Twelve months ago I began my headship at Immanuel, the first non-Jewish headmaster to be appointed. Having been at City of London School for many years I had become accustomed to some Jewish traditions and ways of life — 25 per cent of the boys there were Jewish — but to be fully immersed in Jewish life and learning has been something different.
Three characteristics come to mind immediately: JMT (Jewish Mean Time which seems to run several minutes behind the rest of the UK, or several hours behind if you are depending on El Al), the importance of food (every event I have attended has been catered for extravagantly — or should that be over-catered for?) and the really exceptionally warm feeling of community and pulling together.
People asked me what has stood out for me. The first is the importance of, and commitment to, the Jewish festivals. I had of course been aware of Chanukah, Pesach, Succot and Shavuot but these have become much more familiar now.
The holiday which sticks in my memory most was Purim. If you remember, Purim occurred on one of three very snowy days.
On the morning of the festival I was standing at Wimbledon station at 6am, calling our director of admissions and operations, Lynda Dullop, asking whether we needed to close the college because of the adverse weather conditions. She advised me, quite rightly, that we had to stay open. The children (and staff) had been preparing for months to celebrate with fancy dress, fun activities and lots of food. So we went ahead as planned and I will never forget the three assemblies I attended that day – in the prep school, the Beit and the main school hall.
In each venue, there appeared to be riots and chaos . I learnt, eventually, that it was controlled “protest” that occurred every time a particular name was said aloud from the Megillah readings but with the turn of a sign the audience returned to respectful silence.
The second aspect of Immanuel life that has really impressed me has been the high standard of the performing arts, whether the Chanukah concerts, the open mic night, the arts festival or productions of Three Sisters (professional and thought-provoking) and Mary Poppins (hugely entertaining and during which I joined in with most of the songs). We have some remarkably talented students and staff to direct them.
The third area would be the fantastic school trips that have been organised to Poland, Odessa, Normandy, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Madrid, CERN and the one I joined most recently, Israel. ICIT (Immanuel College Israel Tour)took place for all 92 year-nine students for three weeks. I could only afford to spend four days with them — the Shabbat weekend in Jerusalem — but what a magnificent experience.
Despite El Al’s attempts to prevent me getting there ( don’t mention security or delays at Luton Airport) I got to appreciate the importance of the Jewish Sabbath. Until that moment Shabbat had meant for me an early end to the school week on Fridays and an absence from emails for 24 hours.
But being surrounded by the pupils and staff in the Old City, praying, singing, telling stories, dancing and, of course, eating will be something that I will never forget. This was followed by a visit to the Western Wall, with more celebrations at 10.30 in the evening, and pizza to come . It was moving, emotional, meaningful and wonderful. The true feeling of being part of the family was brought home to me in a delightful way.
I have discovered more about Judaism, Jewish life and learning, the ethos and the communal spirit than I ever thought possible. I may not be Jewish, but I certainly feel part of the family and I thank the children, the staff and the parents for making feel so at home — whether that’s in Bushey or Jerusalem.
