LJ Today March/April 2005

March 2005 VOL. XXXII No 2

ljtoday

An elegant dinner on the terrace of the House of Lords, overlooking the Thames, was a fitting way to thank the founder patrons of Liberal Judaism for their confidence in the ability of the rabbis and officers to fulfil its programme for the expansion of Liberal Judaism throughout Britain.

In his welcoming speech to patrons and guests at the dinner, last month, Nigel Cole expressed his gratitude to Stanley Fink, chairman of the Council of Patrons, for the example he and his wife Barbara had set for other donors throughout the movement.

All three addresses following the meal were short and to the point, reflecting the purpose of the evening.

After speaking of his family’s reason for joining a Liberal synagogue, Stanley thanked the patrons for their support saying: ‘This [generosity] will ensure that the vision of our founders can be realised: to make the ancient faith of Judaism a religion not only of the past but of the future.’

Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, the guest of honour, spoke movingly of his own family connection to Liberal Judaism, going back to its formation when his ancestors lived in Frankfurt. He praised the vision for the movement’s future, as articulated in the Council of Patrons brochure, and concluded by referring to his own commitment to promoting understanding between • Continued on page 3

PHOTOGRAPHS: JIM WINSLET

Patrons pledge £½m to the future expansion of Liberal Judaism

Sir Evelyn de Rothschild (top left), guest of honour at the dinner, delivers his address; Aaron Goldstein and his wife Tammy Kustow talk to Howard Shopper, of Finchley Progressive Synagogue; Rachel Hudson (left), PR officer for Liberal Judaism, Cathryn Brichto, event organiser for the evening, Lord Stone of Blackheath, who hosted the dinner, Stanley Fink, chairman of the Council of Patrons, Joan Shopper, an honorary officer, Nigel Cole, chairman of Liberal Judaism, and Sidney Brichto, senior vice-president

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March 2005

Danny Rich leads mission to Israel

Our vision for the future

Rabbi Danny Rich led a Liberal Judaism mission to Israel last month, in partnership with Rabbis for Human Rights (of which he is the British representative) and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Among the delegation were Gili Tzidkayhu, Liberal Judaism’s shlichah, Mikko Arevuo (chair, Liberal Judaism’s Israel Action Group and a member of the LJS), Liberal rabbis Elli Tikvah Sarah (Brighton & Hove) and Janet Burden (West Central) and Imam Shahid Hussain, who works with Danny at the multi-faith chaplaincy at Kingston Hospital.

The group visited a settlement in the West Bank and its neighbouring Palestinian village, met representatives of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, and was hosted at a private meeting in Jericho by senior Palestinian politicians.

Nigel Cole, who was elected chairman of Liberal Judaism in December, says our movement has a winning formula in its values and its people

MBE for charity leader Hershman Clive Hershman, chairman of Share Community for more than 20 years, was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours, for services to disabled people. Share Community has been a key player in the Wandsworth disability arena since 1972, and now provides training and personal development opportunities to disabled people from across London. Clive is a vice-president of South London Liberal Synagogue and the former chairman of the congregation.

How to administer the fifth helping Are you a fan of Dan Greenberg’s 1960s satire How to be a Jewish Mother? Two Liberal Jews chronicle the reality behind the stereotype with For Generations: Jewish Motherhood. The book, edited by Ronne Randall, of Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation, and Mandy Ross, of Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, is launched during Jewish Book Week. For Generations is published by Five Leaves at £9.99.

Downing Street date The last duty of David Pick as Chairman of Liberal Judaism was to attend, with Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein, the first ever Chanukkah candle lighting at Downing Street.

I am proud to be associated in some small way with this marvellous movement of ours. To be candid, I am nervous of having taken on more than a century of our heritage and there are many days on which I wonder what I have let myself in for. However, I face the future with confidence for a number of reasons.

We are and remain a confident movement. We have integrity and value it above pragmatism; we are honest with ourselves and with others and we have the humility to admit when we are wrong. This makes us strong and enables us to engage with Jews and those who choose to become Jews, offering them a kind of Judaism that is clearly distinguished from the other strands of British Jewry.

