The Edf nburgh Star

Journal of the Edinburgh Jewish Community

February 1999 No.32 Adar 5759

20 0 The Edinburgh Star Contents CHAMBERS 4 SALISBURY ROAD EDITORIAL ...... 2 EDINBURGH EH16 SAB COMMU ITY

Editor: Freda Riffkin Reports ...... 3 Michael Adler Other Reports - Carol Levstein, Freda Riffkin, Myrna Kaplan and Janet Mundy ...... 4 Editorial Board: John Cosgrove (Chairman) PEOPLE Mickey Cowen (Hon. Treasurer) Profile of Anita and David Mendelssohn - Ian Shein ...... 8 Myrna Kaplan Eve Oppenheim Star Trek into the Past ...... 10 Freda Riffkin Elaine Samuel (bookreviews) ARTICLES Ian Shein What does it mean to be Jewish? - Hazel Cosgrove, Ellen Galford, ....11 Mark Sischy Malcolm Rifkind and Bill Simpson Life with the Cambergs - Samuel Robin Spark...... 13 Visual Arts: On Heshel's Kingdom - Dan Jacobson ...... 17 Judy Gilbert Tony Gilbert A Letter from Israel - Edwin Hoffenberg ...... 19

Advertisements: THEATRE REVIEW Michael Wittenberg Yosef Bar-Yosef's 'Difficult People' at the TraverseTheatre, Tel: 0131-668 3331 reviewed by Yvonne Berger ...... 21 Typesetting,page origination and printing: BOOK REVIEWS Meigle Printers Ltd., Isaac Bashevis Singer's 'Shadows on the Hudson', Tweed bank , reviewed by Ros Abramsky ...... 22 Galashiels, TDl 3RS Binjamin Wilkomirski' s 'Frag ments : memories of a Childhood, 1939-1948', reviewed by Tammy Fransman ...... 23

Front Cover: David Sedley IN MEMORIAM opening one of the windows, Julie Burton, Rabbi Eli Cashdan ...... 25 depicting King David playing the harp, on the Countdown Calendar LETTERS TO THE EDITOR in the new National Museum of Rose Orgel...... 26 in Chambers Street. COMING EVENTS ...... Back Cover

The Editorial Boardwish to thank the advertisersand the following for their support:

Miss S. Baker Ms R. Gronowski Mr and Mrs B. Landy I Dr and Mrs N. Oppenheim Mr and Mrs L. Bennie Dr E. Hoffenberg(Israel) Mr and Mrs D. Litman ,\fr and Mrs D. Paul Mr and Mrs W Caplan Mrs I. Hoyles Dr and Mrs M. Leuner ,\Ir A Rabinowitz Mr and Mrs G. Glass Mrs H. Hyman Mr and Mrs D. Mendelssolz11 ~Irs F. Wollmerstedt

The Boardwould also like to thank Mr & Mrs Harold Mendelssohnfor kindly defraying the cost of sending I1ze Edi11b11r<'lztar o,:erseas.

1 Editorial

short visit to hospital, for a non life-threatening condition, can, as I recently found out, be a very uplifting experience . In a somewhat perverse way, I can almost say I enjoyed it. I was enormously impressed by the care A and concern of the medical, nursing and ancillary staff, who, in their different ways, could not do enough to deal with my presenting problem, to reassure me and make me comfortable. I was also quite overwhelmed by the kindness and concern of my family and friends who visited me, wrote to me and expressed their concern for me in myriads of ways, and by colleagues and who were only too willing to cover for me and help me out. And, to judge from the experiences of others, for example the message from Willie and Betty Caplan and the letter from Rose Orgel in this issue of The Edinburgh Star, my experiences are in no way unique.

While I was in hospital, I met and spoke to so many people whom I would not normally have had the opportunity to meet - the school janitor from Duns who was waiting for a by-pass operation, the widow from Newtown St Boswells who had lost two of her 10 children in a whirlpool in the Tweed, the chef from Edinburgh who had temporarily lost his sight after a stroke and had then had several thromboses in his leg. With all of them I was able, if only temporarily, to establish a relationship based on mutual understanding and sympathy. And then, as if to remind me of my Jewish identity, there was the consultant who regaled me, and the other staff members in the investigation room, with stories about his Uncle Schmuley in St Petersburg, his Uncle Izzy in Israel and his other uncle (I didn't catch his name) in Boston, Mass.

The contrast between this co-operative way of life and the tension and turmoil of events in the outside world was very striking. Lying in bed, I read in the newspaper and listened on the radio to reports of the death of King Hussein, the Senate 's acquittal of President Clinton on impeachment charges, the events surrounding the arrest of the Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan, and the controversy over genetically modified food. As usual , there were several items of Jewish interest - the visit by the judge and jury to the forest in Belarus where Anthony Sawoniuk is accused (under the 1991 War Crimes Act) of shooting at least 20 unnamed Jewish women in September 1942, the demonstration by 200,000 ultra-Orthodox in and the counter-demonstration by an unspecified number of secular Jews reflecting the long-running conflict which divides Israel as never before, and the controversy over allegations that actors had been paid to appear as guests on the Vanessa Feltz 'chat show'. Jews and topics of Jewish interest would appear to take up a disproportionate share of news but the contrast between the caring, harmonious and tolerant relationships among and between staff and patients in the hospital, and the sometimes bestial and frequently intolerant and dishonest relationships among and between Jews and non-Jews in the outside world. A visit to hospital can act as a salutary reminder of what life can and should be like.

In this issue of The Edinburgh Star, we publish the first in our new series entitled 'What does it mean to be Jewish?' It clearly means different things to different people and the diversity among the four accounts published in this issue more than lives up to our expectations. We plan to publish three or four more accounts in each of the next few issues and any reader who wishes to contribute to the series by writing briefly about what being Jewish means to them is invited to contact the Editor. We also publish another photograph in the 'Star Trek' series and, because the series seems to be so popular with our readers, will continue doing so as long as there are suitable photographs to publish . So please go through your old albums and send Ian Shein any pictures you would like us to consider .

Most of the articles in this issue are home grown and that is no bad thing. We are delighted to publish a joint profile of two very prominent and much loved members of the community, Anita and David Mendelssohn, and, equally, to publish a wonderfully evocative account by Robin Spark of life with his grandparents Bernard and Sarah Camberg and the circumstances which brought them, and him, to Edinburgh. Then there is a short trailer by the novelist and writer Dan Jacobson, based on his talk to the Literary Society, of his exquisitely written and very moving book Heshel's Kingdom. This book is due out in paperback this month, and is very strongly recommended, not least because he traces his roots to a part of Lithuania from which many members of the Edinburgh community can trace theirs. We are also very pleased to publish a 'letter from Israel' by a well known Edinburgh 'ex pat', Edwin Hoffenberg, which makes some very complimentary comparisons between the Jewish Community in Edinburgh when he was growing up and our community today, and some very interesting observations about changes in Israeli society over this period. I hope our readers will enjoy this issue - comments, suggestions and contributions for the next issue will all be welcome.

2 Community

FREDA RIFFKIN REPORTS .... LADIES COMMUNAL WIZOLUNCH at a special Lunch to honour Leila Goldberg who was leaving us to 11th November 1998. HALL COMMITTEE marry and live in Newcastle. SUPPER A most successful lunch was held at This was both a happy and a sad 9th September 1998 the home of Mrs . Sylvia Donne occasion, happy because we are all The speaker at this supper was Dr. where 27 ladies enjoyed a delightful so pleased for Leila in her happiness Shari Cohn who spoke on the lunch of dainty open sandwiches, and sad because we are losing one of subject of 'Second Sight: Tradition coffee and cake. A presentation was our most loved members. She has made to Mrs. Leila Goldberg on the and Experiences.' given a great deal of her time and occasion of her forthcoming contributed a great deal of effort to Another successful evening for marriage [see below]. the Luncheon Club over many the Ladies Committee saw a large The sum of £160 for WIZO funds years . The Senior Member of the audience gather to hear this was realised . Club, Sammy Latter presented Leila charming speaker. It was with great with a travelling case and a camera enthusiasm that we welcomed the and thanked her for all the hard Guests of Honour, Rabbi Shalom COMMUNAL HALL QUIZ SUPPER work she has put in for the Club. He Shapira and his wife Rachel. wished her Mazaltov and much joy After a beautifully catered supper, 15th November 1998 and happiness for her future. Mrs Anita Mendelssohn introduced Leila, who was accompanied by Dr. Cohn who is a Research Fellow As usual, a large number of her daughter Wendy, thanked all the at the School of Scottish Studies at contestants arrived on 15th Novem­ members for their gifts and assured Edinburgh University. Dr. Cohn led ber to enjoy another evening of them that she would be back to see us through her subject by explaining pitting their wits against the them frequently. that there was a history of psychic formidable Quiz pair, Joyce and phenomena in her own family and Norman Cram, ably assisted by their Mr. Willie Caplan then thanked this had originally prompted her under-cover helper, their daughter the cooks for their catering as this interest in the subject. She had made Hilary. was one of the few occasions when a study of 'Second Sight' in Scotland As always, this contest was they were all present at the Club and found that this often ran in keenly competed for and two tables families, especially among Celtic tied at the end of the evening. The WIZOLUNCH people. The audience was following brains were at the two 9th December 1998 spellbound and only limitations of winning tables: time brought the question and Ros and Samson Abramsky The last WIZO Lunch of the year answer session to a close. Susie and Jonathan Adler was held at the home of Mrs. Irene Mrs. Rose Orgel moved a Vote of Lesley and John Danzig Mason, and was attended by a Thanks and presented Dr. Cohn Elaine Samuel and Stanley Raffel number of ladies. A delicious lunch with flowers from the Committee. Stephen Downie and Deborah Katz was served which was much Downie enjoyed by all present and the sum Rabbi Shapira then thanked the Debbie Donne and Carol Stewart of £100 was raised for WIZO funds . Committee for inviting him and Mark and Paul Gilbert Rachel and emphasised how Susie and Dan Kelpie CHANUKAH DINNER important gatherings of this sort are. Molly and Jonathan Seckl He believed that it was essential for ON BEHALF OF THE The Communal Hall Committee Jewish people to meet like this in COMMUNAL HALL served an appetising supper and a such a friendly atmosphere, in fact it large sum was raised for the upkeep 19th December 1998 was almost as important as going to of the Hall. Shul, and one should enjoy the The Communal Hall Chanukah happy communion of like-minded Dinner, always a social event in people. He also addressed your THE LUNCHEON CLUB Edinburgh, was patroni sed by a correspondent, telling her to be a 26th November 1998 large number of our Community true journalist and to make an effort thi s yea r. As usual a mouth waterin g to reproduce the atmosphere at such On Thur sday 26th November 1998, meal, catere d by th e Lad ies gatherings . [I think she has done very th e Luncheon Club had a full Comm ittee, was served an d we then well - Ed.] complement of members and cooks had the pleasure of a cabaret from

3 Community the talented Shirley and Peter making the purpose-built Succah for Gilroy, Martin Henry, Alice Kelpie, Bennett. Their extensive repertoire, the students. Genievieve Littauer, Joanna Seckl, charismatic Further details and applications and Lauren Stewart. personalities and professional for Edinburgh Hillel House, please We may be a small community skill made for a most enjoyable contact Myrna Kaplan (0131 339 but we are certainly power packed! concert and the applause they 8201) or Hilary Rifkind (0131 447 Thanks to all who helped on the day received must have made them 7386) and to all the children, who were aware of how much the audience wonderful. had appreciated their show. THE ANNUAL YOUTH All in all, a delightful evening to which many thanks to all who QUIZ worked so hard to make it so. A report by CarolLevstein CONGRATULATIONS

