LJ Today November/December 2005

November/December 2005

VOL. XXXII No. 6

ljtoday

Picture: John Rifkin

Burial of non-Jews: Council expected to vote at December meeting

Rabbis pay tribute to John Rayner Rabbi John D Rayner CBE, much loved teacher and honorary life president of Liberal Judaism, died in September aged 81.

Rabbi Rayner was the primary liturgist for the Liberal movement. He was also a vice-president of Leo Baeck College and a former chairman of the Council of Reform and Liberal Rabbis.

An obituary and a series of appreciations appear on pages 6 and 7.

Zecher tzaddik livrahchah

In this issue: Same-sex commitment ceremonies

page 2

Walter Wolfgang, a true Liberal Jew

page 2

New Liberal Judaism posts

page 3

Julia Neuberger on terrorism laws

page 5

Chanukkah versus Christmas

page 10

Liberal Judaism’s Council members are expected to vote next month on the burial of non-Jews in Jewish cemeteries.

At a meeting in September, members were presented with a list of ten resolutions made by the Rabbinic Conference in connection with the issue. These included a recommendation that cemeteries be created where Jews might be buried with their non-Jewish spouses or partners – regardless of gender – and, where appropriate, their children.

The principle behind the resolutions was stated thus: ‘Liberal Judaism views as correct, both for ethical and practical reasons, the principle that those who were united in life should not be forcibly separated in death.’

Following a lengthy debate, it was decided that individual congregations would consider the issue themselves, perhaps in a rabbi-led discussion, with the aim that a vote would be taken at the next Council meeting.

Earlier, Rabbi Mark Solomon, of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, had taken those present through his discussion paper, which examined traditional and progressive halachah and practice, as well as questions regarding the use of a mixed-faith burial ground.

If the principle is accepted, it is hoped that the policy can be instituted in the Liberal movement’s section of Edgwarebury cemetery, and at

cemeteries belonging to Liberal communities outside London.

Rabbi Danny Rich said after the Council meeting that there had been ‘a healthy difference of opinion’.

He added: ‘Liberal Judaism at the Montagu Centre exists to serve its constituents, and it is right and proper that a recommendation by the Rabbinic Conference and Officers is thoroughly debated in both principle and practice by both the Council and, where appropriate, constituent synagogues.

‘I am delighted that the Council, whilst being generally sympathetic to the principle, asked to take this back to its constituents. There is, in any case, of course, still work to be done on some of the details.’

During the meeting, Rabbi Solomon pointed out that the Rabbinic Conference had rejected the idea of a separate section of cemetery, separated by a hedge, as a ‘mixedfaith’ burial ground, as it would suggest that two different classes of people were being buried.

He also said that because in-depth burial – where the spouse or partner who dies first is buried in a lower grave – is recommended to save space, burial of non-Jewish partners or spouses would not shorten the useful life of cemeteries.

Liberal Judaism discussion paper, page 3

Page 2 LJ Today

November/December 2005

Ground-breaking publications on same-sex relationships When the new Civil Partnership Law comes into force on 5th December, Liberal Judaism will be in a unique position to meet the needs of lesbian and gay people.

The first liturgy for Same-Sex Commitment Ceremonies published by a religious organisation in this country, entitled Covenant of Love, a Service of Commitment for Same-Sex Couples, will be launched to coincide with the law, together with a new leaflet, entitled Lesbian and Gay Jews and Same-Sex Relationships, which explains Liberal Judaism’s approach.

The new liturgy is the product of a three-year process that began with the

Rabbinic Conference Working Party on Same-Sex Commitment Ceremonies, chaired by Rabbi Danny Rich, and ended with Liberal Judaism Council approval.

Published in the form of a booklet, it provides an anthology of creative materials alongside a Service of Commitment – an excellent resource for couples and rabbis planning a ceremony.

Congregations will receive copies of the leaflet and booklet as soon as they have been published. A review of both publications will appear in the January/ February issue of LJ Today.

Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Chair, Publications Action Group

Siyyum, hear’em Choir and string trio at Birmingham ceremony Birmingham Progressive Synagogue held a particularly musical and joyous siyyum, a ceremony in celebration of the completion of repairs to its Sifrei Torah, on Sunday 18th September. BPS’s choir, as well as a string trio made up of members of the congregation, helped to make sure the occasion was really memorable.

A siyyum is rare, especially in the Liberal community, and this was the first to be held in Birmingham’s 70-year history. There was a large congregation of members and guests.

In an address, Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi explained the background to the occasion. ‘It has been a long journey to this point. A few years ago, as we were preparing for our new building, it became clear that the two scrolls we used then were both in need of repair.

One was faded so that it was hard to read. And I kept noticing mistakes in the other, so that I feared there must be many more.

‘I contacted Vivian Solomon, a sofer and an old friend, and, as I discovered later, also the teacher of our sofer, Marc Michaels. He found a rabbi to start the work of repair, but sadly the rabbi died before the work was completed. The rabbi’s son continued the work and it was eventually completed. Then it was time for the next scroll and we were advised that the best way to find the mistakes was a computer scan. Vivian

Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi and the sofer, Marc Michaels, with the restored scroll

was just sorting this out when he, too, passed away.

‘Another sofer advised us that there were too many mistakes to make repair worthwhile. But then Marc came to the rescue and almost literally picked up the pieces. The task turned out to be much larger than it had seemed at first, but Marc persisted, and we are immensely grateful to him.’

As members of the synagogue completed the final letters at the ceremony, the youngest children from cheder took part – and made everyone smile – by holding up a poster they had made themselves of the appropriate letter as it was being completed on the bimah.

Marc Michaels is the only sofer to the Progresive community, and probably the only Progressive sofer in Europe. He has an interesting website at www.bayit02.freeserve.co.uk

Walter Wolfgang: a Liberal Jew passionate about free speech Far from glorying in the attention he has received, Walter Wolfgang is still intent on getting his message across.

The Liberal Jewish Synagogue member spent days in the national media spotlight after being manhandled out of a room where Jack Straw was speaking. The Foreign Secretary was defending Britain’s involvement in Iraq when Wolfgang shouted out ‘nonsense’.

But the 82-year-old tells LJ Today that lack of free speech is what matters, rather than his feelings about how he was treated. ‘The issue is that discussion is stifled at the Labour Party conference. It is more important than what happened to me. A political party has to look at the outside world.’

A vice-president of CND, vicechairman of Labour CND and a party member for 57 years, Wolfgang fled Frankfurt in 1937. His parents followed him to Britain, separately, in 1939, his father having been a prisoner in Buchenwald.

‘My experiences in Germany have shown me that public policy is important for people,’ says Wolfgang, a regular worshipper at the LJS since the 1950s. ‘My beliefs are based on my Jewish beliefs and my Liberal Jewish beliefs.’

This month, the government plans to introduce more anti-terrorism legislation, which many consider a danger to free speech. On page 5, Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger comments on the moral risks attached to such legislation.

A message of thanks Jane Rayner and family are deeply grateful for all the messages of sympathy and the expressions of appreciation for John’s life. These have been so numerous that it is impossible for them to be answered individually, but each one of them is most sincerely valued.