We have an unbeatable team in the quality of the people who choose to contribute to and work for the movement.

What then is the vision for the next few years? We will continue to develop our understanding of Judaism and its relationship with today’s world. Our rabbis will provide us with context and explanation as they push at the open door of Jewish knowledge. As funding allows, we will appoint the new rabbinic post of Religion and Learning Executive in the Montagu Centre, who will work with our rabbis to extend this work.

We will develop Social Action programmes that are relevant to the needs of today’s world. We will seek to grow and develop our movement. We will expand the base of donor funding and, as soon as we have proved the model, we will appoint a professional fundraiser to establish reliable long-

term financing for our movement.

We will build our profile both nationally and internationally. We will continue the work of Outreach so ably led by Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, and expand the ‘tent’ model so that those individuals for whom the traditional synagogue model has no current attraction, have a place in which to be Jewish. A tent, remember, is a place into which we enter. A ‘tribe’ by contrast is something to which you belong.

We will open new communities, not necessarily four-walled synagogues, in the places where there are Jews who need Liberal Judaism. We will expand the reach of our youth movement, LJY-Netzer.

We will care for our staff, volunteers and lay leaders. We will place the needs of individuals and communities ahead of any other ambition.

Above all we will never forget that we are first and foremost a Jewish organisation and that being said, we will do all these acts in a Jewish manner.

Nigel, 51, is a member of Southgate Progressive Synagogue and was before that a member of The Liberal Synagogue Elstree. Many years ago he was an active member of the LJS’s Square One and Alumni youth groups.

He and his wife, Andy, practice manager for an NHS doctor’s

surgery, have been married for nearly 27 years. They have three children, aged 23, 20 and 16, all of whom have been or still are active members of SPS’s youth club SPSY snd of LJYNetzer. An accountant by profession, Nigel works as an interim finance director.

Nigel Cole: ‘our movement has integrity’

March 2005

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Stanley Fink tells Beatrice Sayers about his involvement with the appeal

Patrons chairman leads from the front Stanley Fink is not only chairman of the Council of Liberal Jewish Patrons, he is one of the most willing and supportive lay members of the appeal, as a means to enable the movement to expand. One suspects that his commitment to and passion for Liberal Judaism stem partly from the very deliberate manner in which he and his wife chose to join it.

As a young married couple moving to London, Stanley and Barbara – both from Orthodox families in north Manchester – went to see what the local United and Reform synagogues were like. Then they visited to Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue. ‘People just came up to us and were incredibly friendly,’ Stanley says. ‘It had a real warmth about it.’ That was nearly 20 years ago, and Stanley’s enthusiasm for the Liberal movement has just kept growing.

He is very pleased at the initial outcome of the patrons appeal, which asks donors for a five-year commitment. ‘The target we set at the beginning was ultimately to raise half a million pounds a year to help support the Outreach and other programmes,’ he says. ‘With the support of the founding patrons, we have raised over £100,000 this year.’

While traditionally anything done in

Patrons pledge £½m

the Liberal movement has been dominated by The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, he says what’s particularly pleasing about the list of donors is the incredibly broad spread among the communities, including his own at Northwood. He and Barbara top the list of donors: as platinum patrons, they have pledged £20,000 a year for five years.

The Finks have two sons and a daughter, of whom the youngest is 10, and Stanley is chief executive of investment experts Man Group, one of the fastest-growing companies in the FTSE 100. He nevertheless finds time to support a range of causes, including Ark, the hedge fund charity that helps sick children, Jewish Care, CST and the Abbeyfield care homes in Bushey.

He is also chairs the Evelina hospital appeal, to build the first new children’s hospital in London for 100 years, and is the new chairman of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Stanley sees no contradiction between his centre-right economic outlook, and his commitment to selfhelp and to helping others. ‘I’m very left-wing and caring in terms of social policy, but not wanting it all to be done by the government,’ he says. A believer in tithing rather than taxation, he adds: ‘It’s good that individuals make the

Stanley Fink addresses guests at the dinner

conscious moral choice to help others.’

