Shofar February 2019 by Finchley Progressive

February 2019

Shofar

‫שופר‬

the magazine of finchley progressive synagogue

Tu B’Shvat Seder

From the Editor the rabbi, frozen onions, and oikos

This month’s ‘Word’ from Rabbi Rebecca hits on a crucial issue in the green movement. (And BTW there are many ways to be ‘green’.) In her piece, the Rabbi mentions her shame at possessing a single-use plastic bag under the perceived appraising eye of her Australian friend. She writes that she feels defensive; but if anything, her response is positive. It proves that the green ‘message’ is well-and-truly out there. But what exactly is that message when, as she writes, you’re having to juggle hats, guests, and children? David Attenborough, the default anti-plastic guru, has demonstrated the dramatic impact of human waste on marine life and he probably has no small part in prompting Rabbinical guilt. The Rabbi’s response is to point out the social good that FPS engages in and, indeed, that Torah preaches. This approach is human-focused and is referred to as anthropocentric or, centred on humans as being the most important element in existence. (And just to clarify, I am concerned here not with the theological world but with the physical world that permits us to exist.) With the increase in knowledge concerning biota and biomes (all living things and their habitats) and the recognition that all things are connected (the

ca. cranston

ecology) we find ourselves in an uncomfortable position. How is it possible to be anthropocentric in an ecological system? It was Ernst Haeckel, back in 1866, who coined the word ‘ecology’. It comes from the Greek oikos meaning ‘household’ and it reminds us that we not only manage a domestic household with all its big and little occupants but, as custodians of the earth, we are charged with managing the larger household and the multiple occupants of ‘nature’. Actions at home are interconnected with and impact on the larger home that is our planet. And vice versa. So while Rabbi Rebecca might have a packet of frozen onions in her freezer, I share her guilt on behalf of my packet of frozen peas. The Rabbi’s column is a neat parable for how we tend to divide our actions into social and environmental ‘good’, when in fact the two are inseparable. Which is why being an eco synagogue is a way to reset the balance. And once we become aware of our actions in the oikos, the next step involves the choices we make. (If fresh peas are out of season I could always buy a can of peas next time.) To quote Rabbi Rebecca’s closing words “I like to think that paying attention connects all of this.”

trainee editor

If you’d like to learn how to be a guest editor of Shofar in 2019, get in touch with CA. at shofar@fps.org

Shofar is always interested in hearing your news and including photos of FPS members, and their families, near and far. We welcome your articles on any relevant topic. Please send these to shofar@fps.org 2

Cover: Tu B’Shvat Seder, photo by Tessa Philips

Copy deadline is the 10th of each month. Please email all content to shofar@fps.org

From the Rabbi

rabbi rebecca birk

It’s

not exactly Spring but new buds are appearing. With those new buds comes the hope of regrowth, the regeneration that we all rely on. The cycle of the year echoes the cycles of our lives. Or is it the other way around? We work through the seasons wherever we live but our grounding in Jewish life calls us to notice it. An Australian friend of mine stayed with her family over the winter. She is an artist and, in her work, she uses natural dyes from plants to create beauty from things of necessity. Her premise is Taking Care. Being awake and noticing and doing everything with care, however long it takes. She is also named Rebecca. She arrived on a Friday afternoon. I was making soup and she was shocked to notice I was using a bag of frozen onions. What’s with the frozen veg, Rebecca, she asked. Defensively, I answered, Lots of us use them. Busy lives, busy days and yet still home-made soup. Despite my defensiveness I was a little shamed. An unnecessary plastic bag resided in my freezer. Then Rebecca came to synagogue: it was Shabbat Resouled. She was moved by the music. Then she was moved by our community. We were announcing Homeless Shelter needs (gifts for Xmas), a party for Refugee children, our Lunch Club for older members, advice for those visiting a couple of our very unwell members and a warm welcome to someone’s first visit to synagogue after a year of illness. I captured, in the pause after singing Oseh Shalom, the social commitments we all balance. Nourishing ourselves, taking time and space for prayer, for quiet, for reading, for learning, as we were at the service and yet heeding the call to be present in the world. As Jews. I read there is estimated to be 131,000 young people homeless here. More than ever before. We, I suggested, always need

to remain aware, awake and concerned. In spite of and because of the frozen onions my friend recognised we in our synagogue were taking care. Sim Lev ( sim le) is the Hebrew for Paying Attention. The idea we live a life of care appeals to many of us as a way to be Jewish. We can still choose the short cuts (I still have another bag of onions) the support we seek and the connections we cleave. Last month we marked Tu B’Shvat, the New Year for Trees, by appreciating how trees in particular affect our mental health. We linked it to Jami’s Mental Health Shabbat. We want to be part of eco synagogue and to be a shul that is concerned for the world we inhabit. We manage, mostly, to avoid plastic cups at Kiddush. We are seeking to educate ourselves on this act of taking environmental care. Last month we welcomed Kabbalat Torah students from many Liberal congregations for Shabbat. We also welcomed a group from Stockholm, the Progressive Jews within the Great Synagogue there. Both groups wanted to learn from us and our services and to take our ideas back with them. To learn what it means to be a vibrant and musically-strong community at prayer. I like to think that paying attention connects all of this. 3

