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London: 15:45

Birmingham: 15:45

Hull: 15:32

Sheffield: 15:39

Southport: 15:43

Jerusalem: 15:56

London: 16:51

Birmingham: 16:55

Hull: 16:50

Sheffield: 16:55

Southport: 17:01

Jerusalem: 17:15

The UK times listed above are for cities with United Synagogue communities.

You can find details of this week's Torah reading, Maftir and Haftarah in our weekly Daf Hashavua by clicking here.

As we were preparing to send this week's You&US, we heard the sad news that Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu zt'l, former Rosh Beth Din of the London Beth Din, had passed away. You can read statements from the Chief Rabbi, Dayan Gelley and our President, Michael Goldstein, by clicking here.

Thursday 24 November, 2022

In the summer I made a top-secret visit to a Marmite packing factory to learn how KLBD, our kashrut division, have been working with Unilever and their partners to produce a new KLBD-certified run of kosher Marmite here in the UK. If you’ve ever seen one of those ‘inside the factory’ programmes you can imagine how excited I was. After donning a hair (and beard) net I was allowed access into a Willy Wonka-like world of whirling conveyor belts as bottles and jars whizzed past my head containing all sorts of products. The smells were incredible – as was the noise – and I couldn’t get over the size of the place.

 

Rabbi Shlomi Wise, one of KLBD’s Rabbinic Coordinators, kept a watchful eye on me and my exuberance and carried with him spreadsheets and checklists as he examined every part of the process as he went through the agreements which have been put in place with KLBD. Making Marmite kosher is far from straightforward: regular Marmite shares equipment with a non-kosher beef extract product. A new production system had to be created to avoid this and to start with kosher Marmite will be available in 600g tubs ensuring homes don’t run out of the love-it-or-hate-it spread.

 

The tubs will shortly bear the KLBD logo on the label and be available nationwide. In the meantime the newly kosher product can be identified by the words KLBD KOSHER which is printed as part of the ink-jetted code on top of the yellow lids. New kosher Marmite is now on sale in kosher shops in London and Manchester and KLBD have been told that it should be available in wholesalers such as Costco in the coming months. KLBD will keep the community updated.

 

Kosher Marmite being available once again in the UK is testament to kosher consumers who took the time to ring and write to Unilever, and sign a petition, asking them to make it kosher again. Your efforts really did make a difference.

 

It’s also testament to KLBD who work tirelessly every day to make keeping kosher easier, including supervising functions on Shabbat. Contrary to popular belief, kashrut approval of products and supervision of restaurants and caterers is often done at cost and in some cases at a loss, to make keeping kosher as accessible and affordable as possible. KLBD’s popular ‘Is it kosher?’ website and app are available for free, with the team researching thousands of products each year and responding to hundreds of product enquiries on the ever-growing KLBD Facebook group and by phone and email too.

 

Let me end with a fascinating historical titbit. I found out recently that kosher Marmite goes back well over a century! In fact, the Marmite factory opened in 1902 and there was immediate interest from the Jewish community. I saw a note from Chief Rabbi Hermann Adler, dated September 28, 1903 where he writes:

 

Dear Sir,

In reply to your letter I have to state that you can safely use 'Marmite' which has the seal of the Beth Din - כשר לכל השנה חוץ מפסח*.

I remain

yours faithfully

H Adler

 

*kosher all year round apart from Pesach

Chai’s national awareness Shabbat

 

This Shabbat Chai Cancer Care is running a national awareness programme. We know our members have benefited from their services and perhaps you know someone who would benefit too - there is no charge. Chai is currently supporting 3,500 people aged 3-93 across the UK. South Hampstead's Rebbetzen Lauren Levin has written a poignant piece in this week's Daf Hashavua which has been sponsored by Chai and you can find out more about Chai's impact here.

 

Shabbat shalom and Chodesh tov,

 

Richard Verber

Communications Director

United Synagogue

US volunteers improve help thousands of people

Hundreds of United Synagogue volunteers improved the lives of thousands of people during Mitzvah Day on Sunday. More people than ever took part this year after three years of lockdown restrictions. The United Synagogue volunteers were part of the biggest Mitzvah Day ever with a record 30,000 people taking part across the UK. Click on the more button below to read a report from across our communities and click here to see some great photos!

Use Black Friday to support those in need!

Black Friday, the annual retail extravaganza is here! Why not take advantage and use the Black Friday deals for US Chesed? As well as helping our own members in need, we help our shuls support refugees and asylum seekers and we are running low on toiletries. You can donate toiletries via the link below. Simply add your item(s) to an empty basket, click 'Chesed Toiletry Fund' as the delivery address and all purchases will be automatically sent to our remote hub. Thank you.

LAST CHANCE

Donate your discount!

You have donated nearly £20,000 in order to help US members who are unable to pay their energy bills this winter. Thank you so much for your generosity. We have started to make the first grants following our means-tested application process and it's not too late to donate your government discount if you are able to. You can find more details via the link below.

WILLESDEN JEWISH CEMETERY

Guided Cemetery Walks

Come on a guided walk at London's most surprising cemetery, Willesden Jewish Cemetery, this Sunday. The highlights walk will cover some of the fascinating residents of the cemetery, and the WW2 guided walk focuses on soldiers commemorated at Willesden Cemetery. Find out more about both by clicking the link below.

KLBD

Bett'r snacks

Today's KLBD certified product is Bett'r snacks. Their organic brownie mix, which is vegan and gluten-free, and a range of delicious nut butters are KLBD Kosher Certified. Find out more on their website by clicking here.

Are good deeds valid even when we don't intend to perform them? Find out in this week's D'var Torah by the Chief Rabbi!

 

How can a child of a trailblazer carve their own path in life? Rebbetzen Emma Taylor, a graduate of the Chief Rabbi’s Ma’ayan programme and Rebbetzen and community educator at Shaarei Shomyaim Synagogue, Toronto, offers an insight in this week's Jewish News.

EDGWARE UNITED SYNAGOGUE

Escape from Benghazi

Join Edgware as they hear from Elia Meghnagi, author of 'Escape from Benghazi: Diary of an Impostor'. In 1958, Elia was forced to flee Benghazi and found refuge in Cambridge.

Monday 28 November at 8:15pm.

MUSWELL HILL UNITED SYNAGOGUE

Theologies of migration & community

Join Muswell Hill as they hear from Dr Lia Shimada, a geographer and theologian at the University of Roehampton. Her talk will be titled 'Mapping Faith: Theologies of migration and community'. Sunday 26 November from 8 - 9:15pm on Zoom.

WHAT'S ON?

Online events

We've got lots of great events taking place online and in person! See what events are happening in our communities every week by checking out the United Synagogue events portal.

BOARD OF DEPUTIES

Community Briefing

Read the Board's latest community briefing.

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