LJ Today May/June 2010

May/June 2010

VOL. XXXVII No. 3

Liberal Judaism is a constituent of the World Union for Progressive Judaism

ljtoday

Strengthening links, pressing for fairness

Photograph by Jeki Levi

Rabbi Danny Rich and Lucian J Hudson recently returned from a week-long tour of Progressive institutions in Israel.

Among the aims was that of strengthening relations with Liberal Judaism’s partners, and introducing Lucian, who was elected chairman in October, to them.

At the end of the week the pair had a private talk with Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem.

They saw Barkat fresh from their meeting with Arik Ascherman, of Rabbis for Human Rights, which campaigns for the rights of Palestinians in the disputed territories and brings together people from all streams of Judaism. Ascherman led Danny and Lucian to Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah, two predominantly Arab neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem where there is concern about house demolitions and family evictions.

‘The mayor answered our questions and listened to our views,’ Lucian said.

‘He told us that he wants a city for all its

Rabbi Danny Rich (left) and Lucian J Hudson with Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, in April

people. I asked him: what about Arabs and non-Jews? “Everybody,” came the response.’

Danny and Lucian also visited the Leo Baeck Education Centre in Haifa, Mohammed Fahili’s Jewish–Arab Community Centre in Akko, and had

Dying matters to Liberal Jews Liberal Judaism has joined the Dying Matters coalition, aimed at raising communication about and understanding of death and terminal illness, and is the first religious movement to do so.

Dying Matters was set up by the National Council for Palliative Care in 2009 to ensure more support and information are available to enable important conversations with loved ones to take place. It aims to help make dying well a natural part of a good life and to

improve end of life care. Baroness Neuberger, Liberal Judaism’s president, said: ‘I’m delighted that Liberal Judaism is working to dissipate the taboo around death and dying.’

Hilary Fisher, the coalition’s director, said: ‘Talking about death doesn’t bring it closer. It’s about planning for life, making the most of the time that you have.’

Liberal Judaism is hoping to run a seminar on Dying Matters in the autumn.

Banish fear and retain dignity, page 4

meetings with Rabbi Gilad Kariv, executive director of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism.

New links were also made, including with Orr Shalom, a charity providing homes and services to children and young people at risk.

In this issue News and ‘Around the Communities’ 2-3 European Region Conference Reports from Paris 6 Interview JCoSS head teacher 7 Jeremy Stowe-Lindner Spotlight on Leicester

10

Biennial 2010 Reports from April’s

Biennial Weekend will appear in the July edition of lj today

Page 2 LJ Today

May/June 2010

Piano duet commissioned for Brighton anniversary Synagogue’s 75th takes on a musical theme Brighton composer and conductor Guy Richardson has composed a piano duet to mark the synagogue’s 75th anniversary.

The piece, entitled Ahavah Rabbah, was premiered by Dame Janet Ritterman and Sir David Watson during a recital and supper at the home of Sir David and his wife, Betty Skolnick, a member of Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue.

Richardson enjoyed taking the ahavah rabbah, one of the three main Jewish modes, as his key. ‘Using this Jewish scale, incorporating the songs and trying to evoke a cantorial element has provided a wonderful challenge,’ he said.

Dame Janet says: ‘I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work on a new composition for four hands – one that has been composed for a special occasion and that makes use of musical elements that reflect this.’

David Watson (front), Janet Ritterman and Guy Richardson take a break from rehearsal.

Photo: Shelley Shocolinsky-Dwyer

Prayer in a rural ale house Herefordshire Jewish Community now holds most of its monthly Shabbat services in the beautiful half-timbered ale house next to the parish church in Colwall, in the Malvern hills, writes Mark Walton.

This was used after church services in the 16th and 17th centuries. Instead of sober collections to maintain the church, ale would be sold and the profits would go towards the upkeep of the church.

The restored ale house is used for village meetings as well as our services.

The only distraction is the occasional noise of the local hunt passing.

As we meet in such beautiful surroundings, we are introducing a Shabbat afternoon walk after the service and kiddush. The first of these, in April,

The scale used gave the piece a ‘very special colour and character’, she adds. A former principal of the Royal College of Music, Dame Janet is an associate of Northwood and Pinner synagogue, where her husband Peter is a member.

The premiere is one of a series of celebratory events for the Brighton synagogue, which began with a cabaret of the community’s talent in March. The Leonora Ensemble is to give a benefit concert for the synagogue on 10 October, and the music director Joanna MacGregor is to hold a masterclass in July for youngsters in the congregation.

Other events include a civic service on 22 May, including a reunion of refugees who came to Britain on the Kindertransport, and an exhibition in conjunction with JTrails – the national Anglo-Jewish heritage trail – about the synagogue’s history. The synagogue will also be having ‘open house’ between noon and 5pm on the first four Sundays in May.

During May, Brighton invites all who are interested to view its exhibition. Details from the synagogue office, 01273 737223, or from the exhibition organiser, Betty Skolnick, 01273 474795. was a ‘moderate’ five-mile walk in the Malvern foothills. Visitors to the service and/or ramble are welcome. Please telephone 01594 530721. You are advised to bring stout footwear and water (and your kippah for the service at 11am!).

Study packs Study packs for two topics – Tz’dakah and Honour Your Father and Your Mother – created by the North London Progressive Jewish Community, are being made available to communities without rabbis.

The packs, based on the study of classical rabbinic texts, were written for groups learning together without the support of a teacher. Each topic consists of a number of sessions, totalling about eight hours of study. The topics are available to download from the community’s website, www.nlpjc.org.uk.

Around the Communities Gloucestershire Twenty children from the cheder acted out the story of the 10 plagues at a communal Seder attended by more than 40 members of the community, and joined by an equal number of members of Cheltenham Interfaith.

Nottingham Member Susan Soyinka has had her book, From East End to Land’s End, about the evacuation of the Jews’ Free School from the East End of London to Cornwall during the Second World War, published by Breedon.

Shenfield, Brentwood and Districts A Purim party raised more than £300 towards Jewish education classes. The money will be used to buy books and pay for hall hire.

Edinburgh More than a hundred members and guests attended the community’s biggest ever Seder, led by Rabbi Mark Solomon.

Southgate A special kiddush was held in honour of loyal members Betty Zacks and Sidney Tabor, who were jointly celebrating their 90th birthdays.

Lincoln A group of 13- to 16-year-old pupils with severe learning difficulties from Queens Park Special School visited the synagogue where they listened to a talk about Jews’ Court and traditional ritual objects, and heard a short passage being read from the Torah.

Kingston The synagogue’s Youth Group held a tea-and-carwash afternoon, raising £228 for the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice, Hampton.

Birmingham Five young members of the synagogue led a candle-lit Friday night service as part of their Kabbalat Torah ceremony.

Bristol The community’s Teddy Bear Shabbat, a fun-filled morning of singing, playing and snacking, has made a welcome return.

