York memorial for the 150 Success at Southgate

By Howard Duckworth

THE 7 Nisan 4950 was one of the darkest days in the history of Jews in England. It was when York’s Jewish community of 150 men, women and children were chased into Clifford’s Tower by an antisemitic mob.

They were promised safety if they converted to Christianity; the ones who left the Tower to do so were immediately murdered. Those who remained inside decided that it was better to die by suicide. Parents killed their children, then each other and the ones left took their own lives in a final act of desperation.

I recently asked around if anyone had ever conducted a Jewish memorial service for the 150 and the answer was no - there had never been one. There have been various commemorations over the years, including to mark the 800th anniversary in 1990, but not, to the best of our knowledge, a service similar to the ones held for victims of the Holocaust.

Student Rabbi Rafe Thurstance and I had the idea that we could use the private chapel inside Clifford’s Tower, which we were given with the kind permission of English Heritage. There was no question for us as to when this should happen. The obvious date would be 7 Nisan 5783, 833 years since the massacre.

Rafe said: “We came to the realisation that those who lost their lives in this massacre would never have had a funeral and conversations with several people led us to realise that there was a feeling that in some way that needed to be recognised. So it felt fitting to us that, despite several public events to commemorate and mark the events of 1190, there should be a small yizkor service without any elaborate ceremony dedicated specifically to the lives and memories of those who perished here.”

By Sue Jessel

THERE was an excellent attendance at Southgate Progressive Synagogue (SPS), and on online streaming platforms, for the fourth in the series of lectures in memory of Southgate’s late Emeritus Rabbi Harry Martin Jacobi.

Local dignitaries, representatives of Liberal Judaism and other Progressive congregations, members and friends were there to hear an inspirational and thought-provoking talk from Harry’s son, Rabbi Richard Jacobi.

A pre-recorded opening prayer was given by Harry’s daughter, Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi, who was in Adelaide, Australia, at the time of the lecture.

In his talk, entitled Why Progressive Judaism Must Restore Kindness, Richard explained that in the Torah, one of the 13 attributes of God is chesed, which is often translated as kindness.

Harry Jacobi, in a childhood escaping from the Nazis, benefitted from kindness that kept him safe and he repaid that, in adulthood, many times over.

Richard suggested that today, in wider society, kindness has been relegated to an approach associated with weakness or softness, which does not chime with the market sentiments of capitalism or the social sentiments of individual autonomy.

He argued that it is time we Progressive Jews restored divine status to kindness, to be practised by all in a manner that respects all people as b’tzelem Elohim (in the image of God) and nurtures the planet that humanity has abused.

This promoted much food for thought which was continued with many small discussions at the tea which followed.

The next lecture will be given jointly by Margaret Shepherd and Dr Ed Kessler on Sunday 7 April 2024 with the title Jewish:Christian Relations.

KINGSTON Liberal Synagogue (KLS) was transformed into a circus when a team of performers visited to tell the story of a German Jewish circus family through narrative, performance and music.

The event was the brainchild of Rabbi Miri Lawrence (pictured), from Ealing Liberal Synagogue, who has a keen interest in the history of Jewish circus families and performs as a circus artist in her spare time.