Hakol - May / June 2018

T he L iberal Synagogue E lstree

Hakol

May/June 2018 Iyar/Sivan/Tammuz 5778

What are your thoughts?

See pages 12-15

Remembering the children of the Holocaust See page 16

Other features including

High Holyday Appeal And More See page 6 The Griffin Project See page 17

RABBI’S WORD – MAY 2018

Rabbi Pete Tobias

S

havu’ot, the Omer and the Holocaust. As you read this latest edition of Hakol, the Jewish community is in a period of time known as the Omer. It’s a period of seven weeks between Pesach and Shavu’ot. In Orthodox Jewish tradition it’s a time of mourning, and there are a number of restrictions on celebrations during that period.

That's slightly problematic, because 70 years ago, Israel's Independence was achieved in the Omer period. So in the middle of this time of mourning, Jews in Israel – and also in the Diaspora – celebrate this important anniversary, in direct contravention of rabbinic regulations.

A week before this celebration of Israel's independence is another anniversary of a very different nature: The uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 is marked as Yom ha-Sho’ah– Holocaust Memorial Day. This day is specifically for the Jewish victims, rather than the more general reflections on Genocide that are a feature of National Holocaust Memorial Day at the end of January. This year, we received some special yellow candles to light, each for a named victim, one of which is shown above*.

Then, two thirds of the way through the seven-week period of the Omer, up pops Lag b’Omer. This is a day of festivity (perhaps because our ancestors couldn't manage more than five weeks without a party) the origins for which are equally obscure.

One explanation for these seven weeks of solemnity is an agricultural one.

After the spring celebration of Pesach, the emerging crops were at risk of blight from a cruel east wind that can strike the Middle East. This period of danger is about seven weeks long (in Arabic the wind is called the hamsin, which means 50 (days)). At the end of this period, which hopefully the early crops have survived, the Ancient Israelites would return to Jerusalem to celebrate with the first fruits of the year. This is the festival of Shavu’ot– which means weeks.

Because our lives are no longer dependent on or influenced by these agricultural and climatic concerns, the festival of Shavu’ot has lost its significance for us. The Rabbis decided that it should also be marked as the anniversary of the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. Despite this, Shavu’ot is very much the poor relation to its fellow festivals of Sukkot and Pesach.

So why not come to our Shavu’ot celebration on SUNDAY 20TH MAY? It will be an opportunity to study, pray and eat – a celebration for all generations from 10.00am until 1.00pm. There will be cheesecake and other goodies. I hope to see you there. *Editors Note: Peter Rabin for the photograph

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Rabbi’s Word Co-Chairs’ Word Lunch Club Information High Holyday Appeal and More Dine In Help Out Teaching the KT Class - Part Two Jewish Book Week Welcome to New Members Simon Fisher‘s Story Board of Deputies - Working for our community Upcoming Walks Information The Board of Deputies Levy Bring Us Your Buttons!

Project Griffin Care and Welfare TLSE Contact Details

Rabbi Pete Tobias Page 2 Richard Boulton / Lizzie Rabin Page 4 Page 5 Deborah Gabbay Page 6 World Jewish Relief Page 7 Mike Walton Page 8 Tina Shaw Page 9 Page 9 Simon Fisher Page 10 Page 12 Nancy Shavick Leigh Renak

Page 13 Page 14 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19

Peter Rabin

FEEDBACK ON THE LAST EDITION OF HAKOL Carole Pomerance sent the following to the office “Further to Tina Shaw’s ’A Congregants view on B’nei Mitzvah’ in the last Hakol, she expressed my views exactly, but I couldn’t have said it so well. I must admit that I am one of those congregants who rarely attend Shul on one of the shabbat mornings when a Bar or Bat Mitvah is taking place due, to a large extent, to the attitude of some of the guests during the service, and also parking problems. Excuses, excuses!! Also, I do feel that it is such a shame that after all the care and effort has been put in to getting the families prepared for this lovely occasion, that rarely do we see them in shul again on a regular Shabbat morning, they don’t know what they are missing!

Especially nice to see the Shul looking spic and span, thanks to Stacey, our new caretaker – welcome!”

