Shofar September 2012

September 2012

Shofar

‫שופר‬

the magazine of finchley progressive synagogue

A Sweet and Golden 5773!

From the Editor

From the Rabbi pat lehner

As I write this, the final preparation for the closing ceremony of the Olympics are under way. What a fantastic, surprising, even moving games we’ve had – it was just wonderful!

The commentators line up to review it all: the stunning achievements as well as the disappointments, the triumphs, the volunteers, the music and the fireworks. I find it an oddly fitting background for this issue of Shofar, as we collectively take a deep breath and step up to our very own review in the days of awe. As we look back over the last year, did we win gold medals? Did we have falls, get up, and try again? Did we defend and improve on our own record?

Here at Shofar, we have certainly seen a year full of exciting challenges and changes. It is with mixed feelings that I have to say goodbye to our designer Sam Lassman, who has been with us for the last three years: forever the hardworking and endlessly creative wizard behind the scenes. As sad as we are to lose him, we know that he is very happy at Vyclone, where he helped develop the new Vyclone App. So I’m very happy to introduce our new look Shofar and our new designer Lea Jagendorf. With an MA in Graphic Design from the Royal College of Art, Lea has worked on projects as varied as Gail’s bakery and RADA, and we are so proud to have her. We hope you like our new look, let us know what you think!

And finally, let me take this chance to wish you all a sweet new year – may it bring gold medals to all of us! Shana Tova.

On the cover: Zac Neuman is blowing the Shofar Copy deadline is the 10th of each month.

Please email all content to shofar@fps.org 2

rabbi rebecca qassim birk

beginnings This Shofar should arrive at the start of September as we gear up for our business end of the season as they say in the football world. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the cornerstones of the year and the tone we achieve influences the whole year. Our new year is an unusual one in terms of the seriousness and solemnity with which we greet it. It means something to begin with a pureness and wholeness of heart.

But that pureness and wholeness takes work. The liturgy of the High Holy Days so often moves and captures, and yet the theology is one that we don’t necessarily stand by the rest of the year - God being inclined favourably to us, good will to be granted to us, finding ourselves in the book of life. As we say in Avinu Malkeinu Be gracious to us and answer us for we have no good deeds worth mentioning.

This means we cast around for other things to consider for our welfare and our happiness.

Whether we look backwards to zachut avot or to the community with which we are connected: this might be the time we need and desire our communities most.

This year I wonder about a challenge which I’ll call the CHAI Challenge. My challenge is in the form of a number, 18 – which happens to spell Chai (Life) when written in Hebrew letters.

18 hours, to be specific, that each of us find this year to come to the synagogue (more than we already do!). There is much to choose from.

Learning, be it body (pilates) or soul (religion and science with Professor Adrian Lister), skills and creativity (singing and music), prayer (services), or simply to connect with life inside

our synagogue (everything else, perhaps Café Thursday or Book club?).

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the cornerstones of the year and the tone we achieve influences the whole year.

We are pouring energy and attention into our music, already a strong point of FPS, but set to be more so with Franklyn’s Gareth Malone style choir and even more music to spill over from Shabbat Resouled and Shabbat B’Yachad into other times in synagogue. Social Action with Homeless Shelter will be back in January, along with possible JCORE initiatives so our synagogue offers something to refugees and Asylum seekers. Mitzvah Day, Nursery initiative, Café Thursday, Shabbat morning study, discussion and prayer.

This is a way to live into our souls, be who we want to be and ask for and receive the good will we deserve and need.

May it truly be a good year.

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From the Chair

In this issue... laura lassman

HIGH HOLYDAYS Family Education Day FPS

WHO’S WHO

It is the time of year when we reflect on the past twelve months and resolve to do better in the next twelve. In keeping with that spirit of reflection, the FPS Executive has been identifying areas for improvement. We have set up a new structure and hope that this will enhance the quality of leadership, decisionmaking and support for all that happens at FPS. Each member of the Executive has taken responsibility for an area of synagogue life and will work with a nominated Council member and key volunteers to ensure that we have good lines of communication, joined up thinking, high standards and action. Hopefully, this will also make it easier for people to share the load and support our Rabbi and professional staff.

We are aiming for collective responsibility and team effort to keep the community satisfied which would not be possible without the support of the many wonderful volunteers who give of their time, energy and commitment.

