JFS expands and a Sierra Leone simcha
Topping-out ceremony at the J.F.S
● A group of people stood shivering on a building site near Camden Road. London, last week, as a crane hauled a bucket of cement on to the roof of a lofty building ringed with scaffolding. For the J.F.S. Secondary School, which is to become fully comprehensive in September, this was a historic moment. What was taking place was the “toppingout” ceremony marking the completion of the fabric of its new main teaching block. When the block is opened in September, it will enable the school to accommodate a total of about 1,400 pupils. Mr. Levin chairman of the board of governors recalled the time, over a decade ago, when plans for the school were being drawn up. “We first envisaged it as a school for 1,000 pupils,” he said, “and then, after a long dispute, this number was reduced to 500.”
Barmitzvah in Sierra Leone capital
● A rabbi on a visit from America and the Israeli Ambassador took part in the first Barmitzvah celebrated in Sierra Leone. They were among 40 guests attending the Barmitzvah of Kenneth, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Diffenderfer, of America. Mr, Diffenderfer is the representative in Sierra Leone of the Agency for International Development. The ceremony was conducted at the home near Freetown of Mr. and Mrs. Diffenderfer by Mr. Leon Moed, of London, who instructed Kenneth for a year. Kenneth read Maftir and Haftara.
Swastika rash in Sao Paolo
● P olice believe that Nazi sympathisers are responsible for smearing a swastika in red paint on the house of a Jew in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and writing the name Cukors by its side. The body of Herbert Cukors, a. 65-year-old Latvian exNazi, was found in a bullet-riddled trunk near Montevideo. Uruguay, last month. Cukors emigrated to Brazil in 1946, but his attempts to obtain Brazilian citizenship were thwarted by objections from the Jewish community and the pressure of public opinion. Swastikas were later smeared on a wall next to a Jewish school in Sao Paolo and the home of a Jewish family.