LJ Today November/December 2010

November/December 2010

VOL. XXXVII No. 6

Liberal Judaism is a constituent of the World Union for Progressive Judaism

ljtoday

Cemetery victory leads to urgent £400k appeal With planning permission won for the expansion of Edgwarebury Lane cemetery, Liberal Judaism must urgently find £400,000 to buy its share of the land.

The victory has been greatly welcomed by all four partners in the north London cemetery; the others are West London Synagogue, the Spanish and Portuguese Community and new partner Belsize Square Synagogue. But unless the Liberal movement can source the required cash, which includes a sum for the planning application, its share in the land will be bought by one of the other movements.

The urgency of the situation has persuaded Liberal Judaism to depart from its usual procedure, whereby burial plots are offered in order of death: it is offering for sale 40 plots in the old part of the cemetery to help to fund the purchase of its share of the 7.59 acres.

The land is adjacent to the existing cemetery, across the Clay Lane footpath and bridleway.

Outlining Liberal Judaism’s strategy, Rabbi Danny Rich explained that unless it raised the money for the new land, the movement would run out of space for new burials at Edgwarebury within two to three years.

‘The acquisition of this land may create an opportunity that we will not have again for another century,’ he added. ‘We are, exceptionally, proposing to sell only enough plots to enable the possibility of securing the additional land.’

Edgwarebury appeal, pages 4-5

Seventeen keen students have embarked on Liberal Judaism’s ba’alei tefillah course - the first for more than 20 years – with the aim of becoming more capable lay leaders within their own congregations. They are pictured with course teachers Rabbis Richard Jacobi

and Monique Mayer (far right) and ba’alat tefillah Beverley Taylor (front row, right) at an induction day in October. A second cohort is expected to begin the training, which is supported by the North London Trust for Progressive Judaism, in 2011.

Liberal Jews’ concern at Israeli oath Rabbi Danny Rich has expressed concern about Israel’s proposed ‘loyalty oath’ bill, which would force all new non-Jewish citizens to swear allegiance to the Jewishness of the state. The bill has been approved by the Cabinet and will now be voted on by the Knesset.

Israel’s Declaration of Independence promised freedom of religion and equality to all, Rabbi Rich said. ‘But the context of the law and its timing mean that it may lead to further marginalisation of non-Jewish Israelis on the one hand and... may constitute yet another obstruction to peace.

‘Liberal Jews in the diaspora who have a love of, and a connection to, Israel are compelled to express our worry that this proposed law may not be in the long-term interests of a stable and cohesive Israel.’

• Daniel Needlestone, the movement’s officer for Israel and the diaspora, is co-ordinating a month of Israel engagement for Adar Rishon. Each week will have a theme, a Shabbat reading and a regional event. To get involved, email d .needlestone@liberaljudaism.org.

Audience with the Ambassador, page 3

In this issue 200 years of Progressive Judaism Shulamit Ambalu on constructing the future

6

Chairman’s Actions

7

Book reviews By Mark Solomon 8

Page 2 LJ Today

of celebration

news

November/December 2010

We want to enable everyone to play a full part in synagogue life Leon Charikar introduces a new forum for inclusivity A human being mints many coins from the same mould, and they are all identical. But the Holy One strikes us all from the mould of the first human and each one of us is unique.

Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5) Liberal Judaism is setting up a forum dedicated to spreading and sharing best practice on ensuring that disabled people are included in all synagogue and community activities.

Called Kulanu (‘all of us’), the forum is aimed at enabling the everyone movement to set the standard for community inclusion.

The idea for the forum emerged from a workshop at the Biennial Weekend led by Rabbi Hillel Athias-Robles and Rebekah Gronowski. This workshop examined Jewish teaching and attitudes to disability, and disabled people shared their personal experiences of participation in synagogue activities, highlighting positive and negative stories.

We emerged from the workshop with a commitment to meet again: to provide mutual support and to offer practical advice on ways to ensure that disabled people can fully participate.

Liberal Judaism’s Council and Board of National Officers are backing the forum, which is for all disabled people in our movement and those with responsibility

for enabling full participation in synagogue life. It will produce standards, guidelines and policy for Liberal Judaism and its synagogues on making all activities fully inclusive.

Exclusion can arise from negative attitudes and behaviour as much as physical access. So the forum will look at ways of communicating a ‘social model’ of disability within Liberal Judaism. The social model maintains that it is environmental and social limitations which cause impairments to become barriers to inclusion rather than the physical differences themselves.

Disability refers to all forms of physical, sensory and learning disability, disfigurement and long-term illness, neurodiversity, mental illness and other hidden disabilities.

I am excited about Kulanu and am hopeful that it will raise standards for inclusive practice and attitudes across our movement. The forum is planning its first conference for the spring of 2011. If you would like to get involved, please contact the Montagu Centre. Let’s help in giving substance to the wish, ‘May the doors of this synagogue be wide enough to receive all who hunger for love, all who are lonely for friendship.’

Kulanu

All of us

Leon Charikar is Liberal Judaism’s national officer for social action and disability

Student chaplains now available Liberal Judaism has set up a team of chaplains to serve Jewish students at the country’s main universities.

Under the scheme, students can contact one of 19 Liberal rabbis for spiritual and emotional support as well as information about synagogues and services in their area. The scheme covers Greater London, Brighton, Sussex, Oxford, Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds and Sheffield.

The Liberal Jewish Chaplaincy scheme is being publicised from the Montagu Centre and through freshers’ handbooks. Yszi Hawkings, Liberal Judaism’s student worker – a recent biomedical science graduate of Sheffield University – says: ‘All the rabbis have volunteered to be available on the phone for students who need them.’

For more information, contact Yszi on 020 7631 0584 or email yszi@liberal judaism.org.

Around the Communities Edinburgh Children from the cheder took part in a discussion on Ramadan, Eid and the High Holy Days in a Kids’ Zone programme on Radio Ramadan Edinburgh, one of a network of online stations which broadcast during the month-long Muslim festival.

Birmingham Frank Maxwell, the synagogue chairman, is pictured with Israeli-born Yvonne Cooper, from Staffordshire, and one of her paintings at an exhibition of Jewish art, part of European Days of Jewish Culture in September.

Bet Tikvah A special service was held in September to celebrate Rabbi David Hulbert’s 21st anniversary at the synagogue. The community further honoured its rabbi (centre of picture) and his wife, Fiona, by naming them Chatan Torah and Kallah Bereshit.

Shenfield The community has recently bought its own Torah scroll, which is to be inaugurated on 5 December during a service led by Rabbi Danny Rich, followed by a Chanukkah party.

