HANNUKKAH MARKED BY LIGHTING OF A MENORAH

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Hannukkah marked by lighting of a menorah

Jews celebrated the eighth evening of Hanukkah with the lighting of a giant nine-light menorah.

The ceremony, in Victoria Park, was performed by Lord Mayor of Leicester Councillor Abdul Osman.

Councillor Osman said: "It is very pleasing for me to be invited to join our Jewish family to perform the ceremony for the third time.

"This ceremony at one of the gateways into Leicester shows the diversity of the city."

Leon Charikar, chairman of Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation, who led a brief service of hymns and prayers, said: "I would like to welcome the Lord Mayor and thank Leicester City Council for again erecting the menorah in Victoria Park.

"We are a small community of about 300 people. Hanukkah is a festival which celebrates religious freedom and we are pleased to share it with the people of such a diverse city."

The festival celebrates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish defeat of a regime that denied them freedom to worship, and also celebrates the triumph of good over evil.

In the photo above: Leon Charikar, Lord Mayor Abdul Osman and Lady Mayoress Shaina Osman light the Victoria Park menorah

FROM KAMPALA TO LEICESTER: CLOSING RECEPTION

Cllr Ted Cassidy and Suleman Nagdi, chatting inside the main display space of the exhibition

This evening I'm at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery for a reception to mark the successful conclusion of From Kampala to Leicester, the popular exhibition which tells the story of Leicester's Ugandan Asian community, 1972-2012.

From Kampala to Leicester (the exhibition itself and associated events) has run at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery (and a number of other venues around the city) from 14 July and was to conclude this Sunday, 30 September. Due to popular demand, it has been extended by one week.

There are a number of distinguished guests among the 60 or so attendees this evening, including Mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby; Deputy Mayor, Cllr Rory Palmer; Lord Mayor of Leicester, Cllr Abdul Osman; Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Suleman Nagdi; two Assistant Mayors and half a dozen City Councillors. Director of Leicester City Council's Museums and Arts Service, Sarah Levitt, presides over the formal part of the reception. Sir Peter gives a speech, as does Cllr Sundip Meghani. Cllr Meghani is the son and grandson of refugees from Uganda who came to this country with little more than the clothes on their back. He now enjoys the distinction of being the youngest City Councillor currently serving in Leicester. He proposed a motion to the City Council on 13 September, recognising the contribution that Ugandan Asians have made to Leicester over the past 40 years. You can read all about this in more detail on Cllr Meghani's blog (including a video recording of his speech to Council). We also hear written testimonies of four people from diverse backgrounds, not natives of the city but who have come to call Leicester home (two of them having come here from Uganda in 1972).

There's even a period feel in the catering tonight. Among the delicacies on offer, we have that 70s classic, cheese and pineapple on a cocktail stick, but with an Asian twist: the cheese is paneer. That's so Leicester!

CLAIRE JACKSON: RECENT WORK AT NEW WALK MUSEUM & ART GALLERY

This evening I'm at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, for the official launch of an exhibition of portraits by Claire Jackson. The display features a number of worthies from city and county, many of whom come from some of the diverse communities for which this part of the world is famous. Among the faces on show, I recognise a Buddhist, a Druid, two Jews (one Orthodox, the other Progressive), a Mormon, a Muslim (Cllr Abdul Osman, Leicester's first Muslim Lord Mayor), a Quaker, a Seventh-Day Adventist and - last but not least, a Sikh.

Pride of place goes to a full-length portrait of Resham Singh Sandhu (former Chair and current Director of Leicester Council of Faiths). There's Resham, as pleased as Punch, posing beside Claire's portrayal of him as High Sheriff of Leicestershire, a role which he filled in 2011-12. This picture is the first one visitors see when they arrive at the exhibition.

You can see more of the portraits on display in this exhibition on Claire Jackson's website or in this review of the exhibition from the Culture24 website. "Claire Jackson: Recent Work" runs at Leicester's New Walk Museum and Art Gallery until 26 August 2012.

FLYING THE JAMAICAN FLAG IN CITY

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Flying the Jamaican flag in city

A Jamaican flag will be hoisted at Leicester's Town Hall next week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Caribbean island's independence.

Lord Mayor Abdul Osman will join 31 representatives of the city's Jamaican community, including former city councillor Alderman Winston Nurse, for the event on Monday, August 6.