LJ Today Page 3

May/June 2010

Still dynamic and modern Beyond JFS: an opportunity two hundred years on CHAIRMAN’S ACTIONS

to get involved

by Lucian J Hudson

JCoSS, the Jewish Community Secondary School, presents an exceptionally exciting and important opportunity for Liberal Jews, especially parents and pupils in London who live near enough to East Barnet to get more involved with the school.

We can give ourselves a pat on the back as a movement for taking a consistent line in the JFS debacle. But we need to get beyond the victory, and focus on what this year we can do to make a practical difference for our children.

While the JFS learns the lessons of the Supreme Court ruling and renews its links with the wider Progessive community, JCoSS is a compelling proposition for Liberal Jewish parents.

The school has inspirational leadership.

Particularly impressive is a curriculum which puts value on different interpretations of Judaism and on comparative religion. This is precious in itself, and our movement should recognise just how important the drive to develop such a curriculum is in making our commitment to pluralism real and tangible. The school will also be the first secondary to have Liberal Judaism’s Siddur Lev Chadash on its shelves.

One of my first actions when I was elected chairman last October was to visit more of our communities and to get to know many of the top people in the AngloJewish community, many of whom serve on the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC).

Gerald Ronson is a remarkable man by any standards, and he has made a big commitment to supporting the school.

What became clear to me very fast is that whatever principled objections some of our members have about faith schools, we have an opportunity on our doorstep to get more involved at every level of the school.

To duck such an opportunity is not to give parents a choice for their children, whatever views any of us personally hold on faith schools. So, on behalf of the Liberal Judaism Board of National Officers, our deputy chair, Amanda Grant, and I invite Liberal Jews to find out more about the school and what it offers, and to be even more involved in its development.

We need between us to ensure that the school is the best it can be.

Interview, page 7

The service held by Israel Jacobson at his ‘Temple’ at Seesen, Lower Saxony, on 17 July 1810 is generally held to have been the first Progressive Jewish service.

Liberal Judaism is marking the anniversary in a series of ways.

The movement’s rabbis are producing a liturgy based on the readings that Jacobson (pictured) chose for his first service, for use this year at Shabbat services on Saturday 17 July.

Rabbis across the movement will be using this.

A lecture series, with the theme of Progressive Judaism at 200 – Past, Present and Future, is to be held at Birmingham Progressive Synagogue/The

Midlands Centre for Liberal Judaism (see box below).

Among the speakers are Rabbis Harry Jacobi, David Goldberg and Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah.

A pulpit swap, shortly before the anniversary itself, will also mark the event. During the weekends of 11-12 June and 18-19 June, many communities will enjoy their service being led by a rabbi visiting from another Liberal community.

Experienced tour leaders Rabbi Dr Andrew and Sharon Goldstein have also organised, on behalf of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a visit to Germany to coincide with the anniversary.

As well as touring general and Jewish Berlin, participants will visit three towns important to the birth of Progressive Judaism: Halberstadt, Seesen and Dessau. See the box below for more

Progressive Judaism at 200 – Past, Present and Future A series of lectures to celebrate 200 years of Progressive Judaism in Europe and 75 years of Progressive Judaism in Birmingham Wednesday 12 May, 7.30pm The Beginnings of Progressive Judaism Rabbi James Baaden Wed 26 May, 7.30pm Leo Baeck, Lily Montagu and Progressive Judaism in Britain Rabbi Harry Jacobi Wednesday 9 June, 7:30pm Putting Prophetic Judaism into Practice Rabbi Janet Burden Wednesday 16 June, 7:30pm Progressive Judaism, Zionism and the State of Israel Rabbi David Goldberg

Tuesday 22 June, 7pm Compelling Commitments – a new approach to Mitzvah Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah Please note change of day and time

Wednesday 30 June, 7.30pm Panel Discussion: The Future of Progressive Judaism Rabbi Brian Fox, Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi, Lucian J Hudson, chairman of Liberal Judaism; chaired by Frank Maxwell, chairman of Birmingham Progressive Synagogue Donation: £2 per lecture or £10 for the series

The Roots of Progressive Judaism An anniversary tour, 15-20 July 2010 Rabbi Dr Andrew and Sharon Goldstein are organising, for the European Union for Progressive Judaism – to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Reform and Liberal Judaism – a tour centred on Berlin (staying in a four-star hotel).

As well as tours of general and Jewish Berlin and a guided tour of the city’s Jewish Museum, the programme include visits to three towns important to the birth of Progressive Judaism: Halberstadt, Seesen and Dessau; and places of special Jewish interest: Grunewald, Wannesee, Glienicker Bridge and Potsdam.

For a brochure and booking form, contact Sharon Goldstein: sgoldstein@f2s.com or 01923 822818.

May/June 2010

Page 4 LJ Today

Banish fear and keep dignity intact When I was a child, there were always plenty of stories. They were stories about family – brothers and sisters, parents and children, about life and self-discovery, journeys, the creation of wealth and its loss.

But rarely did I hear a story about death. My grandfather’s relatively early death was despatched in a short sentence. When the dog was taken away – we were both seven years old – barely two words sufficed to describe what had happened to her. Other deaths happened in the shadows, as though they were too dangerous and too painful to speak about.

We grow up fearful of death. It is shut away in a side room off a hospital ward and, until our last breath, we are prodded and injected, medicated, fed and watered, to evade the grasp of mortality.

Some months ago, a friend of mine, Renée, was admitted to hospital. She was 92 and had come to England as a refugee from Germany in 1933. She left behind her mother and her sister. Both perished in a Nazi death camp together with her five-year-old nephew. She was a fine violinist, but her desire was to study medicine. As a young woman, utterly alone in London, it was difficult for her to realise her ambition. Her professional career took her in another direction and she continued working until just a few months before she became ill.

Seeing her in hospital was distressing.

She lay unkempt on a bed in a busy and understaffed hospital ward. She was in desperate pain. Her skin was like fine paper; you could scarcely touch it. Her hair was uncombed, and tiny fruit flies hovered around her head. Her son, a man of about 60, only wanted his mother to

When we close our minds to the idea of death we prevent a dying person from being treated with gentleness and respect, says Alexandra Wright live; yet it was so obvious that this woman, whose life had been utterly dedicated to the healing and comfort of others, was dying.

I had seen others, cared for in hospices or at home with specialist care nurses, whose dignity had been preserved, and whose physical care was gentle, clean and tender. I had noted their surroundings, and the little photographs of grandchildren and precious objects that they kept near to them. I had felt a quietness and stillness in their presence and observed the sad acceptance of imminent death by their family, supported by professional palliative care staff.

There was no one to be with Renée’s son, no one to suggest that perhaps this man, soon to be an orphan, should contact his estranged brother and ask

‘Why do you weep?’ Rabbi Eleazar asked. And Rabbi Johanan replied: ‘I am weeping on account of the beauty that is going to rot in the earth’ And Rabbi Eleazar wept with him

him to come from the Far East to see his mother for the last time.

