‘My family wants to do a little bit of good to counteract all this evil’
Jewish News speaks to Jewish families about to open their hearts and homes to Ukrainian refugees
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
Joyce Walkden-Goodman is convinced of one thing: “There is evil walking the earth again. Welcoming refugees into our home might do a little bit of good to counteract this evil.”
Walkden-Goodman and her husband, Robert, who are a retired couple living in Bury, north Manchester, are just two of the British Jews who have drawn on their family history – grandparents and great-grandparents who came from Ukraine and adjoining countries at the end of the 19th century – and their warmth and open-heartedness towards Ukrainian refugees.
The couple, members of Manchester’s flagship Reform synagogue, Jackson’s Row, live in a bungalow and are thus “perfectly placed” to take in someone who might be disabled.
“We have two daughters and four grandchildren and what we can offer is a nice, welcoming home,” Walkden-Goodman said.
Undaunted by the prospect of housing someone for six months, Walkden-Goodman is in it for the long haul, saying she fully expected to host her refugee or refugees for up to three years. “If they are Jewish we can easily slot them into the Jewish community, and if not, there is a big Ukrainian community in Manchester.” She added that since her husband’s family came from Ukraine, there was a faint chance that they might end up housing distant relatives. “That would be amazing.”
In Finchley, Louise Doffman and her husband, Maurice, are preparing to open their home to Ukrainian refugees. The Doffmans, who are retired, are hoping that someone will enjoy the comforts of their spare room and garden. They have lived in Manchester and Leicester, previously, and while in Leicester hosted actors who were appearing at the Haymarket Theatre, but never for such a long period as is required for the Ukrainians.
But Mrs Doffman, a strong supporter of World Jewish Relief, and a member of Muswell Hill Synagogue, is up for the challenge. “We have food, heat, and we can accommodate someone – or even two adults.
“We think this is a good time for the Jewish community to stand up and be counted.”
Three of the community’s best-known rabbis – Rabbi Jonathan Romain in Maidenhead, Rabbi Mark Goldsmith in Edgware, and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg in Finchley – are showing the way by offering space in their own homes to Ukrainian refugees.
Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi of the Masorti movement, is an old hand at this, having previously given a temporary home to people from Iran, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. Most of that was done through Refugees At Home, which has become renowned for the clarity of its
“vetting” procedure to ensure that both host and refugee alike are as evenly matched as possible. This time he is working with World Jewish Relief.
Wittenberg said that so many people from his New North London Synagogue had expressed interest in helping Ukrainians that the congregation had set up a help desk.
“People are offering legal aid, help with languages and translations, all kinds of things. All of us want to do something. We see the fighting in Ukraine and a lot of people [here] are feeling helpless.” Hosting a refugee, where possible, gave people a focus, he said.
He added that the Masorti movement across Europe had been working together “like one big family” to co-ordinate, as far as possible, the humanitarian process.
In Edgware, Goldsmith, Senior Rabbi at Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue, is also preparing, with his wife Nicola, to take in Ukrainian refugees.
He said: “We’ve registered with Refugees At Home and we are encouraging other people in our community to do the same. To date, we’ve had about 13 families who are interested in hosting.”
Potential Ukrainian guests had been “warned” they would be living with a rabbi, he said, “but we don’t care if the person is Jewish or not. I was particularly inspired by Rabbi John Rayner, born Hans Sigismund Rahmer, who came to Britain on the Kindertransport in 1939. He was taken in by a non-Jewish family who encouraged him to retain his Judaism and he became one of the leading rabbis in this country.”
Sandra and John Kaufman, of Whitefield, north Manchester, are another couple who are members of the Reform movement who are hoping to welcome someone from Ukraine.
Mrs Kaufman said: “We are doing it because morally, it’s the right things to do. Given our history, we wouldn’t be here if our own families hadn’t been taken in by people in this country.”
The Kaufmans’ families originated from Kyiv and Lithuania and, before retirement, the couple ran an English language school, so should have no difficulty with conversations with their guests.
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