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Several others gave positive feedback on the last edition and it was even suggested that those whose own or whose children's B’nei Mitzvah took place elsewhere or many years ago, might like to write about their experiences. We are always glad to receive submissions and would be especially interested in hearing about this from older members or those from an Orthodox background. Articles of any length are invited. Please contact Deborah in the office.

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CO-CHAIRS’ WORD

A

Richard Boulton / Lizzie Rabin

s we write this we are finally seeing some signs of Spring - well - it hasn't snowed for at least two weeks around Elstree - so that's a positive! There are also lots of positive things going on at TLSE right now.

We celebrated Pesach with a really lovely Communal Seder for the second night, at which Rabbi Pete explained that for Liberal Jews there should not really be a second night (but we did it anyway) - which then turned into a conversation about a third morning - which had to finish by 12 noon the following day. That just happened to be 1st April - and therefore an interesting April Fool! But seriously - there were over 50 people in Shul for the Communal Seder of all ages - from age two to rather older - and everything in between. However, everyone blended in really well, the bring your own dish worked really well and we heard an explanation of the story of Pesach which was interesting to all. It was a great community evening and really lovely to see so many people attending.

The annual quiz evening is all set for Saturday 12th May which is always a sell-out and this year is looking to be no exception to that. If you are interested in coming, please do get your tickets booked in order to secure your place.

Seder table set

Maggi lights the candles

Rabbi Pete expounds

There have been meetings with the communications officer from World Jewish Relief as well as a training session with CST - both of which are reported in this edition of Hakol. It's great to see us engaging with these other organisations to allow us to learn from their knowledge and experience and bring it to life at TLSE. We are continuing to collect buttons to support the pupils at The Lakes School in Windermere who are attempting to collect 6 million buttons for their Holocaust project. This is such an easy and simple way to support such a worthwhile cause - so please continue to bring any unused buttons you have and leave them in the box in the lobby.

Finally, the TLSE AGM took place on Sunday 29th April. If you missed that great opportunity for the Exec and Council to hear your thoughts and ideas about the future of TLSE and its activities, do get in touch with us or the office directly –it’s your shul!

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Delicious food

A liberal interpretation of the Sedar Plate!

LUNCH

CLUB

Enjoy a great lunch! Make new friends! Be entertained!

Venue: The Synagogue Time: 1pm TLSE members: £5 Non-Members: £6 Tuesday 29 May

Tuesday 26 June

If you are coming, please contact Shirley Tel: 020 8953 0416 or email: shirleybatley@gmail.com 6

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HIGH HOLYDAY APPEAL AND MORE

I

Deborah Gabbay

n February, we sent out the monies raised from our High Holyday Appeal in 2017 to the three organisations we supported last year – Resource, Leket Israel and Herts Young Homeless. We received wonderful thank you letters from all three organisations and it is humbling to see how much difference our individual donations can make collectively. The letters are displayed on the notice board in the shul lobby and I hope to have some articles for the magazine later in the year to give you an idea of where your money goes!

In addition to our High Holyday Appeal every year, we also have a general Tzedek fund, mostly raised through the Gift Aid we collect from our membership subscriptions and that on the HHD donations –which is why it is so important that you sign that form when you join or donate! We make donations to various charities – for instance, last summer we donated some money to the Grenfell Tower Appeal. But our default charity of choice is World Jewish Relief UK and we also sent a cheque for £1,000 to them in February. Not only did we receive a thank you letter from them, but also a certificate, both of which are on the shul notice board for you to see and moreover, I received a telephone call from their Communications Officer, Rebecca Singer. This led to a meeting between Rebecca, Rabbi Pete, Davina Bennett and me, during which we discussed ways TLSE could perhaps work more closely with WJR, to the benefit of both. For instance, on the facing page is a flyer to promote individuals holding events to raise money in a really sociable and fun way – holding a dinner party or any type of food sharing, and rather than your guests bringing you flowers, wine or chocolates, ask them to donate to WJR instead! Or collect their donations and send it to WJR yourself.

We also talked about holding a special service later this year, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Kindertransport, a subject very close to Rabbi Pete’s heart.

