Erasing women

V Lockdowns can be of variable severity. In the 1950s my late father, minister to the Plymouth Hebrew Congregation, was ex officio Jewish chaplain to Dartmoor Prison. Built to house prisoners of the Napoleonic wars, its gaunt edifice was situated on a remote moor, fitting for the rigorous regime within, housing some of the most dangerous prisoners.

When my father visited, he was usually greeted by more than a minyan. On those occasions when they were not quorate, he knew that his parishioners could not have strayed far. Occasionally my father pondered the lineage of an eager participant. He said nothing for, in that place, kindness and pragmatism coalesced. On Passover, to be Jewish was to be privileged. Thanks to the generosity of the Visitation Committee of the United Synagogue, the country’s most wayward Jewish community would sit down to kosher feasts — an indulgence that they were unlikely to have enjoyed as free men.

Stuart Goodman

Brentwood CM14

V When my wife to be, an only child, first attended my large family Seder in 1972 she explained that one of the minor advantages of married life was that she would be spared the chore of reading Mah-Nishtanah.

This year, 16 months before our Golden Wedding, as a grandmother of 5, she will be reading it for the second successive year.

Philip Levy

Stanmore HA7

The Bnei Menashe community in the remote northeastern Indian state of Manipur prepare for Pesach at the Shavei Israel Hebrew Center in Churachandpur. “Over the past two decades, we have brought over 4,000 Bnei Menashe to Israel,” Shavei Israel founder and chair Michael Freund said. “We hope that after 27 centuries of exile, the remaining 6,500 Bnei Menashe still in India will be able to celebrate Passover next year in their Jewish homeland.”

VV We at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust abhor the antisemitic attitudes expressed or condoned by the individuals featured in your cartoon in your comment section 12 March 2021. We also condemn those who use the coronavirus for antisemitic or other divisive purposes, describing Jews and other minorities as spreaders of the disease.

To picture these six people as carriers of the virus, or the personification of it, is deeply offensive, dangerous and resonates as a tool of dehumanisation. We believe it was an appalling error of judgement on your part to publish the cartoon that uses this unacceptable tactic, to target those with whom we disagree.

Laura Marks OBE

Olivia Marks-Woldman OBE Holocaust Memorial Day Trust

V Your article about Irving Finkel (The writing is on the tablets, Jewniversity Corner,

19 March) was interesting but perhaps Dr Finkel could explain why in all his years at the British Museum, where he has much influence and is world renowned, he has never — as I asked him to many years ago — used this influence to protest, and have changed, the mis-labelling of most of the items and descriptors on the Middle East, from the loaded and misused term ‘Palestine’ to either Palestine/ Israel or Judea.

The anti-Israel/anti-Zionist/ antisemitic lobbies sing for joy and take succour and support as these labels reinforce their racist and hateful views that Jews have no connection with Israel, and the Palestine term has been used even before the Romans — who invented it to wipe Israel from memory and history. Disgraceful

Martin Sugarman

British Israel Coalition

V What’s worse

(The ‘invisible’ women who could change UK Orthodoxy, 19 March)? Being a group of women erased from history.

The article on Women’s Tefillah was London focused, omitting the contribution of others around the country. One such is Yeshurun Women’s Tefillah in Cheadle, Cheshire, that started in tandem with Stanmore. The two groups liaised closely and although their struggles were almost identical, there were significant differences. The Yeshurun group was, and still is, part of the Shul’s infrastructure.

Thanks to the determined efforts of two inspirational women, Eve Bolchover z’l and Sheila Bernstein, two years prior to the start of Tefillah Services they formed the Women in Judaism (WiJ) committee for the enhancement of women’s

V I have reached the age when my daily perusal of the press takes me first, not to the football results but to the obituary columns.

In The Times and the Daily Telegraph the content of their obits columns averages three deceased per day. Three highlights of the notable lives of deceased persons who have made worthwhile contributions during their lifetime.

What strikes me with amazement and pride is that something like 20% of these noteworthies were Jewish. In the UK one person in approximately 250 is Jewish and yet, of those whose lives are commemorated for recognised achievements during their lifetime, approximately one in five are Jewish.

Perhaps someone could do an accurate calculation of the exact figures but, whatever the result, it will be an additional revelation of the outstanding contribution made by the tiny Jewish community to the wellbeing of our United Kingdom. Neville Landau.

London SW19