Our story this week about a humanitarian and outreach organisation, founded by a rabbi to harness Israeli know-how for developing countries, may surprise readers.
Unusually the rabbi is both British and Orthodox, a combination not often found in this field. But Richmond's Rabbi Yossi Ives, through the organisation which he founded, has been quietly, and dare we say, devotedly, getting on with good work from Afghanistan to Myanmar, in a way calculated to burnish Judaism's reputation worldwide. And the knock-on effect of the rabbi's outreach work must surely be admiration for Israel, too: its citizens staff the organisation and, in the most personal way, build virtual bridges which can only accrue to Israel's good name.
Sometimes, it's not the demonstrations in the street and the campaigns which have the greatest effect. Sometimes, it's a warm hand... and a rabbi's smile.