November/December 2005

Page 3 LJ Today

Burial of non-Jews in a Jewish cemetery Our first chaplain Excerpts from a Liberal Judaism discussion paper written

by Rabbi Mark Solomon The only classical rabbinic passage on this subject can be understood to state that non-Jews may be buried with Jews.

The reasoning given in most later sources for a contrary interpretation, which classes non-Jews ipso facto as ‘wicked’ and unfit to be buried beside Jews, is both irrational and repugnant to Progressive Judaism.

The famous baraita in Gittin 61a states: ‘We support the poor among the gentiles with the poor of Israel, and visit the sick of the gentiles with the sick of Israel, and bury the dead of the gentiles with the dead of Israel, for the sake of the ways of peace.’

Rashi comments on the words Im metey Yisrael (‘with the dead of Israel’), ‘Not in Jewish graves, but we occupy ourselves with them if we find them slain together with Jews.’

Rabbenu Nissim Gerondi (RaN) supplies a line of reasoning in support of Rashi’s qualification: ‘Rashi explained [it to mean] that if we find them slain with Jewish dead, but this is not necessarily so, for it is also the case that if dead heathens only are found that we occupy ourselves with them for the sake of peace … nevertheless, this does not mean that they are buried alongside Jews, since one does not bury a wicked person beside a righteous person, but it means [only] that we occupy ourselves with them.”

Over the centuries it became established Jewish practice for each community to acquire a cemetery of its own, and it came to be regarded as prohibited for non-Jews to be buried therein.

When we look at Progressive halachah and practice, we find that congregations

of Berlin (1883), Leipzig (1884) and Dresden (1897) passed resolutions permitting the non-Jewish parties in a mixed marriage to be buried in the Jewish cemetery.

Kaufmann Kohler issued rulings in 1914, 1916 (with Jacob Lauterbach) and 1919 that recognition of the civil marriage bond between a Jew and a non-Jew entailed the right of the nonJewish partner to be buried in their spouse’s plot in the Jewish cemetery. He justified this ruling with the contention that the halakhah does not recognise the sanctity of the cemetery as a whole, but only of each individual plot in which a Jew is buried.

Rabbi Solomon Freehof substantially concurs with Kohler’s reasoning and fleshes it out with extensive halakhic detail, acknowledging the sanctity of the Jewish cemetery as a matter of minhag, but upholding the older halakhic status of the private family burial plot. He concludes that burial of non-Jewish relatives should be allowed without restriction within a family plot, but that as regards individual graves in a row, non-Jews should not be buried beside Jews unrelated to them, but could be buried in a special section designated for the purpose.

Within our own movement, the longstanding but tacit policy of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue has been that nonJewish spouses (and possibly other family members) could be buried at Pound Lane subject to the discretion of the senior rabbi. No special section has ever been set aside for such burials. The sentiment behind this policy has been that those who were together in life should not be forcibly separated in death.

gets to work

Rabbi Melinda Michelson-Carr began work in September as the first Liberal Judaism chaplain, providing a Liberal Jewish voice and offering pastoral, spiritual and educational support in a number of contexts.

She has also taken up the post of Jewish chaplain to Barts and The London NHS Trust, where she makes a contribution within a multi-faith chaplaincy team. This appointment was made by the trust itself.

Rabbi Michelson-Carr said: ‘I will be working with students, schools, hospitals and hospices, retirement and care homes and prisons. I shall also be Progressive chaplain at North London Hospice, which was the first multi-faith hospice in Europe and is well known for offering respectful, holistic care.’

She added: ‘Multi-faith chaplaincy is about mutual respect, understanding and learning from one another.

Liberal Judaism is committed to these ideals and to putting these values into practice.’

Rabbi Michelson-Carr, who is the first Progressive rabbi to hold an MA in healthcare chaplaincy, teaches practical rabbinics at the Leo Baeck College-Centre for Jewish Education.

She was ordained in 1996 and was rabbi at both Ealing Liberal Synagogue and the Progressive Jewish Community of East Anglia.

Rabbi Danny Rich, chief executive of Liberal Judaism, said of the appointment: ‘This is another exciting initiative, which places Liberal Judaism at the very core of the work which is required in Anglo-Jewry – on this occasion particularly with students.’

New faces at the Montagu Centre Cara Wides, 28, started work in September as Liberal Judaism’s new communications and PR officer. She writes: ‘My background is in Reform Judaism, but Liberal Jewish values are very similar to my own. After gaining my English degree in 1999, I did a work placement at the Jewish News, followed by a journalism course at Harlow College.

‘I look forward to getting Liberal Judaism as much media coverage as possible. I am here to help you with your PR, so do get in touch.’

Also in September, Elvira Museri was appointed as executive assistant to Rabbi Danny Rich. Elvira has spent the past three years working within the Jewish community in her native Argentina.

Monique Blake, up until now PA to Rabbi Rich, will be working with Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, outreach director, supporting him in the development of Liberal Judaism’s congregations across the UK and Europe, in addition to continuing with all the other aspects of her work.

Cara Wides: new PR officer

November/December 2005

Page 4 LJ Today

Liberally Speaking In the last edition, Henry Gee expressed a view that Jewish terrorists are most likely to emerge from converts to orthodox Judaism. Nonsense, says Geoffrey-Ben Nathan, who adds that comparing orthodox Judaism to radical Islam is a forced and pointless exercise Last issue’s Liberally Speaking was anything but. Henry Gee saw a parallel between radical Islam and orthodox Judaism. The cause of Liberal Judaism was not advanced by this comparison.

Affiliated as I am to both Liberal and orthodox synagogues, I was very disappointed.

His argument seemed to be that Jewish terrorists are most likely to emerge from converts to orthodox Judaism. Why? Because everybody knows that many Islamic terrorists have been converts and, in Henry’s eyes, radical Islam and orthodox Judaism have much in common.

But why, I wonder, was it just orthodox Judaism? Surely, if converts exhibit exaggerated zeal, they’ll do so in whatever they are converting to, including Liberal Judaism.

Maybe we are to infer that Liberal Judaism is so secular-friendly that it defies all forms of extremism. Is Liberal Judaism so wishy-washy that it is nothing but a great common platitude?

Is Liberal Judaism devoid of all halacha?

Is it ish ha-yashar be-enav ya-aseh – everyone just does whatever he thinks fit? (Judg. 21:25) Is it impossible in Liberal Judaism to desecrate God’s name (chillul hashem)? Or, to give up one’s life for one’s Jewish beliefs (kiddush ha-shem)? If Henry believes this of Liberal Judaism, he should come out and say so. I wonder how many Liberal rabbis would concur.

It also seems to me that in comparing radical Islam with orthodox Judaism, the writer has fallen foul of what has been called ‘the doctrine of moral equivalence’.

This is not so much a doctrine as a technique, a journalistic device.

It works like this: a reporter always reports the side he or she likes favourably. But sometimes the favoured side behaves ‘badly’. The unfavoured side is then in danger of looking good.

