Scottish Council of Jewish Communities
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Who's Who in SCoJeC |
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Chair: Walter Sneader Walter Sneader studied pharmacy at the University of Glasgow, where he also gained a PhD in medicinal chemistry. After two years with the National Research Council of Canada, he became a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde. Remaining there, he eventually became Head of the School of Pharmacy. He has written four books on pharmaceutical innovation that have gained him an international reputation, and he maintains a website about the history of drugs. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. He retired from full-time teaching in 2005. Walter became involved in interfaith work in the 1960s. This led to his involvement with the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, of which he was President from 1986 to 1989. He was co-founder of the Glasgow and West of Scotland branch of the Council of Christians and Jews, and served as its Chairman. He is currently its Vice-Chairman. |
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Vice-Chair: Philip Mendelsohn Philip Mendelsohn is the President of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council (having previously served as Vice President and Honorary Secretary), and through this is involved in a number of interfaith initiatives. He also serves on a number of other bodies including being a trustee of the Queen’s Park Charitable Trust and a member of the Glasgow Forum of Faiths. He has been involved in communal activities since his youth and is a past chairman of Queen’s Park Hebrew Congregation. Philip is a Chartered Civil Engineer and works as a consultant in the transport planning field for a major UK plc. He is a member nominated trustee of the company’s pension fund and chairs their Defined Contributions Investment Committee. When he has time his interests include swimming, cycling and yoga to keep fit; and DIY to keep the house up to scratch. He has two adult children and lives with his partner in Old Cathcart, Glasgow. |
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Vice-Chair: Hilary Rifkind Hilary is Chairman of the Board of Management of Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, and is the first woman to lead the Synagogue. She was born and educated in Newcastle upon Tyne and came to Edinburgh in 1968 after her marriage to Arnold Rifkind, an optometrist. She has spent most of her professional life teaching Mathematics at George Watson’s College and has always been involved in communal work, ranging from Maccabi leadership in her teens, to Jewish Students, then WIZO, the Communal Centre Committee, Edinburgh Hillel Committee, the Ladies Guild, of which she has been Chairman for many years, and, since her retirement, convenor of the Shul Events Committee. Hilary and Arnold have two sons and four grandchildren who live in America. |
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Vice-Chair: Frank House Frank was born and raised in London and his wife, Valerie comes from Northampton; shortly after they married at Brixton Synagogue it closed! They spent their early married life in Aberdeen which gave them experience of small community life. They then moved to London (Catford), and on to Marlow, where they were part of the High Wycombe Community (another small, self-run group) with which they retain links. On Frank’s retirement from a career in Pharmacology and Statistics, and Valerie’s from teaching, they moved to Gairloch, where they are all the community within walking distance, but their involvement with JNAH and SCoJeC keeps them in touch with Jewish life. |
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Hon Secretary: Paul Spicker Paul was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and came to Dundee in 1989. Dundee is a small community, and after most people in Dundee had gone away, Paul was left holding the keys to the shul in 2001. There is no other synagogue between Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and people are always moving into and out of the area. In the past few years, Dundee has grown from being moribund to simply being unsustainable. Paul stepped down as Chair in 2006 and is now Vice-Chair. As a researcher and academic, Paul has done a range of work about poverty, disadvantage, minority ethnic groups and welfare provision. He has been SCoJeC Secretary since 2006. |
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Hon Treasurer: Daniel Clapham Daniel was one of the original instigators of SCoJeC and has been involved with the organisation ever since, latterly as the Honorary Treasurer. This involves regular reporting of the financial situation, liaising with the Auditor and other parties. As an organisation SCoJeC has never enjoyed a secure financial footing, and one of Daniel’s important tasks is the yearly budget. Away from SCoJeC, Daniel works in the financial planning team of the Glasgow Housing Association, hence his insistence of setting accurate budgets. Daniel and his wife, Patricia, have a son who is about to start in Primary 1 at Calderwood Lodge. |
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Director: Ephraim Borowski As Convener of the Standing Committee of Scottish Jewry at the time of Devolution, Ephraim was responsible for its metamorphosis into SCoJeC, a democratic representative organisation empowered to speak for the entire Jewish Community of Scotland. At Glasgow University before his unfeasibly early retirement, he was head of Philosophy, a member of the Court, and President of the Association of University Teachers. He is joint author of the Collins Dictionary of Mathematics, and has been a Consultant to the Scottish Qualifications Authority, a Governor of Hutchesons' Educational Trust, President of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, Vice-Chair of BEMIS, and ministerial appointee to the General Teaching Council, Chairman of Giffnock Synagogue, Secretary and Vice-President of Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, and Regional Chair of the Board of Deputies. Ephraim was awarded an MBE in the 2008 New Year Honours for services on behalf of the Jewish Community in Scotland.
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Public Affairs Officer: Leah Granat Leah joined SCoJeC in 2003 on a one-year temporary contract and still hasn't left! She enjoys playing the flute, recorders, and piano, has a degree in music, and is particularly interested in the music of the troubadours and trouvères. She worked with the National Childbirth Trust and later with the Breastfeeding Network for 22 years, and was a member of the (pre-Devolution) Scottish Office Breastfeeding Strategy Group. She has also worked as freelance trainer in counselling skills and group dynamics for the NHS and other organisations. She has four children, and two grandchildren. |
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Outreach Worker: Sharon Mail After graduating from Strathclyde University in 1986, Sharon worked for a financial institution for nineteen years. She joined the Jewish Telegraph in January 2006 as a full-time journalist, and became a "well kent" face in the community. She now divides her time between SCoJeC and freelance writing, and has just completed a book on the late actor, Ian Richardson. Sharon has always lived in Glasgow. She was a member of Habonim, and actively involved in the Glasgow Jewish Students Society in her youth, and sang with the Glasgow Jewish Choral Society for more than thirty years. |