Hillingdon Branch
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Patron
Her Majesty The Queen
Presidents
The Archbishop of Canterbury
The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster
The Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain
The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The Free Churches Moderator
The Chief Rabbi
Rabbi Tony Bayfield MA
Vice Presidents
Lord Carey of Clifton
Mr Sidney Corob CBE
Lord Harries of Pentregarth
The Rt Hon the Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld
Sir Michael Latham
Mr Clive Marks CBE FCA
The Hon Gerard Noel FRSL
The Revd Baroness Richardson of Calow OBE
Mr Edmund de Rothschild CBETD
Board of Trustees
Chair: The Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch
Vice Chair: The Rt Revd Bernard Longley
Revd Jonathan Dean, Sir Sydney Chapman, Michael Collin, lan Hayes, Christopher Moran,
Simon Olswang, Rabbi Elaina Rothman, Revd Malcolm Weisman
Chief Executive: David Gifford
Director of Programmes: Jane Clements
This Page Last Updated:
Saturday, 12 June, 2010
Who's Who
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The CCJ Hillingdon Branch Committee is made up of representatives of both the Christian and the Jewish communities.
Chairman 
Judith Kramer Judith read for the bar and worked as an employment lawyer in industry. She studied anthropology, psychology and sociology. For the last 30 years she has been a group facilitator, teamwork trainer and therapist, in Europe and for 20 years in India, often as a volunteer. Judith is a proud mother of three and a grandmother of five. She is a member of Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue and a Vice-chairman of Hillingdon Community & Police Consultative Group.  Vice Chairman
Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein Dr Goldstein has been Rabbi of Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue for over 30 years. Over the years, his main interest has been Jewish education and he is still the principal of the large religion school at the synagogue. He travels frequently to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Ukraine supporting the establishment of new congregations there. His PhD was on travel to the Holy Land from Britain in the early 19th Century focussing on the journey of Sir Moses Montefiore. He is currently co-editing a new High Holy Day prayer book for the Liberal Jewish Movement in this country and actively researching Jewish liturgy. He is an Executive member of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ), helps plan their international conferences and recently co-edited a paper for the ICCJ on A Jewish and Christian Understanding of A Just Society. 
Hon. Secretary
Carol Prager After graduating from university in New York with a degree in maths, I came to England for a short visit to the medieval sites that so interested me. Thirty years later, I am still here, having spent most of my working life as the Financial Controller of a small company in London. I was raised a Roman Catholic; my husband is English and Jewish. Since both of us have Eastern European ancestry, our cultures never clashed, but we strove to keep religion quietly in the background. I discovered CCJ through the wonderfully welcoming Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue , and regard the tolerance and understanding both institutions advocate as essential in today's divided world. I am particularly impressed with the wealth of information both are committed to circulating, as well as the first hand experiences of some of the "ordinary" people who are members. Hon. Treasurer 
Neil Drapkin Neil was born in London and in 1940 was sent to South Africa where he had most of his education. He returned to England in 1953, and practised as an Electrical Engineer, travelling the world, until 1964. He married Cynthia (nee Freeman) in 1963, and they have two children, Jonathan and Jane. Like many parents, Cynthia and Neil decided they should join a synagogue when Jonathan approached cheder age, and opted for Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue, mostly because it was relatively handy. This turned out to be an excellent decision and they have been active members ever since, serving in various positions on and off Council. At present Cynthia is completing her tenth year as minutes secretary (amongst other things) and Neil is serving a term as President of the congregation. Neil has lived as much amongst non-Jews as amongst Jews, and believes that every person's truth deserves respect, except for those who claim a monopoly of the truth. He looks forward to working towards greater understanding and tolerance between Jews and Christians, and hopes that this may be extended to other faiths. Other Committee Members 
Clive Abrahams
Born at home in Notting Hill quite some time before the area gained its present cachet. Attended school in West London and worked in a department store and a restaurant (menial work but all you could eat) after school hours and at weekends. Followed by National Service at RAF Fighter Command HQ. Then commenced a management career in Sales and Marketing which eventually led to 33 years in financial services. In 2001 was made a Freeman of the City of London. Active in Freemasonry holding London Grand Rank and presently Almoner of Neptune Lodge No. 22. Also a volunteer helper with the Northwood Live-at-Home Scheme. Other interests include literature, classical music and theatre. 
