March 2013
Shofar
שופר
the magazine of finchley progressive synagogue
Journeys & Stories
From the Editor pat lehner And so, at the beginning of March, as we start to think about Pesach and the story of a truly epic journey, our own FPS community is on a journey of discovery at the Weekend Away in Hothorpe Hall. Over two days of revisiting stories and sharing songs and celebration, new memories will be made and treasured. And as this journey becomes a memory and perhaps, the source of a few new stories, too, I look forward to Pesach and wait for Spring. Wishing you all happy travels and fresh stories!
mogilev update
Despite temperatures in the region of minus 20c in Belarus, our twinning relationship with the Keshet community is getting warmer and warmer! We have now established a monthly Skype link with Mogilev. The first session took place on the last Sunday of January, when we introduced ourselves and told our young friends about the history of FPS, in the light of our 60th anniversary. The February session is about Purim (comparing - hopefully on video - our Purim spiels from the night before!) and antisemitism - as experienced today in Belarus and Britain. We are hoping to continue our exchanges on the last Sunday of every month, at 2.30pm in the synagogue library. Everybody is welcome to come and say ‘hello’. Meanwhile we are making good progress in raising the money for our belated Chanukkah gift to Keshet. It is not too late to put something in the envelopes available on the board of the Mogilev exhibition in the synagogue corridor - or the jar for coins/
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banknotes marked ‘Mogilev’ at the entrance. If you would like to know more or get involved in our twinning, please contact Wika on vdorosz@gmail.com.
Cover: Listening and learning at the Tu B’Shvat seder. Copy deadline is the 10th of each month. Please email all content to shofar@fps.org
From the Rabbi rabbi rebecca qassim birk
stories The theme of our FPS weekend away is the story, our stories, stories in general. Indeed the narrative that runs through our lives, and makes for many of us, the connection to Judaism so visceral. At the moment I find the story the most compelling thing in Jewish tradition and experience. The point of entry in the Venn diagram where one’s own experience meets with the collective imagination. Jung’s discovery of the collective imagination and consciousness appeals deeply to the Jewish experience of sharing stories and memories. Martin Buber wrote: “To begin with oneself, but not to end with oneself; to start from oneself, but not to aim at oneself; to comprehend oneself, but not to be preoccupied with oneself.” (Hasidism and Modern Man, Humanities Press, 1988). As Liberal Jews we need to connect with and be informed by the narratives that run through Jewish literature and liturgy. We want to know and we want our children to know. We want to have an intimate knowledge of Tanakh because it’s the text that Jewish experience flows from. We want to have a grasp of the order of our liturgy and the prayers we offer, edited so expertly in Siddur Lev Chadash by Rabbi John Rayner z’l and others. We want to know whether the traditional and very theistically minded God that appears in the pages of the siddur is the God we imagine and subscribe to now. In other words, words matter to us. And the stories that the words build matter even more. We are made of them. We navigate our life by the story. Philip Roth in his novel ‘Patrimony’ relates the slow
death of his father and the intimacy therein. He finds himself drawn to his father’s story which is now in him: “There was my patrimony, not the money, not the tefillin, not the shaving mug, …It was his Deuteronomy, the history of his Israel …Very few who wound up sitting across from him for any length of time didn’t get at least the abridged version of his sacred text..” This year, our 60th, starting with our Weekend Away, we intend to take the story to the heart of our celebration. We are embarking on a story project of members listening to each other’s story that got them here to FPS, into their Judaism and on the journey of their lives. We’ll start with the children listening and recording but I hope it will be a significant part of our community life. So, “Once upon a time” will become personal...
pesach seder
Saturday 23 March - Our last morning at Ivriah will be a Pesach Preparation morning for our children and their families. Please join us. 3
From the Chair laura lassman
journeys We are not three months into the sixtieth anniversary year and already the journey is one of discovery. In preparation for the Founders’ Tea and archive exhibition, long-standing members are offering their memorabilia and stories that connect them to FPS. At the same time old and new members are preparing for the Weekend Away, continuing the chain of relationships and memories that pave the communal journey. Our personal journeys are interwoven with the synagogue’s and I write this following Howard and Joan Shopper’s golden wedding anniversary Shabbat celebration. The bimah was filled with their children and grandchildren, all of whom contributed to the service and with whom the congregation shared the marking of such a milestone. Our challenge is to ensure that we offer the opportunities and connection for succeeding generations to be here to celebrate their own life cycle events. The synagogue operates in a world of instant gratification, global connectedness and nonstop entertainment: on TV, on radio, online.