Worship Joan Shopper (Vice Chair); Richard Greene (Council) With responsibility for Beit Tefillah; HHD; Festivals; Shabbat; Mitzvot; Kiddushim Education Laura Lassman (Chair); Louise Gellman & Adrian Lister (Council) With responsibility for Adult Education, Ivriah, Youth Club, Twinning, Chaverim Community David Aarons (Vice Chair); Corinne Oppenheimer & Jacquie Fawcett (Council) With responsibility for Membership, Events Plus, Café Thursday, Social Action Finance Martin Silk & Richard Kravetz (Treasurers); Karen Goodman (Council) With responsibility for Accounts, Budgets, Fund raising, Gift Aid, Hire & charging Operations David Pelham (Hon Secretary) With responsibility for Office, Premises, IT, Security, External relations Communications Elliott Karstadt (Council) from October 2012 With responsibility for Shofar, Website, Newsletter, Brochure, Calendar

5773

Meet RoshHashanah ready

prepare together as a family and

community for the Tishri festivals and ah Making, HHD Learning, Singi ng, Honey Tasting and Bees, Rosh Hash anah Seder lunch, Yoga for Spirits.... the NewYear : StoryTelling, Kipp

Preparingfor for the Preparing theReal RealThing!

Thing!

9 September 2012@ FPS Saturday 8 September@FPS, 5-8pm

10-2pm £10which a family Please look out for the HHD booklet, contains all the information on the HHD Appeal and an important letter from Beit Tefillah.

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Set point!

Arts at FPS lionel lassman & darren beach

top five greatest ever jewish olympians

golds in his debut games at Mexico in 1968, and he is quite comfortably the most successful Jewish Olympian ever.

Introducing Top Five Dick Levy, Jack Munday and Derrick Zimmerman and their wives, Stella, Blanche and Sally were all stalwarts of the Chandos Lawn Tennis Club in Golders Green. They were also all keen contract bridge players and members of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue at St John’s Wood. Since they were all living in Finchley and Mill Hill, they decided to set up a Liberal congregation in Finchley as a satellite of LJS, with the blessing of Rabbi Leslie Edgar, its senior minister. That was in July 1953. After years in a wilderness of church halls, rooms in Borough libraries and private homes, in 1962 they were able to build our present synagogue, coincidentally on a disused tennis court in Hutton Grove.

Stella and Blanche were sisters and Blanche, the only survivor, now lives in Edinburgh near her daughter. Dick was a director of Deeko and kept the synagogue supplied with doyleys and banqueting roll, Jack was an accountant and our first treasurer and Derrick, a fireman in the second world war, was employed by Geographia.

2. irena szewinska (poland, 1964-76, athletics)

Born Irena Kirzenstein in Leningrad, Szewinska’s long career encompassed four Olympics, her three gold medals ranging from the 1964 sprint relay as a teenager, to a 400m triumph and a world record at the age of 30 in Montreal in 1976.

3. harold abrahams (great britain, 1924, athletics)

Best-known for being the subject of the film ‘Chariots of Fire’, Abrahams was the Bedfordborn son of a Polish refugee who won a celebrated 100m gold in Paris in 1924.

4. gyorgy karpati (hungary, 1952-64, water polo)

Karpati won gold as part of Hungary’s legendary team in three separate Olympics, including the famous ‘Blood in the Water’ final clash with the Soviet Union in 1956 just weeks after Budapest had fallen.

5. gal fridman (israel, 1996-2004, sailing)

This issue, we feature...

Top Five Greatest ever Jewish Olympians

Fridman remains the only Israeli Olympian to win gold, his 2004 windsurfing triumph following on from his bronze in Atlanta.

1. mark spitz (usa, 1968-72, swimming)

honourable mentions:

Mark ‘the Shark’ Spitz won seven gold medals in Munich in 1972 – a tally that was, until Michael Phelps, the biggest haul anyone had ever achieved in one games - and set a new world record in each of them. Add in two more

Dara Torres (USA, 1984-2008, swimming) Carina Benninga (Netherlands, 1984-92, hockey) Esther Roth (Israel, 1972-1976, athletics) Nicolas Massu (Chile, 2000-08, tennis) Aly Raisman (USA, 2012, gymnastics)

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curtain up!

11 November 2012, 7:30 pm | Sunshine

Lighting designer Jacqui Leigh, former head of the Technical Theatre Department at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, will be our guest speaker on the subject of Lighting in the Theatre.

The play for discussion on 17 October is The Last of the Haussmans at the Lyttelton. Note that it closes on 11 October. Also note that a live performance from the National Theatre will be shown at the Phoenix Cinema on 11 October.

