January/February 2006
VOL. XXXIII No. 1
ljtoday
Co-operation is key to creating change Into interfaith: Monty Alfred reports on a meeting of the Three Faiths Forum Judaism, Christianity and Islam have all shown moral deficiencies, according to Baroness Rabbi Julia Neuberger. Addressing the Surrey branch of the Three Faiths Forum, which met recently at Kingston Liberal Synagogue, she said there were failings in regard to single faith schools, voluntary euthanasia, mental health and treatment of asylum seekers. She urged that, on some very practical issues, the three faiths should co-operate. These were: treatment of the aged; attitude to prisons and prisoners; the treatment of those with severe mental illness. The three main faiths should collaborate to impress the government with the need to stop valuing the mentally ill as worthless, to insist on open visits to psychiatric hospitals and those patients cared for in the community; to develop
Into interfaith… For this edition, we asked three people involved in dialogue between faiths – a Church of England minister, a Jewish academic and an imam – to look at whether aspects of their particular religion are factors in the approach to dialogue. • Pages 6-7 And we report on some of the many interfaith activities and programmes that take place within Liberal Judaism congregations and the movement as a whole. • Pages 4-5
first-hand awareness of the horrors of our system and press for changes. Similarly for prisoners, a large proportion of whom have, or have had, mental health problems: are they ‘bad or mad’, Rabbi Neuberger asked; ‘or just sad’. She concluded that the last description was probably accurate. The three faiths should jointly press for more openness in prisons, become Prison Visitors, and support each other in achieving adequate entry for all clergy. Muslim clerics, said the imam, were having to fight for the right to visit all the Muslim inmates (11 per cent of the prison population) on a personal and free basis. Currently, they have to be accompanied by a member of the Church of England clergy. In a response, Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid
Patrons to dine at the Commons Sir Michael Grade and Michael Howard MP, both Liberal Jews, will address Liberal Judaism’s Council of Patrons at their second annual dinner, to be held at the House of Commons in February. With many new patrons on board, this prestigious group, chaired by Stanley Fink, chief executive of Man Group, grows in status and stature as it brings in funds to support the expansion of the Liberal Judaism movement.
emphasised that people of different faiths needed to get to know each other; this could be done by working in projects together, leading to friendships. Imam Sajid felt that the reaction to 9/11 and 7/7 had been inadequate, with no effort to understand motives. Muslims were now subject to witch-hunting, and he looked for support from Jews and Christians to minimise this. Equally, Rabbi Neuberger said that anti-semitism among students was a significant problem, and that she hoped that the imam and others of his thinking could help here. Rabbi Neuberger gave, as examples of good interfaith co-operation, the North London Hospice, which was set up 20 years ago, and current efforts to establish multi-faith secondary schools on a national basis.
Burial backing At a meeting of Liberal Judaism’s Council in December, members reported back on consultations that had taken place within many of their communities on the issue of burial of non-Jews in Jewish cemeteries. A significant majority of the membership had expressed complete support for the policy adopted by the Rabbinic Conference. Responding to a question from Council, Nigel Cole, chairman, confirmed that in the case of the London burial schemes based around the Edgwarebury and Cheshunt cemeteries, Liberal Judaism would only act with the explict agreement of the partners with whom it shares the facilities.
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January/February 2006
80th birthday bash for Rabbi Harry Jacobi In a display of their affection for Harry Jacobi, a huge number of rabbis, and Liberal Jews from across the community, joined him at an 80th birthday tea party in November. The party for Rabbi Jacobi, who has been involved with Liberal Judaism for 50 years, was hosted by Southgate Progressive Synagogue. Rabbi Jacobi, who came to London on the kindertransport, was the minister at Southgate from 1956 to 1975. He said about the tea party: ‘It was a wonderful event, full of old friends, including couples that I married at Southgate Progressive Synagogue in the early ‘60s. While I worked at the synagogue, I formed a lot of solid relationships, and did a lot of good work.’ Rabbi Jacobi’s daughter, Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi, minister at Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, said: ‘At the birthday tea you could sense how much affection people have for my dad. It was a lovely event and I think he was very moved by it.’ Harry Jacobi was also honoured with a special service at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue the previous day.
Harry Jacobi at the Southgate party. A special service was also held at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue
Ordained as a Liberal rabbi in 1961, Rabbi Jacobi has served the Harrow and Wembley and South Bucks communities, as well as Southgate, and spent 10 years as chair of Liberal Judaism’s rabbinic board. • Rabbi Harry Jacobi joined Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks and Ajex chaplain the Rev Malcolm Weisman in leading a ceremony at the Cenotaph as part of the Ajex Annual Remembrance Ceremony and Parade later that month.
Back to our roots
Judy Thwaites reports on Education Action Day Rabbis, teachers and assistants raced from their religion schools on a chilly Sunday afternoon in November to join Education Action Day 2005, with the theme Exploring the Roots of Liberal Judaism. Revived by hot soup and lunch, we took part in a workshop that gave us all new ideas and strategies for teaching the Liberal Jewish values. Rabbi Lawrence Rigal, co-author with Rosita Rosenberg of Liberal Judaism, The First Hundred Years, began the programme with a fascinating talk about the early history of Liberal Jewish education. He brought the subject alive by playing a tape of Lily Montagu addressing The109 Society (a youth club for people up to the age of 25 set up after the Second World War); the recording was made in 1949 in the very room in which we were sitting. Rabbi Rigal also helped us to become better acquainted with the other founders of our movement, Claude Montefiore and Israel Mattuck. Rabbi Pete Tobias (of The Liberal Synagogue Elstree) followed with a lively
session that focused on the 42 Affirmations of Liberal Judaism. Dr Helena Miller (director of the Department of Education and Professional Development at Leo Baeck College-Centre for Jewish Education) led a helpful practical session on lesson planning and integrating Liberal Jewish values into general Jewish learning. Many thanks to the presenters for their valuable contribution, and to Monique Blake for her organisational help. Notes on the sessions are available for those who were unable to attend. Contact me: j.thwaites@liberaljudaism.org
And the winner is…
Southgate Progressive Synagogue won the Liberal Judaism Education Survey prize draw, and will be able to select titles from the Book Service at Leo Baeck College-Centre for Jewish Education. I’d like to thank all those who took the time and effort to complete the survey for their communities. The information will help us to improve our services to you in the future.
Six-week course: Torah L’Am We are planning a Torah L’Am course, which will run on six Wednesday evenings at the Montagu Centre. Torah L’Am (Torah for Everyone) is a crash course in learning Torah, after which participants will be able to take a portion, analyse it and give a lesson/ talk on it. The programme, from the education dept of UJIA/Makor, is designed for members and teachers in communities, and for those who attend adult education classes. The dates of the course are: 8th and 22nd Feb and 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd March, 7.30- 9.45pm. The tutor will be Justin Wise. Participants must be prepared to attend all six sessions; bursaries will be available to those who are willing to teach the course in their community. Contact the Montagu Centre for further information.
