April 2014

Kolcheste

Message from the Colchester and District Congregation President

It gives me pleasure to write this foreword. Brian and Gillian Sawyer will be

happy about the resurrection of Kolchester. They were responsible for its

production when I came to Colchester in 1985. (They moved to Morecambe).

When I was Hon. Secretary I clearly remember spending hours in the Shul

office (Cheder) copying notes on the now defunct copier and then placing

Kolchester together with Minutes of the AGM into large envelopes, and posting

them to all members of the CDJC In this way everyone received a copy; this

enabled people to have all news of events, quest speakers, fund raising,

barbecues, auctions, plus news of forthcoming simchas, etc. etc. There was even

a cookery section where people were invited to share favourite recipes.

Hopefully, this Kolchester magazine will be received with pleasure and I hope

some of you will take the opportunity to contribute. Sharing is part of the ethos

of Judaism.

I heartily wish the new editorial staff much success in their efforts to include all

the members in news and views.

And, of course, we now have a website too.

Norma B Stevenson President

2

--------------------------------------------------------------News from the Chair

Since the last AGM, we've had some good news, some bad news, and a fully

tarmac'd Fennings Chase.

Firstly the good news, we've had (or are about to have, Georgina's batmizvah,

Keila's batmitzvah, and Victoria and Callum's bat & barmitzvah. Also, we have

Dimitry and Isabella's wedding coming up in the next few months. Last year we

had a garden party, which was a great success and fund raiser, Klezmer concert

(with an audience of over 150 people) at the Golf Club, a Chanukah party, a

Purim party, and a Seder coming up.

We are finding it very difficult to get a minyan on Friday nights, as very few

men come but the lady members are always there in force, any suggestions to

raise our male attendance would be gratefully accepted!

On the bad news side, Michael's health has been up and down, he is on dialysis

at the moment three days a week, with a transplant in the offing. But he is in

very good spirits, and our prayers are with him. Anne has been having chemo,

but is nearly through it, and we look forward to seeing her again as healthy as

before. Ivor Singer has had his problems, but seems to be getting on. Sorry if

I've left anyone out, but our prayers are with you all.

Regarding Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur, Rabbi Maurice Michaels has agreed,

provisionally, to take the services, and we look forward to this.

At this point, 1 would like to thank the Committee and the Guild for their

sterling work, and also Elizabeth Sugarman for agreeing to prepare and edit the

relaunched "Kolchester"

3

Our AGM is on the 18th May at 4pm in the shul, followed by an address by

Rabbi Malcolm Weisman, and the committee and I look forward to seeing you

all there. Refreshments are being served.

With kind regards from Roy Fox (Co-Vice Chairman CDJC)

--------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------

Thoughts for Pesach

When I grew up during the Second World War, it was normal to buy food that

is what you could get, on a daily basis. When it came to clearing the house of

Chometz it meant mostly cleaning and relining drawers. There was little food

that needed to be disposed of. What needed to go, went. The best crockery was

brought out and the finest glasses all of which were kept especially for this

occasion that lasted for eight days. The middle four days again were used to top

4

up kosher for Pesach supplies. United Dairies supplied gold top milk Kosher

for Pesach every morning. Jaykon supplied kosher lemonade, cream soda and

cola once a week in crates of a dozen mixed bottles. The family enjoyed the

Seder services at home and attended as many of the daily shul services as

possible. This was not always easy with air raid warnings, bombs falling and

anti-aircraft fire from the local park. Yet the week was one of celebration of

how we were brought out of Egypt in such numbers and if Him Upstairs could

do that for us then, He could do it again now. There were queues for most

things. Practically everything was rationed but the exceptions were fish when

the weather permitted the trawlers to get to sea and offal which the indigenes

population were not keen on. So on a Friday morning my mother would go to

Market by bus to purchase a stone of fish for frying or to make boiled gefilta or

gefryta fish, herring salt or pickled from the barrel and a chicken or cockerel to

cover the weekend. Because of the bombing the bus service was not always that

reliable and standing with bags of shopping in the rain waiting was not

wonderful. The real work started once we were home for the food to be

prepared for the evening Shabbat meal and the next day’s offerings, which were

served cold. Refrigerators were rare. A survey in 1963 showed that there were

more fridges in domestic use in Iceland than the UK. A Wartime mother had

skills that are not often required today.

