SUSSEX JEWISH NEWS WWW.SUSSEXJEWISHNEWS.COM | £2 | APRIL 2010 | NISAN/IYAR 5770 | ISSUE 196 COMMUNITY BUILDING • THE AMERICAN MENTALITY • AND MORE 2 Pause for thought A welcome note from the Editorial Board We are in the midst of counting the Omer, symbolically marking the time that the Jewish people wandered “ until the Torah was given before being admitted to the Promised Land. That time was important, necessary to change the Israelites. Their slave mentality needed to be eroded. They needed the forty years in the desert to become a nation. They needed to gird themselves, gird their faith and take responsibility for themselves and build their community. It is a given fact that the Sussex Jewish communities are smaller than thirty years ago. Whilst the decline in our numbers has been a source of regret for many years, what we are now seeing is a commitment to rebuilding our communities, a dedication to our future by finding new ways for making Sussex Jewry not only viable, but vibrant as well. Over the past months there have been so many events and many initiatives. Each of these has been designed to bring people of all ages together to be an active community. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a cabaret night, a painting party, a lecture, a discussion group, the development of a new Hillel House at Middle Street, local websites or anything else. Each shows that we can entertain each other, can educate each other and can build together. There can be no better testament to how desirable Sussex is for Jews than the announcement that this year’s Limmudfest will be held at Windlesham, just north of Worthing, from 26-30 August. Today our communities have the potential for walking out of our metaphorical desert and once again making Jewish Sussex a promised land within our country. Long may our community building continue and be sustained. SUBMISSIONS DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: 8TH APRIL 2010 ” Sussex Jewish News • PO Box 2178, Hove BN3 3SZ •Telephone 07906 955 4040 • email: [email protected] issUE 196 / APRIL 2010 / WWW.SUsseXJEWISHNEWS.COM 3 Contents FEATURES 1 IMAGES OF COMMUNITY BUILDING ADVERTISING IN SJN Together we are stronger, whether by entertaining each Full page (A4 size) B/W: £160 Col: £260 other at the BHPS Cabaret Night or by redecorating our facilities at the BHHC Painting Party Half page (A5 size) B/W: £90 Col: £160 Quarter page (A6 size) B/W: £50 Col: £90 11 THE AMERICAN MENTALITY 1/9 page (credit card size) B/W: £35 Col: £50 Rabbi Russ Shulkes reacts to a recent protest in Personal: £4 per line Brighton after learning the difference between UK Flyers: Price on application and US attitudes Local Jewish charities will not be charged, subject to editorial decision. 20 EMEK UPDATE One year later, Susan Conway reports on progress at the BOOK NOW! 07906 955 404 [email protected] hospital and its Eye Department SJN brings local news, events, articles, reviews, announcements, people, congregations, communities, contacts and more. REGULARS Delivered at the start of each month, SJN is run entirely by volunteers 2 PAUSE FOR THOUGHT for reporting, editing, printing, and circulating each edition that has become the cornerstone of the Jewish community across the region. 4 PERSONALS AND LETTERS Your thoughts and views Editorial Board Communal Diary Doris Levinson / Stephanie Megitt Angela Goldman 6 COMMUNITY LIFE / Ivor Miskin / David Seidel [email protected] Pictures and news from the past month Administrator Photographer 12 CULTURE Ivor Sorokin Sophie Sheinwald Community entertainment and education 14 CAMPUS LIFE Admin Assistant E-Publishing JSoc success at the USSU Election and more Gweni Sorokin Gary Weston / Andy Devon 19 WHAT’S ON Community Issues Design/Production Regular and special events in your community Laura Sharpe Katie Lyons Sussex Jewish News (‘SJN’), its Editor and Editorial Board: YOUR COMMUNITY • are not allied to any synagogue or group and the views expressed by writers are not necessarily those of SJN; 15 Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue • accept advertisements in good faith but do not endorse any products or services and do not 16 Hove Hebrew Congregation accept liability for any aspect of any advertisements; and • welcome readers’ contributions but reserve the right to edit, cut, decline or submit the 17 Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation content to others for comment. 