Rabbi Hillel Athias-Robles
Gillian Burton
Educated at Upton Hall Convent FCJ, Upton, on the Wirral. Trained at the Gregg's Secretarial College, Liverpool. Spent six years working for the Maritine Insurance Company, Liverpool. Married - had four children, a daughter & three sons, with three grandchildren to date! I've always had an interest in the Jews. My first contact with a Jewish family was while in a flat at Wembley Park. I was impressed by the kindness of my neighbours. I have a good friend whose husband left Austria for his safety as a boy and was brought up in a Catholic family. He was a gentleman and a friend. I have been a member of the Methodist Church for thirty nine years and served nearly all that time as a Pastoral Reader and now share leadership of a weekly Prayer meeting. In latter years I have understood from the Bible that Christians must love and help the Jewish people and I hope to put that into effect while being on the Committee of the Hillingdon Branch of CCJ. 
Father Timothy Gorham
 Reverend Wendy Graham
Wendy was brought up in the Church of England but spent four happy years as a member of St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Eastcote (now a United Reformed Church), where she met her husband, Tony. After their marriage they lived for a short while in Chesham before moving to Chalfont St Peter, where they became active in both Church and community. Wendy worked for a London Child Care Organization, then for Bucks Health & Welfare Social Work Dept., and later as a Medical Secretary at Amersham General Hospital. She is a member of the local Drama Group, a Trustee of the Community Centre and Chairman of the Chalfont St Peter Arts Festival. She has two sons and one small grandson. Wendy became a Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England, was subsequently ordained and is an Associate Priest in the Parish of Chalfont St Peter. She has found a warm welcome at the Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue, is a firm believer in the aims and principles of CCJ, and has made new friends amongst its members. 
Sidney Moss
Retired Insurance Executive living in Northwood. Married to Barbara with two grown up children. Founder member of the CCJ Suffolk & North Essex branch. A Vice-President of The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain. Committee member of the Hillingdon Inter Faith Network. Member of the Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue. Member of the B'nai B'rith Yad B'Yad Lodge. Norwood volunteer. Regula Sharp Born in Switzerland, I have lived in the London area since 1963. A retired social worker, I live in Eastcote and worship at St Lawrence Parish Church. Since my retirement I work as a Lay Chaplain at Mount Vernon Hospital. Apart from belonging to CCJ I am also a member of Christians Aware. Inter-Faith Relations are a special interest of mine. 
Bernard Tiley (Publicity)
I am retired and have lived in the Borough of Hillingdon for over 40 years. My wife Joan and I have supported the Hillingdon branch of the CCJ almost from its inception. We are members of St Bernadette's Catholic Church and have 3 grown up children. My priority as a CCJ Committee Member is to try and raise awareness of the existence and aims of our local CCJ branch, and to encourage support from the local faith communities. (Bernard has written most of the reports that you'll find in our News Section and Archives).
Friendship with Rabbi Leo Baeck led to much involvement in that Rabbi's synagogue. Fleeing from Germany to what was then Palestine in 1938 my parents and siblings were able to get there a few weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War. My earliest job was in the so-called export department of the Jewish Agency selling goods to the neighbouring countries and supplying the British and French armies, which not only taught me to understand English and Arabic (the latter since alas almost forgotten), but brought me into contact with different cultures and ways of life. Married in 1944, a lawyer, by inclination a defender of minorities and the marginalized, I lived in Jerusalem under the British Mandate, the siege of Jerusalem, the establishment of the State of Israel. With our two daughters we moved to England in 1958. Upon my husband's death in 1974 I joined as assistant. Rev William W Simpson (known to all as Bill) then retired as CCJ general secretary but continuing to be general secretary of the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ). Since then I have held various positions in the ICCJ spending considerable time in their head office in the former home of Martin Buber in Heppenheim, Germany and am now their consultant. I am a member of the Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue. Webmaster Phil Groom By trade I'm a Boatman turned Bookseller (currently manager of the London School of Theology Books & Resources in Northwood — visitors always welcome; 10% discount if you tell me you're a member of CCJ!) who happened to discover Paul McFedries' book on web design, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Web Page... then started building websites for a hobby. All feedback on the site is appreciated: please either sign the Visitors' Book 
I hope that my web design skills will prove helpful in furthering CCJ's aims and am quite happy to help any other branch of CCJ or any church or synagogue that doesn't yet have its own website to set one up. |
Ruth Weyl
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