Spotlight on Shenfield, page 10 South Bucks Community member Nicola Nathan is pictured in a still from her appearance on the Channel 4 series 4thought.tv, in which she talked about her conversion to Judaism and how becoming Jewish had informed her role as a mother. Broadcast on 1 October, it can still be viewed online at www.channel4.com/programmes/ 4thoughttv. Scroll down and click on ‘see all episodes’.

news

November/December 2010

Special day in honour of Rabbi John Rayner Conference to be centrepiece of the LJS’s centenary A day conference, sponsored jointly by The Liberal Jewish Synagogue and Leo Baeck College, is being held as a tribute to Rabbi John D Rayner, z”l.

Rabbi Rayner (pictured), who died in September 2005, was a former senior rabbi at the synagogue. He made outstanding contributions to the areas of liturgy, Progressive Jewish halachah, Israel, sermons, interfaith dialogue, pastoral theology, and to the Liberal movement, of which he was president.

Speakers at the conference, on Monday 4 July 2011, will include Dr Eric Friedland,

Lord Harries (formerly Bishop of Oxford), Rabbi Dr Charles Middleburgh, Baroness Neuberger and Rabbi Moshe Zemer.

An application form can be found on the learning section of the LJS’s website: www.ljs.org/a-place-of-learning/ adult-learners. Alternatively, contact Lois Goodman: l.goodman@ljs.org or 020 7286 5181. There will be a fee for lunch and to cover administration costs.

The conference is part of the LJS’s centenary celebrations. Events will include a concert in May – The Voice of the Cello – a social action interfaith walk in July, and a series of educational and social activities for children and adults.

A new beginning for Crouch End Liberal Judaism gained its 35th fully affiliated community when Crouch End Chavurah was elected as a new constituent by the movement’s council.

Clive Levontine, the community’s chair, told the meeting in September that the north London group, which started in 2008, was ‘unequivocally progressive’, with many mixed-faith families who were seeking support for their efforts to ensure their children had strong

Jewish identities. The group had a waiting list for its cheder – which consisted of two after-school Hebrew and Jewish studies classes – and was considering setting up a nursery, he added.

Paying tribute to Rabbi Rebecca Qassim Birk, a founder member, Clive said she had been a ‘guiding spirit’ and given very generously of her time. Find out more at www.crouchendchavurah.co.uk.

LJ Today Page 3

2011 national day of celebration ‫לדור ודור‬ L’Dor VaDor From Generation to Generation Plans are well under way for Liberal Judaism’s next Day of Celebration. It will be on Sunday 22 May 2011 at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John’s Wood, during the synagogue’s centenary year.

Taking as its theme L’Dor VaDor (‘from generation to generation’), the day will be a chance for Liberal Jews to look at the values we are proud to hold and the reasons we are passionate about our Judaism.

Through food, entertainment, education and music we will find ways to bring all our communities and religion schools together in a project to celebrate our history and our roots.

As well as a programme of activites for under-8s and 8-16s and showcasing the LJY-Netzer leadership, we’ll be offering some events that will encompass all ages.

The Day of Celebration is being subsidised by Liberal Judaism.

Tickets will be £6 (or £1 for under-18s) with lunch available.

Booking details will be published in the January edition of lj today.

For any enquiries at this stage, please contact Amanda Grant, deputy chair of Liberal Judaism: a.grant@ liberaljudaism.org.

Britain’s ambassador ‘intrigues Israelis’ Just two weeks into his job as Britain’s ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould held a fascinating Q&A session with Liberal Jews during a brief visit back home.

During the evening at Finchley Progressive Synagogue in September, he was welcomed as a member of the family: not just a Jew – Britain’s first Jewish ambassador to Israel – but a former member of Wembley Liberal who had ‘very happy memories’ of Kadimah camp, where he went every summer.

Mr Gould was educated at Cambridge (he studied philosophy and theology) and, as a new graduate, spent a summer backpacking round Israel while waiting for his Foreign Office vetting to come through.

Matthew Gould at Finchley with Liberal Judaism’s deputy chair Amanda Grant

He now has postings to the Philippines, Pakistan and Washington under his belt.

He told his Liberal audience he was relishing his role in Israel: ‘I always knew it was going to be a brilliant job.’ He was a very public figure, giving TV interviews most days. But the role was demanding: ‘Every morning I wake up thinking one of two things – either I’ve just got the most amazing day and I’m incredibly lucky or I just want to hide under the duvet.’ .

Of his Jewishness, he said:

‘The Israelis are intrigued and I think they quite like it.’ But they were more interested, perhaps, in one of his previous postings: Iran, where he spent two and a half years as deputy ambassador. ‘Britain and Israel share concern for what’s going on in Tehran and I keep in close contact with my counterpart [there] and with his assessment,’ the ambassador said.

‘There’s a lot of information flowing.’

Mr Gould is already making his mark, and is proud of having attracted the label ‘the science ambassador’. He wanted to ‘drastically increase’ the amount of scientific collaboration between Britain and Israel, he said. ‘This will affect the way people see Israel.’

As a diplomat should, he charmed his audience, and is, we trust, now back doing the same in Israel.

Beatrice Sayers

Page 4 LJ Today

edgwarebury lane cemetery

November/December 2010

The partners in Edgwarebury Lane cemetery have won permission to use an area of adjacent land for burials. Liberal Judaism must now raise £400,000 to buy its two-acre share, which will provide 4,000 grave spaces As one of only two Progressive Jewish burial grounds in London – the other is the Liberal Jewish Synagogue’s ground at Pound Lane, Willesden – Edgwarebury Jewish Cemetery is of particular importance to the Liberal movement.

With permission having been granted

by Planning Inspectors for the cemetery’s expansion using adjacent land, Liberal Judaism needs to fund its share – two acres – of this extra land, which is being purchased from All Souls College, Oxford.

Liberal Judaism’s share costs £350,000, with an additional £25,000 required for initial fencing and drainage and £50,000 to cover the costs of the planning application, giving a total needed of £425,000. With the movement’s reserves standing at £75,000, chief executive Rabbi Danny Rich is aware that the task is huge.

‘I do not minimise the challenges of raising the sum involved,’ he says, ‘but I am confident that this generation of Liberal Jews will not pass by the opportunity to provide burial security for itself, its children and probably its grandchildren too. I welcome all and any suggestions for how this vast sum can be raised, including offers to purchase

reserved plots as above, interest-free loans and any other suggestions that our members have.’ As lj today went to press, some £30,000 had been offered in private loans and £120,000 from synagogues.

Forty reserved plots are being offered for sale, at £10,000 each, in a one-off scheme to cover the costs outlined. When these have been sold, no further reserved plots will be made available, and Liberal Judaism will revert to its procedure of allocating plots in order of death. As the 40 plots offered are all in the old part of the cemetery, they will, it is hoped, enable people to be buried near their relatives.

