Heroes and Villains: Who we liked, and who we didn't, in 2014

HEROES

Jewish Care workforce - by Rosa Doherty

Jewish Care employs staff from five continents to look after some of the most vulnerable members of the community.

Fewer than 10 per cent of the charity’s 1,500 employees are Jewish. And they look after 7,000 clients, all of which proves that where you come from and what you believe in can be put aside when it comes to human kindness.

Someone who has benefited from the experience is Filipino care worker Myrtle Pangindian, who has worked at the Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Campus, in Golders Green, north-west London, for the past two years.

“One of my first Jewish Care clients was a lady who was Orthodox and it was scary not knowing what to do or not to do,” she said.

“She had a tattoo on her arm and I asked her why she had it. She told me it was her number from when she was in a concentration camp. I said sorry for asking.

“She said: ‘No, it is fine to ask it. It means you are learning’.”
 

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis - by Marcus Dysch

If you live in the Jewish heartlands of north-west London, the regular appearance of a chief rabbi in your shul has been a common occurrence for years.

But not in Hull or Edinburgh or Hong Kong or Australia, where such visits have been rare for the past two decades.

Until now.

A hearty yasher koach is due to the man who has arguably done more than any other individual to boost the confidence of British Jews across the country, and Jews with British connections abroad, in the past 12 months.

You might argue that he has simply been doing his job — touring Britain and the Commonwealth, meeting synagogue congregations big and small.

But clocking up the number of miles at the rate Rabbi Mirvis has managed in order to visit almost every known community is a substantial achievement.

His Shabbat UK project inspired tens of thousands to reconnect with their religion.

Additionally, Chief Rebbetzin Valerie Mirvis, a senior social worker, lecturer and author, is widely seen as approachable, friendly and the perfect companion.

It is true to say that no figure is more deserving of our praise in the past year. He has gone a long way to earning the title, the People’s Chief Rabbi.

Professor Geoffrey Raisman - by Naomi Firsht

In October the papers were filled with headlines of a “walking miracle” when a paralysed man was able to walk again after a breakthrough in stem cell research.

But it wasn’t a miracle; it was the result of the hard work of Prof Geoffrey Raisman and his team at University College London’s Institute of Neurology, whose research enabled surgeons in Poland to treat firefighter Darek Fidyka. The knife attack victim learnt to walk again after cells from his nose were used to re-grow those in his spine.

While it remains to be seen whether the research can be effectively used for further paralysis cases, it serves as a reminder of the great strides humanity has made in science and medicine, and illustrates how Jewish people continue to contribute to the wider community.

Prof Raisman told the JC at the time: “My life has been worth living. I have not only been able to follow my hobby, but it has been of value to people. Who can ask for more?”

Mendy Pellin - by Simon Rocker

In an often troubling year, there has not been a lot to smile about. So take a bow, Mendy Pellin.

The Chasidic comedian from Los Angeles has been earning a growing internet following for his accomplished video parodies of popular songs, such as Talk Yiddish To Me (based on Jason Derulo’s Talk Dirty to Me) and Take It Off (Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off).

His videos feature dancers in tzitzit and Yiddish raps, showing that even the most Orthodox of Jews know how to laugh at themselves.

And he is happy to stray on to sacred turf, for example producing a video sketch that has fun with Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac. “God has blessed us with a sense of humour and five books of really good material,” he said in a recent interview.

His Jewbellish website is backed by the founder of J Brand jeans, Jeff Rudes.

The po-faced pious may disapprove of his use of social media but it has brought the “LoopHoler Rebbe” to a much wider audience and spread a little cheer in the bleakness.

Donald Sanford - by Simon Round

Israel has achieved many things in its short history. It has won a significant collection of Nobel prizes, the Eurovision Song Contest three times and developed its own nuclear weapons (allegedly), but had never won a track medal in any major championships.

Step forward Donald Eugene Sanford, a Los Angeles native who fell in love with and married an Israeli basketball player, converted to Judaism, made aliyah and put his running talents at the service of his new homeland.

At London 2012, he reached the semi-finals of the 400 metres but he was unable to take his starting place due to the fact that his running shoes had been stolen.

Everything changed at the 2014 European Championships in Zurich when Sanford surged around the track to win bronze in the 400 metres. Had it not been for the two Brits in the race — Martin Rooney and Matthew Hudson-Smith — he would have been champion.

Not that anyone in Israel really minded. He was welcomed back to Israel with an enthusiasm usually reserved only for One Direction.

Sajid Javid - by Alan Montague

The Culture Secretary had already earned hero credentials in 2012 when he said that if he couldn’t live in Britain, he would choose Israel.

This year, he gained in stature. First he intervened when the Tricycle Theatre boycotted the UK Jewish Film Festival, helping to apply the behind-the-scenes pressure that persuaded the theatre to climb down.

Then last month, he treated the Union of Jewish Students conference to what has been generally agreed to be the best speech from a British political figure in years. In it, the Muslim politician advanced the most powerful argument yet proving that the boycott is nothing more than “a smokescreen for the oldest hatred” — antisemitism.

Zidan Saif - by Nathan Jeffay

As a Druze Arab man who suffered fatal wounds defending shul worshippers against a killing spree, Zidan Saif showed a rare heroism.

