The Jewish Community in Belfast The Wolfson Centre

Acknowledgements The Council of the Belfast Jewish Community extend their thanks to all those who have contributed to this book: to the authors of the individual sections, Ronnie Appleton, Steven Jaffe, Ben Maier, Tom Hartley, Susan Kelly, Michael Black, Dennis Coppel and to Grace Radford for the original images taken to complement their narratives. We are indebted to the Institute for Conflict Research, for their support in the development of this booklet along with their design team and to Ray Mullan and colleagues at the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council for the grant which enabled its publication.

2

Contributors Ronnie Appleton, QC Formerly a bencher of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland and Senior Crown Prosecutor during the height of the conflict, Ronnie was Founder and Chairman of the Pro Bono Unit of the Lawyers of Northern Ireland. Committed to Peace and Reconciliation between Communities, he is President of Thanksgiving Square project. Currently Vice President of the Council for Christian and Jews he is also the past President and current co-President of the Northern Ireland Jewish Community.

Steven Jaffe Belfast-born and educated at Belfast Royal Academy he currently lives in London where he works for the Jewish community. He represents the Belfast Jewish community on the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the representative body of the Jewish community in the UK and co-chairs Northern Ireland Friends of Israel. Steven’s passions are Irish and Jewish history and particularly Irish Jewish history. He has completed a forthcoming co-authored history of the Jewish community in Northern Ireland.

3

Dr Ben Maier Is a poet and performer responsible for a number of diverse productions showcased at the Edinburgh Festival. Ben has a PhD in Creative Writing from the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry, Queen’s University Belfast and his cycle of poems based on the Farm at Millisle were published in Irish Pages Vol 6 No 1. He is also published in The Salt Book of Younger Poets.

Tom Hartley Was first elected to Belfast City Council in May 1993 and served until September 2013. In June 2008 he was elected Lord Mayor of Belfast. Since 1998, he has combined his love of history and interest in the environment by organising historical walks through the Belfast City Cemetery as a part of the West Belfast Festival. He is the author of “Written In Stone”, the history of Belfast City Cemetery.

Dr Susan Kelly Is an historian who currently works at National Museums Northern Ireland in the Learning and Partnership Directorate. She is an enthusiast for the relevance of museums to everyday life and the particular value they can bring to young and old and everyone in between.

4

Michael Black Is the Chairman of the Northern Ireland Jewish Community and is from Belfast. He was educated at the Belfast Royal Academy and Trinity College Dublin. He is a Business Studies graduate the learning from which he applied throughout his career in the family business, Gilpins of Sandy Row. Michael is a keen golfer and dedicated grandfather.

Dr Dennis Coppel, FFARCS Is Emeritus Consultant at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast where he was Director of the Intensive Care Unit for 15 years. He was a visiting Professor of Anaesthesia at the University of Texas and the Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem and a Trustee of the Irish Intensive Care Society. Joint President of the Northern Ireland Jewish Community, he is Literary Editor for the Belfast Jewish Record and a member of the Holocaust Memorial Day committee convened by the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers.

Grace Radford Grace Radford was educated at the Dominican College, Fortwilliam and the University of Ulster. She is the recipient of an Arts Council of Northern Ireland award to support the development of a body of prints, photographs and paintings entitled “Memories of the Future” based on fragments of the material culture of Jewish life she found in Krakow and Belfast.

5

Contents Introduction The Synagogue Ronnie Appleton Northern Ireland Community Overview Steven Jaffe Millisle Farm Ben Maier Jewish Burial in City Cemetery Tom Hartley Jews Schmooze: Identity and Cultural Diversity Susan Kelly Customs and Practices in the Wolfson Centre Michael Black Holocaust Memorial Day Dennis Coppel Illustrations

6

7

Introduction To mark the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Wolfson Centre, Somerton Road, Belfast, the Northern Ireland Jewish Community has produced this booklet to aid those who are visitors to our community and those beginning to learn about Judaism here in Northern Ireland. It aims to provide a very brief welcome, introduction to and overview of key aspects of the heritage, tradition and culture of our Community. Official tours of the building can be arranged for those who wish to learn more.