Rabbi Rich explained that the rate at which burial land at Edgwarebury, which

‘I welcome all and any suggestions as to how this vast sum can be raised, including offers to purchase reserve plots and interest-free loans’ RABBI DANNY RICH

was opened in 1974, was being used had necessitated the expansion. Some 20 years ago the practice of in-depth, or double plots had been introduced, to enable better use of the available space, a practice that continues. He added: ‘If we do not raise the £400,000 we shall face the closure to new burials of our part of Edgwarebury soon.’

The extra space bought at Edgwarebury will also enable Liberal Judaism to provide for woodland burials, about which the movement receives an increasing number of enquiries from members. With woodland burials there are no tombstones; with some, a small plaque records the name of the deceased and with others only a tree planted at the grave marks its place.

Rabbi Rich said he was grateful for and touched by the many letters of support he had received from those backing the successful planning appeal.

One elderly member wrote: ‘The very idea that it would not be possible to be buried [at Edgwarebury], where my father and my darling wife are interred, is unthinkable for myself and other members of my family.’

Success follows articulate, passionately

by Sasha White The issue of adequate burial space for Liberal Judaism has been a concern for some time as a result of the existing capacity at Edgwarebury becoming full.

The movement entered into discussions with Belsize Square Synagogue, which faced the same problem on how to find additional capacity. Over eight years of negotiation and research, Belsize Square finally identified an appropriate area of land lying to the east of the existing cemetery. Option agreements were signed with the landowner, All Souls College, Oxford, to acquire the land.

Finally, in December 2008, a planning application was submitted to Barnet

Council to allow the use of the land for a borough’s planning officers for the cemetery by the existing four communities granting of permission, Barnet councillors of the Edgwarebury cemetery, including refused it in October 2009 on the basis Liberal Judaism. That application required that the development would affect the the input of numerous experts in such Green Belt and views into and out of the areas as wildlife, landscaping, highways, site and it would damage the historic flooding and planning. The byway known as Clay Lane. application was faced with The community was significant opposition, therefore faced with a principally from the RSPB difficult decision: whether to and the Barnet Branch of pursue an expensive appeal the London Wildlife Trust, to get planning permission who alleged that the use of or try to find an alternative the land in the manner piece of land. proposed would harm bats Owing to my expertise in and rare species of birds planning law, I was asked to found on the site. have an initial conference Unfortunately, despite a Sasha White, barrister, was with the applicants to recommendation from the instructed by the applicants consider whether the

edgwarebury lane cemetery

LJ Today Page 5 Hendon and Finchley Times

Appeal Help the movement to secure new burial land

November/December

The Edgwarebury and Cheshunt Funeral Scheme The following are members of the Edgwarebury and Cheshunt Scheme: Bedfordshire (Rodef Shalom), Bet Tikvah Synagogue, Ealing Liberal Synagogue, The Liberal Synagogue Elstree, Finchley Progressive Synagogue, Harrow and Wembley Progressive Synagogue, North London Progressive Jewish Community, Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue, Shenfield, Brentwood and Districts Synagogue, South Bucks Jewish Community, Southgate Progressive Synagogue, West Central Liberal Synagogue, Woodford Liberal Synagogue Burial plots at the Edgwarebury cemetery, which opened in 1976, have been all but exhausted

Liberal burials: the first 100 years When The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, the first congregation of the Jewish Religious Union, was founded in 1911, its leaders had to attend to the practicalities of congregational life. Among these was the need to provide members with a burial ground. In 1913, a site was bought in Pound Lane, Willesden, which is still operative today.

For the next 60 years, that cemetery provided burial facilities not only for LJS members but for all the other Liberal synagogues that became established in the London area. By the 1960s, the leadership of the LJS realised that, if this arrangement were to continue, its

cemetery would soon be full. The Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, as it was then known, was therefore asked to look for alternative land.

After much searching and many frustrating negotiations, land was located in Edgwarebury Lane, Edgware. In 1973, the ULPS formed a consortium with the West London Synagogue and the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, whose own joint cemetery in Hoop Lane, Golders Green, was also rapidly becoming full.

Financing was obtained and the ULPS set up a London area burial (and cremation) scheme. The Edgwarebury Joint Burial Board, on which Liberal Judaism has

argued witness evidence prospects of winning the appeal were strong or not. My advice was that the prospects were good and, as a result, an appeal was lodged in February 2010. The appeal was held by public inquiry in June and lasted for four days. I was instructed to represent the appellants throughout the proceedings.

The applicants called evidence relating to the need for further burial space and the problems facing Belsize Square and Liberal Judaism if further space was not forthcoming. Rabbi Danny Rich articulately and passionately argued why it was not an option for many in Liberal Judaism to be buried in land owned and operated by Orthodox communities; he explained that, if the problem was not solved soon, the Liberal community would face a huge

problem. His evidence was supported by Rabbi Aaron Goldstein from Northwood and Rabbi Pete Tobias from Elstree.

In her conclusions, the Planning Inspector found that if the appeal were to fail then Liberal Judaism would face a fundamental problem in finding facilities in which to bury its members and that an alternative for meeting the need was highly unlikely to be found. As a result of the granting of planning permission, Liberal Judaism will be entitled to use a significant new part of the cemetery, guaranteeing the provision of burial space for many years to come.

Sasha White was brought up at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue. He is a barrister at Landmark Chambers

proportionate representation, continues to administer the cemetery; chairmanship rotates between the three organisations.

The cemetery opened in 1976. In the ULPS’s central section, for practical and ecological reasons, the practice of in-depth (double-depth) burial for close family members, rather than adjoining graves, was brought in in the late 1980s.

As I walk through looking at the tombstone inscriptions, I feel I am reading the cast list of Liberal Jewish history.

Rosita Rosenberg, co-editor of ‘Liberal Judaism: The First 100 Years’, is a former executive director of the movement

If you wish to buy a plot at Edgwarebury cemetery, offer funding or suggest a way to raise funds for the appeal, please contact Rabbi Danny Rich 020 7631 9820, d.rich@ liberaljudaism.org or Alex Wakely, his personal assistant 020 7631 9830, a.wakely@ liberaljudaism.org

Page 6 LJ Today

200 YEARS

Progressive Judaism

Giving can be a way of affirming our belief in one common humanity, says Lucian J Hudson

The construction work continues

‘Liberal Judaism is the Jewish community’s thorn. But we are also members of the family’ are also brothers and sisters, members of the family. We will continue to hold the tension between these two conflicting duties, between loyalty and challenge.

One way to read the past is to discover the core ideas, the concepts our founders shared. Yet there were also many differences. Liberal Judaism grew as a response to changes in the modern world.

