Scottish Council of Jewish Communites
Scottish Council of Jewish Communities

 
Scottish Council of Jewish Communities

Who's Who in SCoJeC
 
Hilary Rifkind
Acting 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.
   
Edward Isaacs
Vice-Chair: Edward Isaacs
Edward is currently the President of Glasgow Jewish Representative Council. He was born in Glasgow and educated at the University of Glasgow. He is a partner in a Glasgow Legal Firm  and specialises in Commercial Property.
He has been involved in communal work in Glasgow for over 30 years, principally as a member of the Executive and Committee of Queen’s Park Hebrew Congregation having held the posts of Hon Secretary and Vice Chairman prior to its closure a few years ago. He has previously held the posts of Hon Secretary and Vice President of Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, and is currently a delegate to the Board of Deputies of British Jews. He is married to Agnes, daughter of the late Reverend Solly Szirmai and Mrs Eva Szirmai. They have three sons two of whom are living in London, and the third studying at University.
   
Frank House
Vice-Chair: Frank House
Frank is married, with five children, nine grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. He intended a career in Electronics and Particle Physics, but ended up with a first degree and PhD in pharmacology, and a master's degree and professional qualification in Statistics. A good indication of a generally disordered life. He lectured in Pharmacology to medical students at Aberdeen, then at Guy's, then went into the Pharmaceutical Industry as a statistician.
Now retired, hoping to build a harpsichord and learn to play it well enough to perform the Goldberg Variations to a reasonable standard. Life in a remote area has some advantages, particularly no (Jewish) community politics.
   
Nicola Livingston
Hon Secretary: Nicola Livingston
Nicola studied Psychology and Social Economics at Glasgow University, followed by a post grad Diploma in Community Education at Jordanhill College. She has worked in a number of roles with Strathclyde Region Council and Glasgow City Council, Social Work Departments, both in direct service provision and Commissioning and Contract Management of new services for people with disabilities. For the last six years she has worked for the Glasgow Homelessness Partnership on a ground-breaking programme which saw the decommissioning of the large homeless hostels in Glasgow and the development of an extensive range of more appropriate housing and support services. Her particular area of work has involved services for young adults with complex needs.
Nicola has been involved with Cosgrove Care in both professional and voluntary capacities for fifteen years, and is currently a member of the Board of Management and chairs the Professional Advisory Group. She has had a long involvement with Jewish Student Chaplaincy, and is currently Chair of the Northern Region Board.
   
Neil Livingstone
Hon Treasurer: Neil Livingstone
Neil brings over fifteen years experience of financial management to SCoJeC.  Neil has a degree in Economics and Social Studies from Manchester University.  He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales, having trained in the London office of the international firm KPMG.   After moving from private practice to sit on the other side of the fence in commerce, he has held a number of roles as finance director across an array of sectors from consultancy to property investment companies. Most recently Neil was Group Finance Director of an interernational electronics company based out of Silicon Valley in California.  A native of Glasgow, Neil has recently returned to Scotland with his wife and young son after living in the USA for the past four years.
   
Ephraim Borowski
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 as it now is - 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, Chairman of Giffnock Synagogue, Secretary and Vice-President of Glasgow Jewish Representative Council. He is currently Chair of the Regional Deputies Assembly of the Board of Deputies, Vice-Chair of BEMIS, and a ministerial appointee to the General Teaching Council.  Ephraim was awarded an MBE in the 2008 New Year Honours for services on behalf of the Jewish Community in Scotland.
   
Leah Granat
Deputy Director: 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 five grandchildren.
   
Fiona Frank

Project Worker: Fiona Frank
Fiona was born in Preston but her father was born in the Gorbals in Glasgow so she has good Scottish heritage! She has a BA in European Studies from the University of Bath, an M.Ed from the University of Sheffield, and has just finished a PhD at the University of Strathclyde which involved looking at transmission of Jewish identity through five generations of one extended Scottish Jewish family. She worked for many years at Lancaster University in the areas of adult literacy, adult learning, and learning for older people. She is part of an ecological cohousing project, plays Klezmer, Irish, and European music on concertina and melodeon, and is involved in the promotion of the art of her aunt, the late Glasgow artist Hannah Frank. Her daughter is currently studying Textiles at Leeds College of Art.

 

   
 
Aberdeen representative:
Ehud Reiter
Argyll and Highlands representative:
Frank House
Dundee representative:
Sharon Levy
Edinburgh representatives:
Edward Green
Gillian Raab
Hilary Rifkind
Glasgow representatives:
Daniel Clapham
Edward Isaacs
Stephen Kliner
Philip Mendelsohn
Walter Sneader
Student representative:
Hayden Krasner
Co-optees:
Micheline Brannan
Simon Dover
Neil Livingstone
Nicola Livingston
Paul Morron
Edgar Prais
Paul Spicker
Ex Officio (Board of Deputies):
Paul Edlin
Consultants:

Kenneth Collins
John Cosgrove
Gerald Gordon

Click here for information about previous SCoJeC Chairs