Fingers on the buzzers? Lets GO! HILLEL UPDATE Once again our enthusiastic and fearless youth rose to the challenge of the annual Youth Quiz. Fresh from Cheder, our minibus drove us to the Giffnock Banqueting Suite. 16 children made the trip to represent Edinburgh in five teams, one senior (Sl-3) and four junior (P4-7) teams, answering questions under the strictest of regulations and conditions in three categories: Jewish knowledge and knowledge of Israel; general knowledge; sport, music and the arts. DebbieDonne What wonderful ambassadors we have. Team spirit and good humour The Editorial Board offers its con­ were abundant, sharing and gratulations to: supporting each other in their Elliott Cowan, son of Andrea and successes and concerns, to be Malcolm Cowan, on his engagement rewarded by a triumphant outcome to Caroline Davis of London and about which the community is Zurich. absolutely delighted. Debbie Donne (pictured above), Two of our junior teams made it on winning the 1998 Hamp into the semi-finals, one being A group of students in the Sukkah Mamilton award, an annual prize narrowly beaten by only two points, presented by the Scottish Group of Myrna Kaplan writes: Edinburgh's while the other team stole the show the Institute of Public Relations for Hillel House continues to go from in a nail-biting final to win THE the best young PR practitioner in strength to strength and, when the DOROTHEA STRUMP CUP. Our Scotland. Debbie works as an academic session commenced, it senior team were unfortunately Account Manager in the Edinburgh was full, with five students in beaten in the gruelling finals after Office of the international PR residence. Applications are already having convincingly won all their consultancy, Shandwick. being received for next academic previous rounds. Leila Goldberg, widow of the late year. The festival of Sukkot was The winners of the Junior Quiz Philip Goldberg, on her marriage to celebrated in style at Hillel this year were: Benjamin Danzig, Richard Dr Stephen Steel in the Edinburgh with the residents, and members of Field, and Jonathan Fransman. Final Synagogue (see reportpage 5). Edinburgh J Soc eating their meals score: 23 to 17. in the new Sukkah. Although the Julian Goodman on receiving the Senior runners up were: David weather was rather cold for the time Best Dressed Individual Award in Brannan, Samuel Danzig, and Joel of year, the students were able to the Edinburgh Hogmanay' s Raffel. warm themselves on hot soup made "Dressed to the Nine Com­ Competitors included David by Juliet Cohen petition". (We very much regret that we Once again the Hillel committee Abramsky, Abigail Blumsohn, must thank Mr. John Donne for Robbie Ansell Forsyth, Daniel Continued on page 5

4 Community

Continuedfrom page 4 RECEPTION FOR MR M. S. COWEN are unable to reproducea photographof this embodimentof sartorialelegance for THE CITY CHAMBERS EDINBURGH our readers- Ed.) It was with great pride that the Charles Raab, President of the family and friends of Myer (better Jewish Literary Society, on his known as Mickey) Cowen, a Past promotion to a Personal Chair in President of the Community, Government at Edinburgh University. attended a Reception in the City Chambers given by the City of Michael Rifkind, younger son of Edinburgh Council on 21st October Hilary and Arnold Rifkind, on his 1998 to mark his retirement after 10 marriage to Sharon Janowitz in years as Chairman of the Justices of Boston, Mass. (seereport opposite). the Peace in the City. Councillor Brian Fallon, LEILA GOLDBERG'S Convener of the General Purposes WEDDING Sub-Committee of the City of Edinburgh Council presided and apologised for the absence of the Lord Provost. He thanked Mr. Cowen for his many years of service as a Justice of the Peace and for the efficient way he had carried out his duties, both on the Bench and as acted upon. He thanked the Clerks Chairman of the Justices, and of the District Court, their team of outlined what his duties had been Court Officers and their staff for all during that time . He then presented their help, and wished his successor, Mr. Cowen with a City Council tie Councillor Walls, and his Committee and a silver quaich engraved with well. Myrna Kaplan writes: The marriage the arms of the City of Edinburgh. Finally he thanked his colleagues, of Leila Goldberg to Dr Stephen In his reply, Mr. Cowen thanked friends and family who, by their Steel took place on Sunday 6th the Councillor for his kind remarks. December 1998, 6th Kislev 5759. The presence had made the occasion an To his knowledge. this was the first ceremony was conducted in the unforgettable one . time that such a reception had been Edinburgh Synagogue by Rabbi Drinks and canapes were served. accorded to a JP He had been Sedley from Edinburgh and Rabbi This memorable function gave appointed in 1975 and was Black from Newcastle. Pupils from much pleasure to those who were extremely honoured at having been the Edinburgh Cheder attended the privileged to be present. chosen, although at that time he ceremony along with family and FredaRiffkin friends from Edinburgh, , could not have envisaged what the London and Newcastle. future was to hold. Leila, who is the widow of Philip He was Edinburgh born and bred Goldberg, looked beautiful in her and married to an Edinburgh girl BBC RADIO SCOTLAND wedding outfit. She is very well and was glad to have been able to known to many people in the put something back into the city Edinburgh community on account which had given him so much. His "THOUGHT of the hard work she has put in to so appointment had given him the FOR THE DAY" many communal organisations . She opportunity to make many new will be moving to Newcastle where friends and he was most grateful for Stephen, who is a widower with that. by John Cosgrove three married children and four He thanked the Justices and grandchildren, is a G. P. She will be Justices Committee over which he sadly missed in Edinburgh, by her had presided for demonstrating Approx. 7.26 a.m. four grown-up children Jonathan, their confidence in him over the Wendy, Paul and Tony, and by her years. His Committee had made extended family and friends. The many recommendations to the City Thursday 4th, 11th, Community wishes her and and to the Secretary of Commissions Stephen much health and happiness and most of them, for example, 18th, 25th March 1999 in their new life together . continuous training of JPs, had been

5 Community

A BOSTON WEDDING PARTY

Malcolm Cowan writes: The marriage Main Sanctuary. took place on 8 November 1998 at Around the Chuppah were the Young Israel of Brookline two witnesses, David Mason and Synagogue, Boston, Massachusetts, Abe Eisenstat and four Chuppah U.S.A. of Michael, younger son of 'holders': friends, Valerie Feldman Arnold and Hilary Rifkind and and Melissa Braverman, the Best Sharon daughter of Maxine and the Man David Kaplan, and the Matron late Stephen Janowitz of Cortland of Honour Amy Katz. Rabbi Sendor Manor, New York. of Boston, assisted by Rabbi Gerwitz The wedding was preceded by a of Brookline, conducted the weekend of celebration, which wedding ceremony. commenced on the Friday, when, The whole weekend was notable after the synagogue service, Arnold were performed. The first was the for the exuberance and happiness of and Hilary hosted a traditional Chatan's Tisch where Michael gave a the bride and groom and their Friday night meal for family and Dvar Torahand publicly affirmed his friends and their enthusiasm and friends. Michael's aujruf was held on willingness to accept the obligations pleasure in the traditions of modern the and the Edinburgh of marriage. The Ketubah was then orthodox . One other influence was seen to great effect signed by the witnesses after which interesting aspect of the wedding when the Shacharit Service was Michael was danced to meet his was that amongst the guests were davened by David Mason and Maftir bride. The second was the ritual of members of the families of all of the and Musaf were davened by Michael. the Beddekken in which Michael eight children of Mr and Mrs After the traditional Kiddush, the publicly ensured that Sharon was Charles Rifkind the great grand­ Rifkinds hosted lunch and in the his intended bride, and then parents of the groom. evening entertained the guests at a lowered the veil over her face. After Michael and Sharon met whilst kosher Chinese restaurant. the veiling and blessings from the studying in Israel and presently live Prior to the actual ceremony, Rabbi, Sharon's mother and in Boston. Michael is an I.T. amid scenes of great joy and Michael's parents, Michael was Consultant with Price Waterhouse excitement, two traditional rituals, danced out of the room and the and Sharon works for the Hille! seldom if ever seen in Edinburgh guests were invited to enter the Foundation in Cambridge Mass.

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6 ,----

Community

JUDAISM FACES MODERNITY a report on an Encounter Seminar held in Giffnock Synagogue on 3 December 1998 by Janet Mundy The week before the first Encounter the country. but we have Nachum Ish Gamzu seminar in Scotland, I asked a friend Rabbi Berel Wein made the living in our house, and as long as from Glasgow whether she was keynote speech on the subject of Jews study our house will not planning to attend. 'Oh no', she 'Jewish Identity in a Modern World'. collapse. If he is not in the house we said, 'we get so many of these He is the author of many books and don't know which gust of wind will things'. Whether that statement is tapes on , particularly take us down . He concluded by true or not, to many of us in on the middle ages. He made the suggesting that Jews now have a Edinburgh, the spread of Encounter slightly surprising assertion that it hunger for knowledge of Judaism, to Scotland was a rare opportunity was easy to be Jewish in mediaeval as represented by the Encounter to explore our Jewishness outwith times, as the Jewish world was series itself, which he felt could not our own community, and to hear perceived as literate, calm and light, have happened 20 years ago. internationally renowned speakers. in contrast with the dark, violent, Following on from the keynote My friend's attitude was apparently ignorant world of the non-Jewish address, the audience was given the typical of the Glasgow community, peoples. The enlightenment in the choice of three workshops: Rabbi and, because of a poor response, the 18th century brought with it the Wein again on the subject of final programme was a considerably idea that people could live without 'Jerusalem - Eternally Jewish?', scaled-down version of the original God and religion, and make their Professor Natan Aviezer talking on plans. The number of speakers was own choices between right and 'The Big Bang and Creation', and reduced from five to three, and wrong. According to Rabbi Wein, it Rabbi Y Y Rubinstein speaking on other fringe entertainments were was expected that people would 'Reincarnation and the Soul'. cancelled. This did not lessen our always choose right rather than Because I had heard good reports of community's enthusiasm to attend, wrong, and the Jews, in particular, 'Y Y' as an entertaining and and a SO-seater coach was booked believed that the Enlightenment thought-provoking speaker, and for the trip to Glasgow. Participants would resolve problems, relieve from Argyll and Bute, and from anti-Semitism and provide equal thought his subject was an unusual Dundee also attended. opportunities. He stated that Jews one for a Jewish conference, I chose his workshop. I was not We arrived in Glasgow shortly made conscious choices based on disappointed 'Y Y" is living proof of after the introductory speeches had the false premise that Jews could not Rabbi Wein' s point that one can live started, to discover that the Giffnock be fully Jewish and full members of in a non-Jewish world without hall was already full to overflowing, society. This was an idea that he and breaking Jewish law. He is a 'Govan and additional seating was hur­ other speakers referred to several lad' and trained as a teacher at riedly arranged. We thus had no times during the evening, all Jordanhill College. He broadcasts on opportunity to peruse the book or maintaining that a respect for and video stalls outside (although I involvement in the non-Jewish 'Thought for the Day' and made picked up as many brochures as I world did not preclude the keeping references to guitar playing and could as we rushed past) or to of all 613 mitzvot. 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the sample the goodies on the Osem In contrast with the shifts in Galaxy' during his talk. However, stand. morality in the secular world, Rabbi his subject matter flowed easily between these subjects and Jewish The title of the conference was Wein asserted that Torah offers Jews mysticism. 'Judaism Faces Modernity', and the an unchanging morality., claiming opening speech of Rabbi Yisrael that 'Torah has the perfect balance Reincarnation is a subject that I Roll, relating as it did to the for us'. He gave the example of associate more with eastern speaker's brush with Princess Diana Nachum ish Gamzu, Rabbi Akiva's religions than with Judaism, but 'Y and Prince William at the teacher, whose arms and legs had Y' drew his audience into a hairdresser', certainly was pertinent been cut off by the Romans. When recognition that there are references to the theme! However, he also set his students wanted to move him to reincarnation throughout Jewish the pattern for the rest of the and his possessions to a better literature, even in such familiar texts evening by referring back to Jewish house, he told them to move his as the Yam Kippur Machzor, and the history, reminding the audience that possessions first, as his precarious Artscroll Siddur. In response to a we are all descended from kings and house would not fall down as long question at the end of his talk, he queens of Israel. Rabbi Roll was as he was in it. Rabbi Wein said that claimed that if one looks for them, instrumental in setting up the this was a lesson about the Jewish one will discover many references to Encounter conferences throughout world - we have no arms and legs reincarnation in Judaism and that

7 Community/People

'reincarnation is part of the library of son, in order that the son felt that he modern life, they also demonstrated what Judaism is'. is his father's equal. that the ancient art of Jewish story Perhaps the most fascinating I was sorry to miss Professor telling is alive and well! aspect of his talk was that he Aviezer's talk on 'the Big Bang'. As constantly made the point that well as being an interesting and I only wish that the event had reincarnation is an opportunity for topical subject, I gather he was an been longer and that it had the soul to improve itself, and that eccentric speaker, described as being provided more of an opportunity becoming a better involves in the vein of Patrick Moore or for meeting other members of the becoming a better person. He gave Magnus Pyke. Unfortunately he was audience and for asking more two examples that demonstrate the not drawn into the question and questions of the speakers. The point connection between traditional answer session at the end, so I will that studying Torah continues to be Jewish values and those of today. have to attend another Encounter central to Judaism was certainly The first was of Chazon Ish, giving a evening in order to hear his voice! emphasised but I felt that many shiur in B'nei B'rak standing up out Those speakers that I did hear all questions were left unanswered, not of respect to a near perfect soul in a used amusing modern-day anec­ least about the position of women in Down's syndrome child. The second dotes to illustrate their points, as Judaism, and the relationship was of a father and son studying well as Talmudic and other Judaic between different Jewish denomina­ alongside one another in yeshivah references. In addition to trying to tions. Maybe next time! Maybe in rather than the father teaching the show that Judaism is relevant to the next life!