Now the mood is different. We take for granted a plentiful supply of food, we

don’t go to Shul as often as we might. We don’t clear out Chemetz as

stringently as we should. Fridges and Freezers are not always emptied and

cleaned and we retain chometz that we should not. Taping up a compartment is

not part of the spirit of the festival. Sadly times are changing. Once we were

some 450,000 Jews in this country and today we are barely 250,000. Fifteen

years ago there were just over 200,000 practicing Moslem and today there are

5

roughly 2,000,000. The demographics are changing and our privileged position

may not last too long.

John GottesmanFebruary 2014

-------------------------------------------------------------------

School Visits to Our Synagogue

For many years our synagogue has been hosting visits from local and not so

local schools and youth groups. Visits started when Norma was asked by a

teacher friend of hers if her class could have a tour. They had such an

interesting time that word got around and soon Norma had many requests. After

many years Norma decided to concentrate on hospital chaplaincy and handed

the Mitzvah onto me. Norma was a very hard act to follow but I have done my

best! To illustrate how popular we are, in the short period from the beginning of

January 2014 to the end of March 2014 we will have had 250 children plus their

teachers visit us.

Our aim has always been to show our visitors that whatever religion we are, or

none, we are much more similar than we are different and we should all try and

get along together and be friends. But of course it is the differences that our

visitors come to see and find so fascinating.

The visit starts by looking at the outside of shul; no spire, no steeple, no bells to

ring and no statues of people or animals and no cross, but of course the Magen

Dovid. We talk about why we as Jews come to shul, and that leads onto our

festivals and the antiquity of our faith. A Chai is useful to help explain that the

Jewish religion is a celebration of and a reverence for life. The smallness of our

numbers and the tiny size and precariousness of Israel and of course our longing

6

for Shalom, peace, feature too. And that leads onto a discussion of Hebrew and

its importance to us. Our guests learn some during their stay! Talk then turns a

little to prayer and custom, history and ritual and tradition and our visitors are

shown some of what we have and do, lighting candles, mezuzot, kippot, tallit,

kashrut, our music, the shofar for example. They always take away a song and

maybe a dreidel or a Simchat Torah flag as a memento. And of course our

visitors want to see everything in the kitchen, the cheder and the prayer hall. All

this in less than two hours! But of everything they see, our visitors’ find the ark

and its contents and its significance, the most exciting and awe inspiring as of

course they should.

Shirley Sunkin

The London Klezmer Quartet, 17 November 2013

On a sunny Sunday afternoon in November, over 170 people packed into the

Fleece Jazz venue at Stoke by Nayland Hotel. The music was wonderful, and

everyone had a delightful afternoon. We had good music and a (slowly

delivered) scone and tea.

The musicians were:Ilana Cravitz – Violin and Leader,Suzi Evans – Clarinet,Carol Isaacs – Accordion,Rupert Gillet – Bass.The musicianship was of the highest quality, and they connected with the

audience delightfully. When asked a question by a young child, Suzi answered

clearly and understandably, thus proving that this stunningly good clarinetist

was the one member of the band who was not Jewish; she didn't answer a

question with a question.

7

The event was a fundraiser for the Tzedakah fund, and did raise a lot of money.

It was co-hosted by CDJC and Fleece Jazz (the shul had the need, and the jazz

club had the sound kit). The prime movers were Roberta, Ruth and David.

Thanks also go to the band, the hotel, and the Fleece Jazz volunteers who rigged

and cleared up.

David Lyons February 2014

---------------------------------------------------------------

8

On the occasion of Keila Isaacson Gray’s Bat Mitzvah Nick Feldman delivered the following sermon:

Shabbat Sh’mini 5774, 22 March 2014 – Keila Isaacson-Gray’s bat mitzvah

If you were to ask a random cross-section of the general public what they know

about Jews, probably the most common answer would be, “They don’t eat

pork”. In this week’s parashah, we find out why. Keila has told us, in a fluent

and accomplished way, what this means to her and, on your behalf, I would like

to congratulate her on the diligent way she has prepared for this morning’s

service. It is a tribute, of course, to her dedication, but also to her teachers,

most recently Ruth and Roni, and to her mother, who has brought her up with

such a good knowledge of Judaism, and love for it, and to all the rest of her

family who have contributed to making her such a promising young lady.