Talking to Stanley about his involvement with the Liberal movement, it is clear that he is driven by honesty about his level of religious observance, and a desire to help develop a thinking, practical modernday Judaism. ‘Liberal Judaism reflects how so many Jews in this country really live,’ he says. ‘I don’t like hypocrisy.’

Liberal Judaism Council of Patrons

• Continued from page 1

faiths. He congratulated Sir Sigmund Sternberg for his own initiatives in this area, and called on rabbis to help, through education, to resolve the great problem of our period, which was not racial conflict but religious conflict.

Rabbi Danny Rich outlined what he sought to achieve: to communicate more effectively the creativity within our movement which was not sufficiently known. Finally, Rabbi David Goldberg warmly thanked the Dinner Steering Committee, which he had chaired, and particularly, Cathryn Brichto for her efficiency and skills, which had made the evening such a memorable occasion.

Platinum Stanley & Barbara Fink Gold Michael & Shirley Gerson Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Anonymous Bronze Alan & Trish Banes Stuart & Marla Coutts Peter & Leanda Englander David & Vivien Ereira Walter & Rosemary Goldsmith Lucian Hudson Jo & Willie Kessler David & Jennie Kirk

Silver Michael & Claire Francies Andrew & Janet Hart The Lord & Lady Haskel Pure Energy & Power plc

Howard & Jennifer Leigh Michael & Effie Romain Andrew & Anjelika Somper Gerald & Roberta Solomons Sir Sigmund & Lady Sternberg Ronald & Judy Thwaites Peter & Alicia White

March 2005

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Liberally Speaking As AJWO looks forward to celebrating its 40th anniversary, Louise Freedman, the organisation’s chair, sheds light on its work and aims There may, perhaps, be something unique about the Association of Jewish Women’s Organisations in the UK. How many cross-communal Jewish umbrella groups, I wonder, conduct their meetings in complete harmony?

At AJWO, with which I’ve been involved for several years, we are proud that, as women, we can sit round a table and discuss issues of importance to us all. Many of the issues are controversial, but they never divide us. We may hold different opinions, but all are listened to courteously and we would defend each other’s right to express such opinions.

All the women of Liberal Judaism are affiliated to AJWO along with 15 other women’s organisations. At the suggestion of Rose Jacobi and Sharon Goldstein, I became a ULPS representative on AJWO’s Council and have been chair since June 2004. Rita Adler and Cynthia Drapkin are Liberal Judaism’s current representatives.

The last chairman from the ULPS (now Liberal Judaism) was Gwen Montagu (z’l). Edie Noble, one of AJWO’s founders, is its honorary life president, still attending our meetings, where we all appreciate her support, clear judgment and ready encouragement.

AJWO was founded to provide a council of Jewish women’s organisations, to further communal understanding and to deliberate on matters of common interest and concern. We work to promote unity among Jewish women of differing shades of opinion, belonging to autonomous organisations with different aims, and encourage them to seek wider representation on communal bodies. AJWO is represented on the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the National Council of Women of Great Britain and the Women’s National Commission.

Our seminar each November attracts up to one hundred attendees.

Last year’s was entitled, ‘To eat or not

Louise Freedman: pride in AJWO

to eat – is that the question?’ and our three speakers were from the Food Standards Agency, Waitrose and Traidcraft. In this connection it is worth noting that, among the world’s poorest people, huge numbers of households are headed by lone women. If we purchase Fairtrade products we are helping other women achieve a better life and to provide for their children.

My own Liberal roots go deep. I was confirmed in Brighton & Hove Liberal Synagogue, where my father was a founder member, and my husband Jeromé and I joined the South London Liberal Synagogue in 1965, the year AJWO was founded.

