Board of Deputies of British Jews

On Friday the 21st June, the Year 8 girls were honoured to have Marie van der Zyl, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews as their guest. Ms van der Zyl, who is an employment lawyer, took on the office of President of the Board of Deputies on 1st June 2018 and is only the second woman to hold the role.

Ms van der Zyl spoke to the girls about her background. She grew up in Woodford, Essex, and went on to study Law at The University of Liverpool. Her experiences of being at a school and a university with very few other Jewish students, helped to forge her strong Jewish identity. This would eventually lead her to her prestigious position at The Board of Deputies.

As a member of both the Mill Hill and The West London Synagogues, Ms van der Zyl spoke about the importance of volunteering within the community and giving back. Ms van der Zyl was very interested and pleased to hear about the various volunteering programmes that the Hasmonean girls are involved in, such as volunteering at Jewish Care.

The girls heard all about the work of The Board of Deputies focusing on building good inter faith and communal relations with all parts of the community.

Her presentation was followed by some very intelligent questioning. The session was very informative and the girls gained so much from hearing from such an eloquent and prestigious communal speaker.