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2 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
The polling was carried out a few weeks after Israel had moved troops into Rafah but before it stepped up its attack on Hezbollah and disabled Iranian anti-aircraft systems. Particularly striking was the proportion of those who felt “strongly attached”, which increased from 41 per cent two years ago to 50 per cent last year. Other figures bore out JPR’s conclusion that “Israel simply seems to matter more to most at this time than it did prior to the October 7 attacks”.
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2 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
“It is well-organised and has a high level of commitment from its members. I’m thrilled to work closely with our lay leaders and wardens to serve the best interests of the community and contribute to the wider Welsh Jewish community.” She will begin with monthly visits, running services, providing pastoral support and adult education, and working with converts.
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2 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
First was the effect of Covid when not only did people have “the desire to seek out the big questions about life and meaning and identity,” he said, but also the “time during lockdown to explore it, with a certain number finding that they felt at home in Judaism”. Secondly, he explained, was “the popularity of DNA tests, often given as a present or undertaken for fun, but showing to people’s surprise that they had Jewish ancestry.
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2 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
The online poll will be open for several days in the first week in June. In the USA, where the election is currently taking place and is running over a longer period, more than 50,000 people voted in the first week. With just 19 seats out of 525, the UK is a minor player in an organisation naturally dominated by Israel and the USA.
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2 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
Outstanding teaching and learning were “the norm” at the school, guided by a “strong, experienced” leadership team. One parent told inspectors, “Children are so lucky to have the teachers they have.” Another with a daughter in the early years section, said, “I am constantly amazed at how much she knows about Judaism at such a young age.
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3 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
“There is no alternative state sector provision that would meet their needs,” they said. Noting also that the Charedi community faced “severe antisemitic abuse and risks to their personal security,” they said one of the Jewish children in the case had experienced abuse in the street and her Jewish school had been targeted in two antisemitic attacks.
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3 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
The DfE also thinks it unlikely that yeshivah students would move to a registered school because of “a known shortage” of school places considered suitable by the Charedi community. “Instead, we think it most likely that, in the short-term, the education received by these children will not change – it will continue to be a mix of ‘yeshiva study’ at an unregistered (but part-time) setting (or possibly several part-time settings) supplemented by elective home education,” the DfE said.
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3 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
inclusive ethos. This helps to ensure that pupils typically behave well in their classrooms and around the school.” Pupils generally achieved well, with high outcomes in national assessments were high. “There have been significant changes in leadership of the school which are bringing about improvements,” Ofsted reported, noting the introduction of a new curriculum. Provision for personal development was “exceptional.
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3 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
It will argue that the new policy breaches the right to education guaranteed by the the European Convention on Human Rights, especially when parents opt for a form of education that the state cannot provide – for example a single-sex school or one that offers a particular religious ethos. Among those presenting the case will be one of the country’s leading barristers, Lord Pannick.
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4 weeks ago | 
thejc.com | Simon Rocker
Israel had one of the lowest switching rates of any country with only one per cent of its population no longer identifying with the religion of their youth. In the United States, 76 per cent of those brought up as Jewish remained so as adults. Seven per cent identified with other religions, while 17 per cent described themselves as religiously unaffiliated. But some Jews who no longer practise religiously might still consider themselves Jewish in terms of ethnicity or culture.