By the time I had suggested to him that Renée would be more comfortable being moved to the hospice nearby, it was too late. She died on a hot summer’s afternoon in June and all I could remember of this woman’s death were the fruit flies and a person who called herself a ‘friend’ bringing out her scissors to snip a large piece of hair from Renée’s head as she lay dead and still, protected only by the thin curtain swept around the edge of her bed.

When Rabbi Eleazar fell ill, the Talmud states that Rabbi Johanan went in to visit him. He noticed that he was lying in a dark room and when he allowed some light to rest on his colleague, he noticed that Rabbi Eleazar was weeping. ‘Why do you weep?’ he asked. And Rabbi Johanan replied: ‘I am weeping on account of this beauty that is going to rot in the earth.’

And Rabbi Eleazar wept with him (b.

Berakhot 5b).

To sit by the man or the woman who is dying, to weep with the one who mourns over the loss of beauty and life – these are the last things we can do for family and friends. And then, as the Jewish tradition instructs, the mitzvah moves from honouring the dead, to comforting mourners.

Death is part of life. If we expect to be treated with kindness, gentleness and dignity when we are fully active, how much more so in our frailty, or as we confront the mortality of those whose lives are more precious to us than fine gold.

Alexandra Wright is rabbi at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John’s Wood

Rabbi Friedlander links with her roots Eighteen years ago she was behind the Synagogue and dean of Leo Baeck touchline looking through an extremely College. It was Ariel’s godmother, Rabbi long lens or, less often, sitting in a tree Julia (now Baroness) Neuberger, who ready to snatch shots of celebrities for encouraged her to study for the the Sun. Now, after 18 years rabbinate. After training at in North America, the Hebrew Union College, she newspaper photographer worked with congregations in turned rabbi is delighted to be Toronto, Virginia and New back in Britain, and to meet York. people offering her their fond Since her return to London recollections of her father. at Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Rabbi Ariel Friedlander is Friedlander has become the daughter of Rabbi Albert acquainted with several Friedlander, a former senior Liberal communities, leading rabbi at Westminster Rabbi Ariel Friedlander a Holocaust memorial event

in Eastbourne, a Tu B’Shvat seder in Leicester and a Pesach seder in Manchester.’ It’s exciting for me to go around the country and see people,’ she says. ‘It’s a small Progressive community in Britain.’.

As well as serving Liberal communities, Rabbi Friedlander is working two days a week for the Czech Memorial Scrolls Trust, at Westminster Synagogue; her mother, Eveyln, chairs the Czech Scrolls Trust.

Of the memories of her father, she says: ‘It’s rather lovely [to hear them] as it’s coming up to five years since he died.’

Page 5 LJ Today

May/June 2010

Civil partnership in synagogue is a big step towards equality Liberal Judaism was one of three faith groups that supported an amendment to the Equality Bill, passed in the House of Lords in March, enabling same-sex couples to hold their civil partnership in their place of worship. Joint acting head of Rabbinic Conference Aaron Goldstein, who led the movement’s support, is asked what the change will mean What are civil partnerships?

They are a provision that allows lesbian and gay couples to have their relationship recognised under English law, thus providing equality with a married couple on a wide range of legal matters.

Why haven’t they been held in synagogues?

The Civil Partnerships Act (2004) banned the holding of civil partnerships on religious premises, largely to appease those religious leaders who felt uncomfortable about accepting gay and lesbian relationships.

Civil partnerships in England and Wales have until now taken place only in register offices or other non-religious venues approved by the local authority.

Who was behind the amendment to the Equality Bill?

Lord Alli, an openly gay Labour peer, proposed the amendment; Baroness Neuberger, the president of Liberal Judaism, and Lord Harries of Pentregarth, the former Bishop of Oxford, were among its supporters.

The faith groups who supported the amendment were Liberal Judaism, Quakers in Britain and the Unitarians.

What opposition has there been to it?

Opposition, most vocally from the bishops of Winchester and Chichester, forced Lord Alli to withdraw the amendment when he first tried to introduce it early in 2010. The opposition was due to concerns expressed by Anglican conservatives and notably for the potential perception amongst African churches that the Church of England was moving too far in condoning homosexual relationships.

What does the Equality Bill (amended) now allow for?

If passed in the House of Commons, it will allow for civil partnerships to be

Does Liberal Judaism view a civil partnership ceremony in synagogue as a ‘gay wedding’?

The civil partnership ceremony does not denote a ‘gay wedding’ until such time as the state redefines gay and lesbian relationships, a process that is, in a sense, being led by practice in law.

Liberal Judaism has always stressed the importance of a loving, monogamous relationship, whether it is a heterosexual or homosexual one, and believes that such a relationship deserves to be sanctified in front of family and community. What is of most relevance is to have an open discussion about our understanding of kiddushin, the ‘sanctification’ that is part of the Jewish legal relationship between two members of a couple.

To quote Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah from the book Taking Up the Timbrel: ‘A ceremony that acknowledges the ways in which [two] individuals are different from one another ritualises conducted on religious premises. It is likely that religious denominations would need to ‘opt-in’ to be registered venues and that the civil partnership would still need to be conducted by a civil registrar.

When will it become law?

It is expected to be on the statute book in this calendar year.

Will both of the partners have to be Jewish for the civil partnership to take place in a synagogue?

Liberal Judaism is pushing for civil partnerships that are conducted on its premises before a religious ceremony to be open not only to couples where both partners are Jewish but also where only one partner is Jewish.

Liberal Judaism already makes provision for Same-Sex Commitment

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FANCY DRESSING UP FOR PURIM?

Liberal rabbis support parliamentary move that could see legally-binding synagogue ceremonies within weeks

BY CHLOE

MARKOWICZ GAY JEWISH marriages could be held in synagogues across the country within weeks following a Liberal Judaism campaign to amend a parliamentary bill.

Liberal Judaism rabbis have joined senior Church of England clergy in supporting an amendment to the Equality Bill that is expected to be debated in the Lords next week. The proposed law change would allow gay and lesbian couples to get married inside synagogues and other religious venues.

Liberal Jewish synagogues currently host religious commitment ceremonies for same sex couples, but these are not recognised under UK law. If the amendment, expected to be presented

by Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli, is passed, lesbian and gay couples will be allowed to hold civil partnership ceremonies that are both legal and religious.

Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, acting head of Liberal Judaism’s Rabbinic Conference, said the law would allow same sex couples to have identical rights as heterosexual couples within

the Liberal Jewish community. He said: “For synagogues it is a question of religious freedom and for couples it is a matter of religious justice that they are dealt with in the same way as heterosexual couples in English law.”

Under British law homosexual couples can become civil partners, awarding them the same tax and pension benefits as heterosexual

Jerusalem’s gay pride parade

couples. However, their commitment ceremony cannot include religious language or take place in a religious institution.