7

The Synagogue The Wolfson Centre Ronnie Appleton The Synagogue of the Belfast Jewish Community is now situated on the Somerton Road in North Belfast. The services of the London firm of Architects Yorke, Rosenberg and Mardall were employed1 and it has been described as “one of the most sophisticated small synagogues built in the United Kingdom” (H. Meek (2003) The Synagogue London: Phaidon Press). Unusually for a synagogue, the building is round in shape. However the layout of the prayer hall is traditional with a central bimah. But in lieu of a gallery, the ladies sit in a slightly elevated area on the

1 Yorke Rosenberg and Mardell were responsible for St Thomas’ Hospital London. It was formed by F.R.S. ‘Kay’ Yorke, one of the first British architects to work in the modernist style. Between 1935 and 1937 had Yorke worked in partnership with the Bauhaus master architect and teacher, Hungarian and Jewish born Marcel Lajos Breuer.

8

circle separated from the men by a rail: “The ark, with rolling metal gates is set in a stone clad wall graced by a cantilevered bronze menorah, the work of the Israeli artist Nehemiah Aziz” (Meek 2003). At the time the synagogue was built in 1964, the Jewish Community of Belfast numbered about 1500 souls. But since then, as in all other small communities in the United Kingdom, the numbers have declined. The community which had once been served by a social centre and a house for a Hebrew School, now had to make do with one building - the Synagogue. To meet this situation the Community reluctantly took some necessary steps. The prayer hall was divided in two by a wall. The part with the Ark and the Bimah remained the prayer hall. The other part became a Functions Room where wedding or Bar mitzvah receptions could be held and where the congregation and guests are served with refreshments after Sabbath morning prayers. Other rooms serve as the Hebrew School, a restaurant and a Board room. So, in one building, the Synagogue, the Community continues to function. It is still possible to see the full extent of its original roof structure in the beams of the roof which form the star of David. The Synagogue relocated in 1964 from the site of the old synagogue in Annesley Street near Carlisle Circus when the majority of the Community had moved away from its beginnings and further up the Antrim Road. The building was facilitated by

9

an individual levy decided by and imposed upon each member by the then President of the Community the late Barney Hurwitz who himself called on each member and raised the cost of the Building. The consecration of the Synagogue in October 1964 by Chief Rabbi Israel Brodie was a grand affair. Present were the then Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Terence O’Neill and most of his cabinet, the Lord Mayor of Belfast and Sir Isaac Wolfson (who later endowed the Wolfson Centre) and many other dignitaries.

10

History of the Community Steven Jaffe The Jewish community is amongst Northern Ireland’s oldest ethnic and religious minorities and has thrived in excess of five generations. Though today its numbers have declined2, the Jewish community continues to play a significant role in the religious and cultural life of the province. Where did the Jews of Northern Ireland first come from? It was in the mid 19th Century Jews first arrived because of the linen industry. A small number of German Jewish merchants settled in Ulster and exported Irish linen across Europe and to North America and beyond. Their names included Jaffe, Lowenthal, Boas, Betzold and Portheim. The first Jewish religious services were held in the 1860s at a private home in Holywood, Co. Down and the first synagogue built in 1871 on Great Victoria Street. The 2 Editor’s note: The 2011 census figures show that 335 registered as being Jewish. This is a decline on the previous census of 2001 which indicated 365. There are currently 80 members of the community.

11

community’s founder, Daniel Joseph Jaffe, is commemorated by the ornate drinking fountain located today at an entrance of the Victoria Shopping Centre in Belfast. His son, Sir Otto Jaffe, was twice Lord Mayor of the city. Gustav Wolff, a founder of the world famous shipyard Harland and Wolff, was also of German Jewish stock, but whose family had converted to Christianity before he was born. Are the Jews in Belfast today descended from those families? No. The decline of the linen industry after the First World War brought the end of the early German Jewish community. The Jaffe family was forced to leave Belfast in 1916 because of antiGerman hostility during the war. Before the war, Sir Otto had served as honorary German consul in Belfast. In the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth, the number of Jews in what is today Northern Ireland, increased to nearly a thousand with the arrival of refugees from Eastern Europe who were fleeing poverty and persecution. Most of this second wave of Jewish immigration came from Lithuania, but there was also a minority of Polish Jews. Jewish peddlers selling goods door to door became familiar figures on the streets of Belfast and across the Province. The settlers also included glaziers, cabinet makers and tailors. Was there a Jewish quarter in Belfast? Many of the new arrivals lived in North Belfast in the streets which linked the Old Lodge and Crumlin Roads, such as Fairview 12