From the Chair In these divided times our synagogue can be a place of refuge. We have the opportunity to come together at FPS with all our differences and make it work, and it largely does. I find that volunteering for something is a way of getting together with people and stressing our humanity and positivity rather than our disagreements. As you may know there are almost limitless possibilities to do something. Personally it’s helped me to feel involved in the synagogue, to make new friends and to feel that being

cathy burnstone

retired doesn’t mean the end of making a contribution. The great thing of course about volunteering is that we can do as much as we want depending on our circumstances.

it wiz needed!

Help!!! Are you IT literate, seriously IT literate? We recently signed up to a data management program called ShulCloud, a system that is being used by over 600 synagogues around the world including in North West London, such as Finchley Reform, Alyth Gardens and New North London. ShulCloud is a two-step verification secure site which can record FPS membership data (and once it’s up and running, members will be able to log in to change their personal details). It can be used to send out our weekly newsletter, record events, deal with accounts and do far more than our website does – too much to list here. So why are we signing up? The owner of our

current Data Management program, Menahel, is retiring and will no longer be supporting it. Many shuls that use Menahel have, like myself, done the research and are moving to ShulCloud. BUT there’s a lot of work setting it up, making it personal to FPS, and keeping it updated. We need someone who seriously understands IT, using Windows infrastructure, MS 365, networking and can volunteer their time. Contact me and let me know your knowledge skill and availability at josie@fps.org

Mogilev Update Mila Isakson (pictured) the leader of “Keshet”, our twinned community in Mogilev, Belarus, writes: Our “Keshet” community lives in accordance with the Jewish Calendar: we celebrate Shabbats and all the Jewish festivals and memorial dates. We take active part in municipal cultural projects. We have activities for each age group: Kindergarten “Alef”, Netzer youth club, Sunday school “Shemesh” and of course B’nei-Mitzvah ceremonies. In October we participated in the International Conference of Progressive Judaism that took place in Odessa, Ukraine. The conference gathered a lot of interesting people and was attended by a great number of young Jews. Participants shared their Jewish knowledge, studied Siddur, participated in lectures and master-classes. The Conference was held in a very friendly and supportive

wika dorosz

atmosphere that gave the group from Mogilev a special sense of community. The best thing that happened in our Community is that the Netzer movement started to play a more active part in the communal life. It all happened thanks to Valeriya (Lera) Haimova – a 16-year-old girl who managed to attract to Keshet a big group of children and teens aged 10 to 18. The Netzer group initiate and implement a lot of interesting projects, such as a master class “A Jewish Leader” taught by wonderful teachers in English. They are preparing letters from Mogilev Jewish youth to Finchley Progressive Synagogue. These wonderful developments have become possible thanks to the personal and communal support that you provide to Keshet Community. Thank you so much. We really appreciate the assistance you provide. The atmosphere, teaching techniques and methods used at regular classes, provide the students with better knowledge of the Jewish values, Jewish life and Mitzvot.

Beit Midrash Report rabbi sybil sheridan on the topic of ethiopian jews

Do we ever tire of stories that tug at our emotions? A disadvantaged child, smiling, a disabled old man or woman, trying to smile? When Rabbi Sybil Sheridan spoke to the Beit Midrash group on the topic of Jews from different countries, we heard stories galore and saw photographs of the Ethiopians who had left their rural villages to come to the large town of Gondar, hoping to register for emigration to Israel. Sadly, they had been rejected by the Israeli authorities as they were unable to prove an unbroken matrilineal line of descent. (How many of the hundreds of thousands of Russians now resident in Israel were able to prove their halachic identity, I wonder.) Unable or unwilling to move back to their old homes, and still hoping to go to Israel, they are in extreme poverty. Sybil Sheridan showed picture after picture of the conditions in which people live, such as a large family sharing one room with little or no facilities. But there were also the pictures of laughing children, learning and playing, thanks to her charity, “Meketa” (“support”, in