18 Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue To ensure that we receive your submissions by email, please send them ONLY to [email protected], otherwise we cannot guarantee their consideration for publication. 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OR YOU CAN SUBscRIBE ONLINE AT www.SUssEXJEWISHNEws.COM AND PAY WITH PAYPAL! issUE 196 / APRIL 2010 / WWW.SUsseXJEWISHNEWS.COM 4 Personals and letters Talking to a Mop was the curious heading in last month’s SJN, Following your recent enjoyable item about Brighton Maccabi coupled with an invitation by the Worthing & District Jewish beach, I thought I would add my own memory. community to come and hear Stewart Macintosh elaborate on In 1964, many of the local young Jewish population were this rather odd title, followed by lunch. enjoying a hot May bank holiday afternoon on Maccabi beach. The audience consisted of some forty people who were The mood was happy, with pirate radio stations Caroline and rewarded with a catalogue of Stewart’s adventurous career London competing loudly from numerous transistors. interspersed with humorous anecdotes. Many will agree that his It was the year of the Mods and Rockers invasion, when delightful presentation coupled with clear diction made all the Brighton witnessed mass breakouts of fighting, piles of hearing aids redundant! deckchairs being set alight and many windows smashed along Finally, a special thanks to our host and hostess, Barbara and the seafront. Ian Gordon, who made everyone welcome and for the delightful Suddenly, there appeared at the railings above Maccabi beach lunch they prepared and served to one and all. It just goes to a large crowd of Mods obviously looking for trouble. Everyone prove that Jewish life extends beyond Boundary Road, Portslade. turned off their radios and the beach fell silent. As if by some YOURS SINCERELY, SIDNEY LIPMAN secret command and without saying a word, every Jewish male stood up and turned to face the Mods. The message was clear, and after a scary few minutes, the Mods decided against After years of controversy regarding the closure of Middle Street pursuing their obvious intent to come onto the beach and cause shul, the Board of Management must be congratulated for their more mayhem, and moved off. hard work and perseverance in selling the building at the back to Hillel. I am sure the students will enjoy residing in the centre Surely a sign of the legacy of the heroic Maccabees living on in of Brighton. 60s Britain! I was in fact very vociferous in my opposition to the closure of Middle YOURS SINCERELY, DAVID FELSENSTEIN Street, but realise that it was inevitable. Suffice to say, however, the problem now is funding for the shul itself to restore it to its former There was a great response to the Maccabi Beach article and glory; but I know it can be achieved if we all pull together. photo in the February issue. YOURS SINCERELY, ELIZABETH CAPLIN Confirmed sightings are Malcolm Sharpe, Rita Laurier (Halpern), Naomi Phillips (da Costa), Myra Ross (Taub), Louis Ross and his I was thrilled to be given a copy of the February 2010 issue little daughter Lydia (now Swithern). Possibles are Jill Gold z”l by Myrna Carlebach, as she now lives near me in Finchley and (da Costa), and Big Johnnie Gold, who went on to own Tramps knows that I grew up as part of the Maccabi crowd in Brighton. nightclub in London. Lydia’s brothers were Arthur, and Stanley z”l, who will be remembered for his amazing impressions of Looking at the article by Ivor Sorokin and the picture sent in Jerry Lewis. by Malcolm Sharpe, I quickly identified myself (born Naomi da Costa, and living in Somerhill Avenue at the time) in the lower The couple snogging in the front have not been identified. This section, towards the right, sitting up, with my left hand fiddling was scandalous behaviour in those days. with my ever-annoying curly light-brown hair! YOURS SINCERELY, IVOR SOROKIN Thank you so much. What wonderful memories. I just hope that other people in the photograph will contact you and identify As I have previously expressed, Sharon and I eagerly open themselves. We’ve mainly lost touch with each other, but we the SJN envelope and immediately read the contents. It is so were certainly a happy group of youngsters. good to read of our friends celebrating simchas and the many Life was so much more stable in the 1950s. We didn’t have a activities provided for the community.