COMMUNAL SEDER
Tuesday 26 March at 6.00 p.m Each year our Communal Seder is oversubscribed and we are sure it will happen again this year so use the enclosed form to book your place as soon as possible Prices are: Adults £15 Children under 12 £10 (members) Adults £ 18 Children under 12 £10 (non-members)
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Friends are on Facebook, views on Twitter and comment is instantaneous. Against this backdrop, the synagogue must provide the human touch and spiritual sustenance that will draw people to its path. Cafe Ivriah, the Purim spiel, Beit Midrash, Services and suppers, skyping our twin Mogilev community are all opportunities to strengthen the bonds that make a community. Where members get into the habit of coming and children see their parents contributing to a Jewish community, friendships blossom and journeys are shared. Looking back and looking forward, we see kin and kindred who are part of our lives and with whom we share the way. In the opening meditation in Siddur Lev Chadash, Rabbi John Rayner wrote “...It is not merely a feeling of the heart but a decision of the will, a commitment to a task, a self-enrolment in a great adventure.”
security appeal - urgent Can you offer help to FPS by doing a security rota at the gates on a Friday, Saturday or festival? Would you like to take this opportunity to welcome members, get to know others on security and make a contribution to the synagogue? Or would you rather make a donation to pay for professional cover? We need people at the gate to greet members and visitors, to ensure the safety of our children and the basic well-being of those inside. We also need a Security Officer to co-ordinate activities: liaison with CST, with Angela over the rota and encouraging members to participate. If you can help, please contact David Aarons through the synagogue office.
My FPS Journey rochelle simmons
It was a Saturday morning in 1965 or 1966 and I had tucked my two little ones into their twin buggy and set off from Courthouse Road to take the air. With two babies born in 13 months, and free time taken over by 2 demanding families with somewhat limited interests, I was underwhelmed socially and intellectually. As I walked, I fell into step with a friendly young man. We started to talk. The next thing I knew was that John Lewis, on his way to Hutton Grove, had invited me and the babes to accompany him to the service.
Now we felt we had ‘come home’ intellectually and spiritually. I suddenly found a welcoming, stimulating group of folk who quickly made me realise that there was a world beyond domesticity. My husband Barry soon joined me and we quickly became active members of the community. Our lovely ‘grandmotherly‘ neighbour had a weekly Friday night baby sitting commitment and the highlight of the week became the Friday night service frequently followed by a discussion and good conversation. Our backgrounds in my Luton orthodox community and Barry’s London Federation Synagogue had led us both to alienation. Now we felt we had ‘come home’ intellectually and spiritually. I was the first convener of the monthly ‘Minyan’, a social/cultural group and Barry was quickly roped in to be the synagogue treasurer. We were around when Shofar was started. It was not the glossy publication we know today. I suspect that I suggested the name for
the magazine but Lionel might think otherwise. Who knows! I do recollect writing many feature articles. I remember my joy when I was first invited to read the Haftorah, standing on the bimah with my toddlers holding on to my skirt. When I was 12, my closest friend, Maureen, and I had to learn our portions by rote as the cheder teacher didn’t know what to do with the 2 girls in the class. We then experienced the indignity of mouthing the words on the appropriate Saturday mornings as a male member of the community read “our” haftorahs. In 1968 or 9, for family reasons, I sadly had to leave the community, I had also lost contact with Maureen. I did, later, attempt a brief membership - as a single member. I directed a Purim play for the children and I was delighted that my daughter took part. But, the discrepancy between community and home didn’t work for me. Once widowed, I felt very isolated and in need of a ‘reference group’, I wasn’t sure I wanted to evoke the past and so hesitated to return yet again. Then, something wonderful happened. After 40 years I found my girlhood friend, Maureen. We joyfully reunited and I discovered, to my amazement, that she and her husband Adrian and family were members of FPS! My grandmother used to say (in Yiddish of course): “If the end is good – it’s all good.” – and this is very good. Adrian sadly died, but Maureen and I, in our mid 70s, sit together in synagogue as we did as girls, but this time surrounded by our wonderful FPS family.
