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From Julia Neuberger, Senior Rabbi at the west London Synagogue:

I鈥檓 going to Heilbronn in Germany in a couple of weeks, for the launch of a short biography of my mother, who was born there, but left as a refugee from the Nazis. She would be 100 now, and would have been completely amazed that anyone would want to write about her. And she always said she had a much better life in Britain than she would ever have had in Germany.

And yet鈥�. Refugee habits die hard. When she died, she had thrown nothing away from 1937 when she arrived in Britain. I still have large bundles of her things, unsorted since her death. There were rubber bands, and paper bags amongst her possessions piled high everywhere, along with wonderful books, art catalogues, photographs, letters, and newspaper cuttings dating back 60 years. She was a hoarder- though she would never have admitted it. And her fear of losing everything once again was expressed by never throwing anything away- in case it 鈥榗ame in handy鈥�.

I, though born in London, have inherited that refugee streak. I really hate throwing anything away that I might find a use for, and I invent new uses if I can. Broken cutlery goes to a friend who makes mobiles out of it. Odd bits of cloth go to another friend who makes dolls clothes for refugee children. Apart from everyday recycling, boxes get recovered in wrapping paper and carrier bags get decorated and varnished 鈥︹��.

鈥榃aste not, want not鈥�, goes the proverb. And I get real pleasure from things having another use. Psalm 24 tells us that 鈥淭he earth is God鈥檚 and everything in it鈥︹�� So human beings only own things temporarily. It all goes back to God in the end. But I like to think that we鈥檙e encouraged to make the best use of it all whilst we have it-听 land or water, or leftover food鈥�. Everything, but everything, can be used and reused. That attitude helps save the world鈥檚 scarce resources. But it is also a source of ingenuity and imagination. It makes us think before throwing stuff away- and that must be a benefit to us all!

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