Pini on the Roof

GesherEU’s very own Pini Brown is the star of a brand new documentary short film, which will be shown at the UK Jewish Film Festival this November. ‘Pini on the Roof’ follows Yiddish Blues singer Pini, who left the Hasidic community in Stamford Hill five years ago and is now a mini-celebrity in the hipster […]

Yom Kippur: A Time for Reflection and Renewal

Written and submitted by GesherEU member, Sheya. Yom Kippur is on Saturday. I kind of forgot about it. It was not something my brain was spending energy on. I was reminded by my brother who called, asking to borrow a book. He’s not usually a reader and didn’t explain why. It took me some time […]

‘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 […]

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 […]

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 five children was destroyed as a result. I thought the Netflix series Unorthodox was […]

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 […]