Rabbi Goldstein added that the planned amendment would allow same

sex couples to celebrate their commitments as they wish. He said: “They will be able to have a spiritual celebration of their commitment to each other as a loving couple in the tradition and religion of which they are a part. Orthodox Jews will oppose this but we believe we are acting in the spirit of prophetic tradition.”

Liberal rabbis said the law would only affect synagogues that already perform civil partnership ceremonies.

Rabbi Neil Janes of Finchley Progressive Synagogue said: “The amendment doesn’t force religious organisations or individuals to hold civil partnerships in their premises but merely makes this possible.

“Religious communities that wish to offer religious significance to a civil partnership should be allowed to do so within the sanctuary of their own premises. This is natural in a society that has already acknowledged the rights of same sex couples.”

Orthodox rabbis have expressed indignation about the proposal, branding it “inconsistent” with Torah Judaism. Rabbi Abraham Pinter, principal of Yesodey Hatorah Senior Girls’ School in Stamford Hill, said: “Is this a Purim question? You are having CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

London Fashion Week may have ended, but community members of all ages are now gearing up for a fashion parade of an entirely different nature. With Purim celebrations set to be held at schools, synagogues and social clubs over the weekend, scenes such as this one – at a League of Jewish Women Purim event last year – are set to be repeated across the capital.

How the Jewish News reported the proposed amendment to the Equality Bill

their consecration to one another and celebrates their union, and is equally relevant for all couples. A ceremony that includes these elements is kiddushin.’

Ceremonies and Same-Sex, Mixed-Faith Commitment Ceremonies to be conducted in its constituent synagogues.

Who will officiate at the civil partnership – the local registrar or the rabbi?

A registrar would officiate at the civil partnership but Liberal rabbis would be able to officiate at a subsequent Commitment Ceremony.

How will a couple set about holding their civil partnership in synagogue?

As with any life-cycle ritual, Liberal rabbis will be delighted to speak to and support their congregants, present or potential, about the appropriate ways to celebrate life in our Liberal Jewish communities.

Aaron Goldstein is senior rabbi at Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue

May/June 2010

Page 6 LJ Today

‘Don’t make presumptions’

We loved Paris in the springtime

Preparing to open any new six-form entry school is a huge task, but for JCoSS head Jeremy Stowe-Lindner the job is even bigger – he’s creating a new model of Jewish school. Interview by Beatrice Sayers

Paul Zatz reports from the last European Region conference in Paris The European Region of the World Union for Progressive Judaism has changed its name to the European Union for Progressive Judaism; this more accurately describes its function and brings it into line with other regions of WUPJ. The change was approved at the conference in Paris in March, attended by over 300 delegates from more than 60 congregations throughout Europe, including more than 100 delegates from the four Progressive congregations in Paris and a strong representation of youth. At the annual meeting, Dr Andrew Goldstein, emeritus rabbi of Northwood, was re-elected as chairman; and Andrew Hart (Finchley Progressive) and I were re-elected secretary and vice-chair.

These conferences are held every two years, and this one was particularly successful, with a very welcoming atmosphere and a full range of interesting discussions and workshops.

The religious services, when hundreds of delegates join in enthusiastic singing, included a Shabbat morning service at the Union Libérale Israélite de France (ULIF) synagogue on rue Copernic.

The opening ceremony was a reception at the Hotel de Ville, the Renaissance-

The Grande Salle of the Hotel de Ville hosted the conference’s opening ceremony

style building that houses the city’s administration, in a highly-decorated chamber which is a replica of the one in which Napoleon convened the Sanhedrin in 1807 (although I suspect that the huge statues of naked females around the ceiling were not in place at that time).

The conference marked the 200th anniversary of the first Progressive service, when Israel Jacobson opened his ‘Temple’ at Seesen. We were told how that service included a procession of dignitaries from other faiths, pealing bells, an organ with an orchestra of 60 players, as well as groups of children with lighted candles proceeding seven times round the outside of the Temple; rather different from our services today.

However, the conference was an opportunity to consider how Progressive Judaism has developed, and what its path

should be for the future. There were 20 different workshops on issues including liturgy, halachah, Israel and Zionism as well as relations with other faiths.

We were reminded that the World Union has more than 1.8 million affiliated members. Le Monde’s description of Progressive Judaism as a small minority within a minority seemed rather wide of the mark. Our financial contribution, paid through Liberal Judaism, helps others to enjoy the freedom and opportunities for Jewish life which we have in this country.

The European Union for Progressive Judaism has a new website: www.eupj.org Paul Zatz is a member of Harrow & Wembley Progressive Synagogue

Netzer madrichim enjoy French connection For the first time, there was a significant Netzer presence at the European Region (now Union), writes Robin Moss.

In addition to attending many of the excellent sessions and services (and rather delightful dinners!), we were asked to prepare and run Havdallah for the rest of the conference.

Gathering everybody upstairs at MJLF (the Mouvement Juif Libéral de France, one of our host communities), in a big room as the sun went down, the gentle notes of the ‘li li li’ tune were quickly picked up by the delegates. We had prepared five sets of candles, spices and wine, and this meant that the hundreds of people could all take part. It was a

LJ Today Page 7

May/June 2010

brought home how amazing it is to be part of a transnational body.

We also had the pleasure to chair two sessions, including one with Rabbi Gilad Kariv, the head of the Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism, and had an excellent meeting with our counterparts from across Netzer Europe.

A number of opportunities In the shadow of the Eiffel Tower: with the Netzer flag for shared projects, including having foreign participants on our events, made it overall a magical occasion, and when we said productive few days for us both as Liberal shavua tov in a dozen languages, Jews and LJY-Netzer representatives. including British Sign Language. It

It wasn’t long into my talk with the head teacher that I received a ticking off. It was a mild one, but was fully deserved. I had presumed the school would be closed for two days for all orthodox holidays. ‘Lots of people make presumptions,’ came the rebuke, accompanied by a smile.

The Jewish Community Secondary School, currently being built in East Barnet and due to open in September, is resolving the dilemmas of accommodating different levels and types of religious practice in the same way as it is dealing with all the challenges of creating a new type of Jewish school: by taking an entirely fresh approach to achieve its aim of complete inclusivity. This is an ambitious objective when confronted by a community that is far from homogeneous and whose members are quick to complain if they feel that something is wrong.

JCoSS has been trumpeted as the first cross-communal Jewish secondary.

Stowe-Lindner prefers to describe it as trans-denominational: wherever pupils are on the Jewish spectrum, they will feel ‘comfortable’, a word he uses often to accompany his vision of pluralism. One route to transcending denominations is to avoid having rabbis on the board of governors or trustees, though Progressive and Masorti rabbis have served on committees that advise the school. The aim, Stowe-Lindner says, is for all strands of Judaism to be taught with equivalence, including Liberal, Reform, orthodox and secular. Secular? Yes, because the school accepts that many Jewish people choose not to practise and, says Stowe-Lindner, ‘that’s a valid expression of their Judaism in our view’.