The trick then is to engage in a damagelimitation exercise. In the name of balance, fairness and impartiality, the

Machzor used across Europe As well as being used at services across Britain, Liberal Judaism’s Machzor Ruach Chadashah was used in October at services held by Progressive communities in Dublin, Luxembourg, Belgium and Poland, where it was translated into Polish for a new community in Warsaw.

The Or Chadash Liberal Jewish Community of Luxembourg has now fully affiliated to Liberal Judaism.

The Kaufmann Memorial Lecture

Geoffrey Ben-Nathan: disappointment

negative story is reported in such a way that the viewer, listener or reader is encouraged to believe that both parties involved have been equally bad – in moral terms.

It seems to me that orthodox Judaism was presented, consciously or unconsciously, in precisely this way by last issue’s author.

Henry concluded his piece: ‘It is the converts to religious orthodoxy of whom we must beware – and that applies as much to Judaism as it does to Islam.’

Absolute nonsense. How many suicide bombers have been created among, and I quote his words, ‘once-secular British Jews who see the light at an ultraorthodox yeshiva in Israel’? Not one.

In comparing radical Islam with orthodox Judaism, I see weighing on the scales of terrorism one bucket full of water and another with but a few drops.

These few drops are, God knows, a few drops too many.

Radical Islam and orthodox Judaism are qualitatively different. There really is no comparison. Nor does anyone gain from forcing one – least of all Liberal Jews.

Geoffrey Ben-Nathan is president of Bedfordshire Progressive Synagogue (Rodef Shalom)

Liberally Speaking is an opportunity for a Liberal Jew to air a view or take a stand, or share ideas about one or more aspects of Jewish life. If you are interested in writing for this column, please email the editor: ljtodayeditor@liberaljudaism.org

This year’s fundraising event for Leo Baeck College is on Thursday 1st December, at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue. There will be a reception at 6.30pm, followed by dinner and lecture.

Simon Goldhill, professor of Greek literature and culture at King’s College, Cambridge, will speak on ‘What Christians Don’t Do’. Hugh Williamson, regius professor of Hebrew at Christ Church, Oxford, will respond on the issues raised.

There will be an appeal on the evening for the Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet Rabbinic Student Scholarship Fund.

Details from Arlene Rose: tel 020 8349 5608 or email arlene.rose@lbc-cje.ac.uk

Honorary degree for Magonet In honour of Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet’s retirement as principal of Leo Baeck College-Centre for Jewish Education, the Open University is to award him the degree of Doctor of the University.

The degree will be presented in January.

Warm tribute to Edie Noble Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein gave a moving address at the funeral of Edie Noble, honorary life president of the Association of Jewish Women’s Organisations and a past president of the League of Jewish Women, who died in August aged 94.

He recalled her ‘brilliant mind, her ability as a public speaker, and her great humility and compassion’. Rabbi Goldstein added: ‘Though she was such a proud Liberal Jewess, serving on the council of the South London Liberal Synagogue, she was at ease with all Jews and I know is admired by all shades of Judaism.’ Edie Noble was buried beside Charlie, her husband of 64 years.

November/December 2005

Page 5 LJ Today

We need stronger laws to stop terrorists, but we must not lash out Julia Neuberger says security fears must not lead us to trample on human rights In August, in a speech reflecting upon July’s London bombings, Tony Blair said: ‘The rules of the game are changing.’ One felt both human sympathy, and a sense of outrage at his lack of clarity, and moral principle.

Terrorist attacks often leave politicians, and governments, feeling powerless. Their tendency is to overreact, to show that they are doing something. But that in itself is fraught with danger. For the trouble with legislating on terrorism is that we often end up with a response that feeds the very beast one is trying to tame. Lord Mayhew, the former Northern Ireland secretary, made that clear in a powerful speech in the spring. His comments on what we had fed in terms of anger by internment, and mistaken accusations, should make us pause for thought. Fear brings out the worst in us.

Yet the Prime Minister does not wish to see it. After the July bombings, the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, worked patiently to get a cross-party consensus on toughening legislation.

But Blair’s speech, and half thoughtthrough ideas spinning out of Downing Street, threaten that consensus. Many Labour and Conservative politicians, alongside Liberal Democrats, are privately nervous of extending police powers to hold suspects without charge beyond the present 14 days.

The police, we are told, need that extension because the evidence is vast and complex – but the first response to that should be an increase in police resources and technologies, not an instant and repressive extension of detention. The police, we are also told, wanted, or needed, a shoot-to-kill policy, though it was never debated.

But the tragic killing of one young Brazilian has already taken place because of police mistakes. Police and security services have to make their case very carefully; the duty of ordinary citizens, as well as

politicians, is to weigh risks and benefits, tried and tested freedoms against new fears and new realities.

For many of us, the case for an extension of holding suspects without charge for up to three months is simply not made. It is evidence, not the assertion that the police want it, that should convince us.

And therein lies the rub. When we are fearful, we lash out. It is easy to ask for extensions of powers. It is easy to attack the judges in the House of Lords who have so commendably and seriously protected our liberties and human rights against the executive. If, however, we end up holding as suspects without charge young Muslim men who turn out to be innocent, what will that do to relationships between Muslims and the police? And what will it say about the rest of us that we did not object?

And that is quite apart from the proposed new offence of glorifying terrorism, which will be hard to define and even harder to put into practice. It is right to plug loopholes in previous terror legislation – to add in acts preparatory to terrorism, indirect incitement to terrorism and training in the use of hazardous substances.

There is agreement on those. But glorifying terrorism? Who will define the terrorists? Was Begin a terrorist?

And would Jews in Britain who supported him have been charged under this legislation?

We do need stronger legislation. And to be able to deport people who preach hatred and terrorism, provided we can be sure they will not be tortured back home. But we also need – and we Jews should, above all, understand that – ways of reaching out to disaffected, radicalised young people, and a sense that we all have much to gain if we can heed the words of the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, and step back from a slide into ghettoisation and anger.

Inspiring evening as Patrons hear of innovative projects Set against the backdrop of the Thames, next to Tower Bridge and with the London Eye on the skyline, the second successful Council of Patrons event took place in September at the offices of Man Group, generously hosted by the chairman of the council, Stanley Fink.

At the informal and relaxed evening, Rabbi Danny Rich told guests of the innovative and exciting programmes that Liberal Judaism has embarked on and achieved in the past few years. Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, outreach director, had been helping to develop a community in Manchester, and had set himself the challenge that in a few years’ time he intends to be seeking funding for a Liberal Jewish synagogue and community centre in the North West of England.

Rabbi Shulamit Ambalu spoke of the diverse and developing inner-city North London Progressive Jewish Community of which she is minister, explaining how it has been able to develop and grow with the Patrons’ support. She described the funding as the safety net that holds her community together, providing them with the strength to begin their journey as a self- supporting part of Liberal Judaism. She inspired smiles of excitement as she said: ‘We are the future, this is the future.’

Matthew Winter, of Southgate Progressive Synagogue, and an active participant in LJY-Netzer, shared anecdotes of his time in Israel on the Schnat-Netzer programme, supported by the movement. As he neared the end of his speech, he discarded his notes, clearly caught up in emotion, and personally and sincerely thanked Liberal Judaism and its patrons for giving him an opportunity that had helped to shape him as a person and had offered him the chance to give back to Liberal Judaism.

