My Nonprofit Reviews

I knew Leonie Lewis through my contacts with her when we lived in Kingsbury, and she worked at the United Synagogue and incidentally I sit next to her ex-colleague every shabbos in shul. She now runs a Jewish Volunteer Network ( http://www.jvn.org.uk/), which connects people wishing to effectively utilise their time both for themselves and others. It is a one stop shop for Jewish volunteering, for those between jobs or has recently retired. The skills being offered can be matched against skills required giving one a new direction as well as restoring one’s self esteem. It is also liked by employers as I read somewhere that those who have worked in this sector stand a better chance of re-gaining employment. After a. brief exchange of E mails, JVN secured me a “position” within one week of leaving work at the Jewish Military Museum, ably administered by Brenda Goldberg, which shares offices with AJEX, in Hendon. (http://www.ajex.org.uk/museum) well worth a visit but ring first 020 8201 5656 / E: museum@ajex.org.uk as it is closed on Fridays. My job , with the help of one another volunteer who came in for a few hours once a week, was to put their archives in some semblance of order as they were transferred from filing cabinets into special boxes. Naturally this meant looking at everything, and the relative silence of the office was suddenly shattered with a “WOW!” as I would interrupt everyone to show them the latest “ archival material” that I had discovered. This was truly fascinating, moving work and a great learning experience. Fascinating, because I had seen rousing speeches into battle from General Eisenhower and especially moving as I read the correspondence from fathers/ sons as they wrote to their loved ones. in the UK. But what really brought it home to me was that, only a relatively few and well known soldiers achieved high rank, the vast majority of men and women involved in WW2 were ordinary folk, who gave up jobs, careers, academic places and put their lives on hold, too many permanently, so that victory would be assured; and don’t forget that many had anglicised their German names, because they understood only too well the doctrine of the enemy that had to be destroyed

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