We are now at a different kind of crossroads, where it may be more accurate to think of many Liberal Judaisms, rather than one. Here is a sketch of mine… what are yours?

Shulamit Ambalu is rabbi at North London Progressive Jewish Community and Milton Keynes & District Reform Synagogue

Illustration by Ron Chen-Tov

are more fluid, our progressive halachah becomes more considered and precise.

I think of this first triangle as our internal framework. Yet it also interacts with Triangle Two, which lies on top, and which represents our interactions with the wider world.

Triangle Two: Our Relationship with Israel – We will continue to be a space, I would say, at the moment probably the only space, which holds on to the possibility of both loving Israel and allowing criticism. Rooted in this confidence, we will continue to speak out, for Israel’s inner diversity and the necessary political commitment to working swiftly towards a stable and just future with her neighbours.

Liberal Judaism as a Repair for Fundamentalism. Although it may feel as though extremists, of any religious faith, have all the powerful language, it is not true. We must be a powerful force that challenges the fanatical use of faith as an instrument of power.

Liberal Jews in the Jewish Community.

This is a tricky balance. We seem to have a complicated destiny. Liberal Judaism is the Jewish community’s thorn, the spiky irritant that cannot be removed. But we

LJ Today Page 7

In giving, we connect with others

In the final article in our series marking the 200th anniversary of the first Progressive service in Europe, Shulamit Ambalu suggests how the movement can build on the achievements of past reformers to create a new Liberal Judaism

participation, when many of us will sing, I hesitate to write this article, coming as it chant or read. Those who lead our does at the end of a series of very fine pieces by distinguished colleagues who are services, be they reader, rabbi and /or choir, will be one voice leading many. experts in history and the reform of our Jewish Identity will not depend on birth. prayer traditions.

Liberal Judaism, with our close As I began to think about the possible inter-connection with the Reform Judaism directions for our future development, I in the United States, has long led the way in was struck by how we have been driven by opening up Jewish belonging to people with a combination of history and ideology: one Jewish parent, either mother or father. ideas and trends that have developed and All of us have seen how often Jewish life coalesced over time. Here I write at the border with the future, a relatively inexperienced rabbi, and unrepresentative Liturgical of the mainstream. I will begin, Reform Repair for Fundamentalism nevertheless – in a way that is very much in line with Liberal Judaism’s past – with Israel first and foremost the ideas.

Picture two triangles, one laid over the Jewish other to form a Star of David. The first of identity these represents the three central defining points of a future Liberal Judaism, forming a foundation for our Progressive Halachah jewish specific identity. Each locks closely into Community the next, creating a stable triangle. Here are its three points. flourishes in intermarried families. The Triangle One: Liturgical Reform is social and political discrimination that complete; our prayer books, our Progressive Jews faced over admission to synagogue services, our styles of worship, faith schools is now against the law. have achieved the aims of the original Jewish lives are crafted in the reality of reformers. We see no contrast between experience. Yet there will always need to be a place for those who say they are not ‘We have grown too religious, but feel ‘ethnically’ or ‘secularly’ rational. And we sometimes Jewish, and we will develop a growing confidence in defining ourselves as a long to see words that people and not as a race.

Progressive Halachah will no longer just reflect our harsher depths’ concern itself with defining who is a Jew and how that gets to happen. Liberal being British and being Jews. We find Judaism in this country, in particular after nothing to clash with the ideas of the the loss of our teacher Rabbi John Rayner Enlightenment. We are never asked to say (z”l), needs to develop a new halachic what we cannot believe. Yet we have grown process. How do we empower our too rational. I do not believe that we come decisions with ideas that get to the root of to religion for what makes sense or only to the ethical struggles we face? Here are tiny feel ‘good’. We sometimes long to see samples of the struggles we may face on words that reflect our harsher depths, to any day: care of the dying, assisted suicide, trace the emotional dynamic of an entire advances in complex medical treatment, Hebrew psalm. We grow tired of just the interventions in fertility, modern methods ‘good’ bits and we also know that prayer is in farming and meat production, and use poetry, reflecting many different shades of of diminishing natural resources. truth. Prayer-book reform will take the And since Jewish status as well as direction followed by progressive identity are no longer directly linked by communities all over the world, reclaiming birth alone, our progressive halachah will a fuller text and a more nuanced emotional respond with an increasing clarity to the and spiritual dynamic. Our future prayer practical questions thrown up by real life. books will draw us into a more lively In a world where identity and belonging

chairman’s actions

November/December 2010

Paramount Vantage

1810-2010

November/December 2010

Giving is central to the Jewish ethic, but just why and how might it be important for Liberal Judaism as we begin to plan for our 2012 Biennial? I asked myself this question after a meeting with World Jewish Relief, which is doing so much to mobilise support for the victims of Pakistan’s floods.

In common with other Jewish communities, we can see giving through the prism of justice, but we can also add a dimension which I believe is not uniquely but certainly profoundly Liberal and Progressive: connecting with the newcomer, stranger or immigrant, the person who is radically different from us.

In a lecture exploring chapter 26 of the Book of Deuteronomy, Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah brings out that material wealth is an opportunity to share the gift of prosperity with others. The text mentions two particular groups of ‘others’: ‘the Levite’ and ‘the sojourner’. The Levites were responsible for the Temple service and did not own land. They relied on receiving tithes and a portion of the offerings brought to the Temple. The sojourner was also landless. With no inherited property rights, the sojourner was, like the Levite, also dependent on receiving material support. The message of the passage: everyone shall rejoice in the fruits of the land – including those who are landless.

The way WJR acts in support of Jews and non-Jews speaks to a belief in one common humanity. Much as we should give to causes that support Jews in need,

Jamie Bell (left) and Daniel Craig as Asael and Tuvia, two of the three Bielski brothers, in the film ‘Defiance’. They formed a community in which each member gave to the task of survival

we should also give to other causes. We are therefore exploring what projects we could support with Oxfam. My test of effective collaboration is not just finding common ground, but accepting or working through difference. Without the second part, we merely seek mirror images of ourselves.

I was struck recently by a scene in the 2009 film Defiance, about Jewish resistance in the Second World War. Classed as an action thriller because of all the fighting, the film follows the Bielski brothers’ formation of a partisan army determined to survive in the wilds of the Belorussian forest. The glue that holds that community is what each of its members gives to the task of survival and to support one another.

In conditions of extreme hardship, surviving with integrity is about affirming faith in life and in others. It can be a form of defiance. People try to beat the most difficult odds through the one currency they still have available: the power to give.

Giving is the means by which we can

‘God was in the Chilean mine’ The day the rescue of 33 Chilean miners from 2,000ft below the Earth’s surface was completed, Rabbi Pete Tobias wrote a blog in the Times’s ‘articles of faith’ series on the question of God’s role in the accident. Why, people asked, had God not prevented the collapse in the mineshaft that obstructed the miners’ exit?