Curtain Up! might be just what all you theatre lovers out there are looking for If you like talking and thinking about the performances you’ve recently seen, why not come to our next meeting? For details contact Elaine on 0208 445 8159

Director Istvan Szabo’s Sunshine is an epic tale that follows the Hungarian Jewish family the Sonnenscheins through five generations. It spans more than 100 years, from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s, exploring the history, politics, world wars, social diaspora, and economic shifts that influence and change them during that period. Beginning with Emmanuel Sonnenschein, the film follows the lineage from his son Ignaz (Ralph Fiennes), a political conservative loyal to the Hungarian Republic, to Ignaz’s son Adam (also played by Fiennes), an olympic fencer who is victimized by the Nazi genocide, to Adam’s son Ivan (Fiennes again), a member of the Hungarian communist regime who manages to divorce himself from it and find freedom. A signature snapshot technique is used in the film to round out each major chapter or event. It is a beautiful film with easy transitions, dramatic scenery and costumes, and admirable performances, Themes of family, history, and Hungarian pride resonate far beyond the big screen.

Starring Ralph Fiennes, Jennifer Ehle, Rachel Weisz, William Hurt, Deborah Unger, Molly Parker, Rosemary Harris, John Neville, David De Keyser, Mark Strong, Miriam Margolyes, James Frain.

the screen on the grove 14 October 2012, 7:30 pm | The Browning Version The Browning Version has recently been presented in the West End in a superb revival and was the topic of a Curtain Up discussion.

Written as a short, one act play, it may well be the finest work by playwright Terence Rattigan.

When the decision was made in 1951 to create a full length film version with Michael Redgrave in the lead, Rattigan was asked to extend the play. He agreed to do so and the result is one of the great British films of all time. Whether you saw the West End production or not, it will be fascinating to see how Rattigan expanded his masterpiece so successfully.

coming up:

2 December 2012. 7:30pm | The Goodbye Girl 6 January 2012, 7:30pm | Crossing Delancy

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Beit Tefillah

Beit Knesset services at fps

services - september

cafe thursday

Every Thursday @12.30pm

next meeting is scheduled for 19 September.

Please see details on page 7

Saturday 1 September

B’Yachad Family Shabbat Morning Bar mitzvah of Gideon Liebowitz

yoga

open mic night

The next Open Mic Night will be on 21 October

Friday 7 September

Kabbalat Shabbat

Saturday 8 September

Shabbat Morning Service Bar Mitzvah of Jacob O’Donnell

Monday @7.oopm Tuesday @7.30pm Contact Richard on 020 8349 9602

Friday 14 September

Family Service

Saturday 15 September

Shabbat Morning Service

Sunday 16 September

Erev Rosh Hashanah

Monday 17 September

Rosh Hashanah

Friday 21 September

Shabbat Resouled

Wednesday 12 September @8.00pm, for details please call Sheila on 020 8445 3284 We are reading ‘The Sense of an Ending’ by Julian Barnes

Saturday 22 September

Shabbat Shuvah

film club

Tuesday 25 September

Kol Nidre

Wednesday 26 September

Yom Kippur

Friday 28 September

Kabbalat Shabbat

Saturday 29 September

Shabbat Morning Service

Monday 1 October

Succot

simchat torah invitation

Sunday 7 October at 6.30pm & Monday 8 October at 11am Danny Rich & Laura Lassman will be Chatan Torah (reading the last verses of Deuteronomy/Devarim) and Kallat Torah (reading the first verses of Genesis/Bereshit) and hosting Kiddush in celebration of the festival and their recent wedding.

Everyone is invited to join them

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what’s happening at fps

bridge club

Mondays @ 8.00pm in the Small Hall

book club

Sunday 14 October @7.30pm, ‘The Browning Version’. Please see details on page 7 curtain up!

Meetings for Curtain Up! are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm, and the

fps breakfast shiurim

Saturday 15 September 2012 – 8.45am Levi Hall is an Interfaith Minister, ordained in 2011. Levi is an ex-offender who now works with potential offenders and people in prison, helping them in their process of rehabilitation.

He is part of the Forgiveness Project in which offenders and their victims meet together in an open environment as they strive to overcome their pain.

Levi will talk about his life and how he has been inspired to help both perpetrators and victims.