sheila king lassman

Amharic) which aims to help them support themselves and to educate their children. Meketa offers training to people lacking the skills necessary to find employment. Livelihood projects include a weaving collective in Gondar, a bakery, and training for hairdressers and carpenters. Once employed, families have the means to keep their children in school. By means of a small loan, they can set themselves up independently, perhaps as a market trader or opening a roadside café. Sybil’s passion for Meketa, with its inspirational opportunities for a little-known deprived minority, was without doubt infectious: we were riveted by her stories and pictures. The congregation in the synagogue they built in Gondar no doubt uses the same beautifully woven tallitot and kippot that we have now bought from them for sale to our own, far less deprived, members. They can be seen in the FPS shop. Go buy! Photos by W. Dorosz

Beit Tefillah

services at fps

services – february / shvat moving into adar Friday 1 February 6.30pm

Kabbalat Shabbat Service

Saturday 2 February 11.00am

Shabbat B’Yachad

Friday 8 February 6.30pm

Kabbalat Shabbat Service

Saturday 9 February 11.00am

Shabbat Service

Friday 15 February 6.30pm

Shabbat Resouled, preceded by Family Tea at 5pm with Laura & Danny. For all FPS families.

Saturday 16 February 11.00am

Shabbat Service

Friday 22 February 6.30pm

Kabbalat Shabbat Service

Saturday 24 February 11.00am

Shabbat Service

Friday 8 March, Flower Power Service Inspired by Tu B’Shvat, Dean Staker & Resouled will lead us in a special service. Saturday 9 March, Shabbat Service Michael Wilner: When Israel and Washington Collide: Diaspora Concerns

Wilner is the White House correspondent for The Jerusalem Post. Wilner, the only representative of an Israeli news organisation in its foreign corps, traveled with the US State Department delegation negotiating with Iran, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the Gaza war during Operation Protective Edge.

people a warm welcome to our new member

David Mosco mazal tov to

Dina Rickman & Laurence Durnan on the birth of their daughter Mollie Rachel Chaya; Nicola Marzell on the birth of her granddaughter Hermione Helen, a daughter for Alex & Emily Marzell and sister for Zack; (Baby photos will be featured in the July/August edition of Shofar); Angela Gross, Ruth Hershon, Peter Block, Alan Hinson, Trish Banes, Joey Edelstein, Nati Morris celebrating milestone birthdays in February our deepest condolences to

Ann Andrews, whose mother Ruth Rappoport

died in January; To Amanda, Josh and Sam Hamerton on the death of husband and father Howard in January; To Irene Kahan whose husband David passed away in January high holy day appeal

The 2018 High Holy Day Appeal raised £15,698 for our chosen charities as follows: Jewish Women’s Aid £3161.75 Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice £4006.75 Tzedek £3216.75 FPS £5312.75 All charities were very grateful for your support, letters of thanks from all of them were displayed on the synagogue notice board. 7

Beit Knesset

community events, all welcome!

Mondays @ 7.30pm, £4. There are even small prizes for winners! For details contact Paul Silver-Myer via the synagogue office on 020 8446 4063

Parashat haShavua (weekly Torah portion) with a modern gaze: an hour’s learning in the small hall with Rabbi Rebecca, followed by lunch hosted by Nicola at Café Thursday for anyone who chooses to stay.

yoga

cafe thursday

Tuesdays @ 7.30pm Contact Richard on 020 8349 9602

Thursdays @ 1.00pm. £6 for a freshly-prepared 3-course lunch. For menus or more information contact Nicola Marzell via the synagogue office 020 8446 4063

bridge group

rosh chodesh

Celebration of the New Moon by women gathering for sharing, learning and spiritual exploration. Next meeting (Adar 1) Monday 4 February @ 8.00pm FPS Library. Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1948) is a classic which inspired the Second Wave of Feminism as well as innumerable discussions of what it means to be equal. Hanna Altorf will introduce de Beauvoir’s most famous work and lead a discussion on women’s equality. Rosh Chodesh Adar II Please note change of time and venue! An outing on Wednesday 27 February @ 2.00pm Mall Galleries: guided tour of new work by a Jewish woman artist, Lydia Bauman, inspired by Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings from New Mexico. (Apropos de Beauvoir: O’Keefe replied to her critics that “The men liked to put me down as the best woman painter. I think I’m one of the best painters”.) Contact Wika Dorosz on vdorosz@gmail.com book club

Wednesday 13 February @ 8.00pm The Book Club meetings are held in people’s homes@8.00pm on the second Wednesday of each month. Contact Sheila King Lassman skinglassman@gmail.com or Edgar Jacobsberg e.jacobsberg@gmail.com learn

