From the Chair

Jo Landy Welcome to the CTJC magazine. As I write we are in the middle of another lockdown. When this reaches you all, I hope that life will be a little less restricted and that our more vulnerable members will be looking forward to the imminent prospect of vaccination. We have all been through a tortuous year. There have been many deaths, not only Covid-related. Later in this issue there are articles about the late Lord Sacks. Suffice to say he will be much missed by all of us. A huge thanks to all who helped organise the Yamin Noraim. We managed not only safe, socially distanced, smoothly run services inside, but also enjoyed a great, newly renovated, outside space. This meant that those who felt worried by being in a building could attend outside. A thank you to Miriam Fauks, who used this outside space to run a very small Covid-aware children’s service. Rising Covid numbers among returning University students caused concerns about increased risk within the minyan. As a result, we organised services for non-student congregants which were separate from those held by the students. From Succot our abbreviated services started at 9.45am. Student services follow later. There is a covered space in the garden for those who wish to daven outside. Reuven continued the online booking system for places at minyanim. With limited numbers we have still managed to get a minyan. Hopefully, this will resume when we are able to hold services again. Because Shabbat now comes in so early, our weekly zoom meetings have been moved to 8.00pm on Saturday evening. It’s a great way to stay in touch with everyone. There has been some movement on plans to rebuild 3 Thompson’s Lane. A planning application has now been submitted to the council. Meanwhile, the newly created Management Committee has not only contended with existing issues at 3 Thompson’s Lane, but has helped with the added burdens of running a building and events during Covid19.