In the words of Rabbi Rich, confirmed by Stanley Fink, ‘This is only the beginning...’

Zoe Cole

Spotlight on North London, page 9

November/December 2005

Page 6 LJ Today

John Rayner A towering Jewish intellect, For almost 40 years, Rabbi John Rayner was the foremost Progressive rabbi in the United Kingdom and Europe. His scholarship, penetrating intellect, wideranging writings, powerful oratory, clear expression of beliefs and principled integrity made him Progressive Judaism’s most respected and authoritative spokesman.

Born Hans Sigismund Rahmer, he came to England in August 1939, followed by his older sister, Erica, on one of the last Kindertransports. The last time he saw his parents was when he waved goodbye to them on the platform.

He was taken into the family of a Christian clergyman and educated at Durham School, where he excelled academically.

He won a scholarship to Cambridge, which he took up in 1947, after serving four years in the Durham Light Infantry and attaining the rank of captain.

Passing an optician’s shop called Rayner en route to the recruiting centre, he anglicised his surname accordingly.

In his six years at Cambridge, he read modern languages, philosophy, Hebrew and Aramaic, gaining a double first. His interest in Judaism had been stimulated at his Zionist school in Berlin. Already critical of orthodoxy, he found in Liberal Judaism that blend of rationality and spirituality, and a stress on ethics and principle rather than ritual and conformity, that appealed to his religious ideals.

In 1953 he was ordained into the Liberal Jewish ministry by its leader, Rabbi Israel Mattuck. His first pulpit was at the South London Liberal Synagogue.

Four years later, he was invited as associate minister to the Liberal Jewish Synagogue. Offered the post of senior minister in 1961, he insisted on first taking two years’ leave of absence for postgraduate study at Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati.

His sermons and lectures were models of clarity and concision; topical yet grounded in Jewish sources; passionate on occasion but always analytical and leavened with humour; respectful of contrary opinions but adamant in defence of humane values.

Together with numerous preaching and lecturing invitations, he served as chairman of the Rabbinic Conference of the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, chairman of the European Region of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, joint chairman of

the London Society of Jews and Christians, and was three times chairman of the Council of Reform and Liberal Rabbis.

Revered by his students at Leo Baeck College, where he lectured for over 35 years in liturgy and rabbinic literature, he was honorary director of studies and, from 1969, vice-president. It was due largely to his vision, energy and determination that a ramshackle training college for rabbis was turned into a serious academic establishment.

As well as writing numerous pamphlets and articles expounding Liberal Judaism, Rabbi Rayner was a major liturgist. Service of the Heart (1967), Gate of Repentance (1973) and Siddur Lev Chadash (1995), all co-edited with Rabbi Chaim Stern, were outstanding contributions to Progressive worship, combining traditional sources with contemporary material and blending Jewish particularism with universal concerns. With me he coauthored the ULPS Hagadah (1981) and The Jewish People (1987), Penguin’s much-reprinted standard text on the history and religion of Judaism.

Retirement in 1989 brought a cut to his workload, but not to the careful attention to be brought to each lesson, lecture, article and sermon. Modest, somewhat shy but always approachable and courteous, he could be impatiently critical of faulty theological reasoning, mispronounced Hebrew, incorrectly attributed talmudic sources or homiletic inadequacies.

He was appointed CBE in 1993 for interfaith work. Despite failing health following surgery this year, he celebrated his golden wedding and was working on the proofs of his latest book when he died.

He is survived by his wife, Jane, née Heilbronn, two sons, Jeremy and Ben, a daughter, Susan, and two grandchildren.

Rabbi David J Goldberg

Rabbi Dr Michael Shire writes: Rabbi John Rayner taught generations of rabbinic students rabbinic codes, liturgy and Progressive Jewish thought and practice. His mastery of rabbinic texts, his scholarship and precise, insightful mind provided the college with a towering and unsurpassed intellect. His prayer book revisions and translations, as in the 1967 Service of the Heart, were unique for their time in using common

English terms in translation, and deleting ‘thee’ and ‘thou’. He made significant alterations to the received Hebrew texts, drawing upon alternative and new renditions to create a firmer balance between particularism and universalism. He thereby provided a greater integrity and meaning of worship for Liberal Jews.

Rabbi Dr Sidney Brichto writes: Three weeks before his death, I went to see John. He told me that the cancer in his liver was growing and that he had been advised that his death was imminent. I had to control my feelings at the news. I asked him as he reflected on his life, what he felt was his greatest achievement. He replied that he hoped that he had done his work with integrity.

I told him what I felt it was: his courage in facing whatever life might bring and seeking to overcome the bad – as illustrated by the way he faced his illness and disability for the last two years; how he greeted everyone with a smiling face and looking at the bright side, taking the view that he was fortunate to be alive and things could be worse.

John was someone who believed that not only life was good but also that human beings were basically good, and he also believed in the power of reason to persuade others as to how to live. Others who had experienced what he had became cynics. He chose not to be one.

Rabbi Dr Frank Hellner writes: In the Memorial Service in Gate of Repentance, John wrote these words about others, but they are best applied to him: ‘Let us then strive to fulfil the promise that is in each of us, so that, generations hence it will be true to say of us: “The world is a little better because, for a brief space, they lived in it”’ It doesn’t require a generation for us to say: ‘Our world is a little better place because, for a brief space, John Rayner lived in it.’

Rabbi Dr Charles H Middleburgh writes: As a teacher, John was a nonpareil, for in spite of his enormous knowledge, and the awe engendered by his persona and reputation, his first and last goal was to encourage and educate and never to intimidate his students. Liberal Judaism has been truly blessed for nearly 60 years by the presence of a rabbi whose

November/December 2005

Page 7 LJ Today

and a man of the highest integrity

Picture: Sidney Harris

Rosita Rosenberg writes: I first met John Rayner in the early 1950s, both through the Youth Section of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJYS) and the South London Liberal Synagogue, where he was appointed as minister in 1953. There was no doubt, then, but that this shy young man, whose intellect and integrity shone through, was destined to be a great leader, scholar and teacher of Liberal Judaism. His study groups and lectures at South London were so wonderfully clear; his adult Hebrew class worlds apart from the orthodox cheder I had reluctantly attended as a child.

John Rayner at the Sternberg Centre in February 1999, at an exhibition of oils by Holocaust survivor Israel Kantor

legacy is enormous – not least in the liturgies he produced – which influenced the non-orthodox world, and the collections of sermons and addresses, which demonstrate his acuity and breadth of vision. The greatest privilege of my life, beyond question, is to have enjoyed an exceptionally close and loving relationship with him for nearly 30 years.

John was my teacher, mentor, and counsellor, and he remains and will always be my role model and guide. We shall not see his rabbinic like again.

Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger writes: John Rayner’s influence on me was enormous. His mixture of serious scholarship, unfailing liberalism in social attitudes, and sense of humour made him irresistible as teacher and friend. We became close when I served his old congregation, South London, as student rabbi, for the confirmation class (Kabbalat Torah) shared its study weekend with the LJS. Spending three days in John’s company was both hilarious and heart-warming. From then on, we always held our Kabbalat Torah conferences together, looking forward to sitting and arguing, doing the Times crossword together (John and David Goldberg were both much better than I was), composing pseudo-Shakespearean verse on Jewish subjects, singing

hymns, and drinking sherry. We had real fun, rejoicing both in the enthusiasm of the young, and in the countryside surrounding us. One of my fondest memories is of John sitting on a bed at Old Alresford Place, sucking a pencil, thinking of some lines to sing – to the tune of a popular Christmas carol – about one of the young participants. He encouraged young people with doubts, and, though some found him difficult to approach at first, they all warmed to him. In later years, with great courage and dignity, he would tell them the story of his life, and his escape to England, though it was immensely tough emotionally for him to do so.

From Rabbi Danny Rich: The loss of Rabbi John Rayner is one both for Liberal Judaism and Anglo-Jewry as a whole. He was a towering Jewish intellect and a man of the highest integrity. John was my teacher in my teenage years and it was because of him that I became a rabbi. John has bequeathed to us an example of the best of Liberal Judaism, combining compassion and scholarship. I saw him a few weeks ago and he was honest about the length of time he had to live. He was thrilled to hear of the very real progress Liberal Judaism was making, and his example will inspire us to greater heights.

From Rabbi Mark L Solomon’s address at prayers for John Rayner: John’s passion for truth and authenticity is evident in numerous sermons, lectures and articles that reflect his concern for the integrity of Liberal Judaism – his conviction that it was never meant to be “Judaism lite” – that led to his brilliant overviews and expositions of the halacha. He set out a challenging agenda for Progressive Judaism, summed up in his marvellous book Jewish Religious Law – a Progressive Perspective, that we have not even begun to explore properly, while his little booklet Principles of Jewish Ethics deserves to be recognised as a major creative contribution to modern Judaism.

From Rabbi Alexandra Wright’s address at the prayers: The serious and often awe-inspiring aspect of John’s character was leavened by another dimension, his shy warmth and his sense of humour. He created close connections with so many families and individuals whose babies were blessed, and who then went to receive an exhortation at their Kabbalat Torah, who invited him to be a speaker at universities all over the country and who returned to be married and have their babies blessed and their parents and grandparents buried. And always, he chose the right words, he struck the right chord, offering words of praise, hope, comfort with an apposite quotation from the Bible or rabbinic literature. His sense of humour was in some ways legendary. He would look at you with a slight twinkle in his eye and just when you imagined that he was about to talk to you about Maimonides’s concept of revelation, he would tell you a joke.

November/December 2005

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‘If winter comes, can spring be far behind?’

Rabbi Janet Burden offers a Biennial Weekend update After all the holidays of Tishrei, many people will welcome the relative quiet of the month of Cheshvan. Things are not so frantic now, and we have the opportunity to look a bit further ahead than the next festival or simchah. That is why I’d like to encourage you all to get out those diaries, calendars or personal organisers and write the following on the dates 5th-7th May 2006: Liberal Judaism’s Biennial Weekend: ‘Judaism without borders?’

You may notice that we are not calling this event a conference. Frankly, ‘conference’ sounds too much like a business meeting, and the biennial weekend is definitely not that. We aren’t going to be making policy or voting on anything. This is simply our chance to be with Liberal Jews from across our movement, celebrating, learning, talking, singing and praying together. It’s about renewing old acquaintances and making new friends; sharing ‘tried and true’ best practice and exploring new horizons.

Those of you who attended the weekend in 2004 will know what a great success it was. Fortunately, that experienced team of planners agreed to work on our 2006 event. Penny Beral and Rabbi Kathleen Middleton have continued as joint chairs of the ‘not the conference’ committee. They have also

recruited some new volunteers for fresh approaches and ideas. We’d be thrilled if you followed their example by encouraging not just the old-timers, but also new people from your community to come in 2006! We are always looking for individuals with fresh perspectives to offer creative or study sessions.

The Biennial Weekend will be held at the Cheltenham Park Hotel, Cheltenham, from the early evening of Friday 5th May, and closing at 5pm on Sunday 7th May. We believe that this new venue will be just as popular as the last and perhaps more accessible for many. There is no surcharge for single rooms.

During the main conference sessions, a supervised crèche will be provided for the under-threes and planned children’s activities for those between the ages of four and eight. A full LJY-Netzer programme will be run for children between the ages of eight and 16, in parallel with the adult activities.

See your synagogue magazine and the Liberal Judaism website (www.liberaljudaism.org) for details and a booking form.

Email your enquiries to p.beral@liberaljudaism.org, or phone Penny on 01923 855367.

Travelling synagogue will be heading east Which rabbi and which synagogue could refuse the donation of a portable synagogue? Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue had a call from the Christian chaplain at the American Base in Ruislip to say the base was closing and he had an artefact he wanted to donate. It was a portable synagogue, used by Jewish chaplains in visits to different bases and wherever Jewish groups met.

The portable synagogue consists of a black suitcase that opens out to form an ark and reading desk. Inside is a Torah scroll (paper not parchment) and velvet desk cover for this mini bimah. Wrapped in foam are candlesticks and a Kiddush cup,

together with a plastic container for wine. The Rev Scott Blair, from the American base, said it was designed to be used aboard ship for ministry to sailors or for Marines in the field, and was ordered through the Navy supply system.

Rabbi Andrew Goldstein has agreed with the Rev Scott Blair that, after being displayed at NPLS, the synagogue will be taken to the Ukraine for use by Rabbi Misha Kapustin, a graduate of Leo Baeck College. Rabbi Kapustin is rabbi to several reviving communities, spread over hundreds of miles.

Frances Sacker

The Liberal Judaism Archive The archive, housed at the Montagu Centre, contains minutes, correspondence, press cuttings, publications and other material from the inception of the JRU (Jewish Religious Union, from which the ULPS emerged) in 1902. It is available for consultation by anyone researching an aspect of the movement, on application to the Montagu Centre.

There is a fairly complete run of the principal periodicals (JRU Bulletin from 1914, Liberal Jewish Monthly from 1929, ULPS News from 1965) and others such as Pointer. The manuscript JRU Council Minutes book runs from 1901 to 1910, then there is a gap until 1937; minutes of committees survive from various dates.

A copy is held of most publications, including liturgical works, scholarly books and pamphlets. There is considerable rabbinic material, much relating to prayer books. There is also a small amount of correspondence and publications relating to individual congregations. I am in the process of cataloguing numerous photographs.

The advent of electronic storing of documents has led to little correspondence being passed to the archive recently. Brochures or Orders of Service of special events are appropriate for the Liberal Judaism Archive – though they should, of course, be in the congregation’s archive too.

Bryan Diamond, Hon Archivist

New rabbi for Kingston Rabbi Barbara Borts has been appointed to serve as rabbi to Kingston Liberal Synagogue and to South Bucks Jewish Community.