Rayner book launch Rabbi John Rayner’s Signposts to the Messianic Age will be launched on Tuesday 24th January at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue. Review and full details: page 10
Benefit screening Beit Klal Yisrael (BKY), which joined the Liberal movement a year ago, is to screen Edward Said: The Last Interview on Sunday, 29th January. The fundraising event is at 1:30pm at the Phoenix Cinema, East Finchley. Please note the changed date. Tickets (£15 minimum donation, £10 concessions) are available from the Phoenix Cinema: 020 8444 6789. Proceeds will benefit BKY and the West-East Divan Orchestra.
Our very own sofer The note at the end of the article about the siyyum at Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, which said Marc Michaels was the only sofer to the progressive Jewish community, ignored one of our very own rabbis. In 2000, Francis Ronald Berry, minister to Bristol and West Progressive Jewish Congregation, wrote a torah scroll for the West London Synagogue and two years later a megillat esther; indeed, ULPS News reported this at the time. Rabbi Berry has also written innumerable mezuzot and worked for orthodox, reform and ‘progressive’ communities to make pasul scrolls kosher.
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Study and surprises at celebration by the sea Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue marked its 70th anniversary by opening its doors to old and new members, inviting them to learn about the congregation’s past and its hopes for the future. Running through the weekend, in November, was a thread – Continuity and Change. This was also the theme of an exhibition about the synagogue’s history, which included excerpts from council documents going back to the 1940s, oral history interviews with congregants and photos. Brighton’s rabbi, Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah, was joined by Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, Liberal Judaism’s outreach director, and Student Rabbis Gili Tzidkiyahu, Liberal Judaism’s shlichah – or emissary) and Jenny Goldfried
Young adults worker appointed Liberal Judaism has appointed a Young Adults Worker, based in Birmingham, who will be providing support for Jewish students and young professionals in the city. Anna Gerrard, 25, will be organising social and religious activities, as well as providing pastoral care for young Jews. She also plans to run events to bring together Jewish and Muslim students at the university, drawing on her experience of leading peace dialogue workshops in America for Israelis and Palestinians. Anna said: ‘I think coexistence and peace between different faith groups is very important, and I will be a contact for Jewish students who are committed to this goal.’ Rabbi Danny Rich said: ‘Liberal Judaism is committed to interfaith dialogue, and this appointment will add to the tremendous effort we are making in this area. It also confirms that Liberal Judaism is serious about working with, and putting resources to, its regional communities.’ Anna will be based at Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, and will be doing similar work in Leicester and Nottingham. She studied theology at university and plans eventually to train to be a rabbi at Leo Baeck College. Anna Gerrard (left) will be organising social and religious activities
Amswych. A packed programme of workshops and study sessions included a dialogue with God through Hebrew poetry, Talmud study and an exploration of the Siddur. Less traditionally, Jenny led an exploration of Torah through movement, and the Artshul workshop introduced ‘The Flying Line’ - the art of drawing using two biblical birds, the Dove and the Raven. The drawings and paintings produced by adults and children will be the basis of the synagogue’s Chanukah decoration. Sunday’s activities pulled in new faces, including a visiting Jewish couple from El Paso, Texas who happened to be passing – and stayed all day. The weekend concluded with The Inaugural Aubrey Milstein Community Lecture, presented by Aubrey himself.
Aaron Goldstein, Jenny Goldfried Amswych, Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah and Gili Tzidkiyahu at Brighton and Hove’s 70th anniversary weekend
This will be an annual event to honour a member of our community who has done so much over the years to promote Liberal Judaism, interfaith dialogue and good community relations. Betty Skolnick
One person can make a difference That is the theme of Holocaust Memorial Day this year. Here, Gisela Stuart, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston, recalls her early years in Britain to offer a personal interpretation There have been many people who have changed my life. One such man was Ernest Hochland, who was born 1923 in Koenigsberg, escaped Hitler’s Germany in 1938 and had become one of the country’s foremost academic booksellers when he died in 1995. Ernest was a thinker, a philosopher, a linguist, but above all he was a collector of people. In Haigh and Hochland’s, the Manchester bookshop, he gathered the most unlikely bunch, some with little formal education, others with PhDs. There was Henry the kleptomaniac packer, who wore fishnet tights, Salim the Ugandan Asian, who had escaped Idi Amin’s regime and who needed support when he made a live kidney donation to his brother; and there was me, the 18-year-old German, who arrived on a rainy January morning speaking hardly any English at all. Ernest gave me a toolkit for dealing with life’s high and lows: advice that was often a variation on ‘And wherever did you get the ridiculous notion from that live was ever meant to be fair?’ He was never possessive
or precious about himself. He simply offered his way of looking at things to those around him. When I got married, Ernest ‘gave me away’ – I had become one of his large extended family. I worked in the medical section of the bookshop. About once a week a local psychiatrist would come in, but he always waited to be served by the manager; he never talked to me. Then, one Valentine’s Day, he arrived carrying chocolates and flowers, and he gave them to me. I was surprised – but even more surprised when he explained that he was a Polish Jew who had lost his whole family in Auschwitz. He had vowed that he would never knowingly speak to a German. That was why he had always avoided me. But as he put it: ‘I just thought there had come a point when I had to forgive. I cannot go on blaming the children for their parents’ sins.’ Life is full of surprises: who would think the young girl born near Munich would be elected to be a British MP – and in the constituency (Birmingham Edgbaston) whose MP in 1939 was Neville Chamberlain. Ernest – and the Polish Jew – have brought an unexpected dimension to my life.
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Sharing and explaining our beliefs and experiences Judy Thwaites, Kesher co-ordinator, describes one aspect of her role It has been one of the delights of being be involved in the Kesher project to see the enthusiasm of children, parents and teachers for our work. Kesher means ‘connections’ and it exists to bring an understanding of Judaism to non-Jewish people, particularly children. Those of us who do the work are volunteers with a little spare time (and new ones are always needed) from different communities, who are happy to share and explain their beliefs and Jewish experiences with people who might not otherwise have any contact with Jewish people or Jewish life. We try to show them that we are also human. It is part of the school curriculum for children aged 5–19 to learn about the five major faiths. So, we either go into schools to do assemblies and talks in classrooms or host school groups in our synagogues, showing and explaining a few of the main features, symbols and practices.
