26 May 2019

Nottingham Liberal Synagogue (NLS) member Jeff Corne celebrated his 90th birthday in style by also using the occasion to have a second barmitzvah.

Marking the anniversary of his original barmitzvah in Cardiff in 1942, Jeff impressed a full synagogue of family, friends and congregants by leyning the week’s Haftorah in full.

Swansea born Jeff and his wife Angela, who have been married for 65 years, moved from Cardiff to London when he qualified as a pharmacologist. After a varied and distinguished career and subsequent retirement, they eventually moved again to Nottingham, in 2018, to be closer to their son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

After the moving second barmitzvah service, Jeff said: “It has given me so much pleasure to be able to do this again after all these years. We feel so at home here in Nottingham and we have made more friends in a short space of time than we ever thought possible.”

Jeff’s son, Dr Jonathan Corne, will become the next NLS joint chair when the current chair, Peter Gordon, retires in September.