Rabbi Borts, originally from California, moved to England in 1976, to study at Leo Baeck College. After gaining semicha, she worked as a congregational rabbi for the Reform movement in Britain, and then for the Reconstructionist movement in the US. More recently, she has been an adult Jewish lecturer, designing and teaching the American Conservative movement’s conversion courses, and teaching Florence Melton Adult Mini School courses and at a Jewish day school in Boston. She has a BA in religious studies and music, and an MA in culture and values in education. She lives with her two collies.

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Spotlight on North London How long has the community existed?

North London Progressive Jewish Community (NLPJC) was formed in 2002.

Some congregants are former members of North London Progressive Synagogue, in Amhurst Park, which closed the same year, shortly after its 80th anniversary.

NLPJC has just celebrated its fourth round of High Holy Days.

How big is the congregation?

It has some 60 full members, plus about 30 children, most of who are under the age of eight.

Where does it meet?

In hired rooms adjacent to St Mary’s Parish Church, Stoke Newington. There is a large room for services, a kitchen and a smaller room, where the cheder and other activities are held. The premises are light and airy – and are even painted blue and white.

Who is the rabbi?

Rabbi Shulamit Ambalu. She joined initially as a student rabbi and stayed on after gaining semicha. NLPJC recently celebrated her induction, which was a really joyous event.

When are services held?

Shabbat morning services are fortnightly, and alternate with Friday night pot-luck prayers and supper. The Friday night events often have a speaker or activities too. There are services for the High Holy Days and all the festivals.

What other activities are there?

A one-hour Torah Breakfast (bagels and text study), led by the rabbi, takes place before Saturday morning services, and an adult education group studies the practice and meaning of Jewish ritual. NLPJC calls itself a ‘praying and secular community’, which aims to meet different members’ needs. There has been a month-long Yiddish Fest, visits to art galleries and a wine tasting. The community is also building links with local churches and mosques.

What is there for children?

The cheder currently meets once a month during a Shabbat morning service. The 711 year old are taught by an experienced educator. There is also a creche for undersixes. In addition to the cheder, Hebrew classes take place once a week during term time after school. The community is exploring expanding the cheder and implementing an exciting new curriculum.

All community events are designed to appeal to members across the age spectrum, and bring together the generations. This is especially important in the inner city, where children do not always grow up around their grandparents, and

Rabbi Shulamit Ambalu with Michael Ellman (NLPJC secretary) and Sue Lukes at a Torah breakfast, and (below) some of the children from the crèche and cheder

older people may not spend much time with young families and children. At Purim, Succot and Hannukah, we often team up with another Liberal community, Beit Klal Yisrael, for a bigger celebration.

How is the community organised?

A steering group meets about every six weeks. Steering group meetings are open to everyone and they are chaired by one of the co-ordinators. A group email facility on the Yahoo internet search engine enables any member to send messages and ideas to everyone else. To keep everything running smoothly, the community employs a part-time administrator.

What are NLPJC’s claims to fame?

It is the first new inner city Liberal Judaism community to be established in many years, and is rapidly attracting families with young children who are moving into Hackney, Haringey and Islington. The community has an extensive library, which is stored in the librarian’s house. NLPJC also came second in the 2005 intercongregational quiz.

What about the caring side of the synagogue?

A Befriending group stays in touch with elderly and vulnerable members and, where possible, transport is arranged for those who are otherwise unable to get to services. The synagogue is closely involved with North London Action for the Homeless.

What plans are there for the future?

Developing the crèche, cheder and family

activities, and increasing membership so that the community is financially secure and has enough people to share the tasks.

The synagogue has plans to develop services further and expand its calendar of secular and religious events, and is working with staff at Liberal Judaism.

What does the synagogue say about itself?

‘We are a really diverse community and we also have members from many backgrounds. We want to encourage full participation by everyone, and we are always ready to listen and adapt.’

How can I find out more?

Website: www.nlpjc.org.uk, email : nlpjc@liberaljudaism.org, email thread: http://groups.yahoo.com/nlpjc, Telephone: Jackie Richards, co-ordinator: 020 8889 9281 (evenings)

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More than coincidence: both the festivals that fall on 25th December are about peace and hope Why is this Chanukkah different from all other Chanukkahs? Or, to be more precise, why is this Chanukkah different from the next 18 Chanukkahs? Answer: because this year it starts on December 25th. The difference between 12 lunar months and a solar year means that seven times every 19 years an extra month is added to the Jewish calendar – so once every 19 years, the start of Chanukkah coincides with Christmas Day. So how should Jews – Liberal or otherwise – deal with this coincidence?

These days, of course, Christmas tends to start just after Yom Kippur, so Chanukkah is linked to it even in those years when it starts at the end of November. But the festival starting on December 25th adds to what has been referred to as the December Dilemma. How much should Christmas customs influence our Chanukkah observance? Will we listen to the Queen’s Speech, clear away what’s left of the turkey and light first candle? It’s an intriguing image…

No less intriguing than one I saw many years ago on an American television programme called Thirtysomething (which those of us who are now almost fiftysomething may remember). One of the main characters was Jewish, and had a Christian wife. In a brilliantly crafted shot, he was sitting in his car talking to his cousin about the importance of Judaism with the Christmas tree he had just purchased for his family strapped to the roof. Several years before that, in late December, I attended my first Limmud conference at Carmel College and was astonished to see the main hall of this Jewish school draped with colourful decorations.

Why do we feel the need to put up decorations? The fact that both festivals occur in December offers a clue: in the depth of winter, people needed to be cheered up, so the more light and colour that could be offered, the better. And the fact that Christianity moved a certain person’s

birthday to coincide with the Roman Saturnalia festival (a drunken celebration of the winter solstice) is well documented in scholarly accounts. But scrape away the Christmas revelry, which owes more to the Romans than it does to Christian teachings, escape (if you can) from the gaudy and greedy materialism, and you end up with a simple Christmas message of peace and hope.

And the same is true of Chanukkah.

Take away the fantasy about oil lasting for eight days (which is a Talmudic invention made 600 years after the historical events) work off the doughnuts and the latkes and you end up with a message which says religious faith is more durable and valuable than secularism and materialism. And that’s got to be something worth celebrating, no matter what symbols and customs we use.

Rabbi Pete Tobias

A spiritual and social awakening in Europe Fodhla Cohen MacDermott shares her experience of Kayitz-Netzer In August, I embarked on a journey that was to have an effect on me beyond what I could have ever imagined. I am a 17-year-old Irish Jew, and this year for the first time, I attended an LJY-Netzer event, this event being Kayitz-Netzer. Although I am an active member of my synagogue, I have never broadened my Jewish horizons outside the community of Dublin.

The tour started in London with a 24-hour coach journey to Prague.

From the moment I arrived in the city, I was struck by its beauty.

Our first stop was the Vltava River, where we discussed a theme that was to become a common feature of our discussions in every city we visited: nationalism. It was discussed through the eyes of the Czech and Hungarian people as well as on a personal level. I found it fascinating to hear the

extreme opposites of opinion and realised what a complex issue ‘national identity’ was. The next days in Prague were filled with visiting Jewish and other sites, and learning the history of both the Jews’ struggle in Prague and the that of the Czech people.