For details on the October & November programme, please call the office or see next month’s Shofar.

people we warmly welcome new members

our sincerest condolences

Lea Muehlstein Jacqui & Lewis Marshom Alan & Lina Milner with daughter Maya

To the family of Michael Sturley And to the family of Marjorie (Midge) Bloom We wish their families long life.

congratulations and mazal tov

To the family of Gideon Liebowitz on his Bar Mitzvah And to the family of Jacob O’Donnell on his Bar Mitzvah To Monika Kocis and Ofer Lupo on their recent wedding

The winners of the 50/50 Draw in July were 1st 2nd 3rd

Jacob Kinchin Smith Barbara Shulman Sarah Aldridge

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MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS ROSH HASHANAH

Beit Midrash learning at fps beit midrash in autumn:

7 October – 6 December with half-term 1 November cafe ivriah

An informal and lively Saturday morning chat over coffee for Ivriah parents and others. With the new earlier start to Ivriah, Café Ivriah will now offer coffee from 09.30am and discussion from 09.45-10.45am.

22 September – What do the High Holydays mean to us?

29 September - Open discussion and ideas for the coming term beit midrash

Our flagship evening of Learning has an outstanding programme for this term.

On Thursday evenings 4, 11, 18, 25 October, 7.30-9.30pm (note new time) we will offer: Science and Religion – conflict or compromise? Led by Adrian Lister, formerly Professor of Biology at University College London and now a Research Leader at the Natural History Museum.

Adult Bat Mitzvah class (alternate weeks).

Led by Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk Pilates for all. Led by an experienced trainer Tea, coffee and cake break shared by all classes Entrance is free with voluntary donation to cover the cost of tea and coffee. Pilates is charged at £40 for the four sessions.

Important: If you wish to attend October Beit Midrash, please inform Adrian Lister on AdrianLister@blueyonder.co.uk or via the synagogue office by 15 September, indicating which sessions you are interested in. This information is necessary to gauge numbers and arrange the timetable to suit as many members as possible. lunch & learn

Starts on 3 October until 5 December with half-term 31 October.

At Jewish Care we work closely with clients and their families to make sure that we do everything in our power to ensure they get the care and support they need. That’s why, when Sharon contacted us about her mother Renée, who was showing signs of dementia, we made sure that we were there for them every step of the way.

Tohu Vavohu Formless and void (Gen 1: 2): A Rabbinic perspective on evolution. Led by Rabbi Danny Rich, Chief Executive of Liberal Judaism.

Unable to continue caring for Renée at home, Sharon contacted our helpline and after hearing about the different services we provide, was then contacted by one of our social workers. He told Sharon about the different ways we could support them. Sharon was also put in touch with our family carers’ team, where she received both practical and emotional support to help her come to terms with her mum’s dementia. Renée attended one of our three day centres for people with dementia before eventually moving into one of our care homes, where she happily lives.

Beginners’ Hebrew Advanced Hebrew Delving into Judaism (alternate weeks), for conversion students and others. Led by Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk

FPS members Dylan and Yussuf playing for the Olympic torch in Hendon as part of the Barnet Youth Brass Band

We couldn’t provide all these vital services to people like Sharon and Renée without your support.

Please make a donation today by calling 020 8922 2600 or donating online at www.jewishcare.org/donate

Charity Reg No. 802559

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Highlights sheila king lassman for the president’s fund the president’s fund

Helping FPS youngsters for three decades There are many wonderful opportunities for young members in Liberal communities: awayweekends, Kadimah Summer Camp, Spring Camp, Kayyitz tour of Jewish Europe, Israel summer tour, the Sh’nat (year) programme and leadership seminars. The cost of travel, education and security is not cheap and the FPS President’s Fund was set up to help our youngsters benefit, ensuring that no-one is denied the opportunity through financial pressures.

With investment returns suffering in the current economic climate, we must increase the reserves in order to continue this support for members.

We are thrilled that our fund-raising efforts this year will begin with a performance by Daniel Cainer who has delighted audiences in Edinburgh, New York and our own Biennial Conference.

Daniel is a storyteller with a difference. He is a truly Jewish artist, drawing his audience into his world through a natural intimacy that touches the heart. He tells the story of his own life, and those of people he knows, in song and verse. These sometimes bizarre – but always true – stories have audiences chuckling, laughing and, sometimes, crying.

If you can’t make it to the concert, please consider making a donation to the President’s Fund as part of the High Holyday appeal. We all benefit from the Jewish continuity that is underpinned by such experiences.