We shared some of our own KT service booklets with Rebecca and learned more from her about WJR’s archives through which they hope to reunite people with their family history – anyone can access them for free. Rabbi Pete is leading a trip to Krakow later this year and we hope to visit the Jewish Community Centre in Krakow, funded by WJR and opened ten years ago. In addition to working with vulnerable Jewish communities all over the world, WJR also does valuable work with refugees and people in crisis from all faiths and communities. An organisation well worth supporting and I look forward to sharing stories about this work with you in the months to come.

LIBERAL JUDAISM BIENNIAL WEEKEND Liberal Judaism Biennial Weekend 29 June – 1 July 2018 St John’s Hotel, Solihull ! "#$%&'(!)*+'#,-!.#%//#'(!0%%1%/+!

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For more information, see the enclosed LJ Today magazine!

Michael with the winning trophy

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TEACHING THE KT CLASS

I

Mike Walton

n the last edition of Hakol, I asked you to look at three images, one of which is again reproduced here. I asked you to think about what might be represented. Here is some additional information with a few more questions to help you consider further the story behind the object. This is the type of approach we take to teaching on the KT course, encouraging critical thinking that we hope will have wider benefits for the students.

Leon, who is 96 years old, is sitting down next to a small table. He is holding the object shown to you previously.

On the table’s wicker top there are three photographs and a pair of small, old and decaying shoes. Two of the pictures are black and white, taken in another time. A little worse for wear, one is of a couple, the other just of a woman. The third is framed but the image is difficult to make out. The shoes look like they would crumble if any attempt was made to untie the long laces.

Leon’s Family

Mike Walton

“There were times that I had no money to go out and buy toys” Leon has a subtle foreign accent but his English is near perfect. “It came into my mind to make him a toy like this”.

He is holding one end of the object with one hand and with the other a piece of string attached to the other end of what we now know is a toy. ”He used to draw this through the passage.“ As Leon is speaking he’s put the toy down on the table for a moment to demonstrate how it can be pulled along. I can still see him doing it. He’s picked the toy up again from the table, opening and closing a flap at the back of the toy and rotating the object so that we can see the undercarriage with its working wheels. “Made out of wood I had”... Leon doesn’t look up from the toy, he’s lost in his thoughts. ...and I put on the sides, painted it, L M S, it stood for London Midland Scotland.

- Which inferences made about the object have now been corroborated by this account?

- What inferences do you need to change or revise?

- What additional information do you now have? How has this helped your knowledge and understanding of the object and the story behind it?

- What were the family’s economic circumstances?

- What can we reasonably infer about Leon’s relationship with his son?

I’d be interested to know your theories and ideas on what you have read and seen so far and would be happy to receive any emails on the subject. You can contact me at mw.tlse@gmail.com 8

JEWISH BOOK WEEK

Tina Shaw

I

t is too late to go this year but I can recommend your booking up some sessions next time it comes round in March 2019. Held at Kings Place, a lovely venue just behind St Pancras station, worth visiting in its own right, entry is free but each session has to be paid for. In the past, there were many more books of Jewish interest on display. These days, there are a few for purchase but the main thrust of the event are the hour long presentations from a big variety of authors, who are interviewed on stage in a chatty manner, with questions from the audience for the second part of the session. I was too late to book up for Maureen Lipman, but managed to get a return ticket to hear Simon Schama talking about his new book, Belonging: The Story of the Jews 1492-1900. He was both amusing and informative and easy to stay awake to, a problem I sometimes find with his television series. My second event was equally enjoyable, if completely different. David Thomson, film critic, was interviewed about his book, Warner Bros And The Making Of The American Dream, an eye opening discussion on the day the Oscars were due to be announced. Sadly, I did not have time to attend any further sessions. Suffice it to say that there were plenty more I would have liked to go to. Why not try it yourself next year?

Editor’s Note: There is always information in the lobby of the shul for such events as this. Make sure to take a look next time you visit!

MAZEL TOV TO : Tal Rosen and Natasha Kossoff on the occasion of their wedding on 6th May.

WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS

Sophie Webber and her fiancé Tom Frost

Sophie Berlin and her fiancé Tom Hart

Michael Cartine and his son Joshua (with mum Petra)

Monique and Nick Spevock and their children Zachary and Levy

Tal Rosen, who has also just joined.

Jonathan Caplan and his son Dylan Jill Kendix

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SIMON FISHER’S STORY

I

Simon Fisher

n 1958, I was born to my Jewishs parents. I had two elder sisters. We lived in East London and then moved to Finchley.

As a baby of seven months, I contracted meningitis and I was taken to a special unit at Stoke Newington Hospital, where it took me several months to recover. However, it caused me to become profoundly deaf.

When I was about four years old, I was sent to a special school for deaf children. This was in South Woodford. They made me wear a hearing aid to help me to learn to speak properly because at that time, deaf children were not encouraged or even allowed to learn sign language, as it was thought it would affect their ability to learn to use speech. Today I can lip read a little but not really speak.

At ten years old, I took the 11-plus examination which I passed and went to Burwood Park High school in Surrey where there were several other deaf children. It was a boarding school so I lived there and studied for and passed my GCE O-levels and I also got two A-levels, in mathematics and statistics. After I left school, I also got a diploma in Accountancy and Bookkeeping.

Simon with his parents early sixties

Simon with his father 1962

At 13 I became Bar-Mitzvah and had a service and ceremony at Kinloss synagogue. My family and friends were very proud of me, that my deafness did not prevent me from doing that. At the age of 17, during the summer holidays, I flew alone to Israel to see one of my sisters who was living there. I stayed at a small Kibbutz near Ashdod for three weeks, working as a cleaner of the library books.

Simon’s Bar Mitzvah 1071

Back in England, I worked at my cousin’s factory for a few months before I went to the Civil Service as a Clerical Assistant. I dealt with postage and packaging and distributing supplies and I also prepared the rooms for meetings for the committees and managers. Later, I applied for another job working in the Personnel and Human Resources Department. Ihelped other disabled people to find work in the Civil Service, which was possible due to Equal Opportunities legislation.

However, cuts led to my being moved to a different job at a hostel where I was a cleaner. Today, I am semi-retired but I keep very busy. I would like to teach people sign language.

You can see my advert on the shul notice board and it is also reproduced on the oppersite page.

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I met my wife when I was working in a print factory. She was a catering assistant and also worked there. We married at Brent Registry Office and have three sons, Wayne born in 1986, Melvyn born in 1991 and Adrian, born in 1993. Wayne was born deaf.

He and Melvyn live with Christine and me in Borehamwood. Wayne works part-time at the Orli deli and also for the Norwood Charity shop in Borehamwood. Melvyn does many different jobs. Adrian lives in Wolverhampton and last year he got married in Birmingham.

His wedding was very large. My parents left my sons some money to be used after they turned 21. Adrian and his wife bought a house and sometimes Christine and I go to stay there. We have now been married for more than 32 years and are still very happy. We met someone from Southgate Synagogue at the Jewish Deaf Association and were invited to join which we did for a couple of years but we came to TLSE because we live in Borehamwood.

Sons Melvyn, Adrian and Wayne

Simon and is family at Adrianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wedding

On holiday in Weymouth 1999

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BOARD OF DEPUTIES - WORKING FOR OUR COMMUNITY

A

question that Deputies are often

1959 Engagement asked is “what does the Board of

Deputies actually do?” To give a full Report of its activities from the past year would take much more than a page of A4 but here are a few of its main achievements this year, some of which you will be aware of and others you may not.

Last year was dominated by the General Election. The Board of Deputies published its Jewish Manifesto, which was distributed to all prospective parliamentary candidates and asked for 10 commitments on those matters that, through exhaustive consultations, you have told us are important to you. Separate manifestos were produced for the assembly elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and hustings were held enabling those in Jewish communities to put their points to politicians.

Balfour Centenary Reception

The Board of Deputies was heavily involved in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. The centrepiece was a Parliamentary Reception at which Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was photographed with Chief Executive Gillian Merron holding a facsimile of the declaration. He spoke about “the magic, the genius and miracle of Israel”.

In the past year the Board of Deputies has persuaded public bodies and political parties to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. Councils and organisations up and down the country have accepted its arguments for this crucial document whose aim is to protect Jews from hatred.

