To the Ambassador of Israel in the UK, to the President of the Board of Deputies and to the President of the Barnet Multi Faith Forum.

On behalf of the executive and members of the Barnet Multi Faith Forum we send you this message:-

The tragedy at the Lag b’Omer celebration on Mount Meron has been such a shock and we learned of it with such sadness. We want to offer our faith and prayers to all the families of those who lost their lives, to the injured and to all involved. We are mindful of Israel’s mourning at this time and extend our sympathy to our Jewish friends throughout the world.

We send you our care and respect

Anthony Clark – for the executive of Barnet Multi Faith Forum

Pesach, the Jewish festival of Passover commencing this weekend, memorialises when the Jewish people became a nation over three thousand years ago. The overriding theme is liberation from subjugation in Egypt. Every year we come together to read this story from the Hagadah (the book), with the youngest child asking four questions that answer, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The head of the family replies that we were once refugees and strangers in a strange land, enduring enforced slavery.

We then embark as if we were on the actual journey from those dark years of oppression to freedom, crossing the Red Sea, receiving the 10 Commandments, enduring the hostile wilderness before reaching the promised land of Israel. This year will be different, having survived the perils of the Pandemic we are required to celebrate in our own separate homes and pray for the safety and wellbeing of us all, and especially those who have also escaped seeking a better life on our shores.

We remember those Black Lives still being oppressed and the innocent women being abused, harassed, and brutalised. We pray that all of us recognise that we all have responsibility for their respect, safety, and security.

We have shared the determination of all faiths who have worked so well together with Barnet Council, the Voluntary and Business sectors, Public Health, our local Covid Champions, and the NHS.

We hope and pray this Passover, with Easter and Ramadan to soon follow, that we can enjoy the freedom and liberty to be with our loved ones once again when we all have defeated this Pandemic.

Es Rosen
President, Barnet Multi Faith Forum

Following the horrific terrorist attacks on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, the then Home Secretary announced a range of projects to strengthen the safety of faith communities, including a new faith security training scheme, and uplifting the funding for the Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme to £3.2 million in 2020/21.

The Home Office understands that there is an important balance to be struck between worshipping openly and without fear and having security measure to protect worshippers. They are launching a research exercise to better support faith institutions to be a safe and welcoming place for worship and are asking for views and opinions on safety, security and counter terrorism within faith institutions.

The link to the survey is https://www.plus4.co.uk/faith-governmentsurvey.

The survey will be closed to responses at the end of February.

Prior knowledge of security is not required but respondents do need to be able to answer on behalf of their faith organisation i.e. be a Faith Leader, Trustee, or other senior decision-maker for the organisation.