Keeping it simple and allowing the children to ask questions are usually the keys to a successful talk or visit. Giving the children the opportunity for sensory learning, such as looking at objects, lighting candles, trying on a kippah and tallit, smelling a spice box, hearing Jewish music and tasting challah, are winning formulas. There are rarely any problems of discipline, as teachers and parent helpers are in abundance for visits. The children have been primed to be on their best behaviour, so you have a captive audience. Teachers and parents accompanying the group learn as much as the children and are most appreciative. One nine-year-old boy recently remarked that when he looked at the Shabbat candles, he thought ‘the flame was pointing up to God’. The work is rewarding and enjoyable and plays just a small part in promoting an understanding of Judaism, which hopefully challenges
prejudice and breaks down stereotypes. Training for groups, advice and a large selection of specially produced resources, including instant lesson plans and festival booklets are available to assist new volunteers with what is required. We also do work at multicultural fairs, at this winter’s Limmud, carry out ongoing cultural training for carers at Norwood London and Ravenswood Village, and lead staff development seminars for senior managers at Norwood. Kesher is a project of the Department of Education and Professional Development of Leo Baeck CollegeCentre for Jewish Education, and is sponsored by the Alma Royalton Kisch Fund at Liberal Judaism. For further information and the Kesher Catalogue, please contact me: judy.thwaites@lbc-cje.ac.uk, or telephone: 020 7631 9824
The way forward is perhaps through ‘unhistoric acts’ It is important to recognise that faith is not the driving force for the majority of people. Jews, whether in Israel or the diaspora, are largely secular. Cardinal Murphy O’Connor, the head of Britain’s 4.5 million Catholics, has said: ‘Christianity has now almost been vanquished in Britain.’ And Raficq Abdulla suggests that ‘there is an increasing recognition of the place of the secular Muslim, who regards the Koran as the foundation text of Islam but does not wish the doctrinal superstructure that accompanies it to control his life. He values the secular space in Western societies, which is not inextricably tied to a particular religious ideology and which allows him to develop in his own way.’ Muslims who are prepared to say this publicly are few, but the number believing it privately is probably great, and will become a significant factor in reducing tensions between religions. The problems of the three major religions living peacefully together are great. Prof John Bowker the respected Christian theologian, has written: ‘I have spent a lifetime trying to
understand why it is that religious people hate each other so much, and why it is that religions are a real threat to human life.’ Part of the answer is that religion is not based on reason but on faith; and therefore it is difficult to argue someone away from their view. Which is why we should stop seeing each other as members of particular faiths, but as individual humans. We should seek unity of purpose in seeking to make the world a better place, while at the same time celebrating our differences. So how are these problems to be resolved? I have always been impressed by the quote from George Eliot’s Middlemarch: ‘The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts.’ As Baroness Neuberger and Imam Sajid both said at the Kingston meeting, we have to do more together. Each one of us must find time to understand the ‘other’, and preferably to work with the ‘other’ to common ends. In such a way we can create respect and tolerance. An example perhaps is my own family. My wife, Sheila, and I have
three sons, now in their forties and fifties, all brought up as practising (third-generation) Liberal Jews. One is almost secular, but adheres to a synagogue for family reasons. One has spent most of his life living with and caring for children with special needs at Camphill residential community. He found that his spiritual needs were best met by embracing a minority form of Christianity; and the third who has devoted most of his life to helping those in need, and now is a leader at Findhorn Foundation (a spiritual centre for all denominations and none) has found additional strength from the approach of the Sufis (followers of the spiritual and mystical dimension of Islam). All three feel that they have built on their Judaism in different ways and not forsaken it. Monty Alfred
Monty Alfred has been involved with Liberal Judaism for more than 50 years. He is a former chairman of South London Liberal Synagogue, and a former chairman and the immediate past president of Kingston Liberal Synagogue.
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An A-level that builds bridges Southgate Progressive Synagogue has joined forces with the Islamic Cultural Centre of Wembley to run a Religious Studies A-level class, focusing on Judaism and Islam. Twenty-five Jewish and Muslim students, ages 17 to 86, are meeting for weekly classes at Southgate Progressive Synagogue. Southgate’s Rabbi Stephen Howard, who teaches the Jewish side of the course, said: ‘This is excellent for interfaith relations, and where the two religions differ, everyone has been very eager to learn about the other’s point of view.’ Muslim teacher Imam Nyron Hassan Ali Gonzalez, of the Islamic Cultural Centre of Wembley, in Harrow Road, Wembley, said: ‘I am honoured to have this opportunity to help build bridges between the two communities, and foster togetherness in society.’ The Muslim side of the course covers topics such as the Koran, the mosque, Muslim life, prophets and jihad (holy war or struggle). The Torah, the synagogue, the role of men and women in Judaism, and Jewish customs are all included in the Jewish side of the syllabus. The students who want to take an AS level will take an exam in the summer, and those who wish to take the full A Level will take the exam in 2007.
Bringing ideas into the open One of Tony Blair’s advisers on Muslim affairs told a gathering at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue that it was dangerous to stigmatise the Muslim community as terrorists. ‘It is wrong to think that Muslims come into the UK, get alienated and become terrorists,’ Baroness Falkner of Margravine told the audience of young Jewish professionals. She was speaking at an Ideas Café event on 3rd November, the first in a series of monthly lectures aimed at stimulating intellectual debate among young Jewish professionals. Baroness Falkner, who came to London from Pakistan at the age of 17, believes that Muslims in Britain are, in some cases, segregated from the mainstream. ‘The Muslim community has been calling for a Stephen Lawrence-style inquiry to examine issues of separation and deprivation, and look at the events leading up to 7th July,’ said the Baroness, who represents the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, on communities and local government issues. She did not describe herself as Muslim but as ‘someone from a Muslim background’. In her mind, 9/11 led to a ‘rise of anti-Islamic sentiment’ and this strengthened her Muslim identity: ‘I became aware of my power to speak for my people.’ As well as posing questions about the country’s Muslim community, she was able to give answers, she added.
‘The route to Muslims feeling more committed to Britain is through empowerment, education and equality.’ She said she was distressed at the recent suggestion that Holocaust Memorial Day should be scrapped. When this idea was being debated in the media, Baroness Falkner wrote to The Guardian, ‘defending the right of Muslims to commemorate the Holocaust’. ‘I think it is terribly important that Muslims understand what happened in Europe during this time. When I was young I read Primo Levi’s book If This Is A Man and it really changed me, gave me a thirst to know more. I think Muslims should have the same exposure to the Holocaust, through [the memorial day].’ She felt sorry that the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and some other Muslim groups refused to attend Holocaust Memorial Day events, and did not believe that the MCB was representative of the ‘Muslim voice’. In her view, British Muslims were keeping a check on unacceptable views among their coreligionists. ‘The Muslim community has become a lot more responsible about who is handing out leaflets and what imams are saying. There has been a recognition that wrong thinking has happened.’ The Ideas Café events are organised by the LJS and Rabbi Aaron Goldstein’s ‘tent’ community. The next Ideas Café is on 26th January. Cara Wides
Five religions share their ‘faith sounds’ in synagogue Contributors representing five different religions shared their ‘faith sounds’ at South London Liberal Synagogue in what the community’s rabbi, James Baaden, called the ‘concert the bombs couldn’t stop’. The event also helped to raise nearly £400 for earthquake relief in south Asia. Originally scheduled for 7th July as part of the local Streatham Festival, the event had to be called off because of the terrorist attacks that day. But, with the participants keen to reschedule, help was enlisted from the Lambeth MultiFaith Action Group, whose chairman, Cedric Briscoe is a member of SLLS, and a new date was found in late October. The event began with a short introduction to the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan by a representative from the local council of mosques, and this led into an innovative Koran recitation in both Arabic and English, all the more remarkable for the fact that it took place not in a mosque but in a synagogue. Representing one of the world’s oldest Christian cultures, Armenian musicians followed – playing haunting melodies on two traditional Armenian instruments, the duduk and the dehol. Three singers from the local Bahai Faith community were next, singing prayers and religious songs from their tradition in English and Arabic. Hymns and prayers were also offered by the fourth set of contributors, a Hindu husband-and-wife team, who accompanied themselves on traditional
instruments (harmonium and tabla). The evening came to a rousing conclusion with an impressive selection of Eastern European Jewish ‘klezmer’ folk melodies and dances played by a trio who had already delighted audiences at a concert at the synagogue during the previous year’s Streatham Festival. South London Liberal Synagogue, founded in 1929, has a long history of active commitment to interfaith relations. Commenting on the success of the event, Rabbi Baaden said: ‘This was a brilliant example of grass-roots interfaith commitment - plus it was great music.’ He added: ‘I had to throw everyone out an hour after we were due to be finished.’