To explain the way I feel about Liberal Judaism, I can do no better than to quote from Liberal Judaism’s Affirmations of Liberal Judaism: ‘To be a Jew is to be the inheritor of a religious and cultural tradition. To be a practising Jew is to accept with love and pride the duty of maintaining and transmitting that tradition. To be a practising Liberal Jew is to transmit that tradition within the framework of modern thinking and morality; to live according to the prophetic ideal – to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with God.’ If you would like an invitation to AJWO’s AGM and 40th anniversary celebrations on Wednesday 22nd June, please get in touch with me either by phone 020 8688 2250 or email louise@freedman.org

God’s power

The Indian Ocean tsunami on 26th De the existence of a benevolent deity. Si The Asian tsunami disaster was an act of natural terrorism for which our religious traditions have no satisfactory answer.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks made a noble attempt (The Times, 1st January, 2005) by quoting Maimonides, ‘who said that natural disasters have no explanation other than that God, by placing us in a physical world, set life within the parameters of the physical.

Planets are formed, tectonic plates shift, earthquakes occur, and sometimes [my emphasis] innocent people die. To wish it were otherwise is in essence to wish that we were not physical beings at all. Then we would not know pleasure, desire, achievement, freedom, virtue, creativity, vulnerability and love. We would be angels – God’s computers, programmed to sing his praise.’

So, if this is the case, why and for what do we pray? Should we not in all honesty, when asked to go before the Ark for a private prayer with anxious parents for the restoration of a child’s health, refuse, using Jonathan Sacks’s answer: ‘We have been placed within the parameters of the physical, innocent people die and we just have to accept it.’

No, we cannot say this! According to our tradition, God is almighty; he heals the sick and controls the raging seas. To say that our God, because of his power, is able but chooses not to intervene in human affairs is to make any attempt on our part to communicate with him senseless.

There is only one answer, and Sacks suggests it, first by questioning our right to ask: ‘The religious question is, therefore, not: “Why did this happen?”

But, “What then shall we do?”’, he says, and concludes by declaring that God has called upon us to be ‘his partners in creation’. He confesses ‘that we cannot understand God, but we can strive to imitate His love and care’.

I would submit that the time has come for religious leaders to acknowledge that God can only act through inspiring us to achieve a world safe from human violence and natural disasters. This requires us to accept that the divine interventions of our sacred literature are myths designed to make us believe that the God of peace and justice has unlimited power to achieve his ends.

March 2005

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r to still waters is a myth

ecember, which killed 300,000 people, leaves many of us struggling to reconcile what happened with Sidney Brichto, senior vice-president of Liberal Judaism, offers his own theological response A God who could intervene to turn the Red Sea into dry land so that the Israelites could escape from Egyptian bondage would certainly have stilled the waters of the Indian Ocean.

If we are to keep alive in ourselves the faith in a transcendent and caring God, it will only be through the acceptance that it is for us to fulfil his promise of human redemption. When we pray, it should not be for miracles but for the strength and courage to repair the world. In the case of the tsunami, it would be to rise to the challenge to rebuild the lives of the survivors and to prevent the loss of life and suffering whenever the dark forces of nature threaten God’s creatures. We have been inspired to do the former. Now we must be inspired to use our science to achieve the latter.

Prayer for the victims of the tsunami

By Rabbi Alexandra Wright “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in deep mire, Where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, And the flood sweeps over me.

I am weary with my crying; My throat is parched.

My eyes grow dim With waiting for my God” Eternal One, our Rock and our Refuge, You are the source of our trust and our salvation. To you we turn with gratitude and thanksgiving for the

blessings in our own lives, but with thoughts and prayers for those whose lives were poured out like water in the tsunami of 26th December 2004. We think of those who died in far off countries and islands around the Indian Ocean, of those who lost all that was precious and dear to them, family, friends, villages, homes and possessions, of those whose lives are now blighted with loss, suffering, disease and poverty and who cry out to You: “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck, deliver me for there is no foothold, the flood sweeps over me, I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched, my eyes grow dim” (from Psalm 69:1-3).