Thursdays, 12.00-1.00pm

pilates

Thursdays @ 5.45-6.30pm. Led by Tali Swart. Beginners to intermediate; individually tailored instruction. Payment in blocks of six, roughly £8 per lesson. We are now in the large hall so we can accommodate more people. Contact taliswort@btconnect.com cafe ivriah

Saturdays (Term time), 9.45-10.45am All welcome to an informal, wide-ranging and topic discussion, with topics varying from the weekly Torah portion to current affairs. Over coffee and biscuits, between Ivriah drop-off and morning service. challah baking

Sunday 10 February @ 10.00am everyone welcome! 50/50 club draw winners:

November 1st Maya Golan 2nd Eliza King Lassman 3rd Edgar Jacobsberg

£20 £15 £10

December 1st Emila Lassman Watts 2nd Joseph Hydes 3rd Jeanne Stein

£20 £15 £10

Beit Midrash

learning at fps

Thursdays at 7.30-9.00pm in the Small Hall. Refreshments will be served and there is a discretionary ÂŁ5 donation.

report: kindertransport commemoration day, 2 december 2018

The World Jewish Relief event marked the 80th Anniversary of the first arrival of the Kindertransport at Liverpool Street Station. 10,000 children were brought on special trains in 1938/9 although the project ceased in September due to the outbreak of the Second World War. It is impossible to imagine the feelings of the parents and their children as they parted company at the railway stations across Europe not knowing if they would ever see each other again! At the commemoration the survivors were asked to

stand, as were the offspring of any of the survivors. It really was a very emotional moment. Braham Fredman

The Hidden Girl Marika Henriques’ Launch Speech (abbreviated) The Hidden Girl, FPS 8 December 2018 The Hidden Girl is a description of an inner journey of hurt and healing. A healing journey consisting of images, drawings, tapestries and poems and the recording of my dreams – all of which are interwoven within a cohesive narrative. In Budapest, 1944, I was separated from my family during the Holocaust. These dark times had a profound effect. And that was, that being a Jew was shameful and had to be hidden. I became a hidden child. I went into open hiding at nine years old, which meant hiding as an Aryan with strangers. I did not know where my sister or parents were, or if they were alive. I was stripped of all that constitutes “I”, my home, my family, my possessions, my religion and my name. Severed from the safe and familiar I learned the meaning of fear, of abandonment, and of the absolute necessity of hiddenness. Some of my drawings depict this obliterated child. The ability to trust in a world that could also be ordinary and predictable was destroyed. My healing journey started with major surgery for cancer, ending twenty years later on the bimah of this synagogue. I began to draw three days after the operation. At that time I did not know the drawings represented my repressed feelings of the Holocaust. I wrote a poem at the time of drawing: Bent to ceaseless labour Intent and earnest / Despite no promise / From the womb of Time / To grant completion, I am hauling fragments Out of the dark.

marika henriques

When I finished drawing, I felt something had been rescued from the dark, illuminating my experience of the Holocaust. Like many women I wanted to make use of the power and magic of the needle to repair damage. Three years later I decided to make tapestries of my pictures. While the drawings were frenzied, because the feelings needed fast expression, the tapestries were slow in the making. I had to stay with one image, one anguished feeling, week after week. There was no escape, no avoidance. The images were a conscious working-through of those feelings but now they fostered understanding and acceptance. Each time I cut the thread I could say good bye to much of the pain – the effects of hiding no longer ruled my life utterly. Five years after making the tapestries I had numerous (in Jungian terms) “big” dreams. They urged me to return to Judaism; that to return to my tradition would be my final return and recovery. The last dream I called “The Jewish Place”: I am in an open place. There are many, mainly elderly, people there. Most of them went through terrible times in 1944 but had all survived. I am standing apart from them. A tall good-looking old man asks me for a dance. I accept. I am surprised how pleasant it is, how well we danced together. In the dream I am returned to an open place where I am not hidden. I am invited to a Jewish place, not as a guest, but because I belong there, and I am danced into the community. As I learned from my images so I obeyed the wisdom of my dreams; soon after “The Jewish Place” dream I joined this synagogue. And as I studied and observed, instead of terror and shame I became proud of this ancient treasure, which was always mine but I never knew I had. I realised that I was not a hidden child, I was a saved one.

simone lee

the moon

The side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth is called the dark side of the Moon. Because the Moon moves around Earth, there is a permanent far side of the Moon that we cannot see. But on 3 January 2019, China landed an unmanned spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, the first ever attempt and landing, so it is a major event in space exploration!