The Elstree rabbi wrote: ‘The truth is that God was present in the hearts of individuals whose will to survive can

sometimes overcome even the most impossible circumstances, in the collective human spirit that refuses to be broken by nature’s callous indifference, in the brains of those who work to devise mechanisms to enable rescues to take place, in the caring arms of those who hold and comfort the bereaved, and in the ability of those who lose loved ones in such terrible accidents to overcome their grief, rebuild their lives and carry on.’

best connect with others whose needs might be greater and different from our own. It not only changes the recipient’s life, even if in a small way, but changes the donor’s as well. The value in giving is what our gift says about our appreciation of the needs of the other.

At its best, giving creates possibilities that were not there before. It should particularly resonate with a movement that values social action, adherence to universal values and active engagement with other communities. Giving is not just about repairing the world but transforming it.

As a convert, I am blessed with the sense of being slightly different, however much I might share with those who were born Jewish. Every contact I have with other Jews reminds me that I am also in receipt of a gift. Ours is a movement which bestows generously a most precious gift: the freedom to live a Jewish life, and to be accepted by a wider community in terms of one’s own personal journey.

As we think during the next 18 months about what might go into a Strategy for Liberal Judaism, we could do worse than take heed of these lines drawn from the Siddur’s themed readings on Prosperity (page 287): ‘Our task is to evolve a society in which both physical and spiritual needs are satisfied, for us and for all members of the human family’; and on The Human Family (page 192): ‘The stranger who lives with you shall be like a native among you, and you shall love a stranger as yourself.’

Lucian Hudson is chairman of Liberal Judaism. Thank you to Rabbis Richard Jacobi and Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah for providing the background for this piece

Page 8 LJ Today

November/December 2010

Old and new Jewish life in Belarus

London group supports Women of the Wall

Nottingham’s Minsk-born rabbi led a community tour of her homeland in August. Maxine Tomashefsky knew it was too good an opportunity to miss

Women of the Wall (Nashot HaKotel) hold a monthly prayer service at the Kotel on Rosh Chodesh. In solidarity with these women, a Rosh Chodesh service is now held monthly in London, usually outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington, with participants wearing tallitot, singing and reading from the Torah, none of which women can do at the Kotel. The November and December services will be held at Westminster Synagogue.

For information about Women of the Wall, the London group or holding services, contact Avivit Katzil on a.katzil@ liberaljudaism.org or visit www.women ofthewall.org.il.

When Rabbi Tanya Sakhnovich, of west toward Mir, stopping en route for a Nottingham Progressive Jewish Shabbat service in the woods led by our Congregation, said she would be two rabbis. It was in the woods of Belarus organising a tour of Belarus, her that thousands of Jewish partisans hid homeland, I knew it would be very from the Nazis. special. Looking back at that week in Mir was home to a renowned yeshiva, August, it was everything I hoped it would established in 1815, that had about 500 be – and more. students from around the world. You can In addition to Rabbi Sakhnovich, the see remnants of the yeshiva and of four group was comprised primarily of synagogues. We also visited the Mir Nottingham members along with several Castle Complex, which dates from 1495 others, including Rabbi Danny Rich, chief and is a Unesco World Heritage site. executive of Liberal Judaism.

Onward to Novogrudok, where we We flew from Gatwick to Minsk, the explored the Jewish ghetto and learned capital, and about the were soon on Bielski our way to the brothers, who Hotel Planeta, helped to save where Tanya’s more than a mother and thousand brother greeted partisans in us with the Naliboki sandwiches and forest. champagne. It Continuing wasn’t long westbound, we before we left arrived in Lida, for our first where we Rabbis Danny Rich (left) and Tanya Sakhnovich with the joined the night on the town for a little Deputy Mayor of Minsk in front of an old map of the city Jewish vodka and community in dancing; it was a fun-loving group and we celebrating Havdalah and enjoyed a cemented our friendships immediately. concert by the group Shalom.

Minsk is an impressive, modern city.

We set off for Brest the next morning, During a visit to the Deputy Mayor, we and visited the Great Synagogue of learned of the progress that Minsk has Grodno, which is being restored. Late in made since the Second World War; much the evening, the enthusiastic Brest of Belarus was flattened during its years Jewish Community gave us a big of Nazi occupation, from 1941 to 1944. welcome and invited us to an evening of The centre of Minsk felt very vibrant and food and entertainment. alive, with wide boulevards, bright After two days exploring Brest we buildings and plenty of well-manicured headed northeast toward Minsk and parks. home. The ride gave us time to reflect We visited the memorial complex Yama, on the week now mostly behind us. We where we said Kaddish together, held had been warmly hosted by three Friday Kabbalat Shabbat and Kiddush Belarussian liberal Jewish communities, with the Minsk Progressive Community, explored a country rich in Jewish history saw the Minsk ghetto and the memorial and visited a few of the sites of countless complex Trostenets, on the site of the war crimes – and of small, but hugely Nazi death camp, where between 256,000 significant, victories. And we had seen and 500,000 people are estimated to have hope for the future in the faces of the been murdered. growing liberal Jewish communities of We also visited the Jewish Museum, Belarus. the only one in the country, which was set up in 2002.

Maxine Tomashefsky is secretary of After several days in Minsk, we headed Lincolnshire Jewish Community

Have fun learning Jewish songs Want to sing but don’t know how? Love Jewish music? The Jewish Training Choir, which started in October, is especially for those who are new to singing, or new to choirs, and who love Jewish music.

Learn how to use your voice, sing in parts, and explore great music in a fun and supportive environment. Run with humour by choir director and teacher Mich Sampson, of Beit Klal Yisrael.

Thursday evenings 7-9pm at the Montagu Centre. £10 per session.

Contact mich@mich-sampson.com or 07989 598949.

San Francisco...

The next World Union for Progressive Judaism Connections conference takes place in San Francisco from 7 to 13 February 2011. The theme is Building Our Jewish Future. Connections is an opportunity to explore, question and inspire the global family of Progressive Judaism. If you book before 10 December 2010 the price is $850 and $425 for under-30s: www.wupjconnections.org.