The Board of Deputies has lobbied tirelessly for Jewish faith schools, its Pikuach education service (the Jewish Ofsted) has rigorously inspected religious education programmes throughout our schools and The Jewish Living Experience exhibition gave schoolchildren across the country a flavour of what it is like to live as a Jew. Meanwhile, a programme was launched last year to train outreach ambassadors to go into schools and other institutions to educate non-Jews about Judaism.

In 2017 the Board of Deputies launched its Invest in Peace programme, an initiative which invites communities to support Israeli-Palestinian Peacebuilding through a series of events held in London, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow in partnership with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

Cathedral Exhibition

The Board’s interfaith team has travelled the length and breadth of the country speaking to Muslim communities in London, Bradford, Leeds, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow. This is not a case of pleasantries over tea and biscuits, but difficult conversations on the toughest topics including the Middle East, hate crime, violent extremism and religious values.In the autumn, the Board of Deputies launched an updated booklet entitled Family Life and Customs: A Practical Guide.

Jewish Family Life Launch

The guide is intended for lawyers and judges who are working with Jewish clients who need a trusted resource that provides baseline understanding of Jewish practices. It was launched at the Supreme Court by its President, Lady Hale.

The Board of Deputies continued its work in documenting the community in partnership with JPR. The latest publication was a comprehensive report on synagogue membership in the UK In addition, it brought together diplomats from 30 countries at a diplomatic forum in London. Its successful annual dinner featured an interview between Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davidson and the BBC’s Head of News, James Harding.

There were meetings with Cabinet Ministers and party leaders including Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The Board of Deputies work is vital in so many different areas and it can only continue to represent us and work on our behalf if we continue to provide it with support.

Editor’s Note: Another view of the BOD is overleaf!

Upcoming Walks Date: Saturday 12th May

Time: 2:00 for 2:15pm

Meet: Outside the church in Letchmore Heath. We will be walking the Three Hamlets Ramble. Everyone is invited back to Nancy’s house afterwards for a cup of tea.

Mobile on the day: 07872 983720

Led by: Nancy Shavick

Date: Saturday 2nd June

Time: 1:45 for 2:00pm

Meet: TLSE for a ramble round the surrounding countryside Mobile on the day: 07958 502526 13

THE BOARD OF DEPUTIES LEVY

M

y late father, at this time of year when shul fees are payable, would routinely and defiantly strike out any reference to payment of the levy to the Board Of Deputies. To him they were, and would always be, the enemy. Not that he was one to bear a grudge, but as a founder member of the 43, Group he viewed the BOD with almost the same level of disdain as Mosley and his Black Shirts that the group was formed to oppose.

Leigh Renak

43 Group photo

Fascist leaders, like Sir Oswald Mosley, had been released from detention at the end of the World War Two. Soon they were holding meetings in London and around the country, often espousing the same violently anti-Semitic rhetoric used before the war. In response, the 43 Group was formed (so named because there were 43 founding members, Dad being one of them) in the late 1940s to gain intelligence on the fascist movement, expose their activities and physically break up their meetings. Its activities became a model for future militant anti-fascist groups.

They broke up Mosley gatherings that were carefully planned by Mosley to cause maximum threat and upset to their (primarily Jewish) targets. The BOD at the time advocated appeasement as their policy and as a result were diametrically opposed to the 43 Group. In the end the 43 Group succeeded, consigning Mosley to History. The 43 Group was voluntarily disbanded in April 1950, as its members considered that the immediate threat had passed.

Dad never wavered from his mistrust of the BOD, and out of respect to him I continued with striking the BOD from any levy requests without much further consideration. I now find myself viewing the appeasement approach of the BOD in its current activities in much the same way as Dad did, albeit for more contemporary reasons. There has been much press recently on the subject of Organ Donation, Opt In or Opt Out (presumed consent)? Currently the situation is that a possible Organ Donor must Opt In to indicate their consent to their organs being used to save lives in the event of the individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death.