The answer to the question whether the school will close for orthodox holidays is yes and no. ‘It is open for the younger students for non-curriculum activities, so

Jeremy Stowe-Lindner and, below, the atrium of the £48 million building in East Barnet, on schedule for completion in September

those who wish to observe the second day of the festival can do so without missing out on the curriculum and those who do not wish to observe can come into the school and have a day of activities.’

As for prayer, pupils will be given options. For instance, every month on Rosh Chodesh, each lesson will be reduced by five minutes and in the time saved a prayer slot will be created.

‘Children will opt into different prayer activities in line with their comfort. Prayer might not necessarily be a minyan davening the amidah,’ says the head. ‘For some it is, for others it might be spiritual reflection. It could be art, it could be yoga.’ The siddur being used will reflect the practices of that service; Liberal Judaism’s Siddur Lev Chadash, as well as siddurim from the other movements, will be on the school shelves when it opens.

Less than a year into the job, StoweLindner has clearly risen to the three-fold challenge of recruiting 16 teaching staff (all now appointed), supervising the building of a £48 million school (on target) and, most importantly, appealing to potential pupils (453 named JCoSS on their secondary transfer list; it has offered places to180 children for the autumn).

On admissions, JCoSS is again ploughing its own furrow. Following the Supreme Court ruling in December in the JFS race discrimination case, Jewish schools are required to have entry criteria

that relate to practice rather than lineage.

JCoSS has rejected the points system in use elsewhere, which predicates the offer of a place on synagogue attendance.

‘We’ve given routes into the school where somebody may not ever attend a synagogue but would still be able to get in,’ says Stowe-Lindner. By using what he terms the ‘widest possible definition of who is Jewish’ he will ‘get as many Jewish children into the school as possible’. As the school is oversubscribed, some of those Jews will still be turned away, but Jewish status questions should not be a factor.

A historian – previously deputy head at Swakeleys secondary in Hillingdon, west London, who has also taught French, a bit of English, politics, philosophy and RE – Stowe-Lindner is excited by the £1.5 million ICT strategy being rolled out over the next three years; every child will have a touchpad card which they will use to register, and will act as their security card, library card and payment card.

Of the 16 staff, most are currently heads of department, heads of faculty or assistant head. ‘They’re experienced not just in developing curriculum but in pastoral care,’ he says. ‘It is an outstanding opportunity for our first cohort of children

‘We’ve given routes into the school where somebody may not ever attend a synagogue but could still get in’ to be taught by such experienced educators.’ The deputy is Patrick Moriarty, who was most recently head of sixth form at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Girls in Elstree.

Stowe-Lindner says the head of performing arts, Sonja Taylor, currently at the Highlands School in Reading, Berkshire, is planning an interesting curriculum, and the school also has funding for a social action co-ordinator and an informal Jewish educator. To balance that, JCoSS has applied for specialist status in science, and hopes to hear of its award by mid-September.

While others look forward to the summer holidays, the next few months will be busy ones for Stowe-Lindner as he leads Jewish education into the 21st century.

May/June 2010

LJ Today Page 8

Summer institute in London This year’s Leo Baeck College Summer Institute takes place from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 July.

The institute is an opportunity for those involved in Jewish leadership to gather and hear from inspirational teachers with global experience of Jewish communities. This year’s teachers are Rabbi David Wolfman, director of the North American Commission on Rabbinic–Congregation Relations, and Justin Wise, consultant, facilitator and coach with Bridge Partnership. Venue: Avenue House, East End Road, Finchley.

Contact: info@lbc.ac.uk.

Rabbi Bayfield to step down Rabbi Tony Bayfield is to retire as head of the Movement for Reform Judaism (MRJ) in a year’s time. The movement’s board has said the intention is for Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand to succeed Rabbi Bayfield in June 2011, when he will become its president and the current president, Sir Sigmund Sternberg, will become the movement’s life president.

Rabbi Boyd Gelfand joined the MRJ as executive director in 2007.

Letters to the editor ......

Gentleman wrong about cosmetics Just one correction to David Goldberg’s article (Making sacrifice a thing of the past, lj today March 2010,). He describes the innovations introduced at West London Synagogue as ‘largely cosmetic’.

Not so. In the consecration sermon for West London, the Reverend D W Marks made a point about the education of girls.

West London introduced the serious religious education of girls from its foundation, which was a massive change.

It also insisted on propriety in the service, and all sermons were in English – and they had regular weekly sermons.

These were not cosmetic changes... depending, of course, how you use cosmetics!

Rabbi Julia Neuberger

Abrahams gets place in nation’s history Bryan Diamond on his addition to the Dictionary of National Biography, and his setting a record straight The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a massive publication, ‘an illustrated collection of more than 57,000 specially written biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain’s past’. The original 63-volume DNB was completed in 1900 and rapidly became a national institution, an indispensable reference work.

Work was required to stop the DNB from becoming a historical curiosity. It was replaced and extended, over a 12year period, culminating in the publication in 2004 of the 60-volume Oxford DNB. I subscribed in 2006 to receive a daily emailed obituary from the publisher, Oxford University Press. In May 2006 I got that of Sir Keith Joseph, who had been a supportive member of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue. I was struck by the following statement: ‘His childhood – affluent, with parents devoted to one another and indulgent towards their only child – seems to have been happy... The Josephs and Glucksteins belonged to the Anglicised and upmarket Liberal Jewish Synagogue, and so were halfway towards an assimilation which Samuel Joseph carried further by denying his son the customary barmitzvah at age 13....’

The reference to ‘customary barmitzvah’ was wrong for the LJS, and I notified the editor, also querying the reference to assimilation. Both references were consequently removed, and in its place it was recorded that Joseph was confirmed at the LJS in 1935.

Curious about entries for other Liberal Jews, I did a search and was interested to find Rabbi David Goldberg’s entry for Rabbi Israel Mattuck, Baroness Neuberger’s for Rabbi John Rayner and Prof Geoffrey Alderman’s for Claude Montefiore and Lily Montagu.

But I found there was none for, amongst others, the scholar and historian Israel Abrahams (1858-1925). The commissioning editor agreed that Abrahams should have an entry and I agreed to write it. As to sources, I had obituaries from the Times and Jewish Chronicle and fortunately in the LJS library a 1944 memoir by H Loewe; it was largely from these that I selected material for an entry. It is due in October to be posted on the DNB website (www. oxforddnb.com), available to online subscribers and to individuals via public library memberships.

Incidentally, during my research I found that the portrait of Abrahams that hangs in the LJS (see box below), which is the only one known, is unsigned. In the LJS council minutes of 1928, three years after Abrahams’s death, it was resolved that a portrait should be commissioned, perhaps from a photo. I assume this is it but nothing further is indexed. If any reader can provide information about the identity of the artist I would be very grateful.