O God, do not be far from those who cry out to You: guide us in all that we undertake on their behalf. As You deliver the needy when they call, may we respond with generosity and compassion; as You have pity on the weak and the poor, so may we help save the lives of those in danger, alleviate their suffering and bring hope and help to all those who have survived and must rebuild their lives.

You are our God who rules the raging seas, whose waves rise and You still them and in You shall be our faithfulness and steadfast love, for You are our God and the Rock of our salvation.

Workers clear bodies after the tsunami. Reproduced by kind permission of Abbie Trayler-Smith

Generous response from communities and individuals The events of 26th December 2004 prompted Liberal Judaism’s network of communities, congregations and individuals to act. The Liberal Judaism Tsunami Appeal was opened with £500 from the Officers and £500 from rabbinic conference. A fundraising event was held at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue at the end of January, with a performance by cabaret act Mazel and Tov. Additionally, Liberal Jews responded locally within

their own communities and centrally with generosity. Notably, when members of the Harrow magistrates’ bench hosted an Israeli evening at Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue, seven children from Southgate Progressive Synagogue’s Israeli dance group, Rikud, found themselves teaching more than 90 magistrates how to do Israeli dancing.

At the time of writing, Liberal Judaism has raised more than £6,000. The money

will be used to buy fishing boats via the World Jewish Relief Tsunami Appeal.

Liberal Judaism joined with many other Jewish organisations to endorse the WJA appeal; to date nearly £1 million has been raised, along with £1.5 million worth of donations of medication.

Liberal Judaism is proud of the way the network of communities pulled together to raise donations for the survivors of this catastrophe.

March 2005

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Beverley Taylor - a committed servant of Liberal Judaism Andrew Goldstein salutes an exceptionally dedicated lay reader Beverley Taylor is celebrating 15 years as a Ba’alat Tefillah and is the most active of the group of Liberal Jews trained to be lay readers in 1989. The course was instituted by the then executive director, Sidney Brichto, and taught by Charles Middleburgh. Since then Beverley has regularly taken services and taught in a number of Liberal congregations and is currently the ‘lay rabbi’ of the Kent Liberal Jewish Community, based in Maidstone.

Beverley was born in South Africa and has for many years been a member of South London Liberal Synagogue.

Over the years she has held a number of offices there, and until recently was head teacher of its religion school. She is actively working for her MA in Jewish Education at LBC-CJE. For many years she was the education assistant to the ULPS Education Department and helped Nurit Beeri to set up the Peggy Lang Resource Centre, as well as being involved in the production of the Yachdav books, written by myself,

Beverley Taylor: celebrating 15 years as a Ba’alat Tefillah

Valerie Boyd Hellner and Nurit Beeri.

Beverley has been an officer of ULPS/ Liberal Judaism, was secretary to Rabbi Brichto when he served as the movement’s Executive Director, and has worked in many other capacities for Liberal Judaism, and for the

European Board of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. She is currently working at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue.

Beverley says of her time with the Kent congregation: ‘I feel fortunate to be in a position of belonging to this very special community and serving them as their lay leader. Every member of that community is very special to me and seems to me to be very committed to Judaism.’

She adds: ‘Whenever we meet, it is a very lively gathering. I feel very much part of it, as indeed I am. They gave me a huge honour by making me an honorary member [five years ago], and their involvement and dedication is possibly the most rewarding thing in my life.’

A committed servant of and follower of Liberal Judaism, Beverley’s work as organiser and Ba’alat Tefillah follows a tradition started by Lily Montagu and the lay ministers in the post-war years like Archie Fay and Sam Rich.

FOR THE LIBRARY A FEAST OF INTELLECTUAL DELIGHT

Aspects of Liberal Judaism, Essays in Honour of John D Rayner. Editors: David Goldberg and Edward Kessler. Vallentine Mitchell, £37.50 This festschrift is a fitting tribute to our rabbi and teacher John Rayner, with contributions from his former students and colleagues. It incorporates the areas of Jewish scholarship and rabbinic leadership that Rayner himself has championed over half a century.