Sadly, an average three people die every day in the UK in need of a donor organ while more than 1,000 families say no to organ donation every year. Many people do not Opt In purely through inertia. Most young people (and I still consider myself in that group) do not consider matters related to their own mortality. Why should we? As a result, significant opportunities to save life through Organ Donation are lost because there then becomes a need to present an entirely unthinkable question to a grieving relative at absolutely the wrong time.

Opt out will not remove the opportunity for those opposed to Organ Donation to express their views. They have the opportunity to Opt Out. The argument that Opt Out in any way removes choice is therefore patently untrue! What it does do is presume consent from those who have not opted out, with the potential to save 3 lives every day. Why is there even a question on this subject? The Jewish religion places the saving of life at the very pinnacle of Mitzvot, so whereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the issue?

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The answer comes from the extreme Orthodox wing of our religion who oppose such donation, and they have achieved support from the BOD whose policy of appeasement continues. In a statement issued 12th December 2017 they opined: ”We urge our community and the public at large to respond to this consultation to urge the Government: Help us to opt in. Do not force us to opt out.“ The impact of Opt Out, Presumed Consent, can only be positive. This policy of appeasement of the Orthodox does not represent me, nor in my opinion should it represent our community. My policy, inherited from my Dad of opting out of the BOD will continue, only now with more conviction, and I urge any similar minded members of our community to join me.

Editor’s Note: Thus we have on the previous pages, the BOD reporting its achievements for the entire Jewish community of the UK, and here, an entirely different viewpoint from Leigh: The BOD is too focused on appeasement of the ultra-Orthodox wing of Judaism to be truly representational of Liberal Judaism’s standpoint. What do you think? Do you pay the levy? I would welcome others’ views to continue this debate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Ellis Cavendish, Louis de la Cour, Aaron de Jonge, Raffi Henning, Adam Jacobs, Aaron Jones, Matthew Kram, Maya Larholm, Dylan Levene, Jemma Levene, Oscar Morton, Ronnie Perilly, Charlotte Rabinovitch, Blake Rabinovitch, Jake Rock Emily Sinclair, Isla Wainstein

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16

PROJECT GRIFFIN

T

Peter Rabin

hursday 22nd March 2018 – the first anniversary of

1959 theEngagement Westminster Bridge terrorist atrocity in which

five people were murdered and 50 injured. The day was a fitting reminder as we sat and listened to Darren of the Community Security Trust (CST) lecture us on ”Project Griffin”.

This project, promoted and funded by the Metropolitan Police, is aimed at making people more aware of the terrorist threat in this country and how to combat it. As the CST supports specifically Jewish organisations, the 30 attendees at the presentation, including Rabbi Pete, Deborah, Davina and myself, represent various Jewish interest groups – although not everyone there was Jewish.

Darren informed us that in the last four years anti-Semitic incidents have increased fourfold (not all terrorist related) and most, although again not all, the terrorist incidents are inspired by Daesh and Al Qaida. Out of 339 terrorist-related arrests in the U.K. last year, 115 were tracked back to Syria and the terrorism threat level in the U.K. is currently ”severe”– one below the highest level of ”critical”.

With this in mind, Darren urged us to do several things. The first and most important is to be aware at all times of any suspicious behaviour, not just around the shul, but anywhere. Is somebody hanging around aimlessly? Or taking photos without a good reason? The second, if you do see something and your gut-feelilng is that it is suspicious, DO SOMETHING. Report it to your own security people or the police. And when reporting to the police the key phrase is that someone is carrying out ”hostile reconnaissance”. This should elicit an immediate controversial monument response (as opposed to the usual We’ll send someone round as The soon as we can.

If you feel confident enough, before phoning, you can go and ask the person if you can help them - to see what their reaction is. This may reinforce or alleviate your feelings of suspicion. He emphasised that you should never ever put yourself at risk. BUT NEVER DO NOTHING. The watchwords are ”See something, say something, do something.”

Darren told us that in general, the more obvious security you have, the less likely you are to be targeted. The terrorists will look for an easier target. As well as our security-coded gates, we now have full coverage of the outside of the shul with lights and cameras. We are also looking at a new secure main door into the shul building.

