We revisit a previous Meet The Reader column in celebration of a centenary

In our Winter 2022 issue we featured an interview with north London’s Alf Borman in Meet the Reader, the series in which we get to know you, our readers. He was incredibly charismatic and, unsurprisingly, had a wealth of fascinating things to say. At the time, he was 99, but today he celebrates his 100th, so we’re revisiting his wonderful interview as a way of saying thank you and happy birthday!

Alf Borman
Henlys Corner, Finchley, London

Have you always lived in Finchley?
I was born in Hackney on 5 April 1922, the seventh of nine children, so at 99 years young I’m probably one of the oldest JR readers. As a child, I had to make my own toys to entertain myself. I married my childhood sweetheart Theresa in 1943 and we had two children. We moved to Finchley in 1980. After 70 years of a blissfully happy marriage, Theresa passed away eight years ago and I miss her terribly. I had triple by-pass surgery 19 years ago and I do 100 press-ups daily to keep fit.

How did you cope during lockdown?
I still live independently, doing my own cooking – I’ve recently been experimenting with recipes for a new slow cooker. I love painting my own versions of Monets, Turners and Lowrys, which I often give to family, friends and to charity. I also have a library of Jewish interest books. I often relax on my balcony with a well-thumbed volume and a glass of red wine. Even during lockdown, my life was full and fulfilling.

What does it mean to you to be Jewish?
It means I’m intensely proud of the contributions to all aspects of life made by ‘our people’. This includes literature, science (an inordinate proportion of Nobel prizewinners), art and music (many of The Great American Songbook composers were Jewish). After all it was a Jew, Irving Berlin, who wrote ‘White Christmas’, the biggest- selling single of all time.

How did you discover Jewish Renaissance?
I’d never heard of JR until my son Barry and his wife Gill bought me a subscription for my 99th birthday. The first issue contained a fascinating article about Don Black, the lyricist who until recently presented a Radio 2 Sunday night show, featuring artists such as Tony Bennett, Matt Monro and Ella Fitzgerald – my kind of music! Since then, I’ve been hooked on JR’s enticing blend of round-the-world art, music and culture.

Who would be your perfect dinner party guest?
I’d like the 12th-century poet Judah Halevi to enlighten us with his wonderful verse. His maxim, “If you have wisdom you will lack nothing, if you lack wisdom you have nothing”, is a gem that I’ve lived by throughout my life. I would also invite the freedom-fighter Ze’ev Jabotinsky for his belief in the establishment of a Jewish state, balancing every Jew’s right to enter Palestine with equal rights for all citizens.

What would you play as your party soundtrack?
This would be the meticulously crafted Hebrew psalms from 16th-century Mantua by Salamone Rossi (the delights of which I have only just discovered). We would also listen to anything by my honorary Jew, Frank Sinatra, who in 1948 delivered a brown paper bag containing $1 million in cash to a boat bound for Israel. If pressed to choose one track from Ol’ Blue Eyes that perfectly encapsulates, in my 100th year, my response to art in general and Jewish Renaissance in particular, it would have to be ‘You Make Me Feel So Young’.

Want to share your story? Email your name and local area to danielle@jewishrenaissance.org.uk.

This article appears in the Winter 2022 issue of JR.