A Double Profile ANITA AND DAVID MENDELSSOHN by Ian Shein

The elder of two children of a family At no time could the community, Synagogue, be described as ex­ who lived in Salisbury Road, and whose social activities were centred tensive. Anita became a keen thereafter in McDowell Road, Anita on rooms in Duncan Street before it supporter of all aspects of the Levitt became involved in the social acquired a building opposite the community. She was a member of and religious life of the Edinburgh Synagogue and then, later on, Habonim, played tennis with Jewish community at an early age. moved into the same building as the Maccabi, and participated in

8 People practically all of the activities of the participation, an ideal which is often nostalgically recalls the Sundays he then, comparatively large, young very difficult to achieve. Her spent at the Glendenning School of membership. She attended James unbounded energy and tireless Dancing with Maccabi,not, it must Gillespie' s High School, and if she enthusiasm has, over many years, be said, enhancing his quick-step or had she been a few years older, she resulted in numerous colourful fox-trot technique, but rather, would surely have qualified as one events within the Community playing sport before Maccabimoved of Miss Jean Brodie's creme-de-la­ Centre. When her duties permit, to Duncan Street. He captained the creme girls. On completing her and her highly renowned hos­ cricket team, which included education, she obtained employ­ pitality allows her, she loves going to Norman and Lennie Berger, Mervyn ment in the offices of Standard Life the theatre, enjoys music, drama Smith and Mickey Cowen, swam and played tennis and was taught Insurance and continued working and the arts, and, it almost goes the art of boxing by Harold Ordman. there until her marriage to David without saying, planning the next Badminton racquets were to the fore Mendelssohn. The young couple function. lived in the Balgreen area until they with Mossie Baker, Barney Hoare In all the above, she has had the moved to their present home in and Ellis Schulberg. Other solid support of husband David. He Braid Hills Road. Tragedy struck the communal involvement was with family in 1979 when Anita's brother was born in Glasgow, for which the the Community Centre Manage­ Mannie, to whom she was very Community has long forgiven him, ment Committee of which he too close, died suddenly at the early ago the second eldest of a family of became Chairman. of 43. Anita and David have two seven and came to Edinburgh when David's real forte is, however, children, Elaine and Harold. Elaine he was a few months old. Initially clearly synonymous with syna­ and her husband David, with their the family lived in the South Side of gogue services. In the pre- and early children, Daniel (17) and Michael the city but moved to Marchmont at post-war years, the Synagogue (12) live in Nottingham; while the beginning of the war. On leaving Choir was conducted by Jack Harold and his wife Esther, with school, he joined the family tailoring Levinson. When he retired the choir their children Cassie, who has just business. In 1947, he was called up became defunct until, some thirty turned 21 and is an honours for National Service and joined the years ago, David was appointed Choir-Master. Regularly at the High graduate of Leeds University, and 17/21 Lancers, first at Catterick in Holidays, at weddings and other Roy (15) live in Edinburgh. Yorkshire and then in Dorset. At the functions, the choir greatly age of 13, David had started to learn Anita has been actively involved enhances the services, celebrations the piano and soon showed himself in the life of the community for all and ceremonies within the her adult life. For a time she served to be an accomplished pianist. Not Synagogue. David's talent in on the Ladies Guild before surprisingly, when he was not conducting the choir has provided commencing her long association engaged on military duties, he could the community with an expertise of with the Communal Hall Ladies be found in the recreation hall which it is justifiably proud. His Committee, first as Treasurer then as playing the piano. On one such ambition has always been to Chairman, an office she again holds. occasion, his commanding officer perform additional choral work to She was for several years Chairman, heard him play and invited him to supplement that handed down from and currently remains a member of, join the regimental band. The older generations. With this in the Management Committee of the musicians played at many venues, mind, and after detailed research, he Community Centre. It is difficult to including halls and bandstands, and has identified those parts of the imagine a function in the Centre David, already supremely proficient High Holiday Services which can be which does not bear the hallmark of at the piano, periodically tried his set to music and the overall result has been much acclaimed both by Anita Mendelssohn. Her extensive hand at the clarinet. He later members and by visitors. work for the community included a continued his military and musical To be in Anita's and David's spell in WIZO when, with Enid montage with the Dragoon Guards. company is uplifting. Their warmth, Oppenheim, she was Joint Chair­ His only disappointment was his kindness and generosity is known man. During the presidency of failure to realise his ambition of far and wide. Deeply family­ Gerald Glass, she was elected the being drafted to Germany where his brother Ellis was a regimental tailor. orientated, with a very large circle of first female member of the friends, their hospitality and their Demobilised some two years later, Synagogue Council and has concern for the welfare of others are he started his own wholesale retained this position for more than unsurpassed. It is a pleasure to stationery business. He renewed his 23 years. She is the only woman to know them. For the Edinburgh have been elected a Trustee of the friendship with Anita, whom he had Jewish community's continued Synagogue. Extremely aware of the previously met when on leave, and well-being, it is to be hoped that necessity of such duties for the they married in 1952. they will continue their very time­ community's continuing existence, Apart from his love of music, consuming, voluntary commitments she has always advocated members' David was always keen on sport. He for many many years to come.

9 People

STAR TREK INTO THE PAST

In Issue Number 31, we publisheda photographof the MaccabiBall Committee.The young men in blackties were (from left to right) MichaelAdelman, GeoffreyLindey, Brian Abrams, Lennie Berger,and Mervyn Smith; the young women in ball dresseswere CaroleLewis (now Carole Cowen)and Carolyn Smith (now Carolyn Levy).

The suggestion that we might concludethis series did not meet with a very enthusiastic response.By popularrequest, we thereforepublish anotherphotograph in this issue. Who can recallwhat play was being presentedand who the membersof the cast were?All will be revealed in the next issue.

SUPPORT The Edinburgh Star SEND US YOUR LETTERS AND ARTICLES NEXT COPY DATE: 15th MAY 1999 Donations to THE HON . TREASURER MICKEY COWEN SYNAGOGUE CHAMBERS, 4 SALISBURY ROAD, EDINBURGH EH16 5AB

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE JEWISH? Issue Number 30 carried a trailer for a new series of articles on 'Jewish Identity' in which a number of local residents, religious and secular, young and old, those who are very open about their Jewish identity and those who are less so, those who have 'converted in' and those who have 'married out ', would be asked to write very short accounts about what being Jewish means to them. In this Issue, we publish the first four contributions. Any reader who wishes to contribute, or to suggest someone else who might like to do so, is invited to contact the Editor.

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE JEWISH- FOUR PERSONAL VIEWS

Haze l Cosgrove Incidentally, I was fortunate eyes and lisp the traditional blessing enough to be brought up by parents over the Sabbath candles I was A few months ago I was invited by who prized education and who aware of being the central link in a the Chief Rabbi to take part in his encouraged me to believe that effort five generation chain forged in Rosh Hashanahbroadcast in which he and endeavour were the keys to eternity . Professional kudos is but a intended to explore with a group of success to the extent that it simply pale shadow beside our ancient and people from different walks life never occurred to me to worry that I beautiful traditions. what it means to be Jewish today . had chosen a profession in which The invitation came without doubt women had suffered discrimination. Lady Cosgrove is a High Court Judge on account solely of my unique Success in my chosen profession has and a Judge of the Court of Session in position as Scotland's first and, as been of great importance to me but Edinburgh yet, only woman High Court judge . of greater importance has been the While it is that fact which arouses desire to remain true to my Jewish media and public interest, for me roots and ancient heritage . Ellen Galford the simple and incontrovertible It is a tremendous privilege to truth is that it is my Jewishness As the daughter of three thousand play an active role in the Scottish which is my dominant identity, years of Jewish mothers, I'm as which has shaped and given legal world and to feel wholly comfortable and at ease there and Jewish as they come in blood and direction to my life. It even led me bone and the conviction that the into a career in the law. moreover to be integrated to the past is always with us. But I'm also As a teenager I was an extent that even as a member of the seventeen different kinds of heretic. enthusiastic pupil at the Hebrew Supreme Court bench I am My home life (nearly 20 years, keyn College in Glasgow where I was untroubled by either religious or ayin hara, with one beloved, lapsed­ particularly inspired by the beauti­ gender differences . But the focus of Catholic same -sex partner) is not ful language and the profound Jewish life is in the home and being going to endear me to anybody's message of the writings of the Old a wife and mother and playing a Chief Rabbi. And I'd sooner invite Testament prophets. Justice and pivotal role in a closely knit Jewish Baruch Spinoza than either Ezra or mercy are prophetic ideals and family observing timeless Jewish Nehemiah to my Seder table . Judaism cares passionately about rituals is what is central to my justice. It is interesting to reflect that existence and which for me gives I'm obsessed with Jewish history­ the fundamental principles of meaning to the anxieties, mysteries with my own ancestors' late 19th equality before the law, the right to a and sufferings of the human century migrations from Kurland, fair trial and the recognition of the condition . The greatest of all Kovno Gubernia, and unknown supreme dignity of the individual pleasures derives from watching our corners of Galicia to New York City human being have their roots in the children and now our and the now long-vanished Jewish and were developed grandchildren enjoying the same neighbourhoods of Newark, New in Rabbinic law long before any intense, satisfying and precious Jersey. There is a rumour of a rabbi, European Convention on Human Jewish experience . One of my a few generations back, but I'm Rights. Studying the law seemed to earliest childhood memories is of the more intrigued by the great-great me to be almost a natural Sabbath candlesticks on my uncle, a socialist printer, who was progression from studying the maternal grandmother's table and allegedly sent to Siberia for some sacred texts and so my choice of when I recently watched my two affront against the Tsar. And I wish I profession was clearly indicated. year old granddaughter cover her knew more .