But why don’t Jews eat pork? Well, for a Jew who believes that the Torah was

revealed to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, it’s easy. It’s in the bible, full stop.

Ours not to question why. There have been attempts at a more rational

explanation. It’s because, for example, pigs are dirty. But this won’t wash.

Firstly, pigs aren’t dirty. Secondly, if the Hebrews knew they were dirty, then

why didn’t all the people of the ancient Near East know it? And in any case,

it’s not just pigs: as Keila read to us, it’s camels and rock-badgers (whatever

they are) as well.

If you don’t believe that God revealed the Torah to Moses on Sinai – and if you

have any respect for scholarship, you can’t believe it – then ultimately you have

to say two things. The first is: “We don’t know the reason for the dietary laws,

and there probably isn’t a reason. They are ancient cultic practices, which may

have differentiated Hebrews from other tribes, or have been a form of internal

9

discipline.” The second is, “We observe dietary laws because that’s what Jews

do”.

Very few of us observe them all. We may, for example, eat kosher meat at

home, but not out. We may not eat pork, but have no qualms about mixing milk

and meat. We may observe none of them. Does that make us better or worse

Jews? There’s more than one answer to that question. Or rather, in a

characteristic Jewish way, the answer to that question is other questions.

Is observance of the dietary laws a touchstone of being a good Jew? You might

say, “No, it’s much more important to observe the Ten Commandments, to love

your neighbour as yourself, to work for a just society and tikkun olam, repairing

the world. True, those things are important but they are the common foundation

of all developed human societies. Christians, Muslims, humanists – all decent

people throughout the world – share those ideals. They are not specifically

Jewish. If you go around stealing and murdering, you aren’t a good human.

Or you might say, “To be a good Jew, you have to go to synagogue regularly, or

to study Torah and Talmud.”

Or you might say, “Being a good Jew means being a champion of the State of

Israel in a world which is apparently increasingly hostile to her very existence.”

Or you might say, “Good Jew, shmood Jew, what does it matter as long as I can

make (or in my case, enjoy) a good bowl of lokshen soup?”

Well, let’s look at the sorts of Jews there are.

There are Jews who just don’t want to know. They were born Jewish, but have

no interest in their heritage and don’t identify with it. They may deny their

Jewishness if challenged; or be embarrassed by it; or dismiss it. But it has no

positive value for them. We may regret their attitude, because we think they are

1

letting the side down, or not taking advantage of a great opportunity, but we

have to respect it. If we, who think otherwise, can’t find a way of showing

them – in their own terms – that being Jewish is something to be valued and

exploited, then we have to wish them good luck – and try and work out why

Judaism has failed them.

There are Jews who, at the other extreme, define themselves only by their strict

adherence to traditional Jewish customs. They isolate themselves from the

wider community in which they live, and associate only with each other. They

respond to the challenges of the modern world by retreating from it into the

past. We respect their enthusiasm and their consistency, while we regret their

unwillingness to engage with the world in which they live, and on which they

rely, and their resistance to make their Judaism consistent with it.

Then there are Jews who feel comfortable in both the Jewish and the wider

community in which they were brought up. They do, to a greater or lesser

extent, things that Jews are expected to do. They might eat kosher, some of the

time. They may light candles on Shabbat, or feel uneasy if they don’t. They

may go to synagogue once a year, on Yom Kippur but probably don’t spend the

whole day there, or don’t fast. They are enthusiastic about the State of Israel,

even if they are uneasy about some of its government’s policies. They went to

cheder as children, and send their own children, but their knowledge of Hebrew

is small and they are more satisfied with their children’s mastery of French and

German – who knows, perhaps these days Mandarin? – than of Hebrew. But

they are proud to be Jewish, and want their children to feel proud and to be

members of the Jewish community, and feel regretful and a bit guilty when their

children choose non-Jewish partners, even if in all honesty they are not

surprised.

1

I suppose that most of us here today identify with this sort of Jew: we embrace

our heritage, but we don’t isolate ourselves in it. We are all “pick and mix”

Jews. Certain elements of our heritage resonate with us; others don’t. Some

features of all the other communities of which we are a part are more important

to us, but some aspects of our Judaism are defining for us. Because being

Jewish for us does not have to be only a religion, a set of beliefs. It is a

community, a culture. God and the Bible don’t necessarily have to come into it.