The flag-raising ceremony will take place at 10.30am, followed by tea with the community representatives in the Lord Mayor's Team Room.

Jamaica was a British colony for 300 years before it gained independence on August 6, 1962.

Councillor Osman said: "The Jamaican community has been present in Leicester for much of the 20th century, and as part of the wider Caribbean community has played a significant role in making Leicester the place it is today.

"I am honoured to be marking the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence."

Other events marking the anniversary include a visit by the Jamaican High Commissioner in Highfields on August 12.

LEICESTER'S FIRST MUSLIM MAYOR SWORN IN

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Leicester's first Muslim Mayor sworn in

The city's first Muslim Lord Mayor was sworn in at a ceremony held at the Town Hall last night.

In a traditional inauguration, Councillor Abdul Osman was officially made Lord Mayor of Leicester at Leicester City Council's annual meeting, held in the Town Hall's chambers.

Coun Osman, who joined the city council in 1996, takes over from Councillor Rob Wann.

Coun Osman said: "It's an important year, with the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, so it's a privilege for me to hold office with everything that's going on.

"I want to focus on visiting the communities and raising the profile of the office of Lord Mayor. I'm proud to be the first Muslim councillor to hold the position – we've had Christian, Hindu, Sikh and now I'm able to bring the Islamic faith to the office which is a great honour."

Each year, the new mayor nominates a charity which he will raise money for.

Coun Osman has chosen the stroke unit at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and is aiming to raise £60,000 for the cause.

He said: "I feel as if it's quite a symbolic issue because it affects everyone regardless of their age, colour or background – and our city is one of the most diverse communities in the country."

CELEBRATING HANUKKAH WITH LEICESTER PROGRESSIVE JEWISH CONGREGATION

Official lighting (at 1700) of the public Menorah for Hanukkah in Victoria Park (opposite Mayfield Roundabout). This is hosted by the Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation, with special guest, Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr Abdul Osman (on the platform on the left of the photo above). The programme states that Sir Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester, would be attending, but due to extenuating circumstances, who is unable to do so.

Despite having received an invitation to this open air event each year since I took up my post with Leicester Council of Faiths, this is the first time I've actually been able to attend. Cold or flu or bad weather (or a combination of both) have prevented me from coming along to this before. It's been bucketting down most of the day, but thankfully it stops half an hour or so before the ceremony begins.

This is the last of three community celebrations of Hanukkah to which I've been invited this week. I was correct in thinking that I'd be the only person in Leicester to attend all three of them (having been to the communal indoor lighting in the Town Hall with the Leicester Hebrew Congregation on Tuesday, then the celebration at Teshuvah Messianic Synagogue last night). I wasn't going to let a bit of rain or a few sniffles keep me from setting that personal record. After all, I can't assume I'd be able to do this next year.

There are speeches and songs of course, although they're kept to a minimum, since we're out in the cold and the dark (and at rush hour, the Friday before Christmas in one of the busiest parts of the city for traffic). Then we go back to Neve Shalom on Avenue Road, for a brief Shabbat evening service and refreshments, continuing the celebration of Hanukkah. 

I enjoy the hospitality, informality and spontaneity at Neve Shalom, emphasised this evening in several ways. The seats are arranged in a circle, there's a variety of Menorah on a central table (some homemade, one where the candlesticks take the form of stereotypical Jewish community characters) which the children light. When the table is cleared away after the service, the children play with their dreidels, winning chocolate coins.

The plaque attached to the public Menorah (photo above) contains the following words:

The lights on the Menorah commemorate the miracle of Chanukah. They celebrate religious freedom and the ever growing victory of light over darkness

Below this text, the plaque bears the seal of Leicester City Council. I wonder how many other cities in the UK have a public Menorah - if any. A quick google search proves inconclusive (it's hard to find the right search terms that will yield the answers I'm looking for). This Menorah is a very distinctive feature, especially as it's not in the grounds of one of the city's synagogues, but in such a prominent public place. Arguably, more people will have seen the public Menorah than will know actually what it is, due its busy location and the fact that it isn’t a permanent, fixed feature and is taken down as soon as Hanukah is over. I'd be interested in finding out if there's anything similar to this in other parts of the country.

Just as there are variations in the way that Hanukkah is celebrated, so there are various ways of spelling the name of this special occasion in the Jewish community calendar. In each of these three blog entries, I've spelled it as it appears on the invitation from the respective host community.