Eric Friedland’s fascinating study of an almost forgotten liturgist of 19th century German Reform is a detective study of the sources of our Progressive liturgy and their influence on our prayerbooks today. Louis Jacobs’s controversial denial of a specific Jewish ethic responds to Rayner’s writing on Jewish ethics and values. Articles by Frank Dabba Smith on the Leitz family, Albert Friedlander on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Margaret Jacobi on

genetic research all deal with the philosophical and ethical dilemmas of John Rayner’s 20th century.

There is a strong interfaith flavour in this work, with challenging articles by Mark Solomon on Christ through Jewish eyes, and Edward Kessler on Perceptions of the Other. In good critical scholarly fashion, Jonathan Magonet and Sybil Sheridan both demonstrate the importance of a close reading of the biblical text and the power of he or she who interprets it. Of course, Liberal Judaism, its past, present and future is well represented

by Julia Neuberger’s call for a return to social justice and Elli Tikvah Sarah’s reconstruction of mitzvah in Liberal Judaism.

Though variable in parts, with longer and shorter essays, this volume can be put to good use as a teaching and discussion text for our congregations.

As a feast of intellectual delight, it will be well received in its own right, and by all of us who vest in Rabbi John Rayner a spiritual and intellectual leadership role, though room has been left for a second, perhaps more controversial, volume to grapple with the field of progressive Halachah and an ethical view of Israel – both dear to Rayner’s heart.

Michael Shire This book is available at £25 plus p&p to Liberal Judaism members. Ring the Montagu Centre on 020 7631 9822 or email s.o’dwyer@liberaljudaism.org

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Spring camp is just around the corner…

30th March to 3rd April; years 3-10 We’re looking forward to playing games, enjoying educational activities and gambolling around the fields of Sussex, all in a wonderful Liberal Jewish environment. Come and join us – there’s still time to book!

Call the LJY-Netzer office now on 020 7631 0584.

Are our shnatties really ready for action?

Mifgash 2005 Everyone at LJY-Netzer is getting excited about this year’s Mifgash, when a group of about ten 16-year-olds from the Leo Baeck Centre in Haifa stay in London and meet up with youngsters booked on this year’s Israel Tour. Many of the Israelis will be finding out for the first time what it’s like to be Jewish in Britain. To find out what last year’s Israel Tour participants got up to, read Sam Grant’s tour diary on the web. Go to www.liberaljudaism.org, click on LJY-Netzer, then click on LJY-Netzer Israel Tour.

Pictured below are children at a nursery in Haifa, attended by Israeli Jewish and Israeli Arab children, during a social action visit last year by Bogrim (graduates) of LJY-Netzer. The group visited the nursery, attached to a primary school, and helped them in craft and toy-making activities.

What a Veidah go!

They may look a little laid-back for members of an emergency team, but at least they look the part! Reliable sources have assured us that Benjy AaronsRichardson (centre) and Ben Baginsky (right) are useful additions to the fire service team that they are working with in Israel during their Shnat-Netzer Gap Year programme. Also pictured is a participant from RSY-Netzer, also on the Shnat-Netzer programme.

Shnat continues to go well. Following a visit to Kibbutz Yahel, where they enjoyed the unique experience of being immersed in the cultural and social life of the community, the youngsters are about to embark on an Etgar or Machon intensive study programme.

An interesting discussion on Zionism took place during our annual conference for 15-to 22-year old members of LJY-Netzer, at which Colin Bulka, of the Jewish Agency, gave an address.

Once again, it was great to see individual members themselves helping to make decisions about the future of the movement. Rabbi Mark Goldsmith led a shiur, and there was lots of fun in the evening with an Israeli-style pub quiz.

