A Jewish summer festival on Sunday in Highbury Fields, an open space in the London Borough of Islington, drew almost 1,000 people of all ages and backgrounds.
The celebration included a series of talks at an educational “speaker’s corner,” live klezmer music, Krav Maga moves, Havdalah candle-making, a Jewish-books table, storytelling, crafts and games for kids, and an “escape room” testing children’s and adults’ knowledge of Jewish history. Kosher snacks were available for all. The July 2 event, supported by local sponsors and partners, was organized by Rabbi Mendy and Hadasa Korer, co-directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Islington since 2011.
The mayor of Islington, Una O’Halloran, thanked the couple for the work put into the day—an especially positive one in light of a series of terror attacks in both London and Manchester, in northern England—and wished continued success in their endeavors. And Richard Watts, leader of the Islington Council, commended a cultural event that brought so many people together, saying “it’s brilliant that we can support the Jewish community in this way.”
In agreement, Rabbi Korer said the turnout was “tremendous,” and noted steady growth in Chabad House attendance and programs in the years since they arrived.
Another development that brought the community together was Chabad’s 2014 application to recognize the site of the former North London Synagogue on Lofting Road—built in 1868 and demolished in 1958—with a historic marker. Public voters gave a thumbs up to the idea, and an “Islington People’s Plaque” was unveiled in June 2015.
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