State Of Mind

This Saturday is Mental Health Awareness Shabbat. It is now a regular part of the communal calendar, which is all to the good.

There is still a long way to go in removing the stigma surrounding mental illness but initiatives such as this — originally an idea of Rabbi Daniel Epstein’s — along with the work of Jami, the Jewish Association for Mental Illness, have made a real difference.

No one thinks twice about discussing and seeking help with their physical health.

The same should be true of mental health. But taboos are always difficult to break — and there is a similar taboo in our community over cervical cancer.

As cervical cancer survivor Penny Simmons tells us this week, there is a notion — which is entirely false — that only “promiscuous” women can be affected. That baseless taboo is preventing women from getting a smear test and thus potentially saving their lives.

As a community, we are prone to sweeping issues under the carpet. When it comes to health, that is not merely misguided but dangerous.

Educated Answer

Credit is due to the headmaster and governors of St Hugh’s School in Lincolnshire.

This week, the JC contacted the school after learning that its 95-year-old logo symbolised a blood libel. Instead of stonewalling or offering spurious justification, the headmaster immediately took the issue to the governors and decided to change the logo.

The response of the school is a model of its kind.

Well done.