11 People

Jewishness, for me, is also about many Jews this often takes the form today, with which you are to ethics, social justice, tolerance, and either of rejecting their Jewishness instruct your children, to be careful generosity (both material and and assimilating or so identifying to perform all the words of this emotion). For an avowed agnostic, I with it that it defines not only their Torah, for it is not an empty thing for spend a lot of time thinking about, religious but also their cultural and you, for it is your life, and through talking to, arguing with God - but I social life. this matter shall you prolong your see religion as a very private thing. days on the land'. For me being Jewish is a natural Even as a child I never felt at home part of my identity of which I am I believe these words to be the in the synagogue, or at ease with proud. While not being observant, it very essence of being a Jew and my acts of communal worship. Out in is my religion but it is also more than definition of a Jew is a person who the Scottish landscape, walking in that. It makes me part of a people believes in one God as revealed to us Torridon or along a beach in the and a tradition that goes back in the Torah, and to the best of Outer Hebrides, is where I come several thousand years and has his/her ability tries to increase their closest to prayer. So you are unlikely made a unique contribution to knowledge of God, to observe the to find me at the Edinburgh shul, civilisation and to mankind. Sabbath and the dietary laws and to (apart from meetings of the Lit.). live by the commandments. But we live in a world where the My own practice is a mosaic of common humanity and the As a convert my choice was based contradictions. I light Shabbos and universal values that we share are upon a little understanding but a yortsayt candles, fast on Yorn Kippur, becoming more recognised and commitment to increase my and I have a mezuzzah on the door, where different religions, races and knowledge and observance of the but I unashamedly prefer a dozen cultures are seen as complementary Mitzvot. To my mind therefore, the Loch Fyne oysters to a plate of rather than as alternatives. term 'secular Jew' is a contradiction gefilte fish. (More traditionalist in terms and I have no For this reason I choose my members of our tribe accuse people understanding of the expressions friends and not just my colleagues at like me of having a 'pick and mix' 'ethnic Jew' or 'cultura l Jew'. approach to Judaism. But it takes work from the whole community of which I am part and not just from only a modest acquaintance with Bill Simpson is Honorary Treasurerof co-religionists. My lifestyle is secular our communal history to realize that the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation. even the most ultra-frum have been rather than religious. It tries to be equally selective ... ). inclusive rather than exclusive. I'm no fan of fundamentalists, I recognise that such a view can Community Centre ours or anybody else's: religious have dangers for the survival of Did you know that we have a authoritarianism has too much small minority communities wonderful hall that can be hired in blood on its hands. I believe that including the Jews of Britain. But dissent is an ancient and honourable the strength and vitality of the different sizes and for a variety of a part of Judaism as orthodoxy - and Jewish tradition does not need to be purposes? Not only for Bar and Bat that the sparks struck between these nourished only by separate social or weddings. You could two poles are what keep the flame and cultural ways of life. It needs to use it for an engagement or alive. achieve a balance of the secular and birthday party, a special anni­ the religious, of the Scottish and the versary celebration, or to start a Ellen Galford is a novelist and writer, Jewish, of the particular and of the keep fit class, a dancing class - or and a frequent contributor to The universal. any other class. It can be used for Edinburgh Star Each person, and each family religious activities and indeed lots have to work out the answer for of other purposes - all for a very themselves. small charge, which goes towards Malcolm Rifkind the upkeep of the hall. We provide Sir Malcolm Rifkind was Foreign tables and chairs FREE. Each of us has several identities Secretaryfrom 1995 to 1997. which make up our whole per­ We look forward to hearing from sonality. We are Scottish, we are you. Jewish, we are British, we are Bill Simpson IT'S YOUR HALL - USE IT OR European. LOSE IT! Some feel more comfortable I began to write this article during To make a booking, please phone emphasising one element of their the week of Parashah Haazinu in Michael Wittenberg on 0131-668- background. They reject or ignore which Moses exhorts the Jewish those parts of their identity which people Apply your hearts to all the 3331. seem alien or disagreeable. For words that I testify against you

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LIFE WITH THE CAMBERGS by Samuel Robin Spark On a cold, crisp afternoon in Jewish family, the Epriles, and lived Langskaills of 'Friends of Israel'. The October last year about twenty in Greenhill Gardens. One of her late Mrs. Leah Julius also visited members of the Edinburgh com­ daughters, Natalie, was a quite often, accompanied by her munity met in the Jewish section of professional classical singer. She sister, Mrs . Jean Abramson, the Newington Cemetery to re­ married Emmanuel Young, a highly mother of my old friend Frank. consecrate two gravestones - one for talented conductor, with whom I am Grandmother loved company and my paternal grandmother, Rachel still in contact. Shortly after the the visits of these friends were Spark, and one for my great-great engagement of Emmanuel and always happy events and often aunt, Sarah Joel. As we shall see Natalie, my grandparents and I prolonged. Her non -Jewish Sarah had a very important went to see him conduct a neighbours often visited her too, contribution to make to my life. stupendous performance of 'Aida' including Lady Illingwor th and her two sisters, Mona Crabb and Betty In the autumn of 1945 I arrived in and later one of 'La Boheme' in Edinburgh. These were my first Crabe. [Curiously, though their surnames were spelt differently, experiences of opera and to have they were pronounced alike .] Grace actually conversed with the Illingworth and Mona Crabb lived conductor, the tall, handsome fiance in the tenement immediately of Natalie's, filled me with awe then opposite ours and Betty, who had a and is still a cherished memory. house in Crail, was often with them. The Rosenblooms were also great The three ladies and my friends. Simpson Rosenbloom grandmother were great chums. owned the music shop in the Arcade What they chatted about I do not off the Bridges. A clever and know but there were always hoots generous man who still spoke in of laughter when they visited. I heavily accented English, he had surmised that, like grandmother, 'made it' in this country and went they had been very attractive young on to be the Treasurer of our ladies in their time and would have community and to play an had many dashing suitors. Perhaps influential part in the administration they were reminiscing about these of the Shu/. His wife, Gertie, was young men or about the various quite a comic and she and my characters in the neighbourhood. grandmother shared many a joke. She had been quite a beauty in her Another caller was Mrs. Morris, Bernard and Sarah Camberg, youth and still looked impressive to mother of Albert Morris, well­ circa 1945 me, tall and elegant in her beautiful known to readers of The Scotsman. Like my grandmother, she was this country from Southern clothes. Simpson, on the other hand, was short and, with his constant Jewish and they enjoyed talking Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and clowning, could have been a big hit about the highs and lows of the came to stay with my maternal on the music-hall stage. However, I Jewish community, who was doing grandparents, Bernard and Sarah realised, even at that early age, that well and who was not, whose Camberg. It was to be a strange and behind the humorous facade lurked children were getting married and exciting but rather tumultuous time. an astute brain. His own story of, as whose divorced - it was all grist to My sojourn with the Cambergs was a youth, being a conscript in the the mill. to last for the remainder of their Czar's army in Russia and then But grandmother loved the lives, until my grandmother passed fleeing the country in disguise, with away in her eighty-fifth year. company of young people in their the prospect of the death penalty if late teens or early twenties just as Life with the Cambergs was he had been apprehended, was one much as that of those of her own never dull. I recall that my of high drama. generation. When I went to Shu/ on grandparents were visited by many Later when my grandmother was Shabbat, she loved me to bring back members of the Jewish community widowed and, because of her age visitors to share our Sabbath meal. and were in their turn entertained and infirmity, was effectively Over the years we must have by them . The Rapaports and the confined to her flat, she was visited entertained very many young Rosenblooms spring to mind. Mrs by many friends of long standing Jewish people from Israel, America, Rapaport came from a well known including the Eivans and the England, France and other

13 Articles countries. Some still keep in touch birthday. Morris Sagman and Barry leaving arrears of £1:7:3d. Mrs with me and I hear from them from Leigh, friends of my Barmitzvah Camberg was allocated seat no. time to time, especially at Rosh days, died tragically young some 0373 and owed £2:10:3d which was Hashanah,Pesach and Chanukah. years ago but I am still in frequent paid in full. [Should our industrious contact with Frank Abramson and Treasurer, Mr Bill Simpson find that I hope that these few examples of with 'the man with the golden my grandfather's arrears were my grandparents' wide circle of voice', Joe Aronson. To hear him never cleared, I would be happy to friends will give some idea, however sing on the High Holy Day services wipe the slate clean!] My inadequate, of the rich and varied is a truly uplifting experience. grandparents' son Philip had his social life that they, and therefore I, Barmitzvah in the Graham Street enjoyed. I am happy to say that My academic education prior to Synagogue on Saturday, August 1st, there are still many friends, both coming to this country had been 1925. Jewish and non-Jewish, in very rudimentary and here too I Edinburgh and throughout the had a lot of catching up to do. To Having lived with my world, who can testify to my assist me in clearing the hurdle of grandparents from early childhood grandmother's generosity of spirit passing the entrance exam for until their deaths, I came to know and charismatic personality and my secondary school, my grandparents them extremely well. They had a grandfather's kindness and concern asked Dorothy Napier, the daughter long and successful marriage and for other people. The Cambergs of a close friend of theirs, if she always showed great affection for were warm, friendly, outgoing would give me some tuition. each other, although they were in people who attracted like-minded Dorothy Napier would, I guess, many ways contrasting beings. people of different faiths and have then been in her mid or late persuasions. My own tolerance and twenties. She was a primary school My grandmother, Sarah, was love of different peoples is largely teacher and had been a pupil at English, the child of a Gentile father due to my having taken on board James Gillespie's Girls' School. and a Jewish mother. To her dying their philosophy of life. Teaching and, in particular, day she retained her clear English imparting of the three R' s seemed to accent. She had a natural chic and Above all, however, I absorbed come effortlessly to her and I made her interests were artistic and their staunch belief in Judaism . swift progress. A deeply religious creative. My grandfather, Bernard, Faced with a rather unruly and person, she made a comment that I on the other hand, was a typical troubled grandson in his eighth have never forgotten. It was to the hard-working practical Scot with a year, my grandparents nevertheless effect that I was honoured to be a showered me with kindness and member of the great Jewish people affection. I had no prior knowledge who had survived so much of Judaism and very little of my own tribulation and succeeded in family background. However, my preserving their faith in God. I had grandparents soon set about putting never thought about Judaism in this matters right. Grandfather took me way before and her remark, coming to visit the Reverend Bernard as it did from such a lovely person, a Zucker, Shochet, Chazen and teacher Christian, who had successfully to our community. I was to learn helped me to overcome my Hebrew and prepare for my educational difficulties, had a Barmitzvah, along with other boys profound and lasting effect on me. I such as Barry Leigh, Morris Sagman, passed the entrance examination for Frank Abramson, Joe Aronson, Daniel Stewart's College and spent Edwin Hoffenberg, Philip four years there. My best subjects Oppenheim and Harold Stern. My were Art, English and Mathematics. grandparents had seen their own At sport, though, I was a non-starter son through to his Barmitzvah and and managed to come last in the they repeated the process with me. obstacle race on sports day at In due course I said Maftir and Goldenacre! Adelaide Hyams Haftarah and subsequently enjoyed the celebrations at the Balmoral My grandparents remained love of football and horse-racing. An Restaurant in Princes Street. Some members of the congregation all engineer to trade, he worked for very happy Erev Shabbat suppers their lives. One Annual Report and over forty years with the now and Seder nights were spent at the Financial Statement, for the defunct North British Rubber Zuckers' flat in Clerk Street and I Salisbury Road Synagogue in 1932- Company in Edinburgh. still have and sometimes wear the 33, shows that Mr B Camberg was yarmulke that Mrs. Zucker allocated seat no. E427 and that he So how did these two indi­ embroidered for my thirteenth owed £3:7s. He paid £1:19:9d viduals, Bernard, a first-generation