Are we good Jews? I think so. We certainly make things harder for ourselves

than denying Jews or isolated Jews. Why are things harder for us? Because we

have to choose. We are privileged to live in times where we can define

ourselves, rather than being defined by reference to the community of our birth.

But there is a catch. As usual, you don’t get something for nothing in this life.

The privilege of choice entails a responsibility to make that choice thoughtfully

and truthfully.

What sort of Jew will Keila be? We can’t know. But what we can say is that

she has already chosen to be a committed Jew. By being here today, and

participating in this service, she has made a public declaration that being Jewish

is something she sees as being an important – even a central – part of the life

she intends to lead. We rejoice in her choice. But today, for Keila, is just a first

step. That process of making thoughtful and true choices will continue

throughout her life, as it should for us too. We should be constantly asking

ourselves why we do Jewish things, what it means to us and how consistent are

our actions. And the answer will always be, “We are inconsistent, because our

Jewish heritage is so rich and varied, and the opportunities we have in the wider

community are so great.”

1

So if someone tells us that we can be a good Jew only if we do certain things, or

believe certain things, they are wrong. But by the same token, we have to be

able to say why we think the way we live our lives makes us good Jews.

So what then is a good Jew? For the last two hundred years there hasn’t been a

simple answer. That was when the ghetto walls came down and Jews had to

engage with the wider world. It was the time scholarship showed that divine

revelation couldn’t be literal and that we couldn’t rely on authority to make our

decisions for us.

But I should like to make a suggestion. We could say that a good Jew is one

who, by his or her life, makes it more likely that there will be Jews in the next

generation. “By his or her life” – not necessarily by having Jewish children, but

by being disposed to embrace all those elements of the entire Jewish heritage

which resonate with us, and showing the next generation mah yafah

yerushatenu – how beautiful is our heritage.

And why is it important that there should be Jews in the next generation? We

haven’t got time to go into that now, but, if you are gluttons for punishment, I

will return to it in a couple of weeks when we have our next celebration – the

combined bar and bat mitzvah of Callum and Victoria. In the mean time, Keila,

we pray that, throughout your life, you rejoice in your heritage, and inspire

others to do so.

Nick FeldmanMarch 2014

-------------------------------------------------------------------

1

--------------------------------------------------------------

A letter from Mexico

First of all I would like to extend a greeting to all the Great Britain’s Yishuv and I’m especially fond on the Colchester Jewish community.

When I arrived to the UK it was difficult for me to adapt because Colchester is a small city and people is friendly but not so welcoming by far, it was the opposite as in Mexico, people is very welcoming, especially with foreigners, Mexicans always like to know how is your country, what traditions you have, some slang words in your language, etc. but in the UK people is just on their own. However, after failing sometimes to find the people for Shabbat I found a warm Jewish community that was willing to help Chaim even though they knew nothing about him.

As for me and Mexico I was afraid of coming back because I knew what to expect from this country, by far I have not yet managed to get a job in my specialty I am making money as a Hebrew/Yiddish teacher and selling some sculptures. I’m “working” in two laboratories but without salary in the hope that a position will be open in the future, this reflects the kind of country Mexico is, on one hand it has a rich culture and great people who is friendly and welcoming and has a lot of natural resources that generated billions each year, but on the other hand it is a corrupted place and all this money ends up in the hands of very few that will not create opportunities for young people, not by mistake, here you need a “sandek” or a “gevater”, someone to contact you to a good job, otherwise you have to wait until your “mazeldike sho” (lucky day) arrives or grow old in low salary jobs.

1

Here there are not benefits you can take from the government if you are unemployed and just in last December the Mexican oil, that was by far the only national income that was still national was sold to the foreign oil companies, so the future here is uncertain. And all the communities in Mexico are being affected by this, even the Jewish community that in the eighties and nineties was one of the most solid and stable, some elder people have lost their retirement, some Jewish entrepreneurs have gone out of business due to the increment in taxation and some have been victims of the violence of the cartels.

Despite all the above, life still goes on here and people develop incredible ideas on how to make survive making a living with little money.

Finally I would like to send my greeting to everyone in the Colchester shul, Roni, Linda, John, Roy, Rina, Jennifer, Ruth, Michael a gute woche!