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Three religions, three different starting points for interfaith dialogue A Christian perspective
A Jewish perspective
A Muslim perspective
‘Serving others is inherent for us in the very notion of serving and worshipping God’ Andrew Facey
‘Positive dialogue can take place only when there is a willingness to take the ‘other’ as seriously as we wish to be taken ourselves’ Edward Kessler
‘As a Muslim, I have been ordered to build good relations with all people of the world – and to work for peace’ Abduljalil Sajid
Christians believe (with Jews) that all people are made b’tselem adonai, in the image of the one true God. Out of that flow all sorts of consequences. No one is beyond God’s love; and hence no one is beyond human respect, dignity or care. If we all took this idea with full seriousness, there would be less violence and division in our world. Thankfully, all the major monotheistic faiths would (with different nuances) assent to the idea of the image of God being found in humankind. Here, then, is something for these faith traditions to work on together. Of course, Christianity has its own resources for interfaith dialogue, which may be less acceptable to the three major monotheistic faith traditions. Within Christianity, there is a strong emphasis on the fact of human sinning, and on the overcoming of sin, evil and death by God through the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. These words of Paul of Tarsus are important scriptural verses for a Christian: ‘For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them’ [2 Corinthians 5:14, 15]. If, then, God chose to give himself unstintingly for humankind, then humankind must be worth living and dying for. Because of this, serving others is inherent for us in the very notion of serving and worshipping God. This is the ideal. But, of course, it’s not always like this. There is (shall we say) warm discussion within the different traditions of Christianity as to the place of interfaith dialogue, and as to whether members of other faith traditions truly worship God and are acceptable to him through their worship and devotion. A mature approach to life and to faith would involve accepting the fact that not
all religious people agree with each other on everything. Dialogue (whether interfaith, or within a set of religious traditions) would then be about valuing the beliefs of others and respecting their right to hold them; exploring the common ground we have as people of faith; being honest and open about our differences and exploring their significance; and committing ourselves to work together in and with the wider community towards peace, justice and the building of community. My own personal (and somewhat idealistic!) ‘wish list’ for interfaith work would be: (blob) that we mend some of the divisions within our own traditions, so that conservative and liberal Christians, orthodox and liberal Jews, and Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims learn to speak to each other with respect; (blob) that we have the courage to talk, between religious traditions, about some of the hard things on which we may differ: about religious belief – say, the significance of Jesus – and about religiocultural matters – for instance, the status and role of women; (blob) that we encourage British Muslims (and not just their leaders) to take part in conversation with other peoples of faith about what it is to be a follower of God. I suspect this may be about opportunity and religious education. For instance, Muslim leaders often suggest to me that they would like to encourage imams to be more au fait with the subtleties of British society; (blob) that we agree that poverty, the environment and human flourishing are of common concern, and that, working together, we can make a difference in the world.
The Revd Andrew Facey is vicar of Christ Church, Epsom Common, and interfaith adviser to the Anglican Diocese of Guildford
A controversy erupted a couple of years ago over Jonathan Sacks’s book Dignity of Difference, which caused bemusement and incredulity outside the Jewish community. Although the intense debate fulfilled the dictum ‘two Jews, three views’, it provided little other benefit. In fact, it implied that a growing number of Jews would prefer not to engage in interfaith dialogue at all. Consequently, it is worthwhile considering why Jews should engage in dialogue, particularly with those who have historically persecuted them. There are a number of reasons, the most obvious being that Jews have always engaged in dialogue with non-Jews: ever since the ‘mixed multitude’ left Egypt with the Children of Israel. Unsurprisingly, there are both negative and positive reasons for being involved in dialogue. The negative is illustrated by the argument that if only non-Jews were taught properly about Judaism, at the very least they would have not have persecuted Jews and at best may have intervened to save them (as some have done). One of the reasons that so few Christians aided Jews between 1933 and 1945, according to this view, was because of an ignorance of Judaism. The lies of Nazism were built on a history of Christian teaching of contempt of Judaism. But there are dangers when the reason for interfaith dialogue is based solely on antisemitism. For example, by focusing solely on the Holocaust, Jews and Christians will gain a distorted view: a young Jew will construct a negative Jewish identity, which without the positive side of Judaism will not be a value to be handed down over the generations. A young Christian will come away with an exclusive picture of the Jew as a victim, without an awareness of the positive aspects of Jewish culture. Reaction to the Holocaust is an important driving force, but dialogue cannot be built solely on responses to antisemitism and guilt. No healthy and enduring relationship
between people is built on guilt, which is an unstable emotion inherently prone to sudden and drastic reversal. Another reason put forward to justify interfaith dialogue is to defend the State of Israel. Israel must remain a subject for interfaith discussion, not least because at a grass-roots level many people are not able to separate Israel from ‘the Jews’. However, like anti-Semitism, there are dangers when Israel becomes the sole subject for dialogue. For example, an emphasis on fulfilment of biblical prophecy, which can be seen in the writings of some evangelical Christians as well as fundamentalist Jews, is, to describe it mildly, problematic. Also, the attempt by some Jewish organisations to woo American Evangelicals such as Ralph Reed and Jerry Falwell is misguided, because their fondness for Israel is based not upon a respect for Judaism, but their own eschatological timetable. In their view, if only all Jews made aliyah, Jesus would return and all Jews would convert to Christianity. Are there any other reasons for interfaith dialogue? There are many, and they are based on a genuine respect for the ‘other’ and an understanding of a common mission. Positive dialogue can only take place when there is a willingness to take the ‘other’ as seriously as we wish to be taken ourselves. Nevertheless, dialogue is a costly exercise – anyone who is fearful of taking the ‘other’ seriously should not take part. He should return to the apparently secure shtetl and close the doors. The problem is that the winds of change will blow through, regardless how tightly shut the doors remain.
