Whisky Barrel Judaica fundraiser sees over £10,000 raised for Jewish charities

Jack and Diane Kay held an exclusive whisky tasting event earlier this month as part of an ongoing fundraising drive for Jewish charities.  Jack of Whisky Barrel Judaica, and his wife Diane welcomed guests to their home to enjoy an intimate whisky tasting event in aid of Jewish Care Scotland.

The event, which saw guests sample a variety of Scotch whiskies and bid in an auction for whiskies, raised over £1,000 for the Giffnock-based charity.

In 2022, Jack established Whisky Barrel Judaica, a unique initiative which sees Jack handcraft one-off items from oak barrels previously used to store Scotch whisky including Mezuzot cases, Chanukiot and Challah boards in exchange for a donation to one of Jack’s three chosen charities.  Jack takes nothing for his work and Jewish Care Scotland, Chai Cancer Care and Magen David Adom are all lucky beneficiaries of Jack’s hard work.

Since 2022, Jack has created hundreds of individual items for happy customers in exchange for donations as well as hosting a Chanukah raffle to benefit all three charities.  This latest event has now seen Jack, Diane and Whisky Barrel Judaica raise a combined total of more than £10,500 for all three charities.

Of the recent whisky tasting event, Jack said, “This was a great way to raise funds for JCS – and a lot less effort than making my wooden Judaica! I will definitely be doing this again.”

Robyn Friel, Deputy Chief Executive of Jewish Care Scotland said, “We are so grateful to Jack and Diane for all of their efforts and hard work over the years to raise awareness of Jewish Care Scotland as well as to receive such generous donations.  Jack has supported us in so many ways including the Whisky Barrel Judaica Chanukah raffle, donating handcrafted items towards our own fundraising events, asking those asking him to make items to donate to Jewish Care Scotland and most recently through this special whisky tasting event at his home.  We are delighted to be a part of Whisky Barrel Judaica’s unique initiative with funds raised going towards our work for the Jewish Community across Scotland.”

You can find out more about Whisky Barrel Judaica by visiting the website at www.whiskybarreljudaica.com.