Bryan Diamond is honorary archivist for Liberal Judaism and honorary archivist of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue

Israel Abrahams From his entry in the DNB Israel Abrahams (1858-1925) was born on 26 November 1858 at 10 Finsbury Square, London. His father was principal of Jews’ College from 1858 until his death. He acquired his Hebrew education from his father, and studied at Jews’ College and University College London, gaining an MA in philosophy.

From 1889 to 1908 he co-edited with Claude Montefiore the Jewish Quarterly Review. Committed to religious pluralism, favouring the individual conscience over

collective rabbinic authority, he was sympathetic to the views of Lily Montagu in the founding of Liberal Judaism, and in 1902 became a member of the first committee of the Jewish Religious Union.

A detail of the portrait of Abrahams that hangs in the LJS, outside the Israel Abrahams Library

LJ Today Page 9

May/June 2010

200 YEARS

Progressive Judaism 1810-2010

In the third of our series of articles marking 200 years since the first Progressive service in Europe, Charles Middleburgh looks at the origins of Liberal Judaism’s prayer books, and how successive editors built on what had gone before

Birth of a dynamic new liturgy With the advent of Reform Judaism in Germany in the early decades of the 19th century, a revolution occurred in both the purpose and content of Jewish liturgy.

Until Reform Judaism inspired individual rabbis to look afresh at the prayer books for the Jewish year, and then to redraft them for their new Reform congregations, the siddur and machzor had been the means by which Jews across the world fulfilled the mitzvah of praying to God three times a day and which accompanied them through other spiritual moments in their lives. Its contents were time-honoured, and rich in variety, but also turgid, repetitious and of interminable length.

As the early Reform rabbis began to engage with the liturgy they decided that

‘“Resurrection of the dead” was replaced with phrases stating God’s role in giving life to everything that lives’ a number of actions were imperative: services had to be shortened, repetitions significantly reduced, prayers made more meaningful and above all the ideology of the new Judaism had to be expressed. So the early prayer books of German Reform were as much political manifestos (however subtle) as liturgies. This was a trend perpetuated – albeit with some inconsistencies – in the liturgies of American and British Progressive Judaism and continued into our own day: the universalism of Reform, and its abandonment of doctrines such as a personal messiah, are all reflected in the liturgies we use.

Service of the Heart, the 1967 Liberal siddur, made changes to the prayers commonly known as Mechalkeyl, Retzey and Sim Shalom, which contain mention of resurrecting the dead, the restoration of the Temple and its sacrificial cult and the request for peace exclusively for the people of Israel. These become phrases referring to God’s role in giving life to everything that lives, a request for divine acceptance of our prayers, and a prayer

not only for all Israel but for all humanity.

Rabbi John Rayner, ztz”l, who did more to shape the liturgies of 20th century Reform and Liberal Judaism in the United States and Britain than any other individual, wrote extensively on liturgy, which he taught for many years at Leo Baeck College.

In a lecture in 2002, he said that the liturgy of Liberal Judaism ‘has gone through five phases... [each of which] consists of a cluster of ideologically more or less uniform publications: a “family” of prayer books. At the same time, each phase represents a movement from the preceding one in one direction or another and sometimes in more than one direction at once. Therefore the total picture is inevitably more complex than any generalisation can do justice to.’ But Rabbi Rayner went on to say that by and large the movement’s liturgy had travelled from a position on the radical periphery of the Progressive Jewish spectrum to ‘an only slightly left-of-centre position’; he also noted a tendency in the liturgy’s history for it to increase in size.

Those who grew up with a Liberal prayer book, whether it was Service of the Heart and Gate of Repentance (1973) or Siddur Lev Chadash (date) and Machzor Ruach Chadashah (date), may like to be reminded that their respective editors, Israel Mattuck, John Rayner and Chaim Stern, and Andrew Goldstein and I, did not operate in a vacuum. Each built on the liturgies that had gone before, in

The title page from David Einhorn’s Olat Tamid (1856) and Liberal Judaism’s siddur and machzor

Mattuck’s case the seminal prayer book of 19th century American Reform, Dr David Einhorn’s Olat Tamid. But each one reflects the spirit – religious and secular – of its time. Service of the Heart

‘It was recognised that there was great spiritual merit in non-liturgical material, both Jewish and non-Jewish’ embraced modern English, abandoning the ‘thees’, ‘thous’ and ‘arts’ of its predecessor; Lev Chadash embraced non-gender specific English, and Ruach Chadashah took cognizance of the changes in mood in the late 20th and early 21st centuries concerning many aspects of life since the publication of Service of the Heart and Gate of Repentence.

Everyone will have his or her favourite parts of Siddur Lev Chadash and Ruach Chadashah, but one of the proudest dimensions of our liturgies over the last 108 years has been their openness to the use of creative material, from Mattuck’s prayer books for The Liberal Jewish Synagogue to the Rayner/Stern books used by the entire movement to Siddur Lev Chadash and Ruach Chadashah.

It was recognised by our liturgists early on that there was great worth and spiritual merit in non-liturgical material, both Jewish and non-Jewish: thoughts on truth by Albert Einstein and on children by Socrates and Pablo Casals have a place in Siddur Lev Chadash.

For me the epitome of fine creative writing in our Liberal liturgies was John Rayner’s piece for private confession in the morning service of Yom Kippur (Machzor Ruach Chadashah pp. 257ff.) It is testimony both to his genius as a liturgist and the honesty and approachability that are the hallmarks of the prayer books that play such an important role in our Jewish lives.

Rabbi Dr Charles H Middleburgh is a congregational rabbi in Ireland and Wales and honorary director of studies at Leo Baeck College in London

May/June 2010

Page 10 LJ Today

LJ Today Page 11

May/June 2010

Spotlight on Leicester How big is the Leicester congregation?

Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation, also known as Neve Shalom, is a small but vibrant and active community, with members ranging in age from one to 98, including 25 children.

More than camps and conferences

Where is it?

It meets in a 110-year-old, wood-cladded, detached building residential part of the Clarendon Park area of Leicester. The building stands in its own grounds with a play area and surrounded by trees and flowerbeds. The synagogue is fully accessible to disabled people.

Ben Baginsky on the life of an LJY-Netzer movement worker

What is the building like inside?

Originally a private nursery school, it has a light, airy and welcoming sanctuary, with seating for 80-100. A stained glass window, depicting the Tree of Life, was created by Ruth Schwiening, who arrived alone in England from Austria, as one of the Kinder. The building, which has an adjacent play area, also houses a Judaica shop and an area used for meetings and study sessions.

What services are held?

Kabbalat Shabbat services and Saturday morning services are held each week at 8pm and 11am. At 10am on Shabbat

The front entrance to the synagogue building, a former nursery school (left); its Tree of Life stained glass; and some of the congregants inside the main hall

small groups of people are usually in the synagogue learning Hebrew, and youngsters preparing for bar/batmitzvah.