Street and Bedeque Street. At first they established prayer rooms in private houses nearby and formed breakaway congregations from the established community on Great Victoria Street. In 1904, the community united under one roof when Sir Otto and Lady Jaffe built a new synagogue at Annesley Street, off Carlisle circus which still stands today. The Jaffe family also built a school around the corner, at the bottom of the Cliftonville Road which by their stipulation was open to Protestants and Catholics as well as children from the Jewish community. Hebrew classes were taught at Jaffe school after school hours.3 But the Jewish community was not limited to one particular part of the city. In the 1890s small Hebrew congregations were also established in Lurgan and Londonderry.

3 Editor’s Note: In 1957 The Jaffe school became a school for children with challenging behavioural conditions. After it was destroyed by fire in 1998, it was rebuilt on a new site on the Shore Road and renamed Loughshore, though it is still affectionately known as the Jaffe school by many. It specialises in the support of those with educational disaffection, emotional and behavioural difficulties. 13

The former lasted until the 1920s and the latter, with its synagogue on Hawkins Street, survived until shortly after the Second World War. Who were the noteworthy members of the Belfast Community? Former spiritual leaders of the Belfast community include Rev. Dr Joseph Chotzner (1870-1880, 1892-1897)4, Rabbi Dr Isaac Herzog (1916-1918) and Rabbi Jacob Shachter (1925-1954). Rabbi Herzog became Chief Rabbi of Israel and his Belfast born son, Chaim, was elected president of Israel in 1983. A childhood evacuee who lived in Kinnaird Steret, Belfast during the First World War was the distinguished Israeli foreign minister, Abba Eban. Therefore in 1918, Belfast boasted a future Chief Rabbi, President and Foreign Minister of the State of Israel. Chaim’s mother, Sarah Herzog, who came to Belfast in 1917, was a major figure in her own right. The largest psychiatric and geriatric hospital in the Middle East, the Sarah Herzog hospital in Jerusalem is named after her. Also living on Cliftonpark Avenue around this time, was Maxim Litvinov, who later became foreign minister of the USSR under Stalin. 4 Between 1890-1892 he taught at Harrow school.

14

One of the first Oscar winners, Holywood producer and screenwriter, Benjamin Glazer, was born in Belfast in 1887. What contribution did the Jewish community make to Northern Ireland? The Belfast Jewish community made a significant contribution to the cultural and commercial life of Northern Ireland. Actors Harold Goldblatt and Harry Towb were members of the Belfast Jewish Dramatic society, one of three societies which formed the famous Group Theatre in 1940. Helen Lewis brought Laban’s modern dance to Northern Ireland and Solly Lipsitz was a distinguished jazz commentator. The Rosenfield sisters, Judith and Ray, pioneered women’s journalism. Amongst well known Jewishowned businesses were Goorwitch’s outfitters, Solomon and Peres (music producers and distributors), Berwoods furniture stores in Portadown, Dungannon and Lisburn and furniture shops in York Street such as the Model and Globe and Gilpins on Sandy Row, as well as Enlanders Jewellery. Did the community experience anti-Semitism and how was it affected by the Holocaust in Europe? A social club, the Belfast Jewish Institute, was formed in 1926 at Ashfield Gardens, off Glandore Avenue following an incident when Jewish children were refused membership of a local tennis club. Out of that negative experience of discrimination grew a thriving social and recreational centre for the Jews of Belfast with function rooms, a restaurant and tennis courts. The towns and villages of Eastern Europe, where many Belfast Jews came from were scenes of massacres of Jews by the Nazis and deportation to extermination camps like Auschwitz,

