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 […]
Day of Choice 2023
The international Day of Choice is an annual event, which takes place every 27th October, to raise awareness of the issues facing people who leave ultra-Orthodox communities across the world. GesherEU is part of a global movement for change. Together with our sister organisations in the US, Europe, Israel and Australia, we want to ensure […]
Q&A with Vicky Jones
Vicky Jones has been GesherEU’s Welfare Officer since October 2022. We asked her to tell us more about herself and what she does. Tell us about yourself and what you did before you came to GesherEU I live in East London, with my partner, my stepson and my cat. I grew up in Bournemouth, a […]
How I Escaped from a Golden Prison
Moishy* name changed* is 28. He left the Hasidic community three years ago. “Growing up in Stamford Hill, I used to see non-Jews walking through, in their jeans and t-shirts, or riding on their bicycles by the River Lea. For me, they represented something grounded and real – something I was very attracted to. My […]
“It’s always worse than you realised” – Review of Unorthodox
My perspective is as a woman who grew up and lived in a similar Chasidic community for the first forty years of my life, who was driven out of the community for going against their rules, and whose relationship with my four children was destroyed as a result. I thought the Netflix series Unorthodox was […]
Review of Netflix Mini Series – Unorthodox
“אונז האבען אלע אונזערע לאגיג’עס” “Unz hobben alle unzere luggages” (we have all of our luggage) (Yanky on the phone with his mother from the Berlin airport). Well, you don’t get more authentic than that. The mix of Yiddish and English, the projection of Yiddish rules on an English word (luggage), all seasoned with […]
Tonight I had an unusual experience …
Tonight I had an unusual experience. I went to the theatre to watch Fiddler on the Roof. For me going to the theatre is not unusual. I have been to the theatre before. I have been OTD for over 7 years now – going to the West End and enjoying a night out is not […]
On the Eve of Making Aliyah
A Letter to the GesherEU Community Thank you so much for all your kind and heart warming wishes and for your lovely gift. I feel very emotional at this time and apologise for the long letter that I am writing to you. I just want to thank you for being such a crucial part of […]
Healthy Relationship Workshops
I recently attended the Healthy Relationship Workshops that GesherEU ran. Having been OTD all my life on the inside has affected how I develop relationships, friendships and love. Additionally, transitioning into a world where I belong has been a soul defining time for me. It has however been difficult to recalibrate and fine tune my […]
The Mathematician’s Story.
That probably would have been the first word I used to describe myself only two or three years ago. Isolated, because the people I spent most of my time with were fully immersed in a culture I was just beginning to discover. Isolated, because the people I had grown up with understood me so little, […]