Structured adult study sessions are held with visiting rabbis. Chavurah meals after a service are popular.

Who leads them?

The synagogue has monthly visits from Rabbis Irit Shillor and Michael Standfield, as well as, occasionally, Leo Baeck College students and other rabbis. At other times, services are led by members. The synagogue has a Czech Torah scroll, from Moravska Ostrava.

Members in action: (far left) Angela Tiktin talks to local pupils; and Brian Stevens at the launch of Jewish Voices, a record of Jewish life in Leicester in the 1940s and 1950s

Is there a cheder?

Yes, it takes place fortnightly, for children between four and 12 years of age.

What social and other groups are there?

Shemesh, a women’s social group, meets monthly, as does a creative writing group.

Socials, quizzes, salsa dancing, garden parties and talks by visiting speakers are all part of synagogue life.

Hazmanim, the synagogue’s bulletin, is published bi-monthly.

What is going on outside the community?

It is represented on the local Council of Faiths, the faith support group for asylum seekers and refugees, and other multifaith groups. It supports Leciester City of Sanctuary – part of the movement to build a culture of hospitality for people seeking sanctuary in Britain – and takes part in a variety of social action initiatives.

How do I find out more?

Telephone the secretary on 0116 235 6624 or email davidhart7@hotmail.com or lpjc@liberaljudaism.org.

As the LJY-Netzer movement workers, Shira, Robin and I are best known as the voices on the end of the phone asking if members would like to come on our events. But we do much more than just that. As full-time employees of Liberal Judaism, we take our pastoral roles, and our roles as social activists and ambassadors for the movement, seriously.

In the spring, Shira spent two weeks volunteering at the Coexistence Trust, a charity that works to strengthen Muslim and Jewish relations. She did this through a UJIA programme she’s involved in called Lead Now, which gives all Jewish movement workers the opportunity to enhance their skills. Lead Now participants attend six sessions with experts in a range of fields, including social action, international development, education and business, followed by an internship with an organisation they are interested in.

Also recently, Robin, Ben and Tim Bergman, one of

Participants at this year’s Nechalim weekend (for children in years 7-8)

Liberal Judaism’s social action assistants, met Joe Franses, head of corporate responsibility at Coca-Cola Europe, to discuss LJY-Netzer’s current boycott of the company. We outlined the reasons for our boycott and, in turn, were given reasons against the idea of a boycott. It was a chance for us to put our ideology into practice, by making a global corporation hear our views. It will now be up to members of LJY-Netzerniks to decide whether the boycott will remain.

A big part of movement work is taking care of the welfare of our members. To fulfil this responsibility to the highest level we chose to go on a mental health first aid course.

At the course, run by the Jewish mental health charity JAMI, mental health professionals gave training in helping youngsters with depression, anxiety and stress. Robin, Shira and I all emerged confident that we will be able to support our members in the different challenges they may face.

All this happened during three weeks in March. While there’s no such thing as a typical month for us, what is typical is the variety of activities that we have been involved in.

All three of us feel privileged to have such an inspiring and varied role within our movement. We love working with children and young people and this is the main focus of our work, but we also love putting our Liberal Jewish values into practice in different ways.

A year in Israel As the five particpants on LJY-Netzer’s Shnat Netzer gap-year programme return to Britain after 10 incredible months in Israel, we publish a final piece (below) from Sarah, the last of our Shnatties to report, about her time at Kibbutz Lotan, in the south of the country.

And as one group returns, another prepares to leave: nine LJY-Netzer participants are gearing up to depart for Shnat Netzer in October.

A few places are still available on LJY-Netzer’s Kadimah summer camp, for youngsters who’ve just finished school years 3-10.

The camp runs from 25 July to 8 August, at Cottesmore School, West Sussex.

Telephone 020 7631 0584 for details.

25 July - 8 August 2010 | Cottesmore School, West Sussex

By Sarah Walton,19

Shnat

The Youth Movement of Liberal Judaism

Spot

When did it begin?

The synagogue, then known as the Leicester Liberal Jewish Group, affiliated to the ULPS (the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues) in 1950. Friday evening services were held in members’ homes and other services and events were held in hired halls. The late Rabbi Bernard Hooker, then minister at Birmingham, provided invaluable support and encouragement to this young congregation.

In the early 1960s a new Friends’ Meeting House was built in the Clarendon Park area, which became the synagogue’s home until 1995, when the current building was bought. The synagogue celebrates its 60th anniversary this autumn.

LJY-Netzer is Liberal Judaism’s Zionist youth movement. It gives young people the opportunity to develop a strong Progressive Jewish identity whilst enjoying friendships and having fun. Visit www.ljynetzer.org

I’ve been on Kibbutz Lotan, in the Arava desert, for four 5770 months. I’d visited for a day when I was on LJY-Netzer Israel Tour three years ago and it’s amazing to be now living here full-time.

There are about 200 goats on the kibbutz, plus cows too. I’ve been working six days a week from 6am till 2pm in the cheese house, making goats’ yogurt and cheese and milking the goats. My Hebrew is now pretty good – I know how to respond when my boss gives me instructions about moving the goats around!

Visitors from South Africa, Thailand, Peru and other South American countries come to volunteer on the kibbutz. The best thing about being here is being part of a community that has ideologies similar to my own. The worst thing is having to get up at 5.30am.

Sarah is one of LJY-Netzer’s participants on Shnat Netzer, the Progressive Jewish gap year programme in Israel

LJY-Netzer Contact Ben Baginsky, Shira Conradi or Robin Moss: 020 7631 0584 or office@ljynetzer.org

May/June 2010

Page 12 LJ Today

Liberal Judaism congregations Bedfordshire Progressive Synagogue (Rodef Shalom), 01234 218387; bedsps@liberaljudaism. org; www.bedfordshire-ps.org.uk Beit Klal Yisrael, PO Box 1828, London W10 5RT; 07505 477459, bky@liberaljudaism.org; www.bky.org.uk Bet Tikvah Synagogue, 129 Perrymans Farm Road, Barkingside, Ilford, Essex IG2 7LX; 020 8554 9682, bttkv@liberaljudaism.org; www.bettikvah.org.uk Birmingham Progressive Synagogue 1 Roseland Way, Birmingham B15 1HD; 0121 634 3888; bps@liberaljudaism.org; www.bpsjudaism.com 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 43-45 Bannerman Road, Easton, Bristol BS5 0RR bwpjc@liberaljudaism.org, www.bwpjc.org Crawley Jewish Community, 01293 534294 Dublin Jewish Progressive Synagogue, PO Box 3059, Dublin 6, 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 Eastbourne Progressive Jewish Congregation 01323 725650; fax: 01323 417645 epjc@liberaljudaism.org; www.epjcong.org.uk Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community 0131 777 8024; info@eljc.org; www.eljc.org Finchley Progressive Synagogue Hutton Grove, N12 8DR; 020 8446 4063; fps@liberaljudaism.org; www.fps.org Gloucestershire Liberal Jewish Community Enquiries: 01242 521468 or 01242 234232 Harrow and Wembley Progressive Synagogue 326 Preston Road, Harrow HA3 0QH; 020 8904 8581; hwps@liberaljudaism.org; www.hwps.org Herefordshire Jewish Community 01594 530721; hjc@liberaljudaism.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; www.klsonline.org Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation The Synagogue, 24 Avenue Road, LE2 3EA; 07875 123744; lpjc@liberaljudaism.org 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,