Joshua Josh

-------------------------------------------------------------

Jewish life in Germany Today

When I was born in 1987, Germany’s Jewish communities were declining constantly and their collapse was predictable: West Germany’s Jewish communities had about 29,000 members – many in very small Shuls. In the GDR, there were virtually no Jewish actives at all.

This situation changed rapidly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Giving in to lobbying by the Jewish communities’ umbrella organization, German politics announced in1991 that any person living in a Post-Soviet state with a Jewish parent would be granted permanent right of residence in Germany. That year several thousand Jews immigrated to Germany. Until 2003, membership in Jewish communities multiplied by more than three to 102.000 members.

Unfortunately, immigrants who claim benefits in Germany are assigned to a state in which they have to live. Since Germany does not recognize Post-Soviet academic degrees, many Shul members are highly educated but unemployed. As a consequence and unlike any other Jewish community in Europe, Jews in Germany are scattered all over the country. For instance, there are currently more than 110 separate Kehiles of which most have less than 500 members.

1

Besides the lack of a critical mass that is needed for a vibrant Jewish life in many cities and tows, Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union were raised in an environment highly hostile to religion and Judaism in particular. Most families kept some Jewish traditions (e.g., abstention from eating pork), however, at the same time Jewish knowledge could not be passed on across generations. Catching up has proven very complicated and Shul attendance rose – by far – not to the extent to which communities grew. By contrast, the few Jewish schools that exist in the largest 8 communities are very well attended.

Following the massive increase in Jews, many new organizations started their activities in Germany. Among them the ultra-orthodox Chabad movement, a type of Liberal Judaism as well as non-religious movements like Limmud. Today, Germany trains its own Rabbis in two Yeshives (one orthodox and one liberal). Nevertheless, religious personnel are mostly imported from abroad due to the lack of religious Jewish life in Germany.

I am not sure what the prospect of Jewish life in Germany is. On the one hand, the development of the past twenty years seems to be very promising: Many synagogues were rebuilt, communities re-established, Jewish life fostered, and Jewish representatives have finally started to present Judaism as a vivid religion instead of as a society for holocaust memorial. On the other hand, a combination of the age pattern of Jewish communities and basic maths skills makes it quite clear that most of these rebuilt Shuls will not be used for many years. In fact, if the number of Jews in Germany has not started to decline yet, it will do so soon. Up until now, communities were not very effective in solving its pre-1990 problems. But who can tell the future: When I was born in 1987, Germany’s Jewish communities were declining constantly and their collapse was predictable. It was. But than something unexpected happened and suddenly there was a new prospect for Jews in Germany.

Roni Lehrer

--------------------------------------------------------------

1

Sarah Lyon 1703 - 1808

Tucked away in a car park in Salthouse Street in the old dock area of Ipswich is a Jewish cemetery, purchased by the community in 1796, which was in use for about 55 years.

Among the headstones is one belonging to Mrs. Sarah Lyon who“in this year, 1808 died in this town a Jewess, in possession of all her faculties at the advanced age of 105.'

Sarah Lyon was a merchant, who was probably born in the German village of Ashich in 1703. She went into service in Amsterdam, Holland, where she lived until moving to Ipswich, and marrying Abraham Lyon.

There are two (possibly three) portraits of Mrs.Lyon, a large oil painting by John Constable in 1804, which hangs in the Skirball Cultural Centre, Los Angeles, the second is a print engraved from a miniature by WS Lethbridge, and the third has been lost. The oil painting belonged originally to Mr. Sam Hickman of Sandringham Road, NE and the engraving belonged to Mr. C.M. Ansell of the Dalston Synagogue, Poets Road.The large oil painting has the following words written on the back of the canvas:

SARAH LYON Painted by Constable about the year 1804 when she was 101 years old and lived 4 years after at Ipswich, Suffolk, and lined and restored by her great grandson Mier Ansell in 1857.

1

Mrs. Lyon's grand-daughter married Asher Ansell of Ipswich, who according to the inscription on his gravestone in the same cemetery died in 1835/6 aged 77 years.

Irene Fox

In the next issue of Kolchester look out for an article about the cemetery where Sarah Lyon is buried.

From the Editor:

My thanks to the contributors of this issue of the Kolchester, if there are to be future issues further contributions will be needed. Any contributions for future issues, typed or handwritten, large or small, should be sent to the Editor, Elizabeth Sugarman.

