The remarkable breadth of the work of the JRC was presented at its March meeting and showcased the impact of the new structure on both its work and involving more activists.
Sharon Bannister, JRC President, welcomed delegates to the March meeting of the JRC at the Nicky Alliance Centre on Sunday. In her report to the meeting Sharon expressed Communal concern in relation to the ‘Apartheid Wall’ set up last week at the Manchester Universities Catholic Chaplaincy. The Council will also be following up with the Catholic Chaplaincy over the next week.
Concern was raised by a delegate over the impact of the Salford City Football Club (SCFC) development and linkage that could be made by antisemites to the Jewish community. It was made clear that any such linkage would be a result of bigotry and that there could be no blame on those campaigning. Jonny Wineberg, JRC Chair, will be attending a second meeting along with the Kersal Moor Residents’ Association to discuss developments with Gary Neville and SCFC staff.
There then followed reports from JRC working groups on their successes, current activities and future plans.
Public Relations and Media
Jacky Buchsbaum explained that the group has been working on a database of people with expertise in the community to improve our use of spokespeople. He requested delegates and others to inform the JRC of such people to better represent the community.
The working group is involved in organising Yom HaShoah, which will take place on Monday 24th of April at Audacious Hall.
Mr. Buchsbaum thanked Filis Rosenberg and Alex Klein for representing the community to outside bodies on the group’s behalf.
Education
Jeremy Michaelson shared information on the work of SACRE representatives and the fact that Warrington, Blackburn, and Rochdale still need representatives. If you know anyone who is interested, please contact Mr. Michaelson.
The Community Sherman Lecture in collaboration with the Centre for Jewish Studies and the Manchester Jewish Museum will be held on May the 11th at 17:30 and will be given by Professor Abigail Green.
Members of the working group took an active part in developing Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations in January and helped several local authorities organise their events.
The group is reaching out to smaller communities and have had productive talks with Rabbi Guttentag from St. Anne’s Hebrew Congregation, which has now developed a Jewish Social and Cultural Affairs Programme. The group is looking to develop contact with Liverpool to work together to help communities such as Southport.
Developments around Jewish schools that have been rejected for Free School status have been monitored. The initial reason given was that the schools’ curriculum contained ‘too much emphasis on Jewish studies’, and the group was concerned this would cause problems for already established Jewish schools. The group is in contact with the department about clarifying the conditions.
Input from anyone on what else the group can do to broaden the input of Jewish social and cultural education in the community would be welcome.
Publicity
Filis Rosenberg handed out copies of RepPresents and talked about the Publicity Working Group’s achievements. She thanked Clive Moss-Barclay and Jonny Wineberg for their work on RepPresents. The newsletter’s priority is to promote the work of the JRC and to show the community what the council does. The 4,500 copies will be distributed in synagogues, supermarkets, etc. The group would also appreciate any feedback on the recent edition.
The group would like to hear from anyone who attends an event on behalf of the JRC, and a news item and picture for RePresents would be appreciated.
Additionally, the group has produced a leaflet with information on the JRC’s achievements and activities. The leaflet will be updated with any new events. Any comments or suggestions are welcomed.
Lastly, the group currently consists of a small team and is looking for people to join. Members do not have to be associated with the JRC. Please get in touch if you know anyone who is interested.
Human Rights & Antisemitism
Jay Charara spoke on the Antisemitism & Human Rights Working Group’s developments.
Together with the Publicity Working Group, the group delivered a Media Training Workshop to encourage people to become more active online and counter online bias.
In the future, the group is hoping to further promote online work, education, and represent the views of the community everywhere they can.
Fundraising:
Susan Isaacs updated the council on the work of the Fundraising Working Group’s.
The group’s main priorities have been organising the annual Community Challenge Quiz, putting together the yearbook. and is now starting work on next year’s. The Community Challenge Quiz will probably be held in a South Manchester venue this year.
The group will also be organising an art competition for school-aged children as part of the Jewish Arts Festival For All with the winning works printed in RepPresents.
The variety event held on the 5th of February was a great success with Steven Pearlman rightly thanked for all his hard work pulling it together.
Youth and Community
David Lewis talked about the achievements of the Youth and Community Working Group.
The Big Neighbourhood Bash in December was a great success with many people participating in the event. The Xmas Day Transport scheme was received very well by churches and the people involved. 29 volunteers drove people of the Christian faith to lunches on Christmas day.
Additionally, the group will host a Mayoral debate for the Greater Manchester Mayoral election on the 2nd of April in partnership with the JLC and King David High School.
The ‘Youth’ aspect of the group remains an important part. Members have met with the head boys and girls from King David High School and Yavneh and are in conversation with young people about starting a Jewish Youth Forum. A Youth worker is a clear need to make this a success.
The group is aiming to find funding so that the community can better support young people around issues such as mental health and bullying, and to make sure young people are aware of Jewish youth activities around Manchester.
For more information on this release, please contact Jonny Wineberg
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