■ ONCE A journalist, always a journalist. Hyam Corney, a former deputy editor of London’s Jewish Chronicle, who for several years has been living in Netanya, still has the nose for a good human interest story.
“Who was the oldest person in Israel – and probably in the world – to be given the honor last week of being chosen Hatan Torah on Simhat Torah?” he asked in an email, adding that he doubted there was anyone older than Dr. Bernard Fisher, who at the age of 99 was so honored at the Young Israel of North Netanya.
Fisher, who was born in Gateshead in northern England on September 1, 1915, had a colorful life before making aliya in 1982. After earning a BA in French and English, he became a teacher; his posts included headmaster of the King David High School in Liverpool and principal of the City of Leicester College of Higher Education. During World War II, he served as an intelligence officer in the British Army.
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