... to Amsterdam The next biennial conference of the European Union For Progressive Judaism will be held in Amsterdam, 15 to 18 March, 2012, hosted by the Liberaal Joodse Gemeente (LJG).

books

November/December 2010

LJ Today Page 9

Jews studying Jesus THE NEW TESTAMENT translated by Sidney Brichto, Sinclair-Stevenson, £20 ISBN: 0955383315 AN INTRODUCTION TO JEWISH-CHRISTIAN RELATIONS by Edward Kessler, CUP, £17.99 ISBN: 0521705622 Reviewed by MARK SOLOMON In the Jewish interfaith scene today much of the attention, and almost all the publicity, goes to the pressing issue of relations with Islam, so that sometimes our even longer, and historically more troubled, relationship with Christianity gets sidelined. A valuable corrective this year is the publication of two major Anglo-Jewish works on Jewish–Christian relations. One is The New Testament: A new translation and modern explanation

by Rabbi Sidney Brichto, of blessed memory, which is in fact a compilation of three volumes of his magnum opus, The People’s Bible, published over the last few years of his life. We have distinguished precedents for Liberal Jewish commentaries on the Christian Scriptures in the work of Claude Montefiore and Israel Abrahams, but a century on it is remarkable that a prominent rabbi should undertake such a massive task as retranslating and annotating the Bible, including the New Testament, and this volume stands as an extraordinary legacy of one of Britain’s great rabbinic

Distinguished precedents for commentaries on the Christian Scriptures include the work of Montefiore and Abrahams personalities. Indeed, Sidney Brichto’s personality is stamped on every page of this work: his energetic, enthusiastic, determined and straight-talking style characterises both the translation, with generous explanatory additions to the text in bold print (occasionally, purists may feel, a little too generous and too bold) and the copious, succinct but often very scholarly footnotes.

He subtitles the work ‘The struggle between St Peter and St Paul over the future of mankind’, and his contention that Paul is the true founder of Christianity, which would otherwise have remained a Jewish sect, is constantly emphasised. He boldly goes against the grain of most New Testament scholarship in questioning the existence of a distinctive Johannine theology in the

The books by Rabbi Sidney Brichto and Dr Edward Kessler play an important role in directing attention to the Jews’ historically troubled relationship with Christianity

Fourth Gospel, arguing that its views are identical to those of St Paul, and correspondingly downplaying the decisive influence of Paul on the Synoptic Gospels.

I would also question his decision to omit the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew, which reveals a great deal about the Jewish concerns of the Evangelist. Brichto’s assertion that, if Jesus was the Son of God, the Davidic ancestry of Joseph is irrelevant, belies the obvious conviction of the evangelist that it is deeply meaningful, and the importance of adoptive relationships in the Roman world (strangely, he does give the genealogy according to Luke, but only in a footnote).

At times I wanted a more thorough exploration of the rabbinic parallels to the sayings of Jesus, and the omission may be due to the wide audience Brichto hoped to gain for his work, beyond the Jewish and scholarly community.

In the introduction, Brichto explores the contrast between the universalism of Paul’s vision and the enduring, proud particularism, indeed nationalism, that remains the hallmark, in his view, of Judaism. Those who knew Sidney Brichto will recognise here his passionate love and unflagging defence of Israel. The impression left by perusing his New Testament, though, is the generous spirit and keen, if critical, enjoyment he brings to his reading of the Christian Scriptures.

The other book is An Introduction to Jewish–Christian Relations by Edward Kessler, the founder and director of the Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths in Cambridge. Kessler is a major figure in

interfaith relations in Britain, and is well placed to write this valuable book. In just over 200 pages he covers an enormous amount of ground – Biblical interpretation, ancient religious art, history, theology, Israel and other contemporary concerns.

Some areas are handled more convincingly than others: Kessler’s strengths are Biblical exegesis, in which he has done previous scholarly work, and current theology, which he discusses with great aplomb in the chapter entitled ‘Covenant, mission and dialogue’. The chapters on ‘Medieval Relations’ and ‘Antisemitism and the Holocaust’ are not always narrated as clearly as one would wish, and there are strange omissions – no mention, for example, of the confinement of central-European Jews to ghettos from the 16th century onwards.

While the chapter on the Church Fathers is excellent, the next one on ‘The writings of the rabbis’ leaves much to be desired, and particularly fails to recognise the influence that the

Brichto’s enthusiastic style characterises both the translation and the copious, succinct but often very scholarly footnotes encounter with Christian preaching had on the development of rabbinic theology.

Despite these reservations, this is an important book that will serve as a reference for years to come. It is to be hoped that a second edition will rectify some of the issues mentioned above, and the all too frequent typographical errors.

Kessler concludes the book with a powerful plea for Jews and Christians to strive for mutual affirmation through a non-literal, pluralist and open-hearted reading of our Scriptures – the very endeavour in which both he and Sidney Brichto have done so much to guide and inspire us.

Rabbi Mark Solomon, interfaith consultant for Liberal Judaism, is rabbi at the Manchester and Edinburgh Liberal communities

November/December 2010

Page 10 LJ Today

youth

November/December 2010

Spotlight on Shenfield

LJY-Netzer is Liberal Judaism’s Zionist youth movement. It gives young people the opportunity to develop a strong Progressive Jewish identity whilst enjoying friendships and having fun

Shenfield – where’s that?

It’s Shenfield, Brentwood and Districts Synagogue, to give the community its full name; or, in Hebrew and more succinctly, Rosh Tikvah. Shenfield is to the north-east of the centre of the borough of Brentwood, in Essex, 20 miles from central London.

Breathing new life into clubs

How did it all begin?

Rosh Tikvah began as a Newbury Park satellite group of Bet Tikvah Synagogue, Barkingside. Key members of the community had moved to Brentwood and wanted to recreate what they were missing. They began with the odd service and social function, but after three years, and with more people attending for Shabbat services and a growing demand for a cheder, a core of members decided to go it alone. The synagogue affiliated to Liberal Judaism in December 2009.

As well as organising big national events, the movement’s youth workers are increasingly to be found providing direct activities in communities

Who keeps the community going?

Natasha Radford, the synagogue’s chair and lay leader, Janice Feldman, its treasurer, and husband Louis, secretary.

When and where are services held?

There are monthly Shabbat morning services at 11.15am, and services for all the festivals, with parties for Purim and Chanukkah. These are held in Hutton, just east of Shenfield, with the cheder and High Holy Day services held in a hall in Brentwood.

Who leads services?

Natasha usually leads with another community member, Hiam Nacmias, reading the Torah. A lay reader from Bet Tikvah sometimes assists. A student rabbi led this year’s Yom Kippur service.

Who are the congregants?

Members of all ages and backgrounds.

Warmth is seen as key, and the synagogue prides itself on ensuring that all who walk through its doors feel welcome.

Many families

LJ Today Page 11

From above, clockwise: Shenfield’s first communal seder; a cheder pupil explores London’s Jewish Museum; recent Sukkot celebrations.

Below left: the community’s new Sefer Torah

are of mixed faith, and may not have felt comfortable elsewhere. However, all the congregation are encouraged to join in at whatever level they wish.