At FPS on Saturday 6 October at 7.30pm In aid of the President’s Fund Tickets: £15.00 in advance; £20.00 at the door Refreshments: Cheese and Wine included

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daniela rotbande

welcome back to ivriah!

I hope you had a great summer and are ready to come back full of energy and enthusiasm. We’ve been working on our new Project through the summer and can’t wait to start the new academic year.

The Family Education Day, on Saturday 8th September, will be an opportunity for all FPS families to meet and learn together. There will be a wide range of sessions to choose from for the different generations of synagogue members to learn together and prepare for Tishri Season.

A lot of people from the community are involved in developing the new face of Ivriah, and I would love to include even more of you.

Let me know if you think you can help – there are lots of different ways to support us without necessarily being committed on a regular basis.

I would like to give a warm welcome to Franklin to our Ivriah team. Kita Vav and Zain will have the opportunity to learn Prayer Book Hebrew with him. He will be with Ivriah until 10.45, leaving just in time to play in the service.

Hannah Kingston, now a student Rabbi, will be working with us as well, teaching and supporting all different areas, so we will benefit from her wide range of skills and enthusiasm for Jewish Education.

I would also like to welcome Jonty, Emma, Sarah and Tamara as our new young Ivriah teachers. Last year they were volunteers and did a fantastic job as teacher assistants, now they will be back as co-teachers in our team.

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A lot of people from the community are involved in developing the new face of Ivriah, and I would love to include even more of you.

The main Ivriah classes happen on Saturday morning from 9.30am to 12.20pm, when we join the community for final blessing and Kiddush. There is an alternative class for Kita Vav and Zain on Friday afternoon (from 4.30pm leading to Friday night service) for those unable to attend Saturday sessions. KT group will meet on Sunday, usually in the afternoon.

Wishing all FPS families Shanah Tova U’Metukah!

ivriah calendar

september at ivriah Saturday 8 September – 5.00 to 8.30pm Family Education Day + Rosh Hashana seder tea and Havdalah Launch of the new KT programme, with Elliot and Hannah Friday 21 September – from 4.30pm First Day of Friday Ivriah, followed by Friday night service Saturday 22 September – from 9.30am First Day of Shabbat Ivriah Breakfast with Kita Vav Parents – from 9.45 to 10.45am, with Rabbi Rebecca and Daniela Friday 28 September – from 4.30pm First Day of Friday Ivriah, followed by Friday night service

finchley youth club

Come and get involved in a brand new youth club! Be part of the FPS youth revolution!

Saturday 8 September 4.00pm (Year 10-13) 5.00 – 8.30pm (Years 2-6) Saturday 22 September 5.00 – 7.00pm (years 2-6) Our new Youth Worker, Sam Grant, will be running youth club with our leaders to create something that combines the best of FPS and LJY.

Saturday 29 September – from 9.30am Shabbat Ivriah Sunday 30 September – from 4.00pm Sukkah building + Big Bagel

rikud

Saturdays 3.30-5.30 Dance your shoes off!

Contact Denny Kingston on 020 8482 2149

mini-rikud Saturdays 12.30-2.30 Bring a packed lunch!

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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 Tefillha, Contact, Education, Membership, Events Plus, Babies & Toddlers and Play & Learn, B’nei Mitzvah, Hospitality Group, Security.

Charity Number: 1071040 Rabbi: Rebecca Qassim Birk rabbi@fps.org / 07939 227480

We are represented on the Board of Deputies and Liberal Judaism. For further information, please call the office.

Emeritus Rabbi: Dr Frank Hellner

shofar editor

Synagogue Manager: Pauline Gusack pauline@fps.org

Pat Lehner shofar@fps.org

Community Manager: Angela Wharton angela@fps.org

Editorial assistant Sarah Aldridge

executive

Chair: Laura Lassman chair@fps.org / 07957 545 569

FPS is a constituent of Liberal Judaism 21 Maple Street W1T 4BE 020 7580 1663 LJY Netzer (youth dept) 020 7631 0584

Vice-Chair: Joan Shopper & David Aarons 01582 792 959 Treasurer: Richard Kravetz 020 8349 9602 Honorary Secretary: David Pelham 020 8445 8111

ashley page insurance brokers

janet tresman mediator & collaborative family law specialist solicitor

Commerce House 2a Litchfield Grove London N3 2TN

consultant at newman law solicitors

Tel. 020 8349 5100

Tel. 020 8349 2655

10 Hendon Lane Finchley, London N3 1TR

janettresman@newmanlaw.co.uk

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