On a dark and stormy night, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg and his dog Mitzpah from the New North London Synagogue [pictured] wearily made their way to Theydon Bois Wood at the end of Day Three on their 100-mile, seven-day sponsored walk.
Despite the wild weather and the darkness, they were given a warm welcome by John Brown of the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading conservation charity. The rabbi was invited to take a breather on the latest addition to the Trust’s new woodland site – a rustic oak bench, installed thanks to earlier fundraising and tree-planting contributions of the New North London Synagogue (NNLS).
Around 30 members of the synagogue visited Theydon Bois Wood on 24 February to plant 500 trees, a mixture of native broadleaved species; oak, birch, hornbeam, ash and field maple. The inscription on the new oak bench reads: “Part of the surrounding area is dedicated to the many friends and family members of the NNLS who we miss.”
The Woodland Trust has overseen the planting of thousands of new native trees by schools, communities and individuals at the 37 hectare (93 acre) site over the past few months, and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg’s walk resulted in a further £300 cheque for the Trust.
Rabbi Wittenberg and his collie walked the 100-mile route from central London out to the historic Epping Forest and Theydon Bois to raise funds for NNLS’s building campaign as well as a number of organisations and projects visited on the walk. Stops included hospitals and hospices with which the synagogue has close links; places of worship belonging to different faiths; the Houses of Parliament to discuss hopes for peace in Israel and the rights of asylum seekers; the Kindertransport sculpture at Liverpool Street Station plus environmental projects.
The pair successfully completed their walk, and the fund is halfway towards its £100,000 target. With just over a month to go before the donation page on www.justgiving.com/OneRabbiAndHisDog closes, Rabbi Jonathan hopes that readers of his entertaining and thoughtful account of his walk – called ‘One Rabbi and His Dog’ – will donate funds to close the gap.
Rabbi Wittenberg said: “The walk was everything I hoped it would be - a week full of inspiration, learning and reflection.”
For media enquiries contact:
Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, email: media@woodland-trust.org.uk
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 300,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s understanding and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). Access to its sites is free. Further news can be found at www.woodland-trust.org.uk
The New North London Synagogue is a Masorti Synagogue [affiliated to the Assembly of Masorti Synagogues] based in north-west London with a membership of 2,500. In addition to running religious services, NNLS offers a wide range of educational, cultural, social action, and other communal activities for both its membership and the wider Jewish and non-Jewish community. Tel: 020 8346 8560, office@nnls-masorti.org.uk
Charity Registration No 1094668.
Rabbi Jonathan Witternberg’s blog can be found at: http://www.onerabbiandhisdog.blogspot.com/