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Scottish Jew and Sarah, the her place in a Jewish community. knowledge of Judaism when she offspring of assimilation, meet? Adelaide's two sons followed in the arrived in Edinburgh must have From an early age I was fascinated Christian tradition of their father. been rather sketchy. After all she by stories, especially those of my had grown up in a non-Jewish I must say that I am extremely own kith and kin and I listened environment and the Uezzel family grateful to my grandmother's aunt attentively to this one. were Anglicans. No doubt her aunt Sarah Joel for agreeing to Cissie Sarah Joel had much to teach her. staying with her in Edinburgh. Had The story really starts with But the beliefs and customs of she not done so, Cissie would not Sarah's mother, my great­ Judaism would not have been have met and fallen in love with the grandmother, Adelaide Hyams, by entirely foreign to her. She had a short, stocky but handsome young all accounts a most remarkable lady. close friend in her cousin Ada, one man who was to become her Adelaide came from a Jewish family of: the seven daughters of her aunt husband and there would have who settled to the East End of Kitty Abrahams. Postcards still been no Robin Spark today! London in the latter part of the remain which were sent by Ada nineteenth century. Prior to her It was her mother's idea, my from her home at 111 Victoria Park marriage, my grandmother told me, grandmother explained to me, that Road in the early 1900's to my then Adelaide had been in the service of she, Cissie, should come to teenage grandmother at her Louisa, Lady de Rothschild. Edinburgh to learn about the Jewish parents ' home in Watford. They Although her two elder sisters, way of life and, if possible, meet an constitute an animated and happy Sarah and Kitty, both married upstanding and loving partner in correspondence and I judge Ada to Orthodox Jews, Adelaide married a the community here and so return have been no less a joyful and non-Jew, Thomas Uezzel. The to the fold . Certainly Cissie's positive person than my marriage took place in St Bartholomew's Church, Bethnal ' · .. Green, on 3 January, 1886. Adelaide seems to have been the kind of person who did nothing by halves and she threw herself with gusto into her new life-style in the town of Watford some 20 miles north west of London. She did not, however, lose ltj.J ~,p,'"" ~,, nno• i,,p, ''"" ..,,~ touch with her family. She ~::.-.o·'..:>'-Tn~ t,•i:,• -:-.;~t!> n.:ir;,.:i ,y,::,_..,~ continued to maintain close and i"ln~l !:)',JJ':l'el1 r'llNt:)Wr.:ll Cl'.!:l?N ii~•on nJr.:l. affectionate ties with both her 7'N JliJfo JN.:l)'Jt:l lJNr.:l)'Jt:l? _ C?l)) iiN'-,:l? sisters. Kitty had married Philip '.:::::::i~½,,..__, I'::,. S•--..,p'::,. b~ ':::li"-; .,, N~-iw , ..., n~ ~..,'1!7Nn,,n:i Nin, n, ,~N Abrahams in 1869 and Sarah had NJNl ?N,W'l i1Wt:ln,:i ,nJN? '? 'lil married Henry Joel in 1876, both Iil:::l?il.:l'.:l'? •:i·n• oJ,!iNl jll'Nl ,•plNl n?.!:)N marriages taking place in Orthodox Jlil'WJ? )'OJ-,!:)r.lJ'Jll )',plOl J'n?t;i J'Nil,i' J'-,:llJ jliNt:l 'lll t')O.:l'.:l'?lli:l -,,,o '.:l'?~J:l'il'l N~r.:llj).:l . Kitty remained in the '.:l'j)1!:l'01 '.:l'IilO.:ll '.:l'Jlll~l Nn',1Nir. '.:l'? llni East End, but Sarah moved up · to mo nN•.:i:::, N))iN ,:::i n,1N:i •:::i•n,, ?))'Ol Edinburgh. Adelaide, by then 1-,, lliJN? ii'' n,n, Ni Nli?ln:i ';--,~'l.!,• t')O.:l.:lJ':l <;----.i::i~ ':lt:l ii'? Ii?)iJili N'J1iJ widowed, spent the last few years of 'Wlt:l'W:l NWl:l?i 'JNt:):l J'~'W.:lf'1:l j'.:l :li11.:l J':l her life with my grandparents here . t')l"\'llt')O:::l c•p1p1 i1K~ No,i;, Ktvlt~•r.,.:i, .,,., in Edinburgh and when she died in Jnt"---7 S• "'""'1.V':=:i."r.:,':--r '= ,.._,... ., '.:l:ll t')l"l'llcio:i c•pl~l i1N~ il'?'"I jt:l i'l? t')'Ol,i1 JJi 1933 she was buried in the Jewish ciii::: cio:i c•p1p1 c•nw~_',::,, 70 JiJJ:i crinN section of Piershill Cemetery. JJi Jm---, ½,•--,))::,_i-:l';"; ':::li'-T "i it:lN 7:::,1 Ni Nli!:l01Iil 1i N'JliJ Ni NM.:llli.:l,ew rw,nN Adelaide described herself as a JiN i!:lt!' ,:io J)i.!:lni'l, 1N,n:i •n,• ,v,'?)) n•,:ip i•ny,1 •NJj)i N'OW ,:::in,nn ,, n•Ni j'J'JPl J'O.:lJ 'Gentile Jewess', by which she pi1? Ii'?il nr,nN jlil? M'Ni 1'0:::lJ 'Jj)Q? NJN meant that she was a Jew by birth JlilJt:) ))li!:l? J'N.:li))l J'N,nN jli1' Jlil?.:l n,,,nN who lived with her Christian JO l?'.!:l~1Ni Nn.!:lo,n, ji N'JliJ Ni Nn.:llli.:l ,~ci C?)i?l pi NOl' JO 'n1t:l:l1 --n.:i 'N!:ln:::l,v, Nt:l'?J husband in a non Jewish Nn.iOliil J1N'JliJ Ni Nii.:llii:::li~t:> ir.l1n1 n,•,nKl 1"11 environment. But she retained a ;nn s;,-...... ,y:;i_~:-1 ':::ll-r .,, l'?)) ,.:ip Ni ;•J;,J, nn!:loin, n,.:i,n.:i ,,~t:1 ,:::i ,o,n:::i p, loyalty to her Jewish roots and, i'l:::l"1.:l?OJ1i:i1 lJ'O.:in pp•n::i j"HVJiil ?N"1ti!'nJj.:J when her daughter Sarah (known in 1r~NJ'Jj)1 •i~t:1, '0!:llt:l-=1N,,, Nn:ir~ON.:l N?i the family as Cissie) reached her late JMr-, ':J.•S, .., l':1';:,•-,J):J t:,';i :;i.,~ .,., rs l.._,'!.t-' ' ..., :ri::,, ';--i...._.,c, n,r.h pi teens, she sent her to live with her ....._.,_,...., ..,_.,_ - .....L--. ••'- . ..-L .. -- recently widowed sister Sarah here Bernard and Sarah Camberg's Ketubah (marriage certificate). in Edinburgh so that she might take

15 Articles grandmother was. I wonder what to care for his younger brother and happened to Ada? She became Mrs. sister while Samuel travelled around Lassman but then seems to have the farms and villages of the Borders disappeared from the scene. Did she selling his goods. Despite hardship die young? It would be so and deprivation my father was a interesting to know . brilliant scholar, excelling both at, primary school, Sciennes, and at From the time of her arrival in secondary school, Boroughmuir . Edinburgh, my grandmother Assisted by scholarships he went on practised Judaism and, in due to take his MA degree at Edinburgh course ., she married my University . grandfather. The wedding took place in London. She and Aunt For a boy from a relatively poor Sarah Joel stayed with Aunt Kitty background, this was a major Abrahams in Victoria Park Road achievement. My father would have before the wedding which was liked to pursue a career in medicine solemnised at the East London but the cost of taking such a long Synagogue on February 1st, 1911. degree was out of the question . So Aunt Sarah signed as witness. My he became a teacher instead. Before grandmother signed her name as the Second World War he emigrated Sarah Uezzel Hyams, taking her to Southern Rhodesia. My mother grandfather's name because her went out to join him there, they own father was not Jewish . I have were married and I was born there. their Ketubah in my possession. (see Among my dearest possessions is above) the samovar my grandfather Samuel Spark brought with him from his It is probable that the Hyams home in Lithuania. It has pride of family came from Lithuania . The place by my lounge fireside . Cambergs certainly originated there, MemorialStone for SarahJoel in my grandfather belonging to the My paternal grandmother, Rachel Newington Cemetery. first generation to be born in this Spark, my Camberg great­ gravestone lying face down and half country. Grandfather had ten grandparents, and Sarah and Henry submerged in the ground. I had brothers and sisters! But even before Joel are all buried in the Jewish Rachel' s stone re-erected and settling in Lithuania the Cambergs section of Newington Cemetery, professionally cleaned. When I went were used, as a rabbinical family, to which, like the rest of the cemetery, to look at it after this work had been being on the move. In fact the name was, for many years, left in a state of done, I was incredulous - and Camberg is really that of the town in quite unbelievable neglect. Giant absolutely thrilled. There stood Germany whence they came to hogweed had taken over and much revealed a magnificent white marble Lithuania . of the cemetery was impenetrable. In 1994, however, Edinburgh City gravestone sparkling in the The Spark family also emigrated Council was able to acquire the sunshine, just as it would have to this country from Lithuania and it cemetery from its then owner and, looked to her desperately grieving may interest those of you who are since then, a transformation has husband and children all those acquainted with my friend Gershon taken place On visiting the years ago. Mendick to know that his father and cemetery, I was able to locate the Inspired by this success, I then mine came from the very same town gravestone of Henry Joel, which was in Lithuania. My paternal had Sarah Joel's stone renovated. Lo still upright, that of his wife, Sarah, and behold, another beautiful white grandfather, Samuel Spark, whose which was in a sorry state, having name I bear, had at one time been marble memorial emerged! And so fallen from its plinth and so black we come back to the re-consecration conscripted into the Russian army. with the dirt of so many years that To avoid further service in the ceremony with which this article the inscription was barely began. I should like to record my Russian-Japanese conflict, he came discernible. Of Rachel Spark's stone to this country with his wife, Rachel, warmest thanks and appreciation to I could find no sign. Mr Alec Rubinstein for officiating at and little son, my father, Sydney Oswald Spark. Two more children To the rescue came Mr. George the service and to all my friends were born to Samuel and Rachel Bell of the City of Edinburgh who so kindly gave up their time to after they settled in Edinburgh. Alas, Council's Burial Services be present at the ceremony. My forebears had, I felt, been most at the age of thirty-eight, Rachel Department. His search through the died in childbirth when my father cemetery records located the lair fittingly honoured. was only nine years old, leaving him and we found upon it a large The memorial stone to Henry

16 Articles

Joel, Sarah's husband, reveals that he was the son of the Reverend ON HESHEL'S KINGDOM Moses Joel, whose long ministry to by Dan Jacobson our community lasted from 1831 to 1863, a period of thirty two years. An Heshel's Kingdom is not a novel but a uncles and in-laws who remained in engraving of the Rev. Moses Joel, by mixture of autobiography and Lithuania. My mother of course J. G. Howie, can be seen in the family memoir; it is also a travel­ would have been among them. As Edinburgh Room of the Central book about a journey I recently luck would have it, however, Library in George IV Bridge. The made to Lithuania. In addition it Heshel' s widow and children had engraving is reproduced in A reconstructs - from the documents History of the Origins of the First and artefacts available to me - the Jewish Community in Scotland by life and character of my grandfather, the late Abel Phillips, a past Heshel Melamed, rabbi of the president of the community. Lithuanian shtetl of Vorna, who died Apparently Rev. Moses Joel was the in that town ten years before my second minister of the community, mother gave birth to me in having succeeded the Rev. Meir M. Johannesburg, South Africa. Rentle in 1831, in which year he was granted a licence to practise Shechita. As far as I know, Heshel Melamed I still possess the cover of a Machzor made only one journey to a bearing the Rev. Moses Joel's destination outside Lithuania. In signature. I also at one time had a 1912 he was invited by some Litvaks rabbinical commentary belonging to who had settled in Cleveland, Ohio, and signed by him. I gave it on loan to take up a position as the rabbi of a to our then rabbi, Rabbi Isaac small, new congregation they Cohen . The book was mislaid and wished to establish. On this journey never returned. I therefore offer this he went not only to Cleveland, but maxim to the readers of The also some other cities in the Edinburgh Star: 'Never lend American North-East. After a few precious books to anyone, not even months he returned to Lithuania. to the Chief Rabbi of the Republic of The United States, he had decided, made their way to South Africa in Ireland! ' as Rabbi Cohen sub­ was no fit place for a pious Jew. To 1920. There, in South Africa, an sequently became . The Rev. Moses his strict eye, the Jews who had extensive cousinage had already Joel is also mentioned by the late migrated there were rapidly ceasing established itself and had acquired Rabbi Dr. Salis Daiches in his article to be Jews. They shaved their the means to help the bereaved 'The Jew in Scotland' in connection beards, they rode in street-cars on family. with the small synagogue in the Sabbath, they ate anything and Richmond Court, which was used everything, their women dressed Thus they were save d. Strangely by the congregation for some fifty immodestly, they mocked Jews like enough, however, my grandfather's years from 1817 onwards. himself who wished above all else to misg1vmgs about what would I wonder how many mor e stories, pre serve the traditional Jewish ways become of his children if they left interesting, amusing, sad, dramatic, of life. He was not prepared to Lithuania were amply vindicated by lie behind the stones in the old expose himself, or his children, to their subsequent behaviour. With a cemetery? It would be wonderful if the temptations which were remarkable rapidity and unanimity more of them could be restored and apparently inseparable from the they did indeed jettison all the a part of our history properly move to the new country. beliefs and practices he valued so recorded and preserved. profoundly. But they lived. That is Seven years later he died, at the the central irony around which my As for myself, I am sometimes a early age of fifty-three, leaving his book turns. In a passage about their little sad to think that my particular wife and nine children penniless departure from Lithuania I describe twig on the family tree will sprout and homeless. He could not know a formal photograph of the family no more. But I am pleased to think that his early death was the greatest which was taken just before they left that the tree is still branching favour he could have done for them. the country. Through a series of vigorously all over the world. Had he lived to enforce his wishes questions rather than answers, I go After working as a civil servant, on his family, as he was determined on to speak briefly of all the Robin Spark studied at Edinburgh to do, then all those who obeyed unpredictable and often unhappy Collegeof Art, graduating in 1987. He him would have perished twenty ways in which the individual careers is both a practisingartist and a teacher years later - as indeed did every of the children shaped themselves of art. single one of the pious cousins and in the new country. Then I write:

