Gesher EU’s Summer 2024 Reading List
We asked GesherEU members to recommend books that had resonated with them, whether novels or non-fiction. Here are the top ten
My First Date Was Like A Job Interview
In the Charedi community, people marry at a very young age, and all marriages are arranged. This makes navigating the dating scene a particularly daunting task for those who choose to leave. We spoke to three GesherEU members about their experiences of dating and finding love in the secular world. Motti was not yet 17 […]
‘I LIKE HAVING SOME LEVEL OF AMBIGUITY’
Darren Kraushar, 30 is an intersex trans man, who works as a mathematics lecturer at the University of Utah. He shares his experience of growing up in the Charedi community in Hendon, North London, and how his life has changed since he left. “As a child, I always figured that they’d misidentified my sex at […]
An Unorthodox Approach to Parenting
GesherEU has a new parenting group. We spoke to three members to find out how it helps them. When Jamie* was granted access to see his children for the first time in three years, he was excited to re-establish contact, but had no idea how he would interact with them, after so long apart. “My […]
A Night to Remember
When Emily Green had an idea to create a support group for people who, like her, felt isolated after leaving the Charred community, she did not foresee just how successful it would become. “I knew I was groping in the dark,” she says, “But I was determined that no one would go through this journey […]
A Family Seder With a Difference
Last week, on the first night of Passover, 25 GesherEU members got together to celebrate a special Seder. Founder Emily Green welcomed members to her home to enjoy a traditional – but non-religious and informal – Passover meal, with Matzah, bitter herbs and salt water. Guests brought tasty dishes to share, and everyone chatted and […]
GesherEU’s Annual Weekend Away 2024
When GesherEU members got together for our annual retreat, earlier this month, it was an weekend to remember. The event saw 44 adults and children spend three nights in a converted old pub in the Peak District, from 9th to 12th February. Highlights included long hikes through the surrounding countryside, where remnants of snowfall were […]
Following in her Footsteps
Chavie Weisberger is the Director of Community Engagement at Footsteps, GesherEU’s American sister organisation. We spoke to her about her life, her role and what our organisations can learn from each other. When Chavie Weisberger came over to the UK to visit GesherEU in the summer of 2023, she hoped to find fresh energy and […]
GesherEU’s 2023 Year in Review
2023 has been an exciting year for GesherEU. This is what we’ve been up to…
Learning Times Tables at 23
When people come to GesherEU, they often have very little secular education. We find out how the charity and its partners help members to achieve their potential. Most children in the UK learn their times tables when they are seven. But GesherEU member Pini, now 23, has only just learned them. That’s because, like many […]