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60th Anniversary
wika dorosz
coming soon Each month, we have planned either a special activity for the sixtieth anniversary or focus on a regular event with a 50s perspective; three big events for the spring friday 1 - sunday 3 march: away weekend
The Away Weekend will be in full swing at the beginning of March where old and new members will have the opportunity to tell their stories and celebrate the FPS journey. saturday 20 april: civic service
Our community will be joined by local MPs, the Mayor and Councillors, representatives of Liberal Judaism, local clergy and synagogues for a special Shabbat service that will include the best of what we are and where we have come from. Following the service there will be a Kiddush lunch and we do need to know numbers to ensure that everyone is well-fed! You should have received an invitation with last month’s Shofar, but if not, please contact the office. Also please let Angela or Pauline know if you are intending to come. A very special honoured guest has been invited – if she accepts, we will reveal the identity. sunday 12 may: founders tea
Preparation for the Founders Tea is well underway. Lionel has been in touch with many long-standing members and their offspring. He is collecting a wonderful array of stories, photographs and memorabilia which will be exhibited during the year and form the focus of the tea. If you have not yet made a contribution, please contact Lionel lionel.lassman@gmail.com or call 020 8445 3284. Invitations will be coming soon.
Spot the Bimah!
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Finchley Progressive Synagogue presents
CANTOR GERSHON SILINS DEAN STAKER FRANKLYN GELLNICK 54 Hutton Grove, London N12 8DR Tickets £15 each (Concessions: £7.50) £100 Group booking for 10 tickets email: administrator@fps.org
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Beit Tefillah services at fps
shabbat services - march Friday 1 March FPS Away Weekend at Hothorpe Hall
Shabbat Resouled Unplugged
Saturday 2 March FPS Away Weekend at Hothorpe Hall
Shabbat service
Friday 8 March
Kabbalat Shabbat family service
Saturday 9 March
Shabbat service
Friday 15 March
Shabbat Resouled
Saturday 16 March
Shabbat morning service including Daniel Dolan Bar Mitzvah
Friday 22 March Saturday 23 March
Kabbalat Shabbat service
Tuesday 26 March
Pesach morning service Communal Seder at 6pm
Friday 29 March
Kabbalat Shabbat service
Saturday 30 March
Shabbat service
Sunday 31 March
Erev 7thDay Pesach Short service & supper at Rabbi Rebecca’s home
Shabbat service including Maeve Silver Bat Mitzvah
tuesday 26 march
saturday 6 april
Our wonderful Communal Seder planned and executed by Corinne Oppenheimer is again returning this year Sign up and be in touch with Rabbi Rebecca if you’d like to work on a short play on the theme of slavery and persecution to illuminate the evening.
Yom HaShoah & Czech Scroll Service Our guest speaker will be Neil Pike from Nottingham Progressive Synagogue and we will honour our scrolls and our loved ones. This year Sofer Rabbi Ron Berry has been attending to our Czech Scrolls and will continue to work on them over the coming months. Our own Diana King will share her story of Kindertransport with the congregation as well.
