Shofar
November 2019
the magazine of finchley progressive synagogue
Tashlich at Dollis Brook
From the Guest Editor... I
write this on a train to Oxford to see comedian and musician Tim Minchin. Last year I saw the Spice Girls reunion tour in Cardiff, and when I lived in Glasgow I saw Michael McIntyre in Aberdeen. These visits were not because I wished to boost UK tourism but because the events were sold out in London (or Glasgow) so I went further afield to find them. Recently someone told me I was creative for looking at alternative locations. Not many people love the Spice Girls as much as I do, I replied. But it does seem peculiar to me that people don’t recognise how small the UK is and how relatively - good our public transport is. That I could be in Oxford one Saturday morning, and in St Andrews that evening is extraordinary (and quite tiring). I was in Glasgow to study English Language. A brilliantly theoretical, utterly delightful degree offering insights into how and why men and women speak differently, how babies learn to speak, why onomatopoeia sounds similar across languages, and, my favourite, why accents in the UK vary so much. We are unique in how different our accents are in relation to the relatively small amount of space we occupy. A Glaswegian sounds different to an Edinburger who lives only 40 miles away. A north Londoner sounds different to a south Londoner. This intense variety reflects not only our accents, but Shofar is always interested in hearing your news and including photos of FPS members, and their families, near and far. We welcome your articles on any relevant topic. Please send these to shofar@fps.org 2
zoe jacobs
our language, habits and lives. Luckily for my concert-going habit, I delight in UK travel - perhaps sparked as a child by a very spread-out family, and later by my job working for the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities where I travelled from Shetland to Fort William to the Borders offering advice about Judaism to educators, schools and curriculum-writers. I find it exciting to explore different cities, finding hidden museums on the people of the area, of their bravery and humanity. I am not alone in my enjoyment of local travel. Recently a member asked whether the synagogue could run trips to places of Jewish interest. This idea has caught on as more people expressed an interest. We now have 3 trips in the pipeline (more information on page 10), and are looking for suggestions for more destinations. Do let us know if you have a place to recommend. I wonder if I enjoy UK travel so much because I am very, very, British. Jews and non-Jews alike ask me where I’m from. “ Manchester” I tell them. “No,” they insist, “I mean where are you from?”. “Manchester”. I confirm. “No, but originally?”. With five generations of Mancunian Jews in my family, we really are from Manchester! But we are fairly unusual many Jews in the UK and in our FPS community come from other areas of Europe and indeed the world. In this edition of Shofar we shine a light on some of those members - each telling a different story of travel, family and how who we are is intertwined with where we are.
Cover photo: Zoe Jacobs
Continued on page 4 Copy deadline is the 10th of each month. Please email all content to shofar@fps.org
From the Rabbi
rabbi rebecca birk
If October was our month for gazing inwards
then November is the reverse. A re-emerging into the world and our place within it. This month I intend to take a delegation to visit Dan Thomas the new Chief Executive of Barnet Council to ask him to make good on his predecessor’s promise to welcome 3 refugee children into Barnet every year for the next ten years, if funding is made available. I have just been invited to Rabbi Harry Jacobi’s Memorial service, and it was he who spoke so eloquently as a Jewish refugee why we must welcome other children. This month we welcome visits and conversations with our elected representatives and leaders, just as a synagogue should. Luciana Berger MP (13 November 8pm) & Mike Freer MP later in the month. Danny Rich as our Senior Rabbi has addressed us on his position politically and religiously. We will go out into our local community on Mitzvah Day, giving our time, not our money, to make change. We walked out of Yom Kippur not fully aware of the extent of the attack on Halle Synagogue. Now we know that it was thwarted but that one of the two passersby killed was asking the gunman to be respectful of the Yom Kippur service. The world is small and we are intimately connected to each other. As I write I have no idea if the 31 October Brexit deadline will be met. I have no idea of the disruption and dislocation that is to come for us and fellow communities in continental Europe. I have just returned from my annual visit to the Progressive Jews of Stockholm. As you know I have visited them for the past 20 years since being a rabbinic student. Last year I opened Stockholm Limmud but every year I watch the community grow, have more smachot