Our first Shabbat has remained as one of my most cherished memories of the trip. We were welcomed wholeheartedly into the community of the Spanish synagogue for the Friday night service, where I experienced a very different service from what I was used to in Dublin.

On Sunday, we visited Terezienstadt, which still operates today as a town despite the fact that 92,297 Jews died there; their memory is very much present in the secret synagogues and crematorium that remain.

Our next stop was Olomuc, in the

Czech Republic, where a Holocaust survivor told us his life story. This was followed by a visit to the cemetery, where we helped by cleaning gravestones.

In Berlin, we first visited the Jewish Museum, the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie and numerous synagogues. On the last day we visited Vansee House; I was disturbed to think that such evil took place against such an idyllic backdrop.

Overall, I had an experience beyond what I imagined or expected.

I was able to engage my Judaism on a level that I had never encountered before, both spiritually and socially.

My list of memories from Kayitz is endless. The whole experience will stay with me forever, and my only regret is not getting involved with LJY from a younger age.

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Our fantastic month in Israel This time last year I was asked to be one of the leaders for LJY-Netzer’s Israel Tour. My friends questioned my sanity as I embarked on a month-long trip with 21 16-year olds under my wing! But the trip was a great success - as the pictures below demonstrate - and I am definitely glad that I accepted this challenge.

We spent time in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the north and the south. Highlights of the trip included being in the desert, going to the Kotel, meeting Israeli teenagers from the Progressive community in Haifa, staying on Kibbutzim, hiking, kayaking and snorkelling. We visited Progressive

Kadimah

communities in Israel and met other members of Netzer Olami (the worldwide Progressive youth movement).

Perhaps, most importantly, the trip enabled the chanichim (participants) to spend a month away from home developing as individuals and living as a group of young Progressive Jews. Many friendships were strengthened and many new ones were formed.

We are looking forward to the group staying involved and becoming madrichim (leaders) in the very near future.

Rachel Jones

A whole lot of laughs This year, Machaneh Kadimah was one of the best camps I have ever been on! The food was really good and the programmes were well thought out and planned. The leaders were absolutely brilliant and, however tired they were, they were always filled with energy and always jumping about or doing something energetic. Mitzvot bein adam l’chavero,Mitzvot between a person and their friend, was the theme of Kadimah this year and was explored through programmes, sessions and t’fillot. Along with a new site, there was a load of new leaders and new people that had a load of fun and soon got to grips with all the Kadimah traditions and new chants!

One of the nicest things for me this year was that Nechalim and Yamim got to spend a lot of time together because I moved down from Yamim to Nechalim and it meant I got to spend a lot of time with my friends in the age group I should have been in.

One of the highlights of Kadimah for Nechalim,Yamim and Chalutzim was MC2K5!! This was a brilliantly planned evening the school theme was brilliant and the disco afterwards rocked! The Chalutzim that led it should be very proud of themselves for doing so well!

Overall, there were a lot of laughs wherever you were at Kadimah, whether on trips, or in programmes, or in the games room or the dining room. As I lay in bed the night I got home from Kadimah, I realised how important it and my friends there were to me and I realised no matter where I was, or what I was doing, Kadimah is always the heart of my life.

Emma Marsh

A GLOSSARY:

Coming up: Veidah, Mini Veidah, weekends away Don’t forget there is a Plagim Shabbaton 25-26 November for school years 3-6, an LJY-Netzer Shabbat experience with singing, learning, games and an opportunity to meet old and new friends.

Mini Veidah on 2-4 December for people in school years 7-10. This is THE decision making event for this age group to learn about the movement’s ideology (Liberal Judaism, Progressive Zionism and Tikkun Olam) and discuss and decide what they want and expect from the movement as well as an opportunity to pray, play and learn together.

Veidah on 18-21 December for 15 to 22 year old members of LJY-Netzer. The

decision making conference where we decide in what direction we want to take LJY-Netzer. Put the dates in your diary now!

And looking to 2005, we’re planning a Plagim weekend away, for 8 to 12 year olds, on 13-14 January, and a Nechalim weekend away, for 12 to 14 year olds, on 24-26 February.

Contact Jess or Jenny in the office if you’re interested in attending any of these events.

And finally, Just to let you all know that we have yet to set the dates for Kadimah 2006 and are working very hard at finalising them, as soon as we do we will be releasing them. So please be patient.

Machaneh – camp Kadimah – Forward Plagim – Streams (8 to11 year olds) Nechalim – Rivers (12 to13 year olds) Yamim – Seas (14 year olds) Chalutzim – Pioneers (15 year olds) Galim – Waves (16 to18 year olds) Madrichim – Leaders Chanichim – Participants

LJY-NETZER

The youth movement of Liberal Judaism Contact Jess Herman or Jenny Walton at LJY-NETZER, The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE T: 020 7631 0584 F: 020 7631 9838 E: j.herman@liberaljudaism.org or j.walton@liberaljudaism.org

November/December 2005

Page 12 LJ Today

Forty reasons to smile

Liberal Judaism congregations Bedfordshire Progressive Synagogue, (Rodef Shalom), 01234-218387, bedsps@liberaljudaism.org, www.bedfordshire-ps.org.uk Beit Klal Yisrael, P.O.Box 1828, London W10 5RT 020-8960 5760, bky@liberaljudaism.org www.beit-klal-yisrael.or g.uk Bet Tikvah Synagogue, 129 Perrymans Farm Road, Barkingside, Ilford, Essex IG2 7LX 020-8554 9682, barps@liberaljudaism.org www.bettikvah.org.uk Birmingham Progressive Synagogue 4 Sheepcote Street, B16 8AA, 0121-643 5640 bps@liberaljudaism.org, www.bps-pro-syn.c o.uk Branch: Leamington Spa, 01926-421300 Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF 01273-737223, bhps@liberaljudaism.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk Bristol and West Progressive Jewish Congregation, Hon. Sec. 0117-954 1937 bpjc@liberaljudaism.org, www.bwpjc.org Crawley Jewish Community 01293-534294 Dublin Jewish Progressive Synagogue P.O. Box 3059, Dublin 6, Enquires Hon. Sec. 00-3531 2856241, djpc@liberaljudaism.org Ealing Liberal Synagogue Lynton Avenue, Drayton Green, W13 0EB 020-8997 0528, els@liberaljudaism.org www.ealingliberalsynagogue.org.uk East Anglia Progressive Jewish Community (based in Norwich), 01502-731116 pjcea@liberaljudaism.org, www.pjcea.org.uk Eastbourne Progressive Jewish Congregation 01323 725650 fax: 01323 417645 epjc@liberaljudaism.org, www.epjcong.org.uk Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community, 07891 439646, www.eljc.org Finchley Progressive Synagogue Hutton Grove, N12 8DR 020-8446 4063, fps@liberaljudaism.org, www.fps.org Harrow and Wembley Progressive Synagogue 326 Preston Road, Harrow, Middx HA3 0QH 020-8904 8581, www.hwps.org Kent Liberal Jewish Community, 07952 242432 bulletin.kljc@liberaljudaism.org, www.jewishkent.org.uk/communities/KLJC/kljc.html Kingston Liberal Synagogue Rushett Road, Long Ditton, Surbiton, Surrey KT7 0UX, 020-8398 7400, kls@liberaljudaism.org Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation The Synagogue, 24 Avenue Road, Leicester, LE2 3EA, 07875 123744