15

Triblinka and Mali Trostinec. Families left behind in Eastern Europe were decimated. During the Second World War, the community, assisted by generous friends from outside the community, took in refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe and a hostel was opened on Cliftonpark Avenue. Ben Maier, in a later section of this booklet, discusses the refugee farm in Millisle established in 1939 and which formed the basis of Marilyn Taylor’s fictionalised narrative Faraway Home. What happened to the Belfast community after the war? From 1954-1965, the community’s rabbi was Dr Alexander Carlebach, a refugee from Nazi Germany. In 1964, the new synagogue was opened on Somerton Road to an award-winning design. Community members became increasingly associated with the professions and included lawyers, Queen’s Counsel, Crown Prosecutors and medical consultants. A number of successful business people continued philanthropic traditions to the wider community as well as other civic representation through professional associations. However, before the onset of the Troubles in 1969, the community’s numbers were in decline as young professionals tended to emigrate to larger Jewish communities in England, USA and Israel in search of jobs and marriage partners. How did the Troubles impact on the Community? The 1970s and 80s were decades of severe decline for the community which found it difficult to maintain essential services in the midst of political unrest. The synagogue complex was considered a neutral venue and the community hosted efforts at reconciliation between Protestant and Catholics particularly in

16

troubled North Belfast. The last kosher butchers in Belfast and the Levy’s delicatessen and grocery shop, both located on the Antrim Road, closed. The Belfast Jewish Institute was burnt down by vandals in 1981. Leonard Kaitcer was one of three Jews to be killed as a result of the Troubles. Leonard Steinberg, a local businessman, left for Manchester following a shooting attack and later expanded his business, Stanley Leisure, and was raised to the peerage as Lord Steinberg of Belfast. During the Troubles, the community found it difficult to attract the services of a minister and for a number of years relied upon clergy who visited during the festivals. The synagogue was partitioned in two in the early 1990s to make way for an on-site social centre. What kind of future does the community have today? The community employs a Rabbi and maintains a range of cultural and religious services for its members and visitors. The events and festivals under the Jews Schmooze rubric discussed later by Susan Kelly, sees thousands visit the synagogue and other venues for plays, concerts and educational talks and displays on Jewish life and heritage. A number of community members make regular broadcasts and contributions to film and television. Belfast boasts a thriving branch of the Council for Christians and Jews and a growing Friendship society for elderly members of the Jewish and wider communities. The Northern Ireland Friends of Israel comprises Jewish and non-Jewish supporters attracting over 5,000 people its events.

17

The Farm at Millisle Ben Maier It is a little known chapter of Northern Irish history, but from the late 1930s to the early 1940s, a farm on the Ards Peninsula was home to over three hundred Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution on the continent. In early 1939, when the Home for the Aid of Jewish Refugees on Cliftonpark Avenue, North Belfast, became crowded, the Congregation sought further accommodation. In May of that year, President Barney Hurwitz secured the lease of a derelict seventy-acre seafront farm in Millisle, County Down, previously used for bleaching flax. With the help of a group of young Chalutzim and a number of inspirational individuals, including agronomists, engineers and musicians, the disused farm became an unlikely sanctuary. In the initial stages, disused cowsheds were converted into dormitories5. An old stable served as a dining room. Young children pulled up weeds and scattered seeds to make the land arable, and were educated in the local school alongside the children of Millisle. Older boys and girls helped in the construction of new buildings in which to live and work, held concerts and were trained in agricultural techniques. This was not to be a halfway station, but a community on the Kibbutz model, couched in the rolling hills of County Down. After a remarkably short period of time, the farm was self-sufficient, with workshops, living spaces, stables and fields of cattle and crops. It was hailed in the Belfast Telegraph as “An Ulster Haven from Hitler”, and up to eighty people lived and worked there at any one time. The final inhabitants left the farm in May 1948,

18

nine years after its foundation. The following poem comes from a series of poems about the Farm, originally published in the literary journal Irish Pages6. An early poem in the sequence, it imagines a young girl arriving in Belfast, with life on the Farm still ahead of her.