Dr Edward Kessler is founding director of the Centre for the Study of JewishChristian Relations in Cambridge and editor of A Dictionary of JewishChristian Relations (Cambridge University Press, 2005)
The German theologian Prof Hans Kung once said, ‘No peace among nations without peace among religions, and no peace among religions without dialogue between the religions.’ The meeting at Caux, Switzerland, in 2002 among Muslims and Non-Muslims, entitled Peace, Justice and Faith, added: ‘No peace without justice and no justice without forgiveness and compassion.’ Among many prerequisites of meaningful dialogue are active listening, honest conversation, accepting the other’s vision whether agreeing or disagreeing, and acknowledging the other’s pain. In my faith tradition, the Koran commands believers for interfaith cooperation ‘to come to common grounds’ (The Koran 3:64). As a Muslim, I have been ordered to build good relations with all people of the world; work for peace everywhere and whenever possible with others; co-operate with others in furthering virtue and God-consciousness; seek and secure human welfare, promote justice and peace; do good to others, and not to break promises made to others. The Koran tells believers that those who do good deeds and help others are the best creation. The Prophet of Islam made it clear that ‘Religion is man’s treatment of other fellow-beings’; and that ‘The best among you is he who does good deeds in serving other people.’ The Prophet of Islam practised this ideal for interfaith dialogue himself while talking to Jews, Christians and other faith traditions, as well as people with no faith on issues concerning life, death and relevant matters. He confirmed this in writing explicitly in the Charter of Medina (the Constitution of city state of Madinah (Yasrib) in 622 CE). Under this constitution, Jews are an Ummah (community of believers) alongside the Muslims. The Jews have their religion and the Muslims theirs. As well, it noted that each would assist one another against any violation of this covenant or any foreign attack on their properties or damage against themselves. The Koran not only recognized religious
pluralism as accepting other groups as legitimate socio-religious communities but also accepting their spirituality. The preservation of the sanctity of the places of worship of other faiths is paramount in Islamic tradition. Today, we must recognise dialogue as a sustained conversation between parties who are not saying the same thing and who recognise and respect the differences, the contradictions and the mutual exclusions between their various ways of thinking. The object of this dialogue is understanding and appreciation leading to further reflection upon the implications for one’s own position of the convictions and sensitivities of other traditions. Jews and Christians will need to make a special effort to learn more about Islam than what was required for them intelligently to engage in the JewishChristian dialogue, for in the latter situation they usually knew at least a little about the partner’s religion. With Islam they will probably be starting with a negative quantity compounded from ignorance and misinformation. Education provides the basis for mutual understanding. Uninformed or erroneous views about the other are at the root of many problems plaguing JewishChristian-Muslim relations. There are two ways today to counter religious hatred in any culture. First, we must raise the awareness of our children that the greatness of any nation lies in its people. We ought to teach more to love and reach for one another without regard to race, colour or religious orientation. Finally, we must wipe out negative stereotypes of the ‘other’ from our human hearts and minds, for harmful images lead to harassment, discrimination, and intimidation and hate crimes.
Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid is chairman of the Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony, chairman of the National Association of British Pakistanis, and imam of Brighton Islamic Mission
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Liberally Speaking Mandy Ross found that serious illness prompted gestures of warmth and concern among all the communities to which she belongs, and reinforced her sense of the timelessness of prayer ‘Honestly, Mandy, there are easier ways of getting out of shul council meetings,’ said a fellow member, when I sent my apologies for the next meeting – and the ones to follow. I had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and was facing surgery, followed by six months’ chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. I knew the chemotherapy would make me lose my hair and make me tired; other symptoms were less predictable. In fact, after the initial sickness was brought under control, it wasn’t as dreadful as I had feared. I am lucky that my diagnosis has been very positive, so I haven’t had to deal with great anxiety about life and death. But it has been a long haul. I found it hard to go to shul – or to other gatherings – feeling different, and looking different, either wearing my wig, or after my hair had started to grow back. I wasn’t sure how others would respond, or how I would cope with their response. But I was made aware of the community’s loving concern through phone calls, cards, visits and emails, and I found such a very warm welcome whenever I did make it to shul. Everyone was so pleased to see me there. My eyes fill up now as I write about it. As soon as my hair started to grow back, I abandoned my wig and wore hats instead. But in my rush to get to cheder prize-giving one week, I forgot my hat. There was no time to go back to fetch it. I found myself sitting in shul with a sparse covering of hair, mortified. But several people came and hugged me, and said they hadn’t known that I’d been ill. I felt that that moment made links that otherwise wouldn’t have been made. Almost all the relationships around me have been strengthened by this horrible experience. In all the communities I belong to – the shul, my family (immediate and extended) and my friends, my work colleagues, my son Joe’s school, and our
Mandy Ross, of Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, is co-editor of For Generations: Jewish Motherhood, which was published last year by Five Leaves
neighbours – people have responded with warmth and concern. It’s as though this extreme challenge has allowed people to step a little closer, to offer help and moral support, even love, which I guess is often felt but harder to express under normal circumstances. I feel much more loved now than I was aware of before. Joe’s Year Two class is planning a visit to our synagogue as part of their RE course on Judaism. Last Shabbat, at shul, Joe and I looked at the things he might want to point out to his classmates: the ark, the everlasting light, the Hebrew text above the bimah. But I find myself wanting to say that what really matters, here and in the churches and mosques that his classmates attend, is the people who gather, over years, decades, over generations, and who follow with loving concern each other’s progress through life’s celebrations and agonies. Here in the shul, we read together the ancient prayers addressing human need. Threading through the millennia, neither the prayers nor the needs have changed very much at all.
Liberally Speaking is an opportunity for a Liberal Jew to air a view or take a stand, or share ideas about one or more aspects of Jewish life. If you are interested in writing for this column, please email the editor: ljtodayeditor@liberaljudaism.org
Making distinctions: ‘Judaism without Borders?’ 5-7 May 2006 Categorisation can be understood as one of a number of ordering principles of human consciousness, serving to construct (or, some would argue, reflect) a framework for existence. It plays a key role in Jewish life, as many of our ritual practices are about making and marking distinctions: between the holy and the mundane, between Shabbat and the working week, between kosher and non-kosher, and so on. In fact, one of the Hebrew words for wisdom, binah, is based on the same root as bein, meaning ‘between’. In other words, wisdom manifests itself in our ability to discern between like and unlike things. The problem with the Jewish system of categorisation, however, is that it can be seen to divide the world into simple opposites. Think of the traditional Havdalah prayer, which refers to God as ‘the One who separates between the holy and the secular, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations….’ In our Liberal liturgy, this last pairing is removed, as it might be construed as drawing a rhetorical parallel that we would utterly reject: that Israel is to light as the nations are to darkness. And yet, there are many things that make Jewish life distinctive, that can be seen as creating a separation between Jews and other peoples. The challenge for us is to find ways of celebrating and sustaining our particularity while remaining open to the best that the surrounding society has to offer. During the Liberal Judaism Biennial Weekend, we will be exploring the boundaries and borders of Liberal Jewish life. Do we all have to agree on where these are drawn? If we don’t, what are the implications for our communities and for our movement? Come and lend your voice to our discussions and debates. Details and booking forms are available from your synagogue office, or from the organisers on tel 01923 855367 or go to www.liberaljudaism.org/biennial Rabbi Janet Burden