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Beit Knesset what’s happening at fps cafe thursday
rosh chodesh
Thursdays @12.45pm 7 March: Lunch & poetry and prose reading 14 March: Lunch & music 21 March: Lunch & Passover quiz 28 March: Passover lunch & family/friends day Please book by 21 March
Celebration of the new moon by women gathering for learning and spiritual exploration (over a glass of wine). Rosh Chodesh Nissan: Tuesday 12 March Lillith and Eve
yoga
No Shiur in March Saturday 6 April @8.45am Alan Ereira / Swimming in St Paul’s Cathedral The top of St Paul’s cathedral stands 67m above sea level. It has been calculated that when the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets finish melting, that is exactly where the sea will be. What else is going to happen? How will this affect the Northern Line? And are we really meant to take this seriously?
Mondays @7.oopm Tuesdays @7.30pm Contact Richard on 020 8349 9602 film club
Sunday 3 March @7.30pm, ‘Roman Holiday’. For details please see page 11. curtain up!
Wednesday 20 March @7.30pm For details please see page 11.
fps breakfast shiurim
people congratulations & mazal tov b’nei mitzvah
Daniel Dolan and family on his Bar Mitzvah Maeve Silver and family on her Bat Mitzvah Many members are celebrating important life milestones by hosting and accepting a mitzvah at a Shabbat service. If you have a celebration you would like to share with the community please contact the office. our sincerest condolences
To Colin and Paul and their families on the death of their mother Margie Glinsman We wish the families long life.
yahrzeit list
There is an FPS Yahrzeit list from which we remind those who would like a Yahrzeit to be announced, that the date is coming up. If you do want to be reminded please provide the office with: Name of the Honoree, Date of Yahrzeit (Hebrew or secular depending which date is to be observed), Name of Observer/s a warm welcome to new members
Jon & Yasmin Gale Jasmine & Tom Horna Phillip & Alison Raphael Karen Glaser Braham Fredman
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Beit Midrash learning at fps Thursday evenings from 7.30pm | The Sermons and Intellectual Legacy of Rabbi John Rayner z’l, with Liberal rabbis and others that knew him well, Hebrew & Delving into Judaism: A Course to Refresh and Illuminate Judaism. | £5 donation/session For more information, contact Adrian Lister adrianlister@blueyonder.co.uk
march 21
march 14
march 7
7.30pm Hebrew Beginners & Intermediate
8.30pm Delving: Liberal Jewish Theology and Recollections
Rayner - Radical or Rooted: His Relationship with Jewish Tradition & History with Rabbi James Baaden & Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk Hebrew Beginners & Intermediate
Delving: Death & Mourning in Jewish Tradition and the rhythm of customs
Rayner: The Acerbic Correspondent with Rabbi Andrew Goldstein Hebrew Beginners & Intermediate
Delving: Seizing the Seder and understanding the power of Pesach
Rayner: The Wider World and Us: ‘Jews and Non-Jews’ with Rabbi Danny Rich
Also in Beit Midrash... pilates at fps
cafe ivriah
We have re-started a weekly Pilates class with professional Pilates trainer Tali Swart. Tali is a specialist of the lower back but covers all aspects of Pilates and will tailor exercises to suit each individual. The classes take place on Thursday evening 6.30-7.15pm, before the Beit Midrash discussion. The cost is £10 per session, payable half-termly in advance, but this will go down if more members join. If you would like to join the class or have any queries, contact Adrian Lister adrianlister@blueyonder.co.uk or 07966 222953 (evenings preferred).
Shabbat mornings, from 9.30am An informal lively discussion over coffee for Ivriah parents & others 2 March: Richard Greene - Does Jewish law forbid me from telling my friend how brilliant you are? What exactly is lashon hara? 9 March: James Levy - Is a Jew obliged to give tzedaka? 16 March: Karen Glaser - Secular conversion 23 March: Alan Milner - Zionism 30 March: Adrian Lister - How eastern mystics made me a better Jew
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Arts at FPS curtain up! The monthly theatre group will meet on Wednesday 20 March at 7.30pm for a general discussion on theatre in the West End and Fringe. The focus will be on the following five plays: The Captain of Kopenick (National Theatre to 4 April); Paper Dolls (Tricycle to 13 April); Quartermaine’s Terms (Wyndham’s); Trelawny of the Wells (Donmar to 13 April); Longing (Hampstead Theatre to 6 April). All are welcome to join this interesting and informal group. For more information, contact elaine.borish@virginmedia.com
book club The Book Club in March are reading The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. This book was first published in 1953, 60 years ago, and is the Book Club’s contribution to the 60th anniversary. Meetings are held in people’s homes, 7.30pm on the second Wednesday of each month. Contact sheilakl@waitrose.com if you’d like to join.
