New Jewish Leadership Council chief sets out his stall
Jonathan Goldstein presents his manifesto at a JLC hustings, before he succeeds Sir Mick Davis as chair of the organisation
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
The man soon to be endorsed as head of the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) has set out a bravura eight-point plan to overhaul the Jewish community – and a prediction that he can save £10million by streamlining the more than 2,000 current Jewish charities.
Jonathan Goldstein presented his manifesto at a hustings event for JLC, for which he is now the only candidate as chairman. He will succeed Sir Mick Davis who stood down earlier this year.
Addressing a hand-picked audience at Western Marble Arch Synagogue, representing many of the 32 JLC constituents, Goldstein spoke passionately about “the need to eradicate duplication” and the waste of resources.
He said he believed the JLC had “a duty” to work together to pool resources, and announced one of his first acts would be to establish a task force, chaired by a business leader to identify ways the community could work “together, rather than in silos”.
Ilford-raised and educated at Manchester University, the father-of-four has a long history of communal service. He is currently chair of the JLC’s education division, Partnerships for Jewish Schools (PaJeS), and is a former vice-chair of Jewish Care and one-time governor of Kerem School.
Part of his manifesto, he said, included an aim to represent all of the community, not just part of it. He wants to bring more women on board as well as representatives of the LGBTQ community, but he also said he wants to “build bridges” with the Charedi community, projected to form 50 percent of British Jewry by the end of the century.
One of Goldstein’s major interests is education and he said that some of the difficulties faced by Jewish students attempting to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on campus was due to a lack of detailed knowledge about the history of modern Israel.
He also addressed the question of relations between the JLC and Board of Deputies. While he hoped, he said, to have a good relationship with the Board president, he made it clear both organisations would have to “cede responsibilities” to each other. He also announced the JLC expected to lead a huge, community-wide celebration of Israel’s 70th anniversary next year.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