In keeping with its ethos, the community has a non-Jewish trustee, who is a joint member with his Jewish wife. Many non-Jewish spouses attend regularly; they are encouraged to take part in worship, reading from the Siddur alongside family and friends. The sense of community spirit is strong.

What is the cheder like?

It is the heart of the community and has some 20 pupils enrolled.

Taking place on Sunday mornings, the cheder is run by professional teachers and is open to all children, from the age of three. They learn through play, arts and crafts and song, progressing to Hebrew, Jewish studies and a focus on Israel. The children are taught to chant their bar-/batmitzvah portions by Hiam.

The synagogue also runs an informal drop-in session for adults. This, too, is

run by a teacher, but is very much led by the interests of the group.

What does the synagogue get involved in?

It provides an outreach service, visiting schools and local places of worship. The format of these visits can include formal talks or hands-on workshops for adults and children alike. Community members are usually available to travel almost anywhere in Essex to do this work.

Members also meet socially, with a quiz night coming up.

How does Rosh Tikvah link with others?

Through its website, which lists services and events and through which members share ideas, though a monthly e-newsletter, and through Facebook.

What does the future hold?

A bigger community, and the first b’nei mitzvah services, which are in the diary for 2012. For more information visit www.roshtikvah.com or email natasha.radford@roshtikvah.com.

LJY-Netzer is the youth movement of Liberal Judaism, probably best known for some of our big national events, like Israel Tour, Kayitz, Machaneh Aviv or Machaneh Kadimah. But once upon a time (in fact up until 2004!), LJY-Netzer was called ULSPNYC, and later ULPSNYC-Netzer.

‘ULPS’ was Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues and ‘NYC’ was Network of Youth Clubs. For many years, ULPSYNC’s primary way of engaging young people was through running local synagogue youth clubs.

Youth clubs on the old model have largely fallen out of favour in Liberal Judaism synagogues in recent years, but LJY-Netzer thinks that the idea behind them – providing local, regular, smallerscale activities at synagogues – is still a great one. That’s why last year we started running youth activities at two communities (Elstree and Northwood). The

synagogues wanted different things: Elstree wanted us to help reboot its youth club, and Northwood wanted a few bigger events. Members of those synagogues may remember Shira Conradi coming to Elstree last year and having loads of fun on Sunday afternoons, and Ben Baginsky running a fantastic Chanukkah party, as well as other events after cheder mornings.

This year, after really positive feedback, we’re pushing ahead with this way of working with communities, but instead of just two, we are working with six.

Robin will be working with Elstree: the next event will be on 21 November, and will combine youth club with doing social action for Mitzvah Day. Josh is helping to revolutionise the Finchley Progressive club, making it more fun than ever. The Sukkot Sleepover, which he helped to run, was just the start of a great year he’s got planned. Yszi will be co-ordinating the

amazing provision at Kingston, making sure that the energy and excitement of Simon Frais’s work is not lost. Adam will be working at both Northwood and Pinner, building on what they have already and making a club the community can be really proud of, and Brighton and Hove, showing that LJY-Netzer is not just for Londoners!

Finally, Tom Francies, one of our Bogrim (graduates), is going to be helping out monthly at South Bucks, cementing the strong bond that we have had with them during the past few years.

If you – or your child or children – are members at any of these synagogues, watch out, because LJY-Netzer is coming to town! We are there to provide what you and your community wants, regularly, and in a way that suits how things work at your local level. Come and try what we have to offer. We guarantee you’ll have a memorable time.

Shnatties jet off for their year in Israel

Upcoming Events

,

20-21 NOVEMBER 2010 Social Action Chain Reaction (Galim school years 11-13). Party the night away then wake up on Sunday and join thousands of others for Mitzvah Day 26 NOVEMBER 2010 Netzer Kabbalat Shabbat (all). Enjoy a joint creative service and meal with RSY-Netzer - a lovely way to end a hectic week 10-12 DECEMBER 2010 Kinus (Nechalim and Yamim - school years 7-10). Your chance to get your voice heard and change how LJY-Netzer does things

Nine Liberal Jews left Heathrow in mid-October for their Shnat Netzer gap year in Israel.

From left: Dan Mackenzie, Tamara Silver (Oxford Jewish Community), Zara Tobias (Bristol and West), Josh Grant (Birmingham), Rachel Finn (Southgate), Flora Cantacuzino-Levy (LJS), Miriam Smith (Harrow and Wembley), Laurence Suckling and Rebecca Viney (both Kingston)

19-22 DECEMBER 2010 Veidah (Galim and Bogrim - school years 11+). Democracy in action!

Contact the LJY-Netzer team: Josh (j.dubell@liberaljudaism.org), Adam (a.francies@liberaljudaism.org), Yszi (y.hawkings@ liberaljudaism.org) or Robin (r.moss@liberaljudaism.org); telephone 020 7631 0584 or email office@ljynetzer.org

November/December 2010

Page 12 LJ Today

Liberal Judaism congregations

The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street London, W1T 4BE Tel: 020 7580 1663 Fax: 020 7631 9838

www.liberaljudaism.org

President The Baroness Neuberger DBE Chairman Lucian J Hudson Deputy Chair Amanda Grant Vice-Chairs Simon Benscher and Jackie Richards Treasurer David Pelham Social action and disability Leon Charikar Israel and the diaspora Daniel Needlestone Vice-Presidents and Honorary Vice-Presidents David Amstell, Monique Blake, Henry Cohn, Nigel Cole, Geoffrey Davis, Stanley Fink, Jeromé Freedman, Louise Freedman, Rabbi Dr David Goldberg, Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein, Sharon Goldstein, Rabbi Harry Jacobi, Jeremy Jessel, Willie Kessler, David Lipman, Corinne Oppenheimer, David Pick, Rosita Rosenberg, Tony Sacker, Harold Sanderson, Joan Shopper, Beverley Taylor, Clive Winston Chairman of Rabbinic Conference Rabbi Pete Tobias Chief Executive Rabbi Danny Rich Internal Services Shelley Shocolinsky-Dwyer PR Alexandra Ben-Yehuda Education Sandra Kviat Interfaith Rabbi Mark Solomon Shlicha Dana Friedman LJY-Netzer Josh Dubell, Adam Francies, Robin Moss Student worker Ysabella Hawkings

lj today is edited by Beatrice Sayers The deadline for the January 2011 edition is 2 December 2010. Please email ljtoday@liberaljudaism.org.

Liberal Judaism is the dynamic, cutting edge of modern Judaism. It reverences Jewish tradition, seeking to preserve the values of the Judaism of the past while giving them contemporary force. Registered charity number 236590.

