer, Rubinstein launched her business. It didn’t take long for her to open up her own shop in the heart of...

Helen Mirren to portray Golda Meir in new Yom Kippur War film The screenplay, which was written by world-renowned writer and producer Nicholas Martin, focuses on the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the challenges it presented Meir, also known as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics. Actress Helen Mirren | File photo: David Vaaknin   Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren will play the role of iconic Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in an upcoming biographical film Golda.  The movie will be directed by Oscar-winning Israeli director Guy Nattiv. Production is to begin in October.  The screenplay, which was written by world-renowned writer and producer Nicholas Martin, focuses on the 1973 Yom Kippur War and the challenges it presented Meir, also known as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics. "As someone who was born during the Yom Kippur War, I am honoured to tell this fascinating story about the first and only woman to ever lead Israel," Nattiv said. "Nicholas Martin's brilliant script dives into Golda's final chapter as the...

Polish woman who saved hundreds of Jewish children is commemorated A statue of Irena Sendler has been unveiled in Nottinghamshire June 2021 The late Irena Sendler pictured in Warsaw in February 2007. (Stach Antkowiak/AFP via Getty Images) A statue of a Polish woman who saved hundreds of Jewish children from near certain death has been unveiled in Nottinghamshire.  Irena Sendler, who died in 2008, used her job as a social worker to obtain a permit to enter into the Warsaw Ghetto and help bring Jewish children to safety. She was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo in October 1943 but managed to conceal her list of the addresses of children in hiding and the money owed to those who helped. Ms Sendler was sentenced to death but made a lucky escape after she was released by bribed officials. She continued her work but went into hiding. She was recognised as a righteous among the nations in 1965 and received a number of honours, including Poland’s Order of...

David S. Wisnia, 94, Holocaust survivor and cantor known for his deep baritone Mr. Wisnia sang for the Nazis at Auschwitz-Birkenau, his voice keeping him alive there for three years. David Wisnia spent three years at Auschwitz, where, he says, only his singing voice saved him from death.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer Wisnia was born Aug. 31, 1926, in Sochaczew, Poland, west of Warsaw. He attended the Yavneh-Tarbut Hebrew School System, learning multiple languages and gaining vocal training from renowned cantors. Wisnia sang in synagogues, theaters and on Polish radio after his family moved to Warsaw. Auschwitz survivor David S. Wisnia, who served as cantor at two area synagogues and also spoke about his wartime experiences, died June 15 at a senior facility in Langhorne. He was 94. In the beginning, in Poland, David Wisnia sang in opera houses and dreamed of stardom. In the dreaded in-between, he sang to survive, so the Nazis at Auschwitz-Birkenau wouldn’t kill him for being Jewish. And toward the...

We are delighted to announce that we are now a member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and also t0 announce, and congratulate, Michelle Morris who is our Deputy. Michelle can be contacted via the CONTACT page on this website, and your comments can also be left below.   “The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the voice of the British Jewish Community and is the first port of call for the Government, the media and others seeking to understand the Jewish community’s interests and concerns. The Board of Deputies defends Jewish communities and individuals from antisemitism, persecution and discrimination and defends religious practices. The Board of Deputies stands up for the right to quality Jewish education. The Board of Deputies supports and advocate on behalf of the State of Israel. The Board of Deputies promotes good relations between people of all faiths and none. The Board of Deputies is the only democratically elected, cross-communal representative body in the Jewish community and comprises over 300...

Reginald Levy - Airline pilot who showed great courage during his Boeing 707's hijacking in 1972, which ended in a raid by Israeli commandos at Lod airport Levy was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, but raised largely in Lancashire, where his Jewish father, Cyril, was a cinema manager. He was educated at the Liverpool Institute high school for boys and Blackpool grammar school. Reginald Levy. Photograph: Anonymous/AP Though Reginald Levy, who has died aged 88, was a former RAF bomber pilot with a distinguished second world war record, his most celebrated moment in the air came quite unexpectedly in 1972. By then, Levy was living in Slough, Berkshire, and working as a captain with the Belgian airline Sabena. His plan for his 50th birthday, on 8 May that year, was to celebrate with dinner in Tel Aviv, accompanied by his wife, Dora. On his birthday, he was flying a Boeing 707, with Dora and 89 other passengers, from Brussels to Lod airport, near Tel Aviv,...

On this day: The hijacking that would lead to Operation Entebbe Air France Flight 139 from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked on June 27, 1976, 45 years ago. Entebbe Airport, 1976 (photo credit: GPO) Air France Flight 139 from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked on June 27, 1976, 45 years ago, kicking off an infamous incident that saw the IDF storm the Entebbe Airport and rescue the hostages. The flight was hijacked after a short layover in Athens by four terrorists — two from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and two from the Bader-Meinhof gang in Germany. They forced the captain to land at Benghazi airport in Libya, then shortly after flew to Entebbe Airport in Uganda, where Ugandan soldiers and president Idi Amin supported the hijackers and help trapped the hostages. This marked the beginning of Operation Entebbe. The hijackers separated the roughly 100 Jewish and Israeli hostages from the rest of the captives; the non-Jewish passengers were freed. The hijackers demanded...