5 Editor’s Note: Some of the farm buildings have been destroyed and limited material evidence remains on the land currently known as McGill’s Farm, Woburn Road. However, in 2007, with support from the Lottery Fund, Principal of Millisle Primary School, Linda Patterson, commissioned and landscaped a permanent “Safe Haven” garden including a striking sculpture by Ned Jackson Smyth for the village school to commemorate its former Jewish pupils. It also serves as a reminder of the welcome received from the villagers who lived and learned with the newcomers. 6 “The Farm at Millisle” Irish Pages, Vol. 6, No. 1, “Ireland in Crisis” (see www.irishpages.org for details).

19

ANNA KOESTLER AT CLIFTONPARK AVENUE My mother sent me here and came no further. On the platform she left these traces: a hair-line kiss and a piece of raisin-cake in paper. I have not seen her since. Once, my mother bought me dresses. Coloured like cake and wrapped in paper, they would not fit me now. The tailor's tape unfurled, then wrapped back around his finger. My mother sent me here, but left me traces: three photographs, three addresses. I had no one to tie my laces so they went undone. When she can, my mother writes me letters. At breakfast this morning, I opened the latest. A small piece of lace, embroidered with her name, fell without a sound from its pages. In this house, another lies beside me. An older girl, she talks in her sleep and paces up and down the room. I listen to the familiar names and half-phrases. She murmurs Mutter as I sit her down. I take out the piece of lace and place it in her hand. Still asleep, she strokes it, gently smoothing out the creases. 20

The Jewish Burial Ground in Belfast City Cemetery Tom Hartley The Belfast City Cemetery on the Falls Road in West Belfast, is one of the City’s oldest graveyards and the first municipal burial grounds. In the minutes of the Belfast Corporation Cemetery Committee of 5 October 1869 reference is made to a letter from a Mr D Jaffe requesting a meeting regarding an application for burial ground. In the 16 January 1871 minutes of the same committee, permission is given for the allocation of land for the burial of members of the Jewish community. 21

There are three distinct phases of development in the history of the Jewish burial ground. The first phase is the acquisition of section C poor ground in 1871. The second phase is an extension of Section C in 1898 and the third and last phase was the acquisition of section C1 in 1916. The first burial in the Jewish burial ground was a stillborn child by the name of Herschman from 57 Divis Street, Belfast, who died on 29 January 1873 and is buried in C–181. On 23 January 1884, the Cemetery Committee of Belfast Corporation passed a resolution prohibiting the erection of headstones or monuments on graves allotted in the Jewish section for the burial of the ‘poorer class of Jews’. The first burial in the Jewish poor ground was Israel Cohen who died on the 12 February 1884 and is buried in C–150. In 1898, Mr Vital and Mr Cohen, members of Belfast’s Jewish community, lobbied for an extension of the Jewish graveyard. The first burial in this extension took place on 24 December 1904. On 1 March 1916, agreement was reached between the Belfast Corporation and the ‘Belfast Chevra Kadisha’7 for a third extension of the Jewish graveyard in the City Cemetery. The new extension C1 provided for 116 new graves. On 1 March 1929 as a result of pressure from Rabbi J Shacter, the January 1884 decision was reversed by the Belfast Corporation. On 22 February 1931, the Belfast Chevra Kadisha erected a 7 Editor’s Note: The Chevra Kadisha is a society of Jewish Men and Women, similar to a burial society in the Christian tradition, who ensure that the bodies of Jews are prepared for burial according to Jewish tradition. As caring for the dead cannot be reciprocated, it is considered to be a chesed shel emet ( a deed of good truth) such as that in Genesis 47:30 where Jacob asks his son Joseph to do him a ‘true’ favour, burying him in the place of his ancestors.

