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Josh and Yocheved Zaitchek Join the Team

Hampstead has the first ever Living and Learning couple.  The role is the first of its kind to be funded centrally by The US.  Josh and Yocheved Zaitchek will be inspiring local Jewish professionals in their 20s and 30s who may have grown up as members of the United Synagogue but are no longer affiliated.

The new role, which will involve running special services on Shabbat, hosting Friday night dinners and organising social and educational programmes, was conceived by the US’ Living and Learning team, in the knowledge that an increasing number of young people are becoming less affiliated once they leave home. The Zaitchecks will be based at Hampstead Synagogue.

Originally from New York, Josh trained as a chef before studying in Israel at the Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim, Kollel Moshav Matisyahu as well as at the Chafetz Chaim, the Rabbinical Seminary of America. He is currently studying for his semicha.  He adds;

“Yocheved and I are really excited to be moving to Hampstead and we can’t wait to get to know everyone. It seems like the perfect community for us and we can’t wait to build on what Rabbi Harris and others have already created at Hampstead Synagogue.”

David Collins, Community Liaison Manager for the US explained;

“It has become clear that there is a huge number of young singles and young married couples living in Hampstead from communities across the UK, who are proud Jews but for various reasons, are less involved in the community. Josh and Yocheved live and breathe authentic, inclusive Judaism and are the perfect role models for young Jewish professionals.”

Our chairman Michael Haringman said:

“I am delighted to confirm that Josh has agreed to join us as Living & Learning Liaison with special responsibility for our 20/30 year olds.This is a very significant moment for our shul. The development of our LAUNCH membership is crucial to the shul’s success. Josh has many exciting plans for our community and we look forward to working with him to bring those plans to a successful realisation. We have needed to be patient in our search for the right candidate but we believe that the wait has been worthwhile and that we have now made an exceptional appointment for Hampstead.

We are grateful to the United Synagogue for facilitating Josh’s appointment.”