Liberal Judaism The Montagu Centre, 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE, 020-7580 1663 Fax: 020-7631 9838 montagu@liberaljudaism.org, www.liberaljudaism.org Youth Department: 020-7631 0584 Fax: 020-7631 9838 Chairman Nigel Cole Chief Executive Rabbi Danny Rich Vice Chairman Joan Shopper Treasurer Tony Kerron Hon. Officers Mikko Arevuo (LJ Zika); Simon Benscher (community development); Penny Beral (communications); Roz Bott; Amanda Grant (youth); Paul Infield; David Kirk (education); Elsbeth Mendes da Costa (social action); Michael Romain (regions) Senior Vice-President Rabbi Dr Sidney Brichto Vice-Presidents Jeromé Freedman, Louise Freedman, Rabbi Dr David Goldberg, David Lipman, Rosita Rosenberg, Tony Sacker Hon. Vice-Presidents David Amstell, Geoffrey Davis, Rabbi Harry Jacobi, Corinne Oppenheimer, David Pick, Harold Sanderson, Clive Winston Chairperson Rabbinic Conference Rabbi Mark Goldsmith Outreach Director Rabbi Aaron Goldstein Shlicha Gili Tzidkiyahu Mazkira, LJY-Netzer Jess Herman Social Action Officer, LJY-Netzer Jenny Walton Liberal Judaism promotes the religious and cultural traditions of our faith within the framework of progressive thinking and ethics. Donations to support our work are always welcome. Liberal Judaism is a registered charity, number 256390 LJ Today is edited by Beatrice Sayers. The deadline for the January 2006 issue is Sunday 27 November. Send articles or letters for publication to: ljtodayeditor@liberaljudaism.org Typeset by JJ Copyprint and printed by Freedman Bros.

The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, 28 St John’s Wood Road, London NW8 7HA, 020-7286 5181, ljs@liberaljudaism.org, www.ljs.org The Liberal Synagogue Elstree, Elstree High Street, Elstree, Herts WD6 3BY, 020-8953 8889 tlse@liberaljudaism.org, www.tlse.org.uk Lincolnshire Jewish Community 01427-628958 ljc@liberaljudaism.org North London Progressive Jewish Community Enquiries: 020-8340 5513 nlpjc@liberaljudaism.org, www.nlpjc.org.uk Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue Oaklands Gate, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 3AA 01923-822592, npls@liberaljudaism.org www.npls.org.uk Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation Lloyd Street, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 4BP 0115-9624761, npjc@liberaljudaism.org www.npjc.org.uk Or Chadash Liberal Jewish Community of Luxembourg 00 352 31 65 94 lljc@liberaljudaism.org Peterborough Liberal Jewish Community 01733-358605 Reading Liberal Jewish Community www.rljc.org 0118-375 3422, rljc_mail@yahoo.co.uk South Bucks Jewish Community 01494-431885 sbjc@liberaljudaism.org, www.sbjc.org.uk South London Liberal Synagogue, PO Box 14475, London SW16 1ZW, 020-8769 4787 slls@liberaljudaism.org, www.southlondon.org Southgate Progressive Synagogue, 75 Chase Road, London N14 4QY, 020-8886 0977 sps@liberaljudaism.org, www.sps.uk.com West Central Liberal Synagogue, 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE, 020-7636 7627 wcls@liberaljudaism.org, www.wcls.org.uk Woodford Progressive Synagogue Marlborough Road, George Lane, London E18 1AR 020-8989 7619, wps@liberaljudaism.org www.woodfordprogressive.org.uk Associated Congregations: Herefordshire Jewish Community Enquiries: 07789 218823 Oxford, for details of Liberal Jewish Services: 01865-515584 or 01865-765197 www.oxford-synagogue.org.uk We also have groups in Manchester and Ipswich, which meet informally. Contact Rabbi Aaron Goldstein: a.goldstein@liberaljudaism.org or 020 7631 9821

DIARY DATES...........

5th November (Saturday) Inspirational singer & composer Danny Maseng plays at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue. Tickets £15, students £10. For details, contact Monique Blake.

5th November (Saturday) Special service for Rabbi Harry Jacobi’s 80th birthday at the LJS at 10:45am, and birthday tea at Southgate Progessive Synagogue. E: m.blake@liberaljudaism.org 18th to 20th November Brighton 70th Anniversary Celebration Weekend, with guest rabbi and student rabbis.

Contact: 01273 737223 or bhps@liberaljudaism.org 20th November (Sunday) Education Action Day, at the Montagu Centre 10th December (Saturday) Communities’ Shabbaton, hosted by the Oxford Jewish Community, 10am-5pm. Contact Janet Berenson-Perkins at LBC-CJE on 020 8349 5628 13th December (Tuesday) Chanukah Mixed Faith Seminar. Contact Aaron Goldstein on 07764 192696.

30th January 2006 (Monday) Beit Klal Yisrael’s benefit screening of Edward Said: The Last Interview. Details from 020 8960 5760 5th to 7th May 2006 (Friday to Sunday) Biennial Weekend, in Cheltenham ‘Judaism without borders?’ For further information, or to join the organising committee, contact Penny Beral on 01923 855367 or p.beral@liberaljudaism.org, or Rabbi Kathleen Middleton: k.middleton@ljs.org.

11th June 2006 Liberal Judaism Inter-synagogue Quiz at Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue, 3:30pm

Rabbi Andrew Goldstein (left) and his wife, Sharon, with Rabbi Sidney Brichto

A service of celebration was held on 23rd September to mark Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein’s 40 years with Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue and the 35th anniversary of his ordination. Rabbi Goldstein, his wife, Sharon, and their family have been an integral part of the synagogue since he joined the fledgling congregation as head of the religion school in 1965, while still a student rabbi at Leo Baeck College.

Rabbi Dr Sidney Brichto, who was the newly appointed executive director of the Union of Liberal & Progressive Synagogues at the time and introduced Rabbi Goldstein to NPLS, said Rabbi Goldstein’s creative skills as an educator had inspired not only education at NPLS, but in the wider Liberal Judaism movement and beyond.

Next year in Hanover The European Region of the World Union for Progressive Judaism will hold its biennial conference and AGM in Hanover, Germany, from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th March 2006 on the theme of Building Communities in the 21st Century. Details from: lindakann@europeanregion.org There is also to be a post-conference tour, from Sunday 19th March to Wednesday 22nd March, led by Robin Michaelson.

Questionnaires, please!

Many thanks to all those communities – most of them – that have sent back their completed questionnaires on education.

I would be enormously grateful if those synagogues that haven’t yet returned them could do so as soon as possible.

Judy Thwaites, Education Consultant