FROM THE ARCHIVES February 2005

The Liberal Synagogue Elstree welcomed, amongst its many visitors for the consecration of our new Ark Doors and New Tamid, their designer Roman Halter. Earlier in the year a small working party of synagogue members had pooled their expertise to instal our beautiful new doors. Made from bronze and inlaid with stained glass which is lit from behind, the doors ensure that the Ark is truly the focal point of the synagogue.

All those who were in the working party participated in the service and Rabbi Pete Tobias asked Roman Halter to explain the background to their creation. He said that as a child born in a small Polish village, the synagogue was the centre of the community and everyone took pleasure in its adornment.

When war came he was sent to a concentration camp where he learned to work with metal.

His skill undoubtedly enabled him to survive the Holocaust and he came to England where he trained as an architect. He has now returned to metalwork and has enjoyed once again being able to beautify a synagogue. A kiddush lunch was given by Penny Beral who commissioned the Ner Tamid in memory of her mother, Ann Hart.

A fuller biography of Roman Halter’s life and works follows below.

Roman Halter was born in 1927 in Chodecz, a small village in northern Poland, the seventh and youngest child of a traditional Jewish family. At the outbreak of war, in 1939, at the age of 12, he was deported with his family to the Lodz Ghetto, where, his grandfather made him promise to tell the story of the Holocaust. From Lodz he was sent to Auschwitz, where his skills as a metal worker saved him from extermination, thence to Stutthof and

Dresden; then to a children's home in Theresienstadt, until, the only member of his family to survive, he was finally brought to London in 1945 by the Central British Fund for German Jewry (the CBF) - now World Jewish Relief - one of over 700 child Holocaust survivors. He became one of the group, known as 'the Boys', sent to Windermere in the Lake District, where they were given given psychological and social care. He went on to study architecture, supported by the CBF, and established successful practices in London and Cambridge.

In 1973 he settled in Israel. Harnessing his architectural skills within a design context, he was commissioned in the same year to design and construct the main gate to Yad Vashem, established in 1953 in Jerusalem as the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust. On returning to London in 1976, Halter became a full-time artist, painting, sculpting and working in stained glass. He died in London in 2012.

Roman Halter's work has been exhibited in the UK by The Imperial War, Museum, London, Tate Britain, the Redfern Gallery, the London Jewish Cultural Centre and Ben Uri Gallery in 1976, 1979 and most recently, 2014, in an exhibition dedicated to his stained glass practice. His work is in a number of public collections in both the UK and abroad including Beit Shalom, The National Holocaust Centre and Museum, Nottingham; Central Synagogue, London; The Imperial War Museum, London; Lady Sarah Cohen House, Friern Barnet, London; Leo Baeck College, The Sternberg Centre for Judaism, London; The Liberal Synagogue, Elstree; the Ghetto Fighters' Museum, Israel; and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

Terry Benson

The

Liberal Judaism

The Montagu Centre

21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE

T: 020 7631 9835

F: 020 7631 9838

E: c.baginsky@liberaljudaism.org

W: www.liberaljudaism.org

Liberal Judaism Statement on Progressive Judaism to be emailed to Council Members on 17/4/2023 @11.00

On behalf of the Board of National Officers we wish to update you on the recent progress we have made in fulfilling your commitment to closer working relations with Reform Judaism. We are delighted to be announcing exciting plans for the creation of a new entity to include all of Britain’s Progressive Jews. This will bring the UK in line with most other countries, including the United States and Israel, which operate with one united Progressive Jewish movement.

The Movement for Reform Judaism is announcing the appointment of Rabbi Josh Levy as CEO of The Movement for Reform Judaism. He will be working in close partnership with Liberal Judaism’s CEO, Rabbi Charley Baginsky, to lead the creation of this new movement.

Progressive Jews together make up around 30% of those who are affiliated to synagogues in the UK. There are more than 80 Progressive communities reaching all parts of the country. Rabbis for both movements are trained at the Leo Baeck College. Reform and Liberal Judaism share a deep commitment to inclusivity and equality reflected in their ritual practices and liturgies. Together they welcome mixed-faith families and couples, offer weddings and lifecycle events to the LGBTQI+ community and have mechanisms to recognise the Jewish status of those with one Jewish parent irrespective of the gender of the parent.

To be very clear, no one will be asked to change their synagogue name, their Liberal identity, or change their prayerbook. This is about a greater resourcing of communities. As a unified group, we will be stronger and our voice will be clearer and louder. We will be able to make an even bigger contribution to the wider Jewish community both in the UK and beyond our shores. We do this for not just ourselves, but for our children and future generations. We safeguard Judaism for the future.

Naturally we are committed to keeping you updated on progress, answering any questions that you have, hearing your comments and receiving your input. There will be monthly update meetings which will work in conjunction with additional meetings and discussions with clergy, senior leadership, staff and lay leadership. Council will remain central to all final decision making actions along the journey.

Ruth Seager and Rabbi Charley Baginsky

Chair: Ruth Seager Liberal Judaism (ULPS) Chief Executive: Rabbi Charley Baginsky Company No 08281223 Chairs of CoLRaC Registered Charity No. 1151090 Rabbi Rebecca Birk and Rabbi Rene Pfertzel