The owner of north-west England’s leading kosher meat manufacturer came from good stock.
My dear father, Norman Wolfson, who has died aged 83, was the third child of Rev Myer and Sara Wolfson, née Chmielnicki. Liverpool-born Rev met Sara while training as a shochet – a kosher slaughterer – in Porozov, Poland, which is now in Belarus.
As shechita training facilities were not available in the UK, Rev Myer went to Poland to train with his distant relative, Reb Sholom Chmielnicki. Rev Myer fell in love with and married the shochet’s daughter, Sara, and brought her back to Liverpool with him.
If Sara hadn’t have moved to Liverpool with Rev Myer she would almost certainly have been a victim of the Holocaust. She was the only member of her family to survive.
In the UK, Rev Myer Wolfson served as a shochet, as well as a minister of various shuls, including Hastings and St Leonards Hebrew Congregation (1927-1928), Aberdeen Hebrew Congregation (1928-1930), where he was able to study at university, Fountains Road Synagogue, Liverpool (1936-1945), Fairfield Synagogue, Liverpool (1945-1962), Childwall Synagogue (1962-1973) and as emeritus minister (1973-1994). He therefore served Liverpool congregations for 58 years.
Norman’s uncle was Rev David Wolfson, who was minister of several United Synagogue shuls in London. They included Brondesbury Park Synagogue, where he officiated at the wedding of the late Lord Sacks to his wife Elaine, née Taylor.
Norman said in 2013 on the Liverpool Jewish Community’s DVD Food Glorious Food – A Practical Guide to Kashruth: “My late father was a wonderful man. My father thought I would maybe copy him and be a minister. But it wasn’t for me.”
But Norman did study full time at the then Liverpool Yeshiva. As his father was a shochet, he decided to work in the kosher meat industry. He began his working life by training in porging at meat producers Skreks in Cardiff, an intricate procedure to remove the fat, veins and sinews of kosher animals.
In those days, Skreks used to manufacture oxtail soup and the sciatic nerve was removed by porging. Porging is a complicated practice no longer allowed by British batei din.
Norman then returned to Liverpool and started working at Aranovitch Kosher Meats manufacturers. He ended up staying there for 34 years, during which time he was appointed manager and eventually bought the business.
Dad’s nephew, Rabbi Eliezer Wolfson, wrote: “My Uncle Norman was a man of great kindness and compassion, a man of the highest levels of integrity and honesty, personally and in his business in supplying kosher meat to the Jewish community of Liverpool for many years. He was uncompromising in his principles. He did not cut any corners and maintained the highest standards of halacha and kashrut.
“At the same time, when it came to others, people who could not afford to buy meat, he extended credit and often would not collect the money that was owed to him. He was always prepared to compromise to help others and achieve peace.”
My uncle was an ish emess and an ish chessed, a man of truth and a man of great kindness, but most of all he was a humble and unassuming person. He shunned the limelight. He shunned any attention or honour. He very much emulated the example of his father, my grandfather, Reb Myer Wolfson, of blessed memory. His respect for his parents was exemplary, excelling in the mitzvah of kibbud av va’eim ( this is the precept of honouring one’s parents.) He leaves behind a legacy of mitzvot and good deeds that will live on for ever.’
On Liverpool Jewish community’s DVD my father Norman explained how his company used to send boxes of kosher meat products as far afield as Belfast by boat and by train to Glasgow, Southport, Leeds, Birmingham, Swansea, Blackpool and St Annes.
After the factory suffered an arson attack in 1999 Norman became a kashrut supervisor for the Liverpool Kashrut Commission and the Manchester Beth Din.
My father upheld the highest ethical standards in his working life, which earned him the respect of all those with whom he came into contact. He had a twinkle in his eye and a sense of humour which was most impressive.
He adored chazanut and attended concerts when held in Liverpool. He loved the Choral Midnight Selichot service with the Shabbaton Choir and chazanim which he attended, when held at the Holy Law Hebrew Congregation, Manchester.
When he was well, Norman was a regular minyan man, attending as many daily services as he could at Childwall Hebrew Congregation when he worked for himself. His name is on a plaque for donating to the shul building fund. He used to say Kaddish on Tisha B’Av and Yom Kippur for family members lost in Holocaust.
His wife Clare, née Harrison, whom he married at Allerton Hebrew Congregation in 1977, died in 2017. Her father was a founder member and chairman of Allerton Synagogue. Norman was a devoted husband and selflessly and devotedly cared for her during her illness. In recent years he hated not being able to go to shul on Shabbat because of health issues.
I took my father with me everywhere I could. We were amazing company for each other. He was very proud of my work in politics. I am a former Liverpool Labour councillor. Just before he died he smiled at me, the biggest grin I’ve ever seen.
Norman is survived by his me, my sisters Betty Miers and Phyllis Cohen and my brother, David Wolfson .
JEREMY WOLFSON
Norman Wolfson: born October 20, 1941. Died November 21, 2024