The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street London, W1T 4BE Tel: 020 7580 1663 Fax: 020 7631 9838

www.liberaljudaism.org President The Baroness Neuberger DBE Chair Lucian J Hudson Deputy Chair Amanda Grant Vice-Chairs Simon Benscher and Jackie Richards Treasurer David Pelham Officer for social action and disability Leon Charikar Vice-Presidents and Honorary Vice-Presidents David Amstell, Monique Blake, Henry Cohn, Nigel Cole, Geoffrey Davis, Stanley Fink, Jeromé Freedman, Louise Freedman, Rabbi Dr David Goldberg, Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein, Sharon Goldstein, Rabbi Harry Jacobi, Jeremy Jessel, Willie Kessler, David Lipman, Corinne Oppenheimer, David Pick, Rosita Rosenberg, Tony Sacker, Harold Sanderson, Joan Shopper, Beverley Taylor, Clive Winston Chairman of Rabbinic Conference Rabbi Pete Tobias Chief Executive Rabbi Danny Rich Internal Services Shelley Shocolinsky-Dwyer PR and Communications Alexandra Ben-Yehuda Education Sandra Kviat Interfaith Rabbi Mark Solomon Shlicha Dana Friedman LJY-Netzer Ben Baginsky, Shira Conradi, Robin Moss

lj today is edited by Beatrice Sayers Articles and letters are welcome. The deadline for the July/August 2010 issue is 1 June. Please email: ljtoday@liberaljudaism.org.

Letters may be edited.

Liberal Judaism is the dynamic, cutting edge of modern Judaism. It reverences Jewish tradition, seeking to preserve the values of the Judaism of the past while giving them contemporary force. Registered charity number 236590.

Printed by Precision Printing. www.precisionprinting.co.uk

Elstree, Herts WD6 3BY; 020 8953 8889; tlse@liberaljudaism.org; www.tlse.org.uk Lincolnshire Jewish Community 01427 628958; ljc@liberaljudaism.org Manchester Liberal Jewish Community, 08432 084441; mljc@liberaljudaism.org; www.mljc.org.uk North London Progressive Jewish Community 020 7403 3779; nlpjc@liberaljudaism.org; www.nlpjc.org.uk Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue, Oaklands Gate, Northwood, Middx HA6 3AA; 01923 822592, npls@liberaljudaism.org; www.npls.org.uk Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation Lloyd Street, Sherwood 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 Enquiries: 020 7631 9822 The Progressive Jewish Community of East Anglia (based in Norwich); www.pjcea.org.uk Reading Liberal Jewish Community 0118 942 8022; rljc@liberaljudaism.org; www.rljc.org Shenfield, Brentwood & Districts Synagogue 01277 888610; info@roshtikvah.com; www.roshtikvah.com South Bucks Jewish Community 0845 644 2370; 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 Liberal Synagogue, Marlborough Road, George Lane, London E18 1AR; 020 8989 7619; wps@liberaljudaism.org; www.woodfordliberal.org.uk

Associated congregations Beit Ha’Chidush, Postbus 14613, 1001 LC Amsterdam, Netherlands, 00 31 23 524 7204; info@beithachidush.nl, www.beithachidush.nl Oxford Liberal Jewish Services: 01865 515584 or 01865 765197; www.ojc-online.org

Developing communities The Suffolk Liberal Jewish Community (based in Ipswich), 01473 250797; sjc@liberaljudaism.org

‘tent: the meeting place’ for young adults; Avivit Katzil: 07866 501787

Make a date ...........

6 June (Sunday) Annual Inter-Synagogue Quiz hosted this year by Elstree: office@tlse.org.uk 14 June (Monday) The Abrahamic Faiths Institute and the New Israel Fund at Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue. A panel discussion, chaired by Ned Temko, and to include NIF president Naomi Chazen 30 June (Wednesday) Panel discussion: The Future of Progressive Judaism at the Midlands Centre for Liberal Judaism, 7.30pm 1-11 July ‘tent’ trip to Israel Contact Avivit: a.katzil@liberaljudaism.org or 07866 501787 4 July (Sunday) Sephardi Day at North London.

Middle Eastern cookery workshop; buffet; concert; storytelling. nlpjc@liberaljudaism.org 25 July-8 August Machaneh Kadimah (summer camp) for school years 3-10; telephone 020 7631 0584 for details or to book 5 September (Sunday) Liberal Judaism’s annual memorial services at Edgwarebury, Cheshunt and Golders Green (see right) 10 October (Sunday) The Leonora Ensemble perform a benefit concert at Brighton and Hove

Manchester picks Mark Solomon Mark Solomon is the new rabbi at the Manchester Liberal Jewish Community.

Rabbi Solomon, a former rabbi at the LJS and West Central, will continue his work as interfaith consultant to Liberal Judaism and rabbi at Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community, where he was due to be inducted on 25 April.

Invitation to visit Jewish Belarus Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation is organising a voyage of discovery in Jewish Belarus. Celebrate Shabbat services with the Progressive community in Minsk and make havdallah with the community in Lida. Dates: 10-18 August 2010. Details from catherine. strauss@capatex.com or 0115 978 611.

Seventh night Seder is a first More than a dozen students between the ages of 18 and 25 attended the first ever Seventh Night Seder at the home of Rabbi Alexandra Wright in Golders Green.

Members of several Liberal communities took part in a dramatic rendering of the Seder at B’nei B’rak, with each playing one of the five rabbis, and discussing whether armed or peaceful resistance was a more effective way of dealing with an occupation. The group was joined by Rabbi Judith Levitt, recruitment officer at Leo Baeck College, and the RSY and LJY-Netzer movement workers.

Memorial services Liberal Judaism’s annual memorial services are to take place on Sunday 5 September 2010 as follows: 11am at Edgwarebury Cemetery, officiated by Rabbis Aaron Goldstein and Harry Jacobi; 1pm at Western Cemetery, Cheshunt, officiated by Rabbi Stephen Howard; and 3pm at Golders Green Crematorium, officiated by Rabbi Frank Hellner.

Rabbi’s baby joy Mazal tov to Rabbi Neil Janes, the rabbi at Finchley, and his wife Michelle on the safe arrival of their first child, a girl.

Ayelet was born on 4 April.