17 Articles

Take up that photograph protect me, from the pain that what happened on the outskirts again. Nine lives in waiting. might otherwise have of Rasenai on 18 August 1941 Nine escapees from the rifles threatened it! How shaming it might well be struck dumb and machine guns of the was that I had to visit the forever. And that was the tally of German Einsatzkommandos and country where these things had one day's killings of helpless their Lithuanian hirelings; from been done, and go to some of people, most of them children, the burial pits and pyres that the places where the murdering outside a single provincial town would have consumed their took place, to feel the horror of it in Lithuania. Comparable events bodies in their natal land. Nine so intensely! Did I of all people - took place elsewhere in young people spared as a result someone who had mentally Lithuania and in many other of their father's early death to reproached his rabbinical countries on that same day. make the best or worst of the grandfather for the near-fatal They went on unabated, every opportunities given to them and rectitude of his innocence - did I day, without pause, all over denied to those they had left really need such 'aids' to eastern Europe, for a further behind. reflection and recollection? three and a half years.

I go back again and again to Apparently so ... There we are. We not only write that thought. I have to do so. As in the shadow of Holocaust; we live much as anything else it is what On one side of the ocean, under it too. We are left to know as a provokes me to seek them out death. On the other, life. The fact that which we cannot believe. now, and their father lying in gulf between those swallowed To believe what we cannot imagine. the Varniai cemetery. Or to feel by the catastrophe in Europe To imagine what we cannot speak myself sought out by them. and those who escaped it is of. To speak of that for which there unbridgeable. A commensurate are no words. For them, safely landed in gulf yawns between the South Africa, the privilege of catastrophe itself and the words Dan Jacobsonis Emeritus Professor vicissitude: success, failure, I have to use in speaking of it. of English Literature at University appetite, disappointment, Even when I try to speak College,London and the author of many wreckage, growth, an individual directly to you, Heshel novels including The Beginners, The exit from existence. For the Melamed, my dear grandfather, Rape of Tamar and The God-Fearer. others, for the family in Kelme, as I now try to do. I sit here His most recent book Heshel's for neighbours and townsfolk in transcribing from my notebook Kingdom is publishedin hard cover by Varniai, for the entire nation SS Colonel Karl Jaeger's tally of Hamish Hamilton and will be published they were born into - nothing. A his unit's killings on this or that in paperback by Penguin Books in single, common fate . day in a single town, Rasenai, in February1999. This article is based on August 1941. (On 18 August, for his talk to the EdinburghJewish Literary On one side of the ocean, life. example: 446 Jews, 440 Jewish Societyon 1 November1998. On the other, death. women, 1020 Jewish children.) Those are his words and figures. If you can lookinto the seedsof Personal time And my words? They describe my own memory of a visit to Computer And say whichgrain will grow Rasenai. The discomforts of the •~Pl►.!~.,.,...,14 Services and which will not. [Macbeth, 1, Hotel Neris, in Kaunas My visits Tel: 0131 539 7272 iii, 58-59] to other 'mass massacre' sites. A Fax: 0131 539 7273 childhood in Kimberley. The e-mail: [email protected] The longest single section of the landscapes of Lithuania. Your book is an account of my visit to journey to Cleveland, Ohio in COMPUTERTRAINING Lithuania. Among the places I 1912. Vera, the last Jew in CONSULTANCY visited were my grandfather's Varniai. The woman with her COMPUTERSYSTEMS Vorna and my great-grandfather's weighing machine on Kelme. I found the entire experience Gediminas Street, Vilnius. NETWORKING- SUPPORT even more distressing than I had MACRO & TEMPLATE This adjective or that? A full­ feared it might be, not least because INTERNETSERVICES of a kind of shame which gripped stop or a semi-colon? The active me while I was travelling about the or passive mood? Seeking and For further details or brochure country. As I put it in the book: finding the answers to such please telephone questions, by instinct or Unit 5 West Gorgie Park How feeble my imagination calculation, I know that anyone Hutchison Road was! How carefully I had who truly opened his Edinburgh EH14 1 UT protected it, or allowed it to imagination to just a fragment of

18 Articles A LETTER FROM ISRAEL by Edwin Hoffenberg A summons in the Lake District used and that our inadequacies It was a beautiful sunny day in June would not be shown up. Until then, 1982. We sat and luxuriated in the my reserve (miluim) duty involved lush grass by the side of Lake practising dentistry. Now I Windemere, sharing our delight alternated between doing that and with other picnickers whose roving the country from Lebanon to children played nearby. We mused Sinai and the Suez Canal with my on how the same sun that was new unit. On one occasion, I was shining benignly on us, actually allowed to turn up a day accompanied by a cool breeze, was late, consideration having been parching the , our shown to enable me, as a Scotsman, home, and making people there feel to go to Ramat Gan Stadium to uncomfortable and drained . watch the Israel-Scotland match. It After several hours of relaxation, was difficult to know who to shout we decided that the time had come for. to move on to Glasgow to visit my wife's father. We found a phone box Army bureaucracy being what it to let him know we were coming. is, the Dental Department did not Doreen's face blanched as she spoke strike me off their list when I was to him. Our daughter Gila had assigned to the Medical Unit and, as telephoned from Israel to say that a result, I found myself doing twice war had broken out and I had been as much miluim as anyone else, called up on the first day. I was to sometimes as much as 70 days a year return to Israel immediately. when the normal period was 35 My first reaction was to contrast days. This did not do my practise the relaxed demeanour of the other any good but I lived in the hope that picnickers with our own agitation. my patients would be under­ We debated whether I should return standing, which they were, until my immediately or continue to Glasgow vociferous protests to the army bore Edwin Hoffenbergon a recentvisit to and clarify the position from there. fruit. the UK. We chose the latter course and when Back to Military Service we got to Glasgow, I spoke to Gila terribly frustrated that they could again. I asked her to contact my unit, make no real contribution to the war On returning home after our trip to find out where they were and get effort. I was fortunate to be attached Scotland, I was sent to join my unit further instructions. She got back to to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa, in Lebanon . An army lorry took me me after an hour or so, having but this was due to my friendship and one other soldier, a young succeeded in reaching my base, and with the Head of Anaesthetics who officer from Rosh Pinah. In was told that the army was doing had asked me to help out because of conversation (in Hebrew) he asked very well without me and that I did a shortage of anesthetists there. me what I did and when I told him, not need to join my unit until I Later on, the Army decided to he reeled off a list of Glasgow returned to Israel after our holiday. remedy the situation by sending dentists and asked whether I knew Although I felt somewhat deflated at young (and not-so-young) dentists them. 'What is your connection with the thought of not being on a two-month course in them?', I asked. 'My father was Julie indispensable, this did enable us to traumatology and emergency Shafer (a Glasgow dentist with continue with our holiday and to treatment. In 1976, I was called to whom I had worked and whom I visit our families. Tzrifin, the old British camp in knew well)' he replied. So here were Dentis ts in the Israeli Army Sarafand, to take such a course and, two Hebrew-speaking Scotsmen, During the Yorn Kippur War, in 1973, when I had completed it, I was driving into Lebanon to fight for it had become clear that dentists, in assigned to an army unit. We their country. Fortunately, the war spite of their medical backgrounds, dentists were given the inflated title was over by the time we arrived and could not be used to treat the of hachyaa(resuscitation doctor) and three days after joining my unit, we wounded as their training was not it was our job to stick with the were pulled back. My war deemed to be adequate for this task. doctor, learn what we could and experience was over and I returned As a result, many dentists had felt pray to God that we would never be to dentistry.

19 Articles

The Changing Jewish Community lives 30 years on? Can we still religious, including religious Zion­ in Edinburgh recommend to our fellow Jews ists, has been badly tarnished in the In all the 30 years we have lived in abroad that they should come and public mind through their Israel, our emotional ties with join us in our adventure? Is the involvement in the machinations of Scotland have never been severed. adventure, building and developing politics and the wheeling and Not only because of the families we the land, still the same as it was for dealing to obtain public funds and left behind but also because, in my us? In the main, I would answer political influence. They must climb case, of fond memories of my 'yes' to all these questions. Of down off this ladder and present childhood and youth in beautiful course, over the years, the nature of Judaism in its true form as a Edinburgh . I must confess that, Israeli society has changed. There palatable alternative to the when I was growing up in the city in has been a large influx of secularism that prevails, largely as the 1950s, I did not think the immigrants many of whom, an expression of distaste at the community had a future. By the particularly those from Russia, are behaviour of religious Jews. On the time I left in 1961, attendance at Shul not here for altruistic reasons. other hand, I believe that the non­ had dwindled, there was little However, over time, immigrants do religious have an obligation to activity in the Cheder, and the once­ add - both in cultural and in educate their children in the ethical active Habonim and B'nei Akiva economic terms - to the richness of and philosophical values of Judaism organisations were no longer the melting pot, even if, initially, and to encourage a greater degree of functioning. Most of my they appear to be a burden to the tolerance between the religious and contemporaries had decided to host community. the non-religious. To obviate the leave, mainly for Israel, and I can The kibbutz, that pioneering fears of the religious, I am in favour remember being admonished by my socialist experiment, has had to of a constitution that would embody late cousin Philip Goldberg, who change its format, in part for Shabbat as our national day of rest, argued that if only I and my friends economic reasons, and no longer in all public institutions and were to stay in Edinburgh, we could has the same significance for Israeli the freedom to choose religious have a vibrant community . But it society. Kibbutniks, well as the education. was not to be. general population, have had to The deepest rift of all is created by come to terms with the market And now I must confess to my joy differences in opinion over the which is becoming increasingly de­ in witnessing the revitalisation of current peace process. At no time in regulated so that we can compete in the Edinburgh community, with the our history has Israel not craved the global economy and are not left injection of new blood in the peace and not been prepared to behind. We have become a more persons of the Adlers, the make sacrifices for it. But many materialistic society and any Cosgroves, the Leifers, the Sheins people believe the Arabs have not remaining socialist ideas only find and many others. I do not know manifested an equal willingness to expression in welfare provisions. them although I feel I do from eliminate the hatred engendered in The Histadrut is still kicking and reading The Edinburgh Star. their people against us. Readers of the magazine should screaming and attempting to protect know that those of us from workers' (and its' own) interests. My optimism for the future of Edinburgh who now live in Israel However, as in other countries, Israel lies in its ability to progress, in are proud of what you have done in unskilled workers are declining in spite of social, economic and producing this magazine and number and the emphasis today is political turmoil. The quality of eagerly await the arrival of every on training and retraining. medical care is of a high standard, issue, to read about the about the However, it is in politics that most our electronics and computer personalities we knew from the past unrest is undoubtedly felt. There is industries are on a par with those of and the activities of the community too much factionalism and too many the leading nations, and in terms of today . This is in stark contrast to the vested interests, and many people production and exports, we have moribund attitudes of the leaders of feel that the national interest is nothing to be ashamed of. Social the community in my day when the being sacrificed. Most of us from the justice is a very strong part of our main issues were decorum in the West, especially those of us from Jewish heritage and, if we can learn Shul, stopping people from dancing Britain, who have known a two­ to be more considerate towards and in the Shul on Simchat Torah and party system of government feel more civil to each other, then we will presenting a civilised face to the that would be more effective, albeit have created a state of which our wider community. less democratic, in that it would ancestors would be proud. The Changing Nature of Life in reduce the power of minor parties Edwin Hoffenberg was born in Israel whose influence is excessive in a Edinburgh and studied dentistry at And what of life here in Israel? Does system of proportional repre­ Edinburgh University. he went on aliya the idealism which brought us here sentation. 30 years ago and now practicesdentistry still play an important part in our The image of Judaism, and of the in Haifa.