the screen on the grove Sunday 3 March | Roman Holiday Kicking off Screen on the Grove’s 1953 season! £5 includes refreshments. Contact Wika vdorosz@gmail.com.
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fps bridge group If you enjoy a game of Bridge, do come and join us, on Mondays at 7.45pm at FPS It only costs £4 for an enjoyable & friendly evening of Chicago scoring bridge, including light refreshments. You do not need to bring a partner, as we can always match you up with someone. For any further details, please contact Gunter Lawson at 020 8346 5208
to let may 2013 january/february 2014 Bright, spacious and furnished studio flat Purpose-built block in peaceful location Close to shops, bus routes (82, 125 and 460) and short walk from Finchley Central Underground Separate kitchen and bathroom, ground floor and backing onto park £450 per month including service charge, council tax, utilities etc. Phone: Lillian 07854 786990
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Tu B’Shvat
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Tu B’Shvat
A wonderful time was had by all at this year’s Tu B’Shvat, planting, learning and eating.
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M ARCH Friday 1 – Sunday 3
FPS weekend away @ Hothorpe Hall
Friday 1
4.30–6.30
Friday Ivriah
Shabbat 2
9.30 – 12.30
Shabbat Ivriah
Friday 8
4.30 – 6.30
Friday Night Family Service with Kiddush hosted by Kita Dalet & Hey
Shabbat 9
9.30-12.30
Shabbat Ivriah
Friday 15
4.30-6.30
Friday Ivriah followed by Shabbat Resouled
Shabbat 16
9.30 – 12.30
Shabbat Ivriah
11.0012.30
Shabbat Service including Daniel Dolan BM
11.00
Kids Kehillah
Friday 22
4.30 – 6.30
Friday Ivriah END OF TERM
Shabbat 23
9.30 – 12.30
Shabbat Ivriah END OF TERM
11.00-12.30
Shabbat Service including Maeve Silver BM
Key: Shabbat Ivriah
Friday Ivriah
Family events
PESACH ACTIVITIES Pesach begins & 1st night Seder This half term Ivriah have been learning about the environment, and how we as Jews can help to preserve Tuesday 26 March 11.00 Pesach morning servicewere given the title it. Kitah Gimmel ‘What makes a greener synagogue?’ 6.00 FPS Communal Seder and made posters in response to it. Sunday 31 March 6.00 Erev 7th day Pesach short service and The whole of Ivriah then voted for the supper @best Rabbi Rebecca’s home one and this is the one that won! th Monday 1 April 11.00 7 Day Crossing the Sea Service at Kezia & Yasemin Dollis Brook. Bring your last matzahs! Kita Gimmel teachers Monday 25 March
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barM&ARCH bat mitzvah atFriday fps 1by– rabbi rebecca Sunday 3 Ivriah is growing and we are,4.30–6.30 as we hoped, Friday 1
booked for regular one-to-one lessons. For the year preceding the ceremony, FPS weekend away @ Hothorpe Hallto prospective B’nei Mitzvah are expected attend aIvriah weekly Friday or Saturday service Friday so that they all become familiar with our attracting new families to our Shabbat Shabbat 2 9.30 – 12.30 Shabbat Ivriah customs. Equally important in the Bar/Bat religion school. Because we are bigger, we Friday 4.30 – 6.30 Friday Family Service with at MitzvahNight journey is weekly attendance have more8B’nei Mitzvah, many more! So Kiddush hosted by Kita Dalet Hey host this is a plea and an explanation that families Ivriah classes to support learning.