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Spotlight on Southgate When was it formed? Southgate Progressive Synagogue (SPS) was founded in 1943, and held its inaugural service in January the following year. In 1954, it acquired its present site in Chase Road, close to Oakwood underground station, on the Piccadilly Line. The all-purpose hall and extensions were gradually built and, in 1989, the synagogue sanctuary was completed and dedicated. The community currently has some 850 members. Who is the minister? Rabbi Stephen Howard has been the spiritual and educational leader since 1987, and is the synagogue’s third minister. Rabbi Harry Jacobi saw the growth of SPS during the 1960s and 70s, followed by Rabbi Cliff Cohen. Are there links with other synagogues? SPS has had particularly close links with North London Progressive Synagogue, and many NLPS members joined Southgate when their community closed its doors in 2002. Rabbi Howard was a pupil at the NLPS religion school and was bar mitzvah there; Hilda Schindler, life president of SPS, taught at the NLPS religion school for many years as well as running the Summer School; SPS’s current organist, Malcolm Cottle, was for many years organist at NLPS. What are the services like? During the year alternative services are offered which run in conjunction with the traditional service. Bar/bat mitzvah families have their own services about four times a year, both Erev Shabbat and Shabbat morning, where they can socialise with other families. Most popular are the guitar-led and all Hebrew services. Young people also lead services three times a year, giving all the children in the clubs the opportunity to take part. For the youngest members, there are monthly Shabbat Shalom Services. Every February, there is a Teddy Bear service where members, young and old, bring their teddies to shul. What does SPS offer children? The religion school currently has more than 100 children who learn in an informal but fun atmosphere for 2½
Southgate smiles…Rabbi Stephen Howard with members of the religion school, and Hannah Kingston (top right) with dancers from Rikud
hours each Sunday. Many of the children return as volunteer helpers following their Kabbalat Torah at age 15. The thriving Southgate Progressive Youth (SPY) was founded in 1971; among the youngsters who attend are a significant number who are affiliated to local Reform and United synagogues. The SPY Council, consisting of 12-18 year olds, takes decisions affecting the club under the direction of the adult management committee. It organises events during the year relating to significant dates in the Jewish calendar, often for the whole community. It also arranges residential weekends, and writes and participates in creative services. Does SPY have any particularly distinctive groups? Its Israeli dance troupe, Rikud, was conceived in 1990 following its founders’ spell at Kutz Camp in the US. The present leader, Hannah Kingston, is the fifth to teach children new dances. SPY Rikud has performed at The London Palladium, the Millennium Dome and Millfield Theatre, as well as at the Lady Sarah Cohen Home in Friern Barnet, the Enfield Youth Festival and for other Liberal Judaism congregations. What does the synagogue offer adults? The synagogue runs Family Education
and Continuing Education programmes as part of its life-long learning scheme. This autumn, it set up an A-level course in Judaism and Islam; there are also basic Judaism and beginners Hebrew classes, conversational Hebrew, Lunch and Learn sessions and an opportunity to learn to sing Jewish music. SPS also offers bar/bat mitzvah families the opportunity to learn more about what bar/bat mitzvah means at family days held once a year on a three-year cycle. What about the community’s social life? There are weekly activities such as the bridge club or table tennis group, and monthly activities such as music with friends, play reading group or the reading circle. SPS also hosts various chavurah suppers during the year and an annual barbeque Sukkah supper, as well as other fund-raising social events. What support does the community offer members? SPS has an active welfare committee, whose members keep in touch with older members as well as visiting those in hospital and offering bereavement counselling. How does SPS describe itself? ‘We are a community that offers a warm welcome to visitors, new members and all who enter our doors.’
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A collection that deserves assiduous study Signposts to the Messianic Age By Rabbi John Rayner. Published by Vallentine Mitchell at £35 Rabbi John D Rayner was fortunate early on to have seminal personalities from the English Liberal Jewish tradition serve as his role models: Claude Montefiore, Lily Montagu, Israel Mattuck and Israel Abrahams. He learned from them premises and priorities that were to become his, and gave them a new direction, a distinctive cast and a radical cogency. From his predecessors he emulated – and vigorously expanded upon – their renewed contact with the often-unexamined classical sources of the Jewish faith (el ha-meqorot, ad fontes), striving towards intellectual honesty, deepening the spiritual sense, promoting literary discrimination, putting ethics above all else, affirming Judaism’s special link with Christianity, and celebrating the universalism of which the biblical prophets spoke. Rayner’s original trademarks were many. Among the few that might be cited was his unexcelled darshanut – that is, preaching based on the appointed biblical lesson for a Sabbath, a High Holy Day or a festival. The topic would almost invariably turn out to be an unexpected one, imparting uncommon information, prodding the indolent or complacent, stimulating the mind/heart/soul and offering spiritual comfort/ encouragement. The sermons in this volume, as in his other books, exhibit an unfailing, if occasionally unsettling, truthfulness, a patient reasoning, and a quiet passion. The conclusions are often modest and understated. For the one who listened (or read) carefully, there was no question of their utterly compelling force. We are all familiar with Rayner’s monumental achievements in the area of Progressive liturgy in the United Kingdom. With cooperation from an able and dedicated team, he revolutionised Jewish worship in prayerbooks from Service of the Heart (ULPS, 1967) through Machzor Ruach Chadashah (Liberal Judaism, 2003). His method was to pay full attention to the time-honoured canons of liturgical form and text without surrendering an iota of Liberal Jewish belief and conviction to the fashion of the hour. The success of his liturgical endeavours stems ultimately from his abiding love of the Siddur. What is perhaps not all that well known is that, amid his countless pastoral and related tasks, Rayner produced original research in the area of Jewish Liturgy. From
reading his ‘Four Children of the Haggadah’, for example, one gains an inkling of the abundant resources that underlay his expert editorial work on the polished Passover Haggadah (ULPS, 1981). Among other things, Signposts to the Messianic Age is a much-needed and highly instructive sefer musar for a community of Jews that recoils from absolutisms and certitudes – and, indeed, fundamentalism of all stripes – but which nonetheless craves moral clarity, religious candour and sympathetic pointers along life’s tangled, tortuous path. This collection of sermons and lectures undoubtedly deserves to be studied – assiduously, I’d even say – alongside the ethical treatises of the past, like Bachya ibn Paqudah’s Duties of the Heart, Moshes Chayyim Luzzatto’s Path of the Upright and Herman Cohen’s Religion of Reason, each originally written for its own generation and focused on moral conundrums peculiar to its time. In line with his overriding ethical concern, Rayner knew that his Zionism had to be a nationalism of another kind: ethical. His pieces on the recalcitrant Israeli-Palestinian conflict are among his most eloquent and passionate. Here he showed a courageous zeal and spoke his mind that inevitably provoked a good bit of controversy and risked opprobrium. He had no alternative (cf. Luther’s ‘Ich kann nicht Anderes’), particularly in light of the ancient prophets’ basic and hardly-
comfortable insight that all nations without exception are subject to divine scrutiny and are held accountable, even the prophets’ own beloved Israel. His criticisms of both the Palestinians and the Israelis are nuanced, logicallyargued, often disturbingly forthright and eminently fair (see, especially, his ‘Open Letter to David A. Harris’). While the Sephardim introduced us to the world of sensuous and sublime poetry as well as rigorous philosophy, at a later time Eastern European Jewry gave us an exuberant Yiddish culture, both religious and secular, and paved the way for the renascence of the Hebrew language. Rayner was a faithful legatee of another noble community, that of German Jewry, with its tradition of deep piety, spirituality and ethical probity (Chasidey Ashkenaz) and of meticulous liturgical scholarship (Wolff Heidenheim, Seligmann Baer, Leopold Zunz, Ismar Elbogen and Jakob J. Petuchowski). In Signposts, we have evidence aplenty of how our rabbi and teacher was able to partake of and share that legacy with us and bring it to new heights. We owe an immense debt to him, and to that irreplaceable legacy. Eric L Friedland
Dr Eric L Friedland is Sanders Professor Emeritus of Judaic Studies under a consortium arrangement at a state university, a Catholic (Marianist) university, a Protestant seminary and a private college, in the Greater Dayton area of Ohio.
