What was the secret of Jewish immortality, Mark Twain famously wondered.
Whether the great American novelist would have found the answer had he visited Wolfson Hillel School on Thursday who knows, but he would have left with his ears ringing from the exuberant chatter of its pupils.
Children from years 5 and 6 at the Orthodox primary in Southgate welcomed a group of visiting Israeli peers from the King Solomon School, Ramat Hasharon, in what is planned to be the launch of a continuing relationship between them.
Breaking into small groups, the children discussed Twain’s reflections on Jewish durability together with the thoughts of Rabbi Lord Sacks in a joint learning session. Considering they had only just met, the pupils from the two schools seemed to interact remarkably well together.
“We want to connect with you so you can make our Israel experience more exciting,” said Wolfson Hillel’s joint head of Ivrit Galia Sher. “Our love for Israel is never-ending.”
There are plans to set up digital exchanges between the schools on festivals such as Tu Bishvat and Yom Ha’atzmaut as well as for pupils to become pen pals.
Adam Goldstein, chief executive of the United Synagogue-run Jewish Community Academy Trust, which includes Wolfson Hillel, said, “I think this will be the start of very positive relationship between the two schools.”
King Solomon is a bilingual Ivrit-English school whose head Rabbi Coby Ebrahimoff commutes from London, where he has a number of roles including external adviser to JCAT and director of education for the Rabbi Sacks Legacy.
King Solomon is also unique, explained its head of Jewish studies Rabbi Gal Ben Meir, in that whereas Israeli schools tend to serve a particular religious stream, it defines itself simply as a Jewish school. “We don’t check the observance of families,” he said. “It’s open for everyone and we grow together into mutual respect and understanding.”
And so parents welcomed the connection with a school like Wolfson Hillel with a similarly broad ethos and pupil intake.
While the school runs an annual trip to the UK, that did not go ahead last year because of the conflict in the Middle East. “It’s been a very difficult year,” Ben Meir said. “The question was whether we should take them this year while Israel was still at war. At the end of the day, surprisingly 100 per cent of parents agreed to send them, as long as the government gave the required approval for security.”
Making new friends: children from Wolfson Hillel and King Solomon
“It’s cool to meet people from another country,” said King Solomon pupil Ella, who came on aliyah with her family from California three years ago.
Fellow-pupil Eva said “It was just so comfortable to talk - boys, girls, it didn’t matter, everyone was so open to me.”
Wolfson’s Maya — who with another pupil gave presentations on her family and school in fluent Hebrew — enjoyed making friends with people she’d never met before. “I hope we can stay friends and share what we have in common,” she said.
Amelia, the school’s deputy head, said the encounter was “just amazing. They are so polite. It’s been an honour to meet them.”
It was “the best experience of the year,” she said.
Led by King Solomon’s choir, the inaugural get-together ended with rousing renditions of Matisyahu’s One Day, Acheinu, the prayer for hostages, and the national anthems before the Israeli visitors headed back to the coach for the next leg of their trip.
It is not the only twinning programme in the pipeline. Another JCAT school, Sacks Morasha in Finchley, is discussing links with the Jonathan Sacks School in Jerusalem — both named after the former Chief Rabbi.