Did you know there have been 14 Jewish astronauts? 12 from the USA, 1 from Israel, and 1 from Russia and (although none have landed on the Moon) some have done space walks. In the Torah it says, “The Heavens belong to God, and the earth He gave to the children of man.” Perhaps you think that means that humans should not go to the Moon because God only gave us earth. But the term “Heaven” mustn’t be confused with “planets”. The stars, planets, Moon, etc. are not part of Heaven. Heaven is something spiritual, whereas planets belong in the physical universe. So if we look again at “the Heavens belong to God,” we see that God is everywhere, including the Heavens; and all living things have the earth and the physical universe, which they are meant to take care of and make the most of as long as there is life

on this earth. So when humans make scientific experiments, do space travel or go to the Moon none of it goes against Torah. Maybe you might even live on the Moon in years to come! the moon holds a special place in judaism

Have you wondered why the new year is 1 January yet the Jewish New Year is at a different time? This is because the everyday calendar we use, the Gregorian calendar, starting with January and ending with December is based on the sun. But the Jewish calendar is based on the cycles of the moon. In the Talmud it says “The other nations count by the sun, while Israel counts by the moon.” (Sukkah 29a). When we look at the Moon from Earth, when the new month is beginning, it takes on the shape of a thin crescent (a sideways smiley!). As the days go by (moving clockwise on the chart) the Moon waxes (seems to get bigger) until we can see the entire round moon in the middle of the month (the full moon). After that, the Moon starts to wane (get smaller) until it disappears (new moon). Then the “sideways smiley” starts again. The day when it starts again or begins its renewal is the beginning of the Hebrew calendar month: “When the moon is renewed, that will be the head of the month.” (Rashi’s Commentary, Exodus 12:2). We call this new moon, Rosh Chodesh. And did you know also that Jewish holidays are determined according to the day of the lunar (moon) month, according to the Torah and because of this it is very important for Jewish experts to get the first day of the Jewish month right, when the new moon begins? 1: Name the band that had a hit with their song “The Dark Side of the Moon” 2: Did you know that the word “lunar” (the moon) is where the word “lunatic” comes from?

Contacts

fps website: www.fps.org

finchley progressive synagogue

President: Alan Banes

54 Hutton Grove N12 8DR 020 8446 4063 www.fps.org facebook.com/finchleyprog

Life President: Sheila King Lassman

Rabbi Rebecca Birk – rabbi@fps.org Emeritus Rabbi: Dr Frank Hellner Community Development Manager: Zoe Jacobs – zoe@fps.org Musicians in residence: Franklyn Gellnick, Dean Staker Synagogue Manager: Pauline Gusack pauline@fps.org executive 2018

Chair: Cathy Burnstone, chair@fps.org Vice-Chair: Anjanette Pavell, ViceChairAP@fps.org Treasurer: Melvyn Newman, treasurer@fps.org Honorary Secretary: Tamara Joseph, honsec@fps.org

Vice Presidents: Renzo Fantoni, Josie Kinchin, Alex Kinchin-Smith, Laura Lassman, Lionel King Lassman, John Lewis, Paul Silver-Myer, Andrea Rappoport, Joan Shopper contacts

Board of Deputies Reps: Janet Tresman, Stanley Volk Beit Midrash (Adult Education): Adrian Lister adulteducation@fps.org Beit Tefillah (Rites & Practices): Valerie Joseph Café Thursday: Nicky Marzell Care in the Community: Jacquie Fawcett jacquie@fps.org Website Editor: Philip Karstadt fpswebsite@fps.org Shofar Editor: CA. Cranston – shofar@fps.org Shofar Team: Sarah Rosen-Webb, Wika Dorosz

board members

FPS Office: administrator@fps.org

Sam King, sam@fps.org Phillip Raphael, security@fps.org Ann Pelham, annp@fps.org Simon Cooper, scooper@fps.org Chris Nash, chrisn@fps.org Maureen Lobatto, maureenlobatto@gmail.com

The Finchley Progressive Synagogue is a company limited by guarantee (Company No 9365956) and a registered charity (Charity No 1167285) whose registered office is 54 Hutton Grove, Finchley, London N12 8DR

ashley page

janet tresman

insurance brokers

mediator & collaborative family law solicitor

Commerce House 2a Litchfield Grove London N3 2TN

Altermans Solicitors 239 Regents Park Road, London N3 3LF

Tel. 0208 349 5100 12

Office phone: 0208 346 1777 Email: janet@altermans.co.uk