Signposts to the Messianic Age was published in December. Generous donations have enabled this publication, and Liberal Judaism has been kindly offered a limited number of copies at a reduced price, which are on offer to LJ Today readers at £20 (+ £2.50p&p for one copy). To order, contact Selina O’Dwyer: tel 020 7631 9822, email s.o’dwyer@liberaljudaism.org. The book launch will take place at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue on Tuesday 24th January at 7.15pm, in the Montefiore Hall. Jane Rayner, Willie Kessler, and Rabbis David Goldberg, Elli Tikvah Sarah and Alexandra Wright, are expected to attend. Refreshments will be available.
Netzer Europa ‘I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world’
Shira, Yuriko, Charlotte and Cat with Jenny (second left) and Jess (back)
The group on Shnat Netzer 2005-06 – our 10-month gap year programme built especially for 18-year-old Progressive Jews – includes four LJY-Netzer girls: Shira Conradi, Cat Green,Yuriko Friedmann-Matsukawa and Charlotte Mawdsley. As LJ Today went to press, they were living and working the real kibbutz experience on kibbutz Lotan, a progressive kibbutz in the Arava desert. This is what Yuriko has written on kibbutz about the experience so far:
It’s 5.30am. It’s cold, it’s dark and I have work in half an hour, building an ecologically sound village for volunteers on kibbutz Lotan out of mud. It’s hard work, and leaves me with cuts, bruises, aches and rashes. But I love it. OK, so this may not be everyone’s idea of a thrilling time. But no one said it was going to be easy. Shnat Netzer is not the 100month tour you think it will be. Shnat is not merely ‘amaaaazing’. Shnat Netzer is not continuous laughter and fun. In fact, sometimes you cry and fall out with people. But Shnat is when you will make the best friends of your life; Shnat is a time for change and growth; Shnat is when I
have been at my most happy. I am in a country that makes me feel at home yet gives me something new to discover everyday. I am with 15 people 24/7 who are my best friends and my worst enemies and I wouldn’t trade this experience in for the world.
From 4 to 6 November, the founding Netzer Europe and Netzer Tamar (young adults) Conference took place in the Sternberg Centre. There were representatives from Netzer and Tamar Spain, Belarus, Holland, Germany, Italy and the UK (both LJY and RSY). The weekend was a success, and a board of Netzer Europe was formed, Jess Herman is part of this new committee/Board and her specific role will be outreach with a view to possibly forming Netzer in France. The conference started with a Kabbalat Shabbat service run by Gili (shlicha – emissary – of Liberal Judaism and LJY-Netzer) and accompanied by Jess Herman on the guitar, bringing in Shabbat as a unified Progressive Jewish community. The conference included educational sessions and a number of meetings about the future of Netzer Europe and possible collaborations, including talk of a Netzer camp to take place in Germany or Holland for 15-year-olds in winter 2006! The founding of Netzer Europe and LJY-Netzer’s major role in this are very exciting and promising for the future of LJY Netzer events.
Jewish social action month For the launch of Jewish Social action month in November, Amelia Viney spoke on behalf of LJY-Netzer at a House of Commons meeting hosted by Louise Ellman MP. Amelia talked about her involvement in LJY-Netzer and how its ideological focus on Tikkun Olam (repair of the world) has encouraged her to take this message into her school, where she has launched a fair-trade project. Jenny Walton
Shnat Netzer is an exciting, challenging and stimulating programme that offers choices and opportunities for a fulfilling and exciting Israel experience. Also in the 15-strong Shnat group are eight RSY-Netzer participants, an American and two participants from Netzer Germany. The group started their year in Jerusalem, getting an introduction to the country, then moved to an Ulpan in the north before living and volunteering in Haifa for two months. They then hiked in the desert and slept in Bedouin tents in the middle of the Arava before going on kibbutz. If you’re interested in finding out more about Shnat Netzer for 200607, please contact Jenny Walton: j.walton@liberaljudaism.org
Up and coming… We’ve our Plagim Shabbat weekend in Brighton, 13-15 January, our Galim Yom Limmud (day of learning) on Sunday 12 February, and our Walkabout event, 13-15 February, for Yamim bet (year 10) and Galim aleph (year 11). Our Nechalim event will be on 24-26 February.
LJY-NETZER
The youth movement of Liberal Judaism Contact Jess Herman or Jenny Walton at LJY-NETZER, The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE T: 020 7631 0584 F: 020 7631 9838 E: j.herman@liberaljudaism.org or j.walton@liberaljudaism.org
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Liberal Judaism congregations Bedfordshire Progressive Synagogue, (Rodef Shalom), 01234-218387, bedsps@liberaljudaism.org, www.bedfordshire-ps.org.uk Beit Klal Yisrael, P.O.Box 1828, London W10 5RT 020-8960 5760, bky@liberaljudaism.org www.beit-klal-yisrael.or g.uk Bet Tikvah Synagogue, 129 Perrymans Farm Road, Barkingside, Ilford, Essex IG2 7LX 020-8554 9682, barps@liberaljudaism.org www.bettikvah.org.uk Birmingham Progressive Synagogue 4 Sheepcote Street, B16 8AA, 0121-643 5640 bps@liberaljudaism.org, www.bps-pro-syn.c o.uk Branch: Leamington Spa, 01926-421300 Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF 01273-737223, bhps@liberaljudaism.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk Bristol and West Progressive Jewish Congregation, Hon. Sec. 0117-954 1937 bpjc@liberaljudaism.org, www.bwpjc.org Crawley Jewish Community 01293-534294 Dublin Jewish Progressive Synagogue P.O. Box 3059, Dublin 6, Enquires Hon. Sec. 00-3531 2856241, djpc@liberaljudaism.org Ealing Liberal Synagogue Lynton Avenue, Drayton Green, W13 0EB 020-8997 0528, els@liberaljudaism.org www.ealingliberalsynagogue.org.uk East Anglia Progressive Jewish Community (based in Norwich), 01502-731116 pjcea@liberaljudaism.org, www.pjcea.org.uk Eastbourne Progressive Jewish Congregation 01323 725650 fax: 01323 417645 epjc@liberaljudaism.org, www.epjcong.org.uk Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community, 07891 439646, www.eljc.org Finchley Progressive Synagogue Hutton Grove, N12 8DR 020-8446 4063, fps@liberaljudaism.org, www.fps.org Harrow and Wembley Progressive Synagogue 326 Preston Road, Harrow, Middx HA3 0QH 020-8904 8581, www.hwps.org Kent Liberal Jewish Community, 07952 242432 bulletin.kljc@liberaljudaism.org, www.jewishkent.org.uk/communities/KLJC/kljc.html Kingston Liberal Synagogue Rushett Road, Long Ditton, Surbiton, Surrey KT7 0UX, 020-8398 7400, kls@liberaljudaism.org Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation The Synagogue, 24 Avenue Road, Leicester, LE2 3EA, 07875 123744
Liberal Judaism The Montagu Centre, 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE, 020-7580 1663 Fax: 020-7631 9838 montagu@liberaljudaism.org, www.liberaljudaism.org Youth Department: 020-7631 0584 Fax: 020-7631 9838 Chairman Nigel Cole Chief Executive Rabbi Danny Rich Vice Chairman Joan Shopper Treasurer Tony Kerron Hon. Officers Mikko Arevuo (LJ Zika); Simon Benscher (community development); Penny Beral (communications); Roz Bott; Amanda Grant (youth); Paul Infield; David Kirk (education); Elsbeth Mendes da Costa (social action); Michael Romain (regions) Senior Vice-President Rabbi Dr Sidney Brichto Vice-Presidents Jeromé Freedman, Louise Freedman, Rabbi Dr David Goldberg, David Lipman, Rosita Rosenberg, Tony Sacker Hon. Vice-Presidents David Amstell, Geoffrey Davis, Rabbi Harry Jacobi, Corinne Oppenheimer, David Pick, Harold Sanderson, Clive Winston Joint Chairs of the Rabbinic Conference Rabbis Rachel Benjamin and Margaret Jacobi Outreach Director Rabbi Aaron Goldstein Shlicha Gili Tzidkiyahu Mazkira, LJY-Netzer Jess Herman Social Action Officer, LJY-Netzer Jenny Walton Liberal Judaism promotes the religious and cultural traditions of our faith within the framework of progressive thinking and ethics. Donations to support our work are always welcome. Liberal Judaism is a registered charity, number 256390 LJ Today is edited by Beatrice Sayers. The deadline for the March/April 2006 issue is Friday 27 January. Send articles or letters for publication to: ljtodayeditor@liberaljudaism.org Typeset by JJ Copyprint and printed by Freedman Bros.