&We three Chavurah need to have9booked the date9.30-12.30 for Bar or Bat Shabbat Shabbat Ivriahsuppers for the full B’Nei Mitzvah group and teachers so that families Mitzvah by the time their child turns 12, and Friday 15 4.30-6.30 Friday Ivriah followed by Shabbat get to know one another socially and come preferably a few months earlier. Resouled together for learning. We are now booked up completely for 2013, Shabbat 9.30 12.30 Shabbat In the finalIvriah 3 months before the ceremony, have several 16 bookings for 2014 and– one for students have regular meetings with me so I 2015! We’ve established a clear timeline for Shabbat Service including 11.00can getDolan to know them better and support all B’nei Mitzvah preparation at12.30 FPS which starts Daniel BM learning as well as clarify practical details. with families booking a Bar/Bat Mitzvah 11.00 Kids Kehillah The FPS Beit Tefillah Chairperson also offers date with Pauline in the office and an initial Fridaywith 22 me no later than 4.30 – 6.30 Friday further Ivriah support.END OF TERM meeting 15 months before the ceremony. Our aim isIvriah to ensure that each Bar/Bat Shabbat 23 9.30 – 12.30 Shabbat END OF TERM Mitzvah candidate feels comfortable I ask parents and the Bar/Bat11.00-12.30 Mitzvah Shabbat Service including Maeve on this part of their Jewish journey. It’s a very special to meet with me again one year before Silver BM time and we look forward to it with every the ceremony in order to explain the FPS minhagim Key:and to agree a tutor who should be family. Shabbat Ivriah Friday Ivriah Family events
PESACH ACTIVITIES Pesach begins & 1st night Seder
Monday 25 March
Tuesday 26 March
11.00
Pesach morning service
6.00
FPS Communal Seder
Sunday 31 March
6.00
Erev 7th day Pesach short service and supper @ Rabbi Rebecca’s home
Monday 1 April
11.00
7th Day Crossing the Sea Service at Dollis Brook. Bring your last matzahs!
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Contacts fps who’s who finchley progressive synagogue
synagogue committees & groups:
54 Hutton Grove N12 8DR www.fps.org 020 8446 4063
Beit Midrash (Education): Co-ordinated by Laura Lassman. Working groups with responsibility for Ivriah; Young families; Adult Education; Youth Club Beit Tefillah (Rites & Practices): Co-ordinated by Joan Shopper. Working groups with responsibility for Shabbat; Life Cycle; Festivals; High Holydays Beit Knesset (Community): Co-ordinated by David Aarons. Working groups with responsibility for Contact; Membership; New members; Events Operations: Co-ordinated by David Pelham Working groups with responsibility for Premises; Finance; Security. If you would like to join any of these working groups, please contact the relevant co-ordinator
Charity Number: 1071040 Rabbi: Rebecca Qassim Birk rabbi@fps.org / 07939 227480 Emeritus Rabbi: Dr Frank Hellner Synagogue Manager: Pauline Gusack pauline@fps.org Community Manager: Angela Wharton angela@fps.org executive
Chair: Laura Lassman chair@fps.org / 07957 545 569 Vice-Chair: Joan Shopper & David Aarons 01582 792 959 Joint Treasurers: Richard Kravetz & Martin Silk 020 8349 9602
shofar editor
Pat Lehner / shofar@fps.org Editorial assistant Sarah Aldridge
Honorary Secretary: David Pelham 020 8445 8111 Board of Deputies Reps: Stanley Volk & Janet Tresman Life President: Clive Winston President: Sheila King Lassman
ashley page
janet tresman
insurance brokers
mediator & collaborative family law solicitor consultant now at hoffman-bokaei.co.uk
Commerce House 2a Litchfield Grove London N3 2TN Tel. 020 8349 5100
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FPS is a constituent of Liberal Judaism 21 Maple Street W1T 4BE 020 7580 1663 LJY Netzer (youth dept) 020 7631 0584
Lithos House, 307 Finchley Road London NW3 6EH Tel. 020 7433 2380 / jlt@hoffman-bokaei.co.uk