When terrorists struck in Jerusalem in November, Mr Saif, 30, rushed to the scene; a hard-working traffic policeman stepping up to the plate. Inside the synagogue, he tried to stop the terrorists, and in all likelihood intervened sufficiently to prevent an even higher death toll.

But he died of the wounds he sustained, and became the fifth fatality of the attack.

His bravery became the talk of Israel. Never before had so many Charedim attended a Druze-Arab funeral.

An American-Jewish couple even named their baby son after him. Alexander Chester of New York, father of the young Yaakov Saif Chester, chose the name because the traffic policeman was a “hero for humanity”.

In a year when ethnic and religious violence has raged in the Middle East, Mr Saif gave a much-needed reminder of the basic humanity that, more often than we acknowledge, still spans cultures and religions.

VILLAINS

Wigan Athletic - by Josh Jackman

If any non-political, entertainment-based organisation can be accused of villainy in 2014, it is Wigan Athletic. The football club has gone from being everyone’s favourite second team to clogging up the page when you Google “football antisemitism”.

Little wonder. First, the Championship side hired Malky Mackay, the ex-Cardiff manager who sent offensive texts to his colleague Iain Moody, including one about Jewish agent Phil Smith which read: “Go on, fat Phil. Nothing like a Jew that sees money slipping through his fingers”.

The club’s decision to hire him just three months after the texts emerged made more sense when chairman Dave Whelan opined that Jews were indeed “very shrewd people” who “chase money more than everybody else”. He subsequently accepted a Football Association racism charge. Whether he follows through on his promise to resign remains to be seen.

Baroness Warsi - by Sandy Rashty

Sayeeda Warsi fell from grace in the eyes of many Jews after she resigned as Minister for Faith and Communities this summer over the government’s “morally indefensible” policy on Gaza, particularly David Cameron’s refusal to condemn Israel.

Three months later, she compared Israelis who campaigned outside the Al Aqsa mosque to terrorists who killed Jews praying at a synagogue in Jerusalem. She tweeted: “Israelis extremists storm Al Aqsa and intimidate worshippers. Palestinian extremists storm synagogue and kill four worshippers — let’s all condemn the killing on both sides.”

Anger at Lady Warsi was all the greater because she had been seen as a champion of building Jewish-Muslim ties in the UK — especially among women.

At one inter-faith event, standing by Board of Deputies senior vice-president Laura Marks, she told female guests that the communities had more in common than circumcision, ritual slaughter and good food — that their organisations were mainly run by men, despite women putting in much of the leg-work.

At another event, which honoured righteous Muslims who saved Jews during the Holocaust, she spoke out against antisemitism in the Muslim community, adding that anti-Zionism was often a mask for hatred of Jews.

Towards the end of the year, she attended an debate on Israel organised by the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism.

During the discussion, she declared that she was a “friend of Israel”, explaining that, in her view, true supporters of the country are its fiercest critics, and that it was an act of friendship to tell “harsh truths”.

The audience seemed unconvinced. One suspects most British Jews feel the same.

Dieudonne - by Orlando Radice

French “comedian” Dieudonné M’bala M’bala made his upsetting presence felt in the consciousness of most British Jews almost exactly one year ago. In a Premier League match on December 28 2013, star striker Nicolas Anelka celebrated a goal with the “quenelle” — a kind of Nazi salute — and explained his actions by saying that the gesture had been a tribute to his friend, Dieudonné.

As it turned out, Dieudonné, a convicted antisemite, had not only been responsible for popularising racist salutes among football stars, but was becoming figurehead for Jew-haters in a country where antisemitism has soared.

In a year that began with news that Jews were leaving France in record numbers and ended with a Jewish teenager in Paris robbed and raped “because Jews are rich”, the “cool antisemite” got more popular than ever: his Facebook page, on which he posts videos and links referencing his brand of bigotry, gained an extra 400,000 “likes” during 2014.

And later in the year, French theatres agreed to host his new show, which includes jokes about Ilan Halimi, a Parisian tortured and murdered because he was Jewish.

Two weeks ago, Dieudonné requested a meeting with heads of the French Jewish community in an apparent attempt to create an “accord which would allow both parties to respect the other”. The jokes don’t get any better.

Naftali Bennett - by Anshel Pfeffer

Economics Minister Naftali Bennett began this year as the bad boy of the Netanyahu government, threatening to pull out of the coalition if Israel went through with the last stage of a prisoner-release deal with the Palestinian Authority. Ultimately, the talks fell through and the prisoners remained in jail.

His opposition to the peace process and regular pledges to continue settlement construction drew fury from governments around the world engaged in trying to bring Israel and the Palestinians to the table, and was cited by American commentators as one of the reasons for liberal US Jewry’s ongoing disenchantment with Israel.

During the summer’s Gaza conflict, he was again criticised for using confidential information to attack the government’s inaction, only to emerge as the first minister who had warned of the threat of Hamas’ tunnels.

Now, as Israel enters an early election season, the far-right politician is riding high in the polls.

Buoyed by a non-aggression pact with Benjamin Netanyahu, he is set to be the big winner in the next election, if a right-wing government is formed. Some reports already have Mr Netanyahu offering him the defence portfolio in a new coalition. If Likud loses, he is hoping to dominate the opposition and position himself as the future leader of the right on the day after Mr Netanyahu’s fall.

Prime Minister Bennett? Probably not in the next Knesset, but the 42-year-old has all the time in the world to prepare his bid for power.