22

memorial stone on the Jewish poor ground to “mark the plot therein individually and when desired”. The Jewish graveyard contained its own entrance from the Whiterock Road, and a small Tahara, often referred to in Council minutes as a synagogue or chapel. On the lintel above the bricked up door on the Whiterock Road is the Hebrew inscription ‫תיב םייחה‬. The inscription ‫ תיב םייחה‬pronounced ‘beit hayim’, literally means ‘the house of life’. From the first burial of the still born child Herschman on 29 January 1873 to the very last burial of Abraham Herbert on 10 June 1964, a total of 296 remains have been buried in the Jewish burial ground. This includes the cremated remains of Frederica Jaffe. Burial records reveal that over half of those in the burial ground are children. Of the 296 remains, 152 are children under the age of 13 years. Of these 110 were under 1 year old. The last child buried in the Jewish burial ground was three months old Rebecca Ruben from 14 Hawkins Street, Derry City, who died on 2 February 1920. Burial records for the Jewish Community were recorded in a very haphazard way. After the first burial in 1873, 19 burials were registered normally in the main registers in sequence of date of death. This practice changed on the 2 October 1889 with the introduction of separate burial orders for Jewish burials, thereafter they were registered on the back pages of the main burial registers along with all those buried in the military ground. Burial order number 1a was issued for Rachel Silver who lived at 135 New Lodge Road and died on 2 October 1889. Rachel is buried in Jewish poor ground C–326. The last burial was Abraham Herbert on 19 June 1964; he was buried in C–156. 23

Jews Schmooze: Identity and Cultural Diversity Susan Kelly Identity in Northern Ireland is often a complicated issue, even more so when home is ‘more of a concept than an actual place’.8 One member of the Jewish community described this as ‘we feel a sense of honour and responsibility to the host community in which we have lived and built our families but also to where we’ve been and want to go back to’.9 In Northern Ireland Jewish identity became further complicated with the advent of the troubles and gained an unwished for visibility in 2002 when Israeli flags began to appear in loyalist areas. A portion of Northern Irish Protestants feel an affinity for Judaism and Loyalists an affinity for the political situation in Israel. This left some in the community in an awkward position as few wish to be part of tribal politics in Northern Ireland. Despite this, as Adrian Levey, a long standing member of the Jewish community, (now living in England) pointed out in the Irish Times, there are no problems between Republicans and Belfast’s Jews.10 8 Commentator, Homelands to Townlands: The Jewish Experience, A Westway Production for UTV, transmitted 22/1/2008. 9 Katy Radford, Homelands to Townlands: The Jewish Experience 10 Jason Walsh, ‘Uncertain Future for Belfast’s Jews’, Irish Times, 21/11/2009.

24

One response to this issue of identity in Northern Ireland is ‘Jews Schmooze’ created by Katy Radford. It is the cultural arm of the Belfast Jewish Community, encourages cultural diversity and counteracts anti-semitism and racism.11 It aims to ‘highlight the message of hope for a safer more inclusive society’ and celebrate ‘the traditions of different cultures and the importance of reconciliation for the future.’12 In the five years it has been in running, Jews Schmooze has produced about 30 nights with many sell out performances. Events have included plays, poetry, jazz, Israeli and European Jewish music, arts exhibitions, discussion sessions and educational material for schools. Music has been used as a way to illustrate links between the three main religions (the stories of Noah and Moses are in the Christian Bible, The Torah and the Koran) and also as a challenge to set ways of thinking. One of the most ambitious projects was the play, ‘This Is What We Sang’. It was created by Kabosh Theatre using oral histories from the Belfast Jewish community and premiered at the Ulster Bank Festival at Queen’s. According to the Irish Times this ‘was considered a smash hit, garnering positive reviews and large audiences … one of the big theatre hits of the festival’.13 The play went on to win the 1st Irish Theatre award for Best Production in New York in 2010. Jews Schmooze has worked with a variety of internationally acclaimed artists14 and received good media representation15