Printed by Precision Printing. www.precisionprinting.co.uk

Street, Elstree, Herts WD6 3BY; 020 8953 8889; tlse@liberaljudaism.org; www.tlse.org.uk Lincolnshire Jewish Community 01427 628958; ljc@liberaljudaism.org Manchester Liberal Jewish Community 08432 084441; mljc@liberaljudaism.org; www.mljc.org.uk North London Progressive Jewish Community 020 7403 3779; nlpjc@liberaljudaism.org; www.nlpjc.org.uk Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue Oaklands Gate, Northwood, Middx HA6 3AA; 01923 822592, npls@liberaljudaism.org; www.npls.org.uk Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation Lloyd Street, Sherwood NG5 4BP; 0115 9624761; npjc@liberaljudaism.org; www.npjc.org.uk Peterborough Liberal Jewish Community Enquiries: 020 7631 9822 The Progressive Jewish Community of East Anglia (based in Norwich); www.pjcea.org.uk Reading Liberal Jewish Community 0118 942 8022; rljc@liberaljudaism.org; www.rljc.org Shenfield, Brentwood & Districts Synagogue 01277 888610; info@roshtikvah.com; www.roshtikvah.com South Bucks Jewish Community PO Box 826, Amersham, HP6 9GA; 0845 644 2370; 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 Liberal Synagogue Marlborough Road, George Lane, London E18 1AR; 020 8989 7619; wps@liberaljudaism.org; www.woodfordliberal.org.uk

Associated congregations

Beit Ha’Chidush Postbus 14613, 1001 LC Amsterdam, Netherlands, 00 31 23 524 7204; info@beithachidush.nl, www.beithachidush.nl Oxford Liberal Jewish Services: 01865 515584 or 01865 765197; www.ojc-online.org Wessex Liberal Jewish Group (Bournemouth) info@wessexliberaljudaism.org.uk; 01202 757084

Developing communities

North Herts Liberal Jewish Community (based in Stevenage) Contact Yael: y.shotts@ liberaljudaism.org or 020 7631 9824 The Suffolk Liberal Jewish Community (based in Ipswich), 01473 250797; sjc@liberaljudaism.org

‘tent: the meeting place’

the community for young adults Contact Avivit: a.katzil@liberaljudaism.org or 07866 501787

Make a date ...........

6 November Small Communities Shabbaton, in Norwich. Contact: debi.penhey@lbc.ac.uk 8 November (Mon) Women of the Wall solidarity group Service at Westminster Synagogue 21 November (Sun) Mitzvah Day organised by Mitzvah Day UK (www.mitzvahday.org.uk) 21-27 November Interfaith Week For events, visit www.interfaithweek.org 27 November (Sat) Inter-Community Cyber Quiz Contact: Philip Goodwin on 01442 871849 or dr.pgoodwin@gmail.com 4 December (Sat) Concert at Birmingham Kol Kinor choir/Hepplewhite Trio; 0121 634 3888 8 December (Wed) Women of the Wall solidarity group Service at Westminster Synagogue 2011 5 February (Sat) Centenary Service at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John’s Wood 22 May (Sun) Liberal Judaism’s Day of Celebration at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue.

Email a.grant@liberaljudaism.org 4 July (Mon) A Day to Study and Honour Rabbi John Rayner at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue

Farewell to Rabbi Neil and Michelle David Pelham

Bedfordshire Progressive Synagogue (Rodef Shalom) 01234 218387; bedsps@liberaljudaism. org; www.bedfordshire-ps.org.uk Beit Klal Yisrael c/o The Montagu Centre, 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE; 07505 477459, bky@liberaljudaism.org; www.bky.org.uk Bet Tikvah Synagogue 129 Perrymans Farm Road, Ilford, Essex IG2 7LX; 020 8554 9682; bttkv@liberaljudaism.org; www.bettikvah.org.uk Birmingham Progressive Synagogue 1 Roseland Way, Birmingham B15 1HD; 0121 634 3888; bps@liberaljudaism.org; www.bpsjudaism.com 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 43-45 Bannerman Road, Easton, Bristol BS5 0RR bwpjc@liberaljudaism.org; www.bwpjc.org Crouch End Liberal Jewish Chavurah info@crouch endchavurah.co.uk; www.crouchendchavurah.co.uk Crawley Jewish Community 01293 534294 Dublin Jewish Progressive Congregation PO Box 3059, Dublin 6, 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 Eastbourne Progressive Jewish Congregation 01323 725650; fax: 01323 417645 epjc@liberaljudaism.org; www.epjcong.org.uk Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community 0131 777 8024; info@eljc.org; www.eljc.org Finchley Progressive Synagogue Hutton Grove, N12 8DR; 020 8446 4063; fps@liberaljudaism.org; www.fps.org Gloucestershire Liberal Jewish Community Enquiries: 01242 521468 or 01242 234232 Harrow and Wembley Progressive Synagogue 326 Preston Road, Harrow HA3 0QH; 020 8904 8581; hwps@liberaljudaism.org; www.hwps.org Herefordshire Jewish Community 01594 530721; hjc@liberaljudaism.org; www.herefordshirejc.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; www.klsonline.org Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation The Synagogue, 24 Avenue Road, LE2 3EA; 07875 123744; lpjc@liberaljudaism.org 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

Rabbi Janes with wife Michelle and baby Ayelet

There was hardly a dry eye in the sanctuary at Finchley when its much-loved rabbi, Neil Janes, led his final service at the synagogue in September. In his sermon, Rabbi Janes thanked the community, so many of whom had become friends, and expressed his sadness at leaving. In what he said at the time had been a difficult decision, he resigned to study for a PhD in Haifa.

Rabbi Janes, who took up the post of rabbi at Finchley immediately following his ordination at Leo Baeck College, had shown what synagogue chair Laura Lassman described as ‘outstanding commitment and pastoral care’. He is also responsible for creating the Shabbat Resouled musical Friday night service, which has a huge following.

For Liberal Judaism, Rabbi Janes served as the Rabbinic Conference’s representative to Leo Baeck College’s Board of Governors as well as serving as practical rabbinics tutor to the second year class last year. In the previous year he acted as rabbinic recruitment adviser to new candidates to the college.

Rabbi Janes’s work for the college will not stop when he is in Israel. In the coming year he is to act as practical rabbinics tutor to the first year class, who are studying in Israel.

Mohels sought The Association of Reform and Liberal Mohalim/ot is recruiting doctors who would like to be trained to provide brit milah within the Progressive community.

All doctors interested in, or considering, adding brit milah to their repertoire are invited to attend the training at the Sternberg Centre in London on Sunday 7 November. Cost (to include lunch and refreshments): £150. Please contact Sylvia Morris: sylvia.morris@reform judaism.org.uk; 020 8349 2568.