20 Theatre Review

DIFFICULT PEOPLE, a play by Yosef Bar-Yosef shown at the Traverse Theatre from 9th-13th December 1998 reviewedby Yvonne Berger

Difficult People shown at the child from this marriage. Leyzer is similar she is to his ex-wife. When it Traverse Theatre was written in 1968 clearly not the 'perfect Jewish boy' comes to age, perhaps to spite her by Yosef Bar-Yosef, a seventh who is going to sweep Rachael off brother, Rachael tells Leyzer that she generation resident of Jerusalem her feet. is really 42 and not 39. The Israeli with an Orthodox background and The fourth character is Benny. a feels horribly lied to, and when education. After studying at the Marxist cobbler, who is Rachael's Simon finds out that Rachael has Hebrew University, he has written landlord and lives next door. Apart told Leyzer the truth, he is furious numerous plays and won the from when he plays the trumpet that all his matchmaking plans have President's Award for Drama. loudly, Benny has a quiet role in the been ruined. Difficult People, performed by play. He admires Rachael from afar, This is just the beginning of the Theatre Flux, has a cast of only four but is too shy to do anything about verbal confrontation between the people. Rachael is the only female it. However, he does support her, three characters which is to follow. It character. Single and unlucky in and tries to help her in difficult is at this point that all truths are love, she avoids problems by situations. revealed: Rachael tells Leyzer that making cups of tea. She is a symbol The story begins with Simon she has had previous lovers, and of 'girl power', and very avant-garde informing Rachael that, when he that she does not own the flat she for her time. She has had two was in Israel, he met a 'wonderful' lives in. In a way, both Rachael and previous lovers, both of whom she guy for her. Rachael is totally Leyzer are very similar in that they has supported financially, which disinterested and chooses to ignore are both used to being let down: was very progressive for the period the situation by making a cup of tea. Leyzer by his wife and father, and in which the play was set. No exact During this time, her brother Rachael by her two lovers, who took date is given, but we are told that humorously describes Leyzer . He her money and left. After hearing the play takes place not long after knows that this is perhaps not a these facts, Rachael expects Leyzer the British Mandate. match made in heaven, but to follow in the same vein and walk Simon is Rachael' s big brother, nonetheless, he pursues the out. However, the Israeli is stunned who has taken on a father-like role possibility. He has even lied about because he can not only relate to her, following the death of both their Rachel's age and the amount of but is satisfied that she has told him parents. Simon is the typical money she has, to ensure that the truth. At the end of the day, this protective brother. He wants Leyzer will be even more attracted is all that Leyzer has ever wanted. Rachael to be married, although not to her. Rachael reacts to this news He has been lied to so often in his necessarily to the perfect man. He is with a 'thanks but no thanks' life that all he craves is for someone simply concerned that, at the age 42, attitude. She does not want a to be honest. There is a complete she should be someone's wife. It is shiddoch, especially not with this change in atmosphere at this for this reason, that, at the man although, on the other hand, moment as the two characters now beginning of the play, he returns she remains loyal to her brother, and sit down and view each other in a from a visit to Israel with the 'perfect agrees to meet Leyzer . new light. It appears that the seed of Jewish boy' for his dear sister. The cobbler walks in from time to a new relationship is about to be Leyzer is the Israeli gentleman time during the conversation sown . who has been flown over for between Simon and Rachael. Simon wants Leyzer to leave, but Rachael to meet. He is hardly the Rachael looks longingly at Benny, his request is ignored. Rachael's tall, dark and muscular Israeli one but she is also too shy to do brother is now feeling rejected expects . On the contrary, fat and anything about her feelings. Leyzer because, for the first time in his life, balding would be a better arrives, and after a few awkward he is not able to involve himself in description . Leyzer is a loner, who moments, they sit down and chat, or his sister's matters. This is quite has been totally let down in life. He at least try to break the ice. We can ironic considering he has spent most was a disappointment to his father, deduce that Rachael is still in love of the play trying to steer Rachael' s he has had numerous jobs, at all of with her ex-lovers, as her main life. However, now that she no which he was unsuccessful, and, conversation point is medicine, longer needs him, he is jealous. In needless to say, he is not rich. His because both her ex-boyfriends order to capture the couple's first wife rejected him, after which were medical students. Leyzer is attention, Simon begins to make fun he ended up in a mental hospital just as bad, because the first thing he of Leyzer by mocking an old family and he no longer has access to his does is test Rachael to see how tradition. Rachael laughs, which

21 Theatre/Book Reviews

instantaneously offends the Israeli. stronger, but there are no winners, to torment her as she finally asserts Leyzer walks out of the flat in heroes or heroines. herself and her talents in rescuing disgust, leaving Rachael torn. The her father from an unwise business The staging of Difficult People chance for her to settle down has deal. Meanwhile, as Grein' s wife was effective. The characters again fallen from her grasp. dies of cancer, he takes up again performed realistically, and the mis­ Difficult People is an intense with a long-standing mistress who, en-scene captured the period well. Jewish play, with a lot of humorous in despair at his poor response to Moreover, the fact that the play was elements. It is centred around her consistent and undemanding shown at the Traverse made us feel loyalties and relationships, rather devotion, marries someone else. we were sitting with the characters than hard-core action. One can By today's standards, the story is in their living room. sympathise with all the characters vastly overwritten and slides because they each have their own This was the first time I had seen greasily along in a mode we would problems. The play was appealing any work by Yosef Bar-Yosef and I now call soap opera . However, the because of an added twist - unlike was impressed by his powerful author carries us through in his the typical 'Jewish Matchmaker' composition. More Israeli pro­ wonderful way, seducing us into story, Difficult People does not have ductions in Britain, please! My following the protagonists' struggles a happy ending. By the end of the leaving thoughts: 'Well, all you between passion, metaphysical play, all truths are revealed, and the single people out there, just beware reflection and general world­ characters know more about the next time you are offered a weariness. Not far beneath the themselves. They have even grown shiddoch!' surface, however, Singer is probing the consciences of his protagonists. These people have grown up Isaac Bashevis Singer, Shadows On The against the backdrop of the highest ideals, before them has unfolded the Hudson, published by Hamish Hamilton, greatest evil. How then can their London 1998, pp. 548, £16.99. little sins be seen as serious ? For Singer, indeed, the new reviewedby Ros Abramsky situation poses a literary problem. For his chosen tokens of interference with the well-being of the soul, the America - land of the free, haven for to have made no impact whatsoever malign spirits of Yiddish the oppressed - has garnered to on his consciousness. demonology, have not fared well on herself the cream of Europe's exiles. Makaver, who almost alone the voyage to the New World. The New York in the late 1940s provides among the group sticks to US Immigration Department has the backdrop for this saga of a traditional values and practices, is strictly excluded the breed, and any handful of these, reasonably well­ horrified at this performance, but lost traces have been wiped clean as off, companionable, talented Jews. apparently can do nothing to their erstwhile hosts have United by a common background, prevent the pair, who had first committed to memory the these figures seem to come alive known each other in Warsaw as Declaration of Independence. Free only in each other's company. tutor and pupil, from throwing now to engage in life, love and the Boris Makaver, into whose well­ themselves at each other and even pursuit of happiness, are the appointed flat the half-dozen running off together, defying Makaver circle doing a better job individuals are welcomed, is parents and spouses in a mad than they could have done in perhaps the most stable of these escapade that spawns tragedy on haunted, hating, vengeful Europe? scarred drifters. His passage to late every side, even after it has almost In some ways, the answer has to middle age has been smoothed by as quickly burnt itself out. Indeed, as be yes. They have anchored his success as a businessman, his in much of Singer, the characters themselves in a place of physical talents easily transferable from hardly seem to communicate with safety and made the most of their Warsaw to New York. His daughter each other at all. Instead, Singer opportunities for prosperity and the Anna has not been so lucky: wealth, treats us to their internal reflections. freedom to live the way they choose. good looks and intelligence have We see how the exigencies of daily The aspect of their cleverness that brought her neither success in love life and manners in the new world matches up to the standards of nor any other consuming interest to set off echoes of the world they left modern rationality can find fertile occupy her. And so it is almost out of behind. ground on which to grow without ennui, of sheer boredom and As the aftermath of the affair the hindrance of superstition or aimlessness, that she falls into a unfolds, the pasts of these two prejudice. flirtation with Hertz Grein, a unfortunate individuals come back But what Singer actually shows disappointed intellectual whose to haunt them in more concrete us is a group of lost souls. No local marriage and teenage children seem ways. Anna's first husband turns up context satisfies them for long, no

22 Book Reviews

goal seems worth striving towards, resolutely refuses to believe in. Yet He is terrified when, in the but the spiritual path seems he cannot let go of it, or even allow orphanage, his socks and shoes are alternately ridiculous and that privilege to any of his removed to be cleaned and he unattainable. What is Singer trying characters, however much they follows the lesson that Jankl, his to tell us when Grein ultimately strive to be free of it. That is the adopted camp brother, had taught abstracts himself from his friends power of his work and the basis for him. He ties rags to his feet to and his family and runs away once the morality, a sort of theological protect them, much to the more, this time to live among the agnosticism, more poetic than amusement of the other children. pious? How is it that he ends up on rational, more anguished than In this way, one of the most the moral high ground, while Singer doctrinal, that he has left us as his remarkable qualities of the book is reserves the real punishment for legacy to the modern world. revealed - the author's courage in those who have kept the faith, as if remembering and describing his the sins of the children were to be Shadows over the Hudson was experiences as a child in the first person without recourse to age or visited on the fathers? originally written in Yiddish and any other form of distance as a In America, as in the shtetl, Singer appearedin serialform in The Forward defense against the pain. The result works his intense magic to confront between January 1957 and January is that the images are enormously the day to day world with a faith 1958. This new edition was translated powerful and the language simple, by JosephSherman - Ed. whose justice and efficacy he direct and even poetical. What then made it possible for SURVIVING CHILDHOOD TRAUMA the little boy, Binjamin, to survive in the death camps against all odds Binjamin Wilkomirski, Fragments: Memories of when he was so obviously meant to die? There are many possible a Childhood, 1939-1948, published by Schocken explanations but a large part must Books, New York, 1996, pp. 155, $11.00 rest with fate - that is Binjamin being in the right place at the right reviewedby Tammy Fransman time or not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Certain other In this review of Binjamin recalled as an older boy in qualities may have helped. Binjamin Wilkomirski' s remarkable narrative Switzerland or as an adult when he showed an enormous will to survive subtitled 'Memories of a Childhood, had the maturity to do so. The in the face of horrific personal 1939-1948' I am concerned with two memories often cluster around trauma. Only once does he feel he questions. Firstly, how does a child particular themes. can no longer carry on. aged four, alone, separated from his Thus, for example, having been From his earliest memories one family survive some six years of life given bread in the Swiss orphanage wonders at the quality of quiet in the German death camps? is linked, with heart-breaking observation that sets him apart, Secondly, having grown up in such poignancy, to his memory of being alone. He witnesses his father's a traumatic environment, how does taken by a uniformed warden to see death and is able to understand that he then readapt to the 'normal' a woman lying on a straw bed, who his father's turned away face is not a world? he believes to be his mother, who sign of loving him less, but the result In just 155 pages, Wilkomirski offers him a precious piece of bread. of an external threat that was recounts 'fragments' of his His arrival by train in Switzerland stronger than his father. Binjamin experiences of being a very small reminds him of the endless, initially observed and learned the rules of child of about 3 or 4, separated from hopeful and then hopeless, journeys survival quickly . his parents and later his brothers made before. He has learned not to Binjamin must have established and growing up alone in a series of go to sleep, to keep watch because very loving and full relationships death camps . Interwoven with these grownups - particularly in uniforms before being separated from his early memories are later ones of his - can be dangerously unpredictable family. This enabled him to transfer release from these camps and his and kill. This reminds him of how trust onto others. In the first camp journey to and sojourn in a foreign after enticing a camp guard into a Binjamin formed a close Switzerland, initially in a children's child's game, the guard threw him relationship with Jankl - a boy the home and later with foster parents. against a wall. There are clear same age as his older brother Motti. It is hard to describe this book memories of his kind, patient, and In his own words: chronologically. Indeed, the author gentle older brother, Motti, teaching 'Jankl was good. demands from us the suspension of him how to make a paper glider. He It was Jankl I had to thank for the 'ordering logic of grown ups' hoards food in the orphanage everything ... I owe my life to which 'would only distort what because he had learned in the camps Jankl ... He was always there happened'. (p.4) The memories that that each meal could be his last meal when I needed him . He have floated to his surface are a and that only those who were alert protected me, he gave me series of disconnected fragments, and planned ahead could survive. advice, he taught me a lot, he