Copy for the next issue needs to be received by 15th August 2014, any items received after this date will go into a later issue.If anyone wishes to advertise in future issues please contact Roy Fox.

Many thanksElizabeth SugarmanEditor

---------------------------------------------------------------

1

How about a holiday in Bolivia?

As some of you know, our daughter Anna is currently riding on horseback through South America. For several years, she has been employed by the medical charity Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders), and has been sent to countries torn apart by conflict or by natural disasters, working as a project coordinator. It is a job she loves. However, it usually means that she is on duty twelve hours a day six days a week. “I’d love to be able to explore the area more,” she has often said, “and do so at my own pace.” Which is why she and her boyfriend, Gilles (who also works for MSF) decided to take some time off and ride around the world on horseback. As one does…. They flew to Chile at the end of 2011. Why Chile? Because horses there are specially reared for long journeys. They bought four horses - Quillay, Minina, Canelo and Luna – and then found that two of them were pregnant. In October 2012, what has become known as the Great Horse Trip finally began, a journey, which has taken them so far from Chile to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and now Venezuela.

At the end of August 2013, my husband Barry and I flew to Bolivia to meet up with Anna. Gilles was away for a few months and we thought it would be a wonderful chance to have some time with her. We arrived in Santa Cruz where Anna met us and took a taxi to the farm where the horses were going to be parked for a week or so. The family there were very kind and hospitable, giving us a lovely meal before we returned to the city, booked into a hotel, and watched Anna being interviewed by reporters from Bolivia’s main newspaper, El Deber. They photographed her – and us, as well. The next day was lovely. We went to the city square, bought shoes and sunhats, explored the local markets, and made plans for visiting other parts of Bolivia. Hiring a car is extremely expensive, but taxis are not. Sunday (September 1st) was National Pedestrian Day when no vehicles are allowed after 7 am; so we left (by taxi) at 6.30 am and drove through the foothills of the Andes to our next destination, Samaipata, four hours away.

We stayed in Samaipata for two days and liked it very much. The central town square is beautiful and the inhabitants were very friendly and courteous, smiling and greeting us in the street. We also visited an extraordinary place called El Fuerte (“the fort”). It is said to be about 1700 years old with ancient carvings that have mystified archaeologists for generations. The scenery in this area is very varied – caves, waterfalls, mountains, rocks of many colours.

There is much poverty here and indeed in most parts of the country. State education is limited. Children go to school in either the mornings or the afternoons; their teachers work with two separate classes each day. However, private schools, attended by children from wealthier families, provide the all-

1

day classes that we are familiar with here. Many of the indigenous people (who make up more than half the population) are very poor. In the towns, they support themselves by selling food in the street – fruit, pastries, ice- cream, drinks – and they work from early morning until midnight. Most of the women wear traditional dress, characterised by bright colours, vivid patterns and straw bowler hats. In the rural ethnic communities, life can be very difficult. There are often no electricity supplies and no kitchens. Meals are cooked on charcoal heated by fires in outdoor huts. Toilets are often simply holes in the ground.

Our next destination was in central Bolivia, a lodge called Refugio los Volcanes set in a peaceful green valley surrounded by tall foothills. We spent two days there. It was paradise: going for early morning and late afternoon walks in the rain-forest with its fungi, orange and green lichens, very bright flowers including astonishing flame-coloured orchids, and strange termites’ nests; and, between these outings and meals, sitting on the outside veranda reading, gazing at the mountains, and listening to the silence broken only by the music of a solitary bird that turned upside-down whenever it sang.

We then flew to Sucre, the official capital of Bolivia. At the entrance to the airport building is an arresting sculpture of a dinosaur. We were told that there are fossilised remains of these creatures in many parts of the country; a guide showed us ancient footprints on one of the Inca roads that are still used, built perhaps 800 years ago and made from millions of flat stones. Sucre is a very interesting town with many statues. We visited the Museum of Indigenous Art, which features amongst other things the wonderful tapestries, which have been part of Bolivian culture for centuries. We were taken by our guide to two houses where the women earn money by weaving woollen fabrics that they sell in local markets as rugs or blankets. They squat for hours in front of very basic looms, and manage to produce very complex designs.