LJY-NETZER

The youth movement of Liberal Judaism Contact Sally or Liz at LJY-NETZER, The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE T: 020 7631 0584 F: 020 7631 9838 E: s.adams@liberaljudaism.org or l.green@liberaljudaism.org

March 2005

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Liberal Judaism Congregations Bedfordshire Progressive Synagogue (Rodef Shalom) T: 01234-218387 E:bedsps@liberaljudaism.org www.bedfordshire-ps.org.uk Beit Klal Yisrael P.O.Box 1828, London W10 5RT T: 020-8960 5760 E: bky@liberaljudaism.org www.beit-klal-yisrael.or g.uk Bet Tikvah Synagogue 129 Perrymans Farm Road, Barkingside, Ilford, Essex IG2 7LX T: 020-8554 9682 E: barps@liberaljudaism.org W: www.bettikvah.org.uk Birmingham Progressive Synagogue 4 Sheepcote Street, B16 8AA T: 0121-643 5640 E: bps@liberaljudaism.org www.bps-pro-syn.c o.uk Branch: Leamington Spa T: 01926-421300 Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF T: 01273-737223 E: bhps@liberaljudaism.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk Bristol and West Progressive Jewish Congregation Hon. Sec. T: 0117-954 1937 E: bpjc@liberaljudaism.org www.bwpjc.org Crawley Jewish Community T: 01293-534294 Dublin Jewish Progressive Synagogue P.O. Box 3059, Dublin 6, Enquires Hon. Sec. T: 00-3531 2856241 E: djpc@liberaljudaism.org Ealing Liberal Synagogue Lynton Avenue, Drayton Green, W13 0EB T: 020-8997 0528 E: els@liberaljudaism.org www.ealingliberalsynagogue.org.uk East Anglia Progressive Jewish Community (based in Norwich) T: 01502-731116 E: pjcea@liberaljudaism.org www.pjcea.org.uk Eastbourne Progressive Jewish Congregation T: 01323 725650 F: 01323 417645 E: epjc@liberaljudaism.org www.epjcong.org.uk Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community T: 07891 439646 E: eljc@liberaljudaism.org www.eljc.org Finchley Progressive Synagogue Hutton Grove, N12 8DR T: 020-8446 4063 E: fps@liberaljudaism.org www.fps.org Harrow and Wembley Progressive Synagogue 326 Preston Road, Harrow, Middx HA3 0QH T: 020-8904 8581 www.hwps.org Kent Liberal Jewish Community T: 07952 242432 www.jewishkent.org.uk/communities/KLJC/kljc.html Kingston Liberal Synagogue Rushett Road, Long Ditton, Surbiton, Surrey KT7 0UX T: 020-8398 7400 E: kls@liberaljudaism.org Liberal Judaism Hon. Life President Rabbi John Rayner CBE Chairman Nigel Cole Chief Executive Rabbi Danny Rich Joint Treasurers Peter Ellinger, Tony Kerron Hon. Officers Simon Benscher, Penny Beral, Paul Infield, Jeremy Jessel, Joan Shopper Senior Vice-President Rabbi Dr Sidney Brichto Vice-Presidents David Amstell, Jeromé Freedman, Geoffrey Davis, Rabbi Harry Jacobi, David Lipman, Rosita Rosenberg, Tony Sacker, Harold Sanderson, Clive Winston Chairperson Rabbinic Conference Rabbi Mark Goldsmith Outreach Director Rabbi Aaron Goldstein PR Officer Rachel Hudson Shlicha Gili Tzidkiyahu Mazkira, LJY-Netzer Sally Adams Education Officer, LJY-Netzer Liz Green

Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation The Synagogue, 24 Avenue Road, Leicester LE2 3EA T: 0116-2708437 The Liberal Jewish Synagogue 28 St John’s Wood Road, London NW8 7HA T: 020-7286 5181 E: ljs@liberaljudaism.org www.ljs.org The Liberal Synagogue Elstree Elstree High Street, Elstree, Herts WD6 3BY T: 020-8953 8889 E: tlse@liberaljudaism.org www.tlse.org.uk Lincolnshire Jewish Community T: 01427-628958 E: ljc@liberaljudaism.org Liverpool Progressive Synagogue 28 Church Road North, Liverpool L15 6TF T: 0151-7335871 North London Progressive Jewish Community Enquiries: 020-8340 5513 E: nlpjc@liberaljudaism.org www.nlpjc.org.uk Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue Oaklands Gate, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 3AA T: 01923-822592 E: npls@liberaljudaism.org www.npls.org.uk Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation Lloyd Street, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 4BP T: 0115-9624761 E: npjc@liberaljudaism.org www.npjc.org.uk Peterborough Liberal Jewish Community T: 01733-358605 Reading Liberal Jewish Community T: 0118-375 3422 South Bucks Jewish Community T: 01494-431885 E: sbjc@liberaljudaism.org www.sbjc.org.uk South London Liberal Synagogue PO Box 14475, London SW16 1ZW T: 020-8769 4787 E: slls@liberaljudaism.org www.southlondon.org Southgate Progressive Synagogue 75 Chase Road, London N14 4QY T: 020-8886 0977 E: sps@liberaljudaism.org www.sps.uk.com West Central Liberal Synagogue 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE T: 020-7636 7627 E: wcls@liberaljudaism.org www.wcls.org.uk Woodford Progressive Synagogue Marlborough Road, George Lane, London E18 1AR T: 020-8989 7619 E: wps@liberaljudaism.org www.synagogue.demon.co.uk Associated Congregations: Herefordshire Jewish Community Enquiries: 07789 218823 Oxford For details of Liberal Jewish Services: T: 01865-515584 or 01865-765197 www.oxford-synagogue.org.uk Or Chadash Liberal Jewish Community of Luxembourg T: 00 352 31 65 94 E: lljc@liberaljudaism.org How to contact us The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE T: 020-7580 1663 F: 020-7631 9838 E: montagu@liberaljudaism.org www.liberaljudaism.org Youth Department T: 020-7631 0584 F: 020-7631 9838 E: s.adams@liberaljudaism.org E: l.green@liberaljudaism.org 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 May 2005 issue is Thursday 31 March Send your articles/letters to: ljtodayeditor@liberaljudaism.org Typeset by JJ Copyprint and printed by Freedman Bros.

New Rabbi for Ealing

In April, Rabbi Janet Burden will join the Ealing Liberal Synagogue as its parttime rabbi, succeeding Rabbi Melinda Michelson-Carr.

Janet will say farewell to the South Bucks Jewish Community, which she has served for four years and describes as ‘such a lovely, warm congregation’.

Living in west London, she says only a local post would have taken her away from SBJC, adding: ‘I have also met many people from Ealing Liberal Synagogue over the years and have been impressed with both their friendliness and their true liberal spirit. I think it is a good shidduch.’

Janet will continue her work with the West Central Liberal Synagogue, which is also a part-time post.

Mixed-faith seminar

South London Liberal Synagogue is holding a seminar for mixed-faith couples on Sunday 22 May – a south-ofthe-river ‘first’. Couples wishing to attend can email the synagogue at office@southlondon.org.

Lectionary

The Liberal Judaism lectionary, which covers September 2004 to September 2006 and is a four-page A4 document, is available free of charge. Contact Monique Blake at the Montagu Centre, or email m.blake@liberaljudaism.org.

City shiur

Leo Baeck College is holding a Lunch & Learn City Shiur on Wednesday 16 March.

Dr Diana Lipton, of Newnham College, Cambridge, will discuss ‘What did Amalek do to you? The use and abuse of memory in shaping identity’. To reserve your place (limited to 20) contact Arlene. rose@lbc-cje.ac.uk or tel: 020 8349 5608.

Purim in Prague

Eurojews’ next weekend away will be in Prague, from 25 to 28 March 2005. Call Shelley Salter on 0208 883 6565 or email: s.salter@ljs.org. Look at the website www.eurojews.org.

A very liberal Limmud…

Did you catch these Liberal Jews presenting at Limmud this year?

Shulamit Ambalu, Mark Goldsmith, Walter Goldsmith, Aaron Goldstein, Caroline Haggard, David Jacobi, Richard Jacobi, Julia Neuberger, Danny Rich, Michael Romain, Deborah Rosenberg, Mark Solomon, Gili Tzidkiyahu, Roderick Young.