Finally he reminded us to keep things in perspective. If we do anything, we have risks and no-one should live their lives afraid, certainly not of terrorism (which is their main aim). HAVE A FULL LIFE BUT BE AWARE. 17

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COMMITTEE NEWS Leone Samson has resigned from the Care and Welfare Committee due to work commitments. We would like to thank her for her dedicated contribution over the past years and wish her well.

CARE & WELFARE ALERT

Carol Hurst

Are you an empty-nester? Do you occasionally feel bored without something worthwhile to occupy your time? Do you like interacting with all kinds of people?

If your answer is yes to any of the above, why not consider joining our Care & Welfare Committee. You would not be expected to do more that you have time for, nor anything you feel unqualified to do (we arrange training if required). The reward comes with knowing that you are making a positive contribution by helping others in need, sometimes in the smallest of ways to yourself, but meaning a great deal to the one you help. If you would like to know more about us and our work, please give me a call on 020 8950 1862, or email me on hurst@hursty.com and I will be pleased to have a chat.

GET WELL SOON: We hope that Rita Gordenfelt is fully recovered from her recent accident and that Sue Woolfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s broken arm is now healed.

We also wish Barbara Merton a speedy recovery to her broken leg resulting from a fall while abroad.

Best wishes to Rosita Rosenberg who recently fell and broke her arm and needed stitches in her leg â&#x20AC;&#x201C; get well soon!

CONDOLENCES TO: Condolences to the Blake family on the death of David, a founder member of the synagogue. Thoughts are with Monique, Laurence & Tracy, Kevin & Sharon, and grandchildren Antony, Charlie, Joshua and Kezia.

We are saddened to announce that Geoffrey Davis has passed away and send our condolences to his wife Betty and his family. Geoffrey was a Vice President of Liberal Judaism and Chairman for 6 years and instrumental in founding The Liberal Synagogue Elstree.

We send our condolences to Alyson Larholm on the loss of her father and Paul Maisner on the loss of his brother, who was also the uncle of Simone Wingate.

CARE & WELFARE COMMITTEE

18

A-B

BARBARA

020 8953 1369

N-Q

PETER

020 8953 1369

C-F

NICKY

07788 751275

R-S

RITA

020 8953 4439

G-I

CAROL

020 8950 1862

T-Z

JUDY

01582 468100

J-M

ESTELLE

020 8954 9569

NICKY

07788 751275

GENERAL INFORMATION Elstree High Street, Elstree, Hertfordshire WD6 3EY Phone: 020 8953 8889 Email: office@tlse.org.uk www.tlse.org.uk Edited by Deborah Gabbay

T L S E

Please note: Deborah is generally in the office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4:00pm.

Would all those involved in arranging functions, services or meetings please contact the office on 020 8953 8889 or office@tlse.org.uk so that they can be scheduled in the Synagogue diary. This ensures that any physical set-ups in the Synagogue are arranged and that meetings do not conflict.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure that details printed in Hakol are correct, no responsibility can be accepted for information misprinted or incorrectly given to the Editor. Please let the Editor know of any errors or corrections. The Editor reserves the right to edit material submitted for publication.

The deadline for submissions to the next edition of Hakol is Friday 8th June but submissions will be accepted at any time and early submission is appreciated.

COUNCIL MEMBERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; CONTACT LIST CO-CHAIRMAN Lizzie Rabin 07974 229607 lizzie.rabin2702@gmail.com

CO-CHAIRMAN Richard Boulton 07801 921218 rboulton@gmail.com

HONORARY TREASURER Harvey Adams 07760 666002 frinton43@outlook.com

HONORARY PRESIDENT Monique Blake 020 8953 4251 monique.david@ntlworld.com

Penny Beral 07979 800616 penny@pennyberal.co.uk

Jacqueline Bernard 07885 176417 goonergirly@live.co.uk

Peter Rabin Joanne Jones 020 8958 7783 07958 300247 joanne.jones2304@gmail.com peterrabin@talktalk.net

Alan Gordonfelt 020 8950 6048 ritalan@hotmail.co.uk David Swarc 07767 788596 davidswarc@aol.com

In cases of bereavement, please contact our Burial Officer, Peter Merton on 020 8953 1369 Designed & Printed by

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