23 Book Reviews

alerted me to dangers ... He was finally meant to be burned. new world with new peaceful showed me patiently how to tie Secondly, Binjamin' s attitude to games and new rules.' (p.149) a knot, and why it mattered.' his new life in Switzerland was All he was ever told was to forget; (pp .72-3). paradoxical. He longed to return to it had been a bad dream. 'Nobody Later there were the women who his 'home' in the death camps ever said right out to me: Yes, the hid him and looked after him. where he was 'known' by the other camp was real, but now its over. Binjamin must also have had an children, where he understood the There is another world now, and ability to induce love and protection rules and was 'safe'. In the outside you're allowed to live in it.' (p.150). in others. For example, even the world, where he had clothes and Through writing this book uniformed warden who had food, he was lulled into a false sense Wilkomeski has attempted to bring brought him to his first camp, of security. All was chaotic and his two worlds together - to be Majdanek, risked taking him to see confusing and all the more heard and understood. His courage his mother. dangerous because at any moment it and honesty in doing so are further What of the second question - of could change. He could not trust. testimony to his will to survive fully Binjamin's adaptation to the outside He secretly followed the camp rules in his present world. I have no world? Much of the book deals with and saw his new life as a trap. When hesitation recommending this his painful re-entry into so-called as a teenager he saw his first masterpiece to all those interested in normal society. Here two points can documentaries on the liberation of bearing witness to a child's be made. Firstly, Binjamin teaches us the camps he was shattered: harrowing, but moving, story of how an adult can never presume to 'Goddamit - who got freed? And growing up during . I 'know' a child's authentic where was I when everyone else felt considerably enriched having experiences, particularly when they was being freed? No-one freed read this book as I am sure many have been so traumatic. For us, and nobody brought us food others will be. example, when being shown the ... Nobody ever told me that the boiler in the basement of his foster old times and their evil games With compliments parents' house, Binjamin is and rules were over and I could from Sim and Fanny Levinson convinced that this is like the go forward without fear and Netanya, Israel furnace in the camps in which he threat into a new time and a

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24 Obituaries

In Memoriam

The Editorial Board expresses its but above all enjoyed attending condo lences to the families of the regu larly on Sabbaths and Festivals; late Bert Hallside, Ellen Lewis, she lived and loved the Jewis h Mary Davidson and Riva Cohen Tradi tion . She had a wonderfu l who passed away recen tly. swee t smile, which combined with It also expresses its condolences to her charm and relaxed manner Tony Gilbert and Gordon Plotkin endeare d her to all her friends and on the deaths of their fathers. We family. wish them both a long life. It was remarkable how her conversation was always directed towards the welfare of the person to whom she was speaking. It was this charm that in later life Sidney Burton fell for and they had a happy RABBI ELI CASH DAN life together until he became ill and, 1.6.1905 -14.11.1998 yet again, she was called upon to The death of Rabbi Eli Cashdan in give so much of herself. An accident his 94th year has deprived British some ten years ago when she very Jewry of one of its outstanding nearly lost her foot was a scholars. Over the years, regular tremendous blow to her. But due to attenders at the Edinburgh Hebrew her courage and fortitude she Congregation have enjoyed Rabbi survived and with the aid of a Cashdan's annual visits to the city. wheelchair and stick was able to JULIE BURTON On several occasions he "layened"for visit Israel with us several times. 15.2.1918- 26.10.1998 the congregation and his distinct, But it is as a mother, mother-in­ precise and absolutely accurate Born Julie Tobias in Glasgow eighty law, grandmother and great­ years ago, my mother-in-law was rendition of the Torah from the grandmother that we will remember the youngest of a family of three Scrolls made the Sabbath reading her. She was the person who made who were very close, supported come alive. sure that her daughters had a sound each other and remained close secular and religious education. He was primarily a scholar and a through good times and bad. The That was her priority and their teacher and hundreds of in says that when you live to success gave her much pleasure. She all parts of the world (including the eighty, you acquire the gift of special was always there to encourage, at present Chief Rabbi, Jonathan strength and Julie had many times to discourage, to give a Sacks) have benefited from his strengths which enabled her to friendly word of advice, a word of erudition and wisdom. Born in succeed when lesser people would caution. Always so sensible, so Minsk, he was brought over as a have given in. In the early years of down to earth, so fair, but above all, baby to Liverpool where his father her wonderful partnership with my always available. She was such a was the chief shochet.He left school father in law, Monty Aronson, when good listener, always cheerful. She at the age of 12 and studied at the he was desperately ill over a long loved her grandchildren and great­ Liverpool Yeshiva gaming his period, she nursed him back to full grandchildren above all and Rabbinical Diploma at the age of 17. health with patience and dedication. regularly kept in touch with them He taught himself Latin and Greek She demonstrated that same loyalty wherever they were and it was a and dedication when years later he by going to public libraries in suffered a stroke; whatever the source of great happiness to her that Liverpool and educated himself weather, however good or bad she she got to London in July for the bris sufficiently in secular subjects to was feeling, she was always there at of her great grandson, Saul. To me, enable him to enter Jews' College in Monty' s side. she wasn't just a mother-in-law; she London where he gained a first class Julie loved Queen's Park was my friend and confidante. To honours degree, followed by an MA Synagogue and all its institutions Hazel and her sister Danielle, she degree with distinction in Semitic and was a tower of strength to its was not only a role model but Languages at University College, Clergy. She served on the everything you could wish a mother London. He made one unsuccessful Synagogue Council, chaired the to be, and more. attempt to become a 'pulpit' Rabbi. Ladies' Guild and Friendship Club John Cosgrove applying for the then prestigious

25 Obituaries/Letter to the Editor post of Minister of the Cricklewood the intricacies of one of the finer Synagogue in London but was points of cricket. ~ettettto the8dltott pipped at the post by Edinburgh­ born Rabbi Dr Louis Rabbinowitz, That popularity was recognised Dear Editor arguably one of the great preachers by his regular invitations to lecture of his generation who was later to to teenagers at Jewish Youth Study May I, through The Edinburgh Star, become Chief Rabbi of South Africa. Group (JYSG) Summer and Winter express my grateful thanks to the Schools. His lectures were always Edinburgh Jewish Community, the Had Rabbi Cashdan been the best attended and it was at these Council of Christians and Jews, successful, the rest of British Jewry schools that he was able to influence Edinburgh Inter-Faith and my would have been deprived of one of among many others, Ian Leifer, Glasgow friends for their continuing its finest teachers for he would not Norma Brodie and Elaine Samuel all support through visits, cards and have had the time to devote himself of whom have given so much to phone calls while I was in hospital. to scholarly pursuits such as the Hebrew education in Edinburgh . With everyone so concerned for my translation of part of the Babylonian well-being, I really felt part of a very Talmud and two books of the Bible Those who had the pleasure of large family. Thank God, I am now for the Soncino Press. meeting him will remember him for home and feeling much better, his infectiou s enthusiasm for Jewish though it will be some time before I He studied Law and qualified as a learning, for his willingness to am back to full strength. barrister at the English Bar but when explain complex issues in I cannot finish without a special the war broke out he joined the RAF comprehensible ways, and for his word of thanks to my sister Ruby, to to become Senior Jewish Chaplain in vast knowledge. It was this , Rabbi Shalom and Rachel Shapira the Middle East. For part of that time combined with his easy accessibility, for their frequent 'phone call_s from he was stationed in Cairo and was which made him a walking Jewish Israel, and to David Goldberg, promoted to the rank of Wing encyclopaedia. The late Chaim without whom I do not think I Commander. In 1951, he was Bermant once described him as a would have survived. Bless you, appointed lecturer in Jews' College 'polymath' and a 'cherished David. and it was there that he was able to institution ' . Others have described With thanks and best wishes . inspire generations of Rabbis with him as 'The Rabbi's Rabbi' but he Rose Orgel his expert knowledge of Bible, will undoubtedly be remembered as 89 Polwarth Terrace Talmud and medieval poetry which the person who translated the latest Edinburgh EHll lNW he combined with a love of sport edition of the Daily Prayer Book and a passion for cricket. His (Singer's) into comprehensible popularity with his students soared modern English. Willie and Betty Caplan when he applied the same serious wish to thank Rabbi Sedley, the tone used in Talmudic argument to John Cosgrove President and Members of the Council, members of the Friendship Club, the Ladies Guild, the Luncheon Club and all their friends who kindly visited them at ~~~4h home after their accident , and for the many telephone calls, cards. gifts and offers of help which they ~ received. They were quite overwhelmed at the kindness of SAUNDERS the community . ESTATE AGENTS & MORTGAGE CONSULTANTS SELLINGYOUR HOME? With Compliments 41 FREDERICK STREET EDINBURGH , EH2 lEP from Mark and Judith Sischy * Personal attention from our Directors and Staff. * Highly competitive stales fee . * Maximum legel fees £285 + VAT + outlays for sale or purchase of any price property . With Compliments We will call and advise on valuation and marketing WITHOUTCHARGE OR OBLIGATION from

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26 COMING EVENTS February 1999

7th Sunday Literary Society 8.00 p.m. Dr. Michael Gruneberg (University of Wales, Swansea): The Applianceof Scienceto LearningHebrew

15th Monday Lodge Solomon 7.00 p.m.

18th Thursday Council of Christians and Jews 7.30 p.m. Mr. David Goldberg (Edinburgh): Victim of the Holocaust

21st Sunday Literary Society 8.00 p.m. Prof. Yehoash Hirschberg (Hebrew University): The Vision of the East and the Reality of the West - Music in Palestine,1920-1940

March 1999

7th Sunday Literary Society 8.00 p.m. Jaclyn Chernett (City University, London): TorahReading by Hand Signs

11th Thursday Council of Christians and Jews 7.30 p.m. Sass Judah (Edinburgh) : Christian Influenceson Indian Jewry

21st Sunday Literary Society 8.00 p.m. Stephen Smith (Beth Shalom Holocaust Memorial Centre): Title to be announced

April 1999

1st Thursday First Day Pesach

2nd Friday Second Day Pesach

19th Monday Lodge Solomon 7.00 pm

Junior Maccabi meets on alternate Sunda ys from 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm . For further information, contact Judy Fransman (447 5861).

Senior Maccabi meets on Sunday evenings in members ' homes. For further information, contact Howard Nicholsby (317 7563).

The Jewish Philosophical Society meet s every month on a Sunday in members ' homes .

The Luncheon Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 12.30 pm .

The Friendship Club meets every second Sunday at 3.00 p.m. For further information, contact Willie Caplan (667 7984).

The Parent and Toddler group meets on Sunday mornings at 10.00 a.m.

All meetings are subject to alteration .

All the above events, unless otherwise stated , take place in the Community Centre, 4 Salisbury Road.