11‘‘Jews Schmooze’ celebrated in Belfast’, posted 13/10/2009, accessed 12/12/2012, http://banmoco.co.uk/jews-schmooze-celebrated-in-belfast/23480.html 12 ‘Holocaust Memorial Day’, posted 21/1/2010, accessed 12/12/2012, http://www.nmni.com/um/News/Holocaust-Memorial-Day 13 ‘Uncertain future for Belfast’s Jews’, Irish Times, 21/11/2009. 14The Jewish Daily Forward, http://forward.com/articles/136985/a-dwindling-community-sfight-survive , posted 22/4/2011, accessed 12/12/2012, http://www.community-relations.org.uk/about-us/news/item/679/jews-schmooze-2011sounds-familiar-programme/ posted 3/3/2011, accessed 12/12/2012. 15Media comment/reviews in The Irish News (14/10/2009), Belfast Telegraph, (15/10/2009), (19/10/2009), and (21/10/2009), BBC News Channel, (13/10/2009), Jewish Chronicle Online, (15/10/2009), Banmoco, (13/10/2009), National Museums Northern Ireland (website) (21/1/2010), Community Relations Council News (3/3/2011), (22/04/2011) 25

benefitting from grants from the European Union, from OFMDFM and Peace 111 administered by Belfast City Council. Jews Schmooze has been a welcome addition to the cultural scene of Northern Ireland, popular with public and critics alike. In an area where questions of identity raise so many issues amongst the population Jews Schmooze has been an attempt to forge links and raise the profile of the Jewish community in a way welcoming to all. (This piece is adapted from a longer article.)

26

Customs and Practices in the Wolfson Centre Michael Black The origins of Judaism goes back to the time of Abraham and its basic belief system, its roots and many of its traditions are outlined in the Hebrew Bible. Some Jewish teachings, traditions and customs are familiar to those from other faiths. They are practised with very little variation throughout the world.16 Visitors to the Centre are most welcome. Our community is an umbrella community for all those Jews in or visiting Northern Ireland and so is Orthodox. Married women and men attending services are invited to cover their heads as they enter our synagogue (shul). It is customary for women to dress modestly and not to wear trousers at services.

16Editor’s Note: There are two distinct groups within Judaism: Jews who are Ashkenazi (mainly from France, Germany and Middle Europe) who spoke Yiddish and those who are Sephardi (from Spain, North Africa and the Middle East) and who spoke Ladino. Whilst their beliefs are fundamentally the same, the two groups are culturally very different with traditions not just in language but also in dress, the arts, food that are unfamiliar to the other group. Hebrew is the main language of prayers for both groups. 27

Like other synagogues throughout the world, ours has a number of distinct components: • Bimah – In the centre of the shul is a raised platform from which the service and reading of the Torah is conducted. The Torah is the name given to the first Five Books of the Bible, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. • Aron Kodesh – This Holy Ark is where the Torah scrolls of the law are kept and opened at particular points throughout services.

• Ner Tamid – The Eternal Light is kept on in memory of the menorah and sacrificial fire at the Temple in Jerusalem. In Orthodox shuls like Belfast, men and women sit separately. Shabbat begins at nightfall on Friday and lasts until nightfall on Saturday. Shabbat is welcomed in by the lighting of two candles

28

and a special blessing. At the evening meal, a blessing called a Kiddush is said over specially prepared plaited bread called Challah. No work is undertaken on Shabbat, and at this time congregants take part in a variety of services. A minyan (quorum) of 10 males over the age of 13 is required for the public reading of the Torah and for some prayers. There are many festivals throughout the year. The celebration of the New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah translates as the Head of the Year and this is perhaps why some families and communities celebrate by eating food that is round and baking special round shaped bread. Apples are dipped in honey and people wish one another a sweet new year.

