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JCORE Newsletter
November 2011 / 5772 |
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| Dear Supporter,
I had the privilege last month of taking part in some of the events to mark the 75th anniversary of the battle of Cable Street. Over 300,000 people took to the streets in 1936 to make sure that Sir Oswald Mosley and his British Union of Fascists would not be able to march through the East End - Jewish people, Irish dockworkers, Somali seamen, communists, socialists and trade unionists - all coming together to say 'no' to racism and fascism.
And that is what we must still do today - work with others to say 'no'. No to the EDL, to the BNP, to any form of racism, to asylum destitution. There's a long-standing Jewish tradition of social activism, and we are proud to be part of it. We hope you will help us stay true to that tradition.
Edie Friedman
Executive Director.
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News: Cable Street remembered
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Cable Street veteran Max Levitas, with playwright Bonnie Greer, OBE, and Dr Edie Friedman |
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Photo by Rehan Jamil for East End Life |
The 75th anniversary of the historic Battle of Cable Street was marked by a a week of celebrations in Tower Hamlets. Edie spoke at the launch event on October 1 as did Rabbi Lee Wax. |
JCORE Support
Mitzvah Day - Sunday November 20th
This event is a chance to make a difference by giving our most precious possession - our time.
This year our Mitzvah Day partners are Edgware and District Reform Cheder, Hampstead Garden Suburb Shul Cheder, Finchley Progressive Synagogue, Belsize Square Synagogue, Alyth Synagogue, Finchley Reform Synagogue Kindergarten, Sinai School and Akiva School (pictured right, with Sam Glasner and Noah Mezarich collecting in 2010).
Each will engage their community in collecting urgently-needed basics for destitute asylum seekers. And together with JCC London, we will be asking shoppers outside Tesco in Hampstead to add an item to their baskets.
Can you help us on Mitzvah Day itself at Tesco Express, Heath St, Hampstead, for a couple of hours or more between 12 and 4pm? Or - can you help us on Friday 18th and Monday 21st, to collect, deliver and sort the thousands of items we hope to receive?
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JUMP - supporting young asylum seekers who are here alone
 We had two wonderful pieces of news this month.
One young woman the project supports, originally from Vietnam, had her second child this month. Her befriender, Shiri, was her birthing partner. Shiri says, "It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life."
And a boy from Iran had a trial as a goalkeeper in one of the youth teams at Queens Park Rangers football club. Everyone is thrilled for him, especially his befriender, Claudia.
Earlier this month, we took two boys to speak at Westminster Synagogue's Sukkot service, at the invitation of Rabbi Judith Levitt. It was a fantastic opportunity for the boys, both from Afghanistan, to share their stories and raise awareness of the difficulties facing many young refugees. They were treated to a fantastic Sukkot meal and spent time in the sukkah, as well as being shown the Torah by Rabbis Salamon and Levitt. It was their first timein a synagogue, and one of the boys said "It is a great privilege to come here and speak at a religious festival - this is a very nice place." There was a lot of interest in JUMP from the congregation. We hope to welcome some members as volunteers in the near future. Our thanks to Westminster Synagogue for making this visit possible. |
Social action manifesto
Did you see it? Twenty Jewish organisations signed up to our manifesto in the Rosh Hashanah edition of the Jewish Chronicle. It also appeared in 16,000 copies of London Student and several university papers. Edie recorded a podcast for The Cartoon Kippah, and it was the subject of our rabbinic briefing for the High Holy Days. If you have any feedback on the manifesto, or suggestions for how we can follow up this initiative, please email Edie.
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Journey to safety continues
The latest addition to our Kindertransport oral history website is a series of heritage trails for schools, based on some of the interviews. Visit the trails here.
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"HELP!" department
For some months now, JCORE Support has been responding to specific and urgent requests for items for destitute asylum seekers - which can make a world of difference.
We now urgently need the following:
* warm clothing size 8-10 for a young woman
* warm clothing for a man who is sleeping outside - medium tops, size 36 waist trousers and size 9.5 shoes.
* two warm duvets for two young boys who only have very thin summer duvets.
* toiletries, especially soap, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner.
If you can help with any of these please contact Caroline.
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Can you help promote JCORE ?
Our two lovely interns from Camden Girls School ran a JCORE stall at the school's recent international day. Are you taking part in an event? We can supply you with JCORE leaflets and publicity material. Please email us.
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Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
Sign up to read our tweets. Find us: @JCOREUK.
Follow us on facebook: We are: jcore.britain
Coming soon: Look out for Edie's blog!
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The Jewish Council for Racial Equality. Registered Charity 1132666 |
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