The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, 28 St John’s Wood Road, London NW8 7HA, 020-7286 5181, ljs@liberaljudaism.org, www.ljs.org The Liberal Synagogue Elstree, Elstree High Street, Elstree, Herts WD6 3BY, 020-8953 8889 tlse@liberaljudaism.org, www.tlse.org.uk Lincolnshire Jewish Community 01427-628958 ljc@liberaljudaism.org North London Progressive Jewish Community Enquiries: 020-8340 5513 nlpjc@liberaljudaism.org, www.nlpjc.org.uk Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue Oaklands Gate, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 3AA 01923-822592, npls@liberaljudaism.org www.npls.org.uk Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation Lloyd Street, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 4BP 0115-9624761, npjc@liberaljudaism.org www.npjc.org.uk Or Chadash Liberal Jewish Community of Luxembourg 00 352 31 65 94 lljc@liberaljudaism.org Peterborough Liberal Jewish Community 01733-358605 Reading Liberal Jewish Community www.rljc.org 0118-375 3422, rljc_mail@yahoo.co.uk South Bucks Jewish Community 01494-431885 sbjc@liberaljudaism.org, www.sbjc.org.uk South London Liberal Synagogue, PO Box 14475, London SW16 1ZW, 020-8769 4787 slls@liberaljudaism.org, www.southlondon.org Southgate Progressive Synagogue, 75 Chase Road, London N14 4QY, 020-8886 0977 sps@liberaljudaism.org, www.sps.uk.com West Central Liberal Synagogue, 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE, 020-7636 7627 wcls@liberaljudaism.org, www.wcls.org.uk Woodford Progressive Synagogue Marlborough Road, George Lane, London E18 1AR 020-8989 7619, wps@liberaljudaism.org www.woodfordprogressive.org.uk Associated Congregations: Herefordshire Jewish Community Enquiries: 07789 218823 Oxford, for details of Liberal Jewish Services: 01865-515584 or 01865-765197 www.oxford-synagogue.org.uk
One enchanted evening DANNY MASENG AT THE L J S ‘I like my sacred music a bit hot,’ Danny Maseng told his audience at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue. ‘There’s nothing worse than to be too reverential about it.’ He has a point, and he makes it even more eloquently in song. From the beginning of the November evening when, with sanctuary lights dimmed Havdalah was celebrated on the bimah, Maseng won us over. Here was a man with a mission – to entertain and to lift hearts. We smiled as we sang with him his version of Ma Tovu. Maseng has a voice full of emotion and warmth, suited to his reinvention and pure enjoyment of liturgical music; many in the audience were clearly established fans, or had been introduced to Maseng at one of his appearances at Limmud. Not all his ‘narrations’ – the recited words that form an introduction to some of his songs – spoke to me, but they took nothing from the strong rapport he created with his audience. Every song was introduced with an anecdote, often a personal one. His grandfather was the first to translate Shakespeare and Chaucer into Ivrit, he told us, before sharing with us his musical tribute to Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew. Maseng sang in Ladino, Hebrew, Yiddish and English; he was inspiring. Beatrice Sayers
We also have groups in Manchester and Ipswich, which meet informally. Contact Rabbi Aaron Goldstein: a.goldstein@liberaljudaism.org or 020 7631 9821
DIARY DATES........... 24th January (Tuesday) Launch of John Rayner’s book Signposts to the Messianic Age at 7.15 pm in the Montefiore Hall at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue 26th January (Thursday) Ideas Cafe at the LJS with speaker Oliver Letwin MP 29th January (Sunday) Midlands Yom Limmud (study day) 26th February (Sunday) Midlands Yom Limmud 8th March (Wednesday) Ideas Cafe at the LJS 2nd April (Sunday) Launch of British Friends of Leo Baeck Education Centre, Haifa, at the LJS, 5-7pm 7th to 11th April (Friday to Tuesday) LJY-Netzer Machaneh Aviv (Spring Camp): yrs 3-10 5th to 7th May (Friday to Sunday) Biennial Weekend, in Cheltenham ‘Judaism without borders?’ For further information, or to join the organising committee, contact Penny Beral on 01923 855367 or p.beral@liberaljudaism.org, or Rabbi Kathleen Middleton: k.middleton@ljs.org. 11th June (Sunday) Liberal Judaism Inter-synagogue Quiz at Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue, 3:30pm 31st July to 13th August Machaneh Kadmiah (2-wk summer camp): yrs 3-10
Jess Herman, mazkira (national director) of LJY-Netzer, Adam Martin, merakez tochniot (programmes co-ordinator) with Danny Maseng and young helper during Havdalah
Emailing staff The email address for any staff member or officer of the movement follows this convention: firstinitial.surname@liberaljudaism.org. For instance, to email Nigel Cole, chairman, write to: n.cole@liberaljudaism.org. But, to email letters or other material for publication in LJ Today, write to: ljtodayeditor@liberaljudaism.org; to email the joint chairs of our rabbinic conference, write to: jointchairsrabbinicconference@liberaljudaism.org, and to email Gili, our shlicha, write to: shlicha@liberaljudaism.org.