29

Yom Kippur. The Day of Atonement is a 25 hour fast when neither food nor drink is taken. Even the most secular Jews tend to observe this day which is also known as the Holiest of Holy days. The focus of the service which continues throughout the period is on repentance, prayer and atonement. Sukkot. At this harvest festival, eating (and for some sleeping) in a succah, a temporary building, reminds us of the time of the Exodus from Egypt and 40 years in the desert. Pesach. Passover. This marks the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. A traditional seder meal is prepared with symbolic food. Shavuot. Pentecost. Commemorates the time when the Torah was given at Mount Sinai on the way from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land of Israel. Chanukah. The Festival of Lights and Purim is narrated in the book of Esther. Visitors are asked not to bring any food or other refreshments into the Centre but we can provide catering for any event. We have a kitchen which the Rabbi supervises to ensure it adheres to the very many complex dietary rules, Kashrut, laid out according to Jewish law (halakha). Kosher Food is so called when it conforms to these regulations. The Torah does not allow cooking and eating meat and dairy products together. Fish can be served with dairy products but it must have both fins and scales on the outside. Meat can only be eaten from animals that have both a split hoof and chew the cud and acceptable animals must be slaughtered by a method carried out under Rabbinical supervision called Shechita. When you come into the Wolfson Centre you will come across a number of different symbols and objects.

30

Attached to the exterior and interior doors is a Mezuzah. This is a piece of parchment on which is written specified verses from the Bible from Deutoronomy Chapter 6 verses 4-9 and Chapter 11 verses 13-21. Beginning with the phrase “Hear O Israel The Lord our God, The Lord is One” By the front door you will find scarves for married women and for Jewish men, there will be some Kippa also known as Yarmulke. The head is covered as a sign of humility. Rites of Passage When a baby is born, in the case of a baby girl, a name is given in the Synagogue the first time the Torah is read after her birth though some parents wait until the first Shabbat. A baby boy is named when he is eight day sold at his circumcision (Brit Milah). The passage to adulthood is celebrated for girls at the age of 12 (Bat Mitzvah) and for boys at 13 (Bar Mitzvah). Marriage in Judaism is one of 613 mitzvah (commandment). In the event of a death, the body of the deceased is taken care of by our chevra kadisha (burial society). After the body is interred, there is a week of mourning for close relatives who sit at home and are visited by friends and other relatives. Prayers are said where possible in the home of the deceased. This week is then followed by a thirty day period where there are certain restrictions on the mourners regarding their participation in celebrations. In the case of children mourning their parents, the period is extended to one year.

31

Holocaust Memorial Day Denis L Coppel “Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world and whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world” TALMUD On January 27th 2000, 44 Governments met in Stockholm and unanimously agreed to encourage holocaust remembrance by holding an annual memorial day. The United Nations voted by 149 votes out of 191 to formally commemorate the holocaust atrocity. The date chosen was 27th January which was the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz death camp by the Soviet Union in 1945. In the United Kingdom, the Home Office took over the responsibility of promoting and resourcing Holocaust Memorial Day and in Northern Ireland, the task was devolved to the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. Its commitment and organising skills have been very impressive over the past 14 years. The designated teams of Civil Servants are supported by an advisory committee which includes representatives of the Jewish Community,(namely Ester Bloch and myself) and from the Council for Christians and Jews (Ronnie Appleton). There is also representation from The Christian Embassy of Jerusalem, the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities, Disability Action, the Coalition for Sexual Orientation, Amnesty International and the Rainbow Project. Their remit is to source suitable speakers and materials, to seek out appropriate venues and to update invitations. The first National commemoration was held in London in 2001

32

and Belfast was honoured to fulfil this role in the Waterfront Hall in 2004 with a capacity audience and in the presence of HRH Prince Edward. Regional commemorations have also been held since 2002 and the venues include not only the City Hall in Belfast and Stormont, but also in Armagh, Derry/Londonderry, Enniskillen, Lisburn, Ballymena, Newtownards, Craigavon, Castlereagh, Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus. Distinguished local key note speakers included Ronnie Appleton, Dr Leon Litvak, Billy Kohner, George Bloch, Rabbi Avraham Citron, Rabbi Perez, author Marilyn Taylor, Holocaust refugee Inge Radford and Rabbi David Singer. On Holocaust Memorial Day we remember the victims of Nazi brutality of Jews, the Disabled, Lesbians and Gay people, Gypsies, and those from minority ethnic communities but sadly mankind has learnt nothing as atrocities were commonplace in Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda & Darfur and are still rampant in Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. It is not enough to remember the past but we must strive to show solidarity with the weak, the persecuted, the lonely, the sick and those in despair now and in the future.

33

34