Teesside Topics no 24
It is rare for Middlesbrough to have a visiting
speaker on a Jewish subject, so Deanna van der Velde was extremely
welcome when she came into the uncharted waters of Middlesbrough to
talk on "The Practices and Values of Jews". Her talk was part of a
series on different religions, organised by The Middlesbrough
Council of Faiths and The Cleveland & Tees Valley Interfaith Group
. And what a talk it was, informative and comprehensive yet
sparkling as well. At the outset she explained that her task was
difficult, having only a limited time in which to deal with a vast
subject. Nevertheless, she coped manfully (for want of a better
word) even when straying into the masculine preserve of Tephillin
with exhibits.
That reminds me, I must tell you a story about
Tephillin - just be patient.
Now back to the talk. It was followed by questions
and they came fast and furious from all angles from Muslims,
Christian clergy , Quakers and others . They came at her a la Paxman
, Sugar and Michael Mansfield QC. I was so glad that the barrage was
directed at her and not at me The questions were religious,
social , philosophical, political and raised many issues such as
the After Life, problems in Israel, the dietary laws, the Sabbath,
the decline of local congregations and so on . Snippets of further
information emerged, sometimes most surprising . For instance, at
the last census Durham had 300 Jews. This to me was as remarkable as
the fact I rediscovered last month, that Barnard Castle had a Jewish
community . The speaker was recently at a prison - as a speaker I
hasten to add. Was that more gruelling or less?
Did I tell you about my visits to Durham Prison,
to talk on Judaism ? After one talk there came the question: "Mr
Simon, could you recommend a good Solicitor ?"
Ah yes, back to Tephillin . One day I was
phoned by the Northern Echo and was told that phylacteries had been
stolen in Stockton . This puzzled me as I could not think of anybody
in Stockton who laid Tephillin. It emerged that the theft had
been from a caravan. I asked if it had happened on Market day and I
was right. I explained that it was probly the property of a market
trader from Leeds who was on his travels and would be wanting to lay
Tephillin as he moved round. The Gazette reported the theft
as "Theft of religious jewellery".
I hope everybody had a good Pesach. Mark Turnbull
on the local Radio Station wished us a Happy Passover. I responded
with a box of guess what!
David Simon
Stokesley, May 2008