Our next move took us on a guided tour over the Andes, the most extraordinary mountains I have ever seen. There is no snow. The colours, patterns and shapes of the Andes are, literally, jaw-dropping: rocks, spikes, peaks ranging from yellow to orange, red and brown, even green and purple; narrow gorges and rivulets; and, in the valleys thousands of feet below, tiny villages and green fields. I was lost for words to describe what we saw.

I left Bolivia on September 7. Anna, this time accompanied by Barry, resumed the Great Horse Trip, an adventure which he enjoyed hugely before returning to the UK a fortnight or so later. Would we go there again? Perhaps. Despite the numerous conflicts between the 1930s and the 1990s, the economic and social unrest, the problems resulting from hyper-inflation in 1985, strikes and blockades, drug trafficking, and the closure of tin mines, the situation is improving. Evo Morales, the current president (the first native Bolivian to hold

2

this position) has nationalised most of the country’s gas fields. Since 1989, the military has largely kept out of politics, and human rights violations have been greatly reduced. Bolivians of indigenous descent have been given more economic and political rights. However, the position of Bolivian Jews is ambivalent. Many came as refugees during and after the war but left in the 1950s and 60s because of political upheavals. The Jewish population is said to be about 350, most of them living in La Paz, the largest city. There are many leaving the country, largely because of Morales’ policies. Since his election, numbers have dropped by 10%. Why? He does not approve of private businesses, he is vehemently anti-American, and he has strong ties with Iran and its president, Ahmadinejad. Despite this, I would like to visit the country again, not only because the landscape is so striking but also because the people we met were so pleasant.

Jennifer Levy Halford

--------------------------------------------------------------

Notable Days in 5774 – 2013/2014 and 5775 – 2014 /2015

2

5774 – 2013/2014 5775 – 2014/2015First Day Rosh Hashanah Thursday September 5 Thursday September 25Second Day Rosh Hashanah Friday September 6 Friday September 26Fast of Gedaliah Sunday September 8 Sunday September 28Yom Kippur Saturday September 14 Saturday October 4First Day Succoth Thursday September 19 Thursday October 9Second day Succoth Friday September 20 Friday October 10Hoshana Rabbah Wednesday September 25 Wednesday October 15Shemini Atzereth Thursday September 26 Thursday October 16Simchat Torah Friday September 27 Friday October 17Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan Friday October 4 Friday October 24Rosh Chodesh Kislev Sunday November 3 Sunday November 23First Day Chanukah Thursday November 28 Wednesday December 17Rosh Chodesh Teveth Tuesday December 3 Monday October 22Eighth Day Chanukah Thursday December 5 Wednesday December 24Fast of Teveth Friday December 13 Thursday January 1Rosh Chodesh Shevat Thursday January 2 Wednesday January 21Tu B’Shvat Thursday January 16 Wednesday February 24Rosh Chodesh Adar I Friday January 31 Thursday February 19Rosh Chodesh Adar II Sunday March 2 ------------ --------------Fast of Ester Thursday March 13 Wednesday March 4Purim Sunday March 16 Thursday March5Shushan Purim Monday March 17 Friday March 6Roah Chodesh Nisan Tuesday April 1 Saturday March 21Fast of Firstborn Monday April 14 Friday April 3First Day Pesach Tuesday April 15 Saturday April 4Second Day Pesach Wednesday April 16 Sunday April 5Seventh Day Pesach Monday April 21 Friday April 10Eighth Day Pesach Tuesday April22 Saturday April 11Rosh Chodesh Iyar Wednesday April 30 Sunday April 19Israel Independence Day Tuesday May 6 Thursday April 23Lag Ba’Omer Sunday May 18 Thursday May 7Yom Yerushalayim Wednesday May 28 Sunday May 17Rosh Chodesh Sivan Friday May 30 Tuesday May 19First Day Shavuot Wednesday June 4 Sunday May 24Rosh Chodesh Tammuz Saturday June 28 Wednesday June 17Fast of Tammuz Tuesday July 15 Sunday July 5Rosh Chodesh Av Monday July 28 Friday July 17Fast of Av Tuesday August 5 Sunday July 26Festival of Av Monday August 11 Friday July 31Rosh Chodesh Ellul Tuesday August 26 Saturday August 15Erev Rosh Hashanah 5775 Wednesday September 24 Sunday September 13

2

2