(celebrations for rites of passage) and appreciate its connection to us in the UK increasingly more. Liberal Judaism’s connection with European progressive communities is more critical than ever, especially with the changes afoot for all of us. Jews make up such a tiny minority in Sweden. They have met interesting challenges in the form of a ban on circumcision, and kosher slaughter shechitah. Yet there is a strong enthusiasm and commitment to Jewish life. The Jewish community in Stockholm is gathered under One Community, they share resources, like Glamsta the Summer camp retreat and run the congregations like political parties. It makes our system look astonishingly simple. In late November we will take our Kabbalat Torah (teenage) group to Amsterdam. Zoe and I have created an excellent programme following a historical timeline and telling the Jewish and secular story of that city: of Jews arriving there from the Iberian Peninsular after 1492, indeed the Sephardi synagogue dates from 1675, through Holocaust history and stories at Anne Frank’s house and the Museum of Resistance and following Rabbi Harry Jacobi’s story. See our focus on Jews and Europe this month by looking through the prism of our own members. 3
From the Chair Things have not gone according to plan during
the past couple of months for Carmen and me. We had planned to travel to Italy from Belgium, to take advantage of pre-Brexit pet vaccinations for Bella, arriving home by 31.10.19. Just before we finished clearing Carmen’s mum’s house I had a car accident. Thankfully no-one was hurt and after the substantial car repairs were completed we decided to go home. It was a great decision as we were able to visit my recently bereaved elderly aunt. Having had the opportunity to attend FPS at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur I feel I have gained immensely. It’s actually quite difficult to express the wonderful quality of Rabbi Rebecca’s sermons. Words like awesome may sound a bit strange but that’s how it felt for me. Rebecca’s sermon on Yom Kippur has helped me to think about being more open and taking risks. Jame Levy’s study session was in my view compelling and one of the things I thought about was the importance of not becoming overwhelmed by the task e.g.Tikkun Olam and from the guest editor, cont. from p.2
Rabbi Rebecca and I have had a brilliant time editing this month’s Shofar. We were delighted with the response to our shout-out for articles, and ended up making this a bumper edition as we had so much to fit in. This edition focuses deeply on people’s stories, whether of new members finding us, or how those from across Europe have travelled to - or from - the UK. If you’re interested in finding or commissioning more stories and making Shofar even better, do be in touch and perhaps guest edit an issue!
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cathy burnstone
just doing something can take on meaning. James spoke about the idea of meditating on the notion that we are made in the image of God which I am finding challenging and trying to think about how I could do this. How we speak and listen to people was discussed and it made me think about what Carmen calls the ‘Cannes syndrome’ where, whilst being engaged in conversation, the person is looking over their shoulder to see whether someone more interesting/important/ attractive is around. For me, this is also a notion that I will meditate on. I want to thank everyone who made these services flow so beautifully and effectively and our security volunteers and CST who keep us safe. Our staff at FPS always work so hard for us and I want to thank them too.
Citizens UK & The London Mayoral Assembly W
hatever your opinion of the tactics of Extinction Rebellion, the climate crisis is real. The scientific evidence is overwhelming that (a) the climate is warming to levels not experienced for millions of years, (b) it is not part of the natural cycle but has been caused by human activity, principally the burning of fossil fuels, and (c) it is already causing great human hardship and suffering around the globe, as well as contributing to the destruction of the natural world. All of this is set to accelerate. To do nothing is not an option. We may feel impotent in the face of such forces – only governments and big corporations have the power to act on the scale that could make a difference. But communities and individuals – acting together – have power too. One person choosing sustainable power, or recycling all their waste, may not make a big difference, but millions of people acting together can – and, moreover, will make politicians and corporations sit up – because ultimately their power depends on us. FPS is doing its bit – as a member of EcoSynagogue and, more recently, of the London Citizens Climate Group. We are one of 250 member organisations of London Citizens, and the organisation as a whole is gearing up to pressuring the candidates for the 2020 Mayoral elections to commit to tough action on issues important to our members. There are groups preparing briefs on housing, youth crime, public health – and climate change, with which FPS is actively engaged. In April 2020, a month before the Mayoral election, there will be a massive hustings at the Copperbox Arena in the Olympic Park, where 6000+ people – led by London Citizens – will ask the candidates to commit to tough action on
adrian lister
chosen topics. The Climate Change group will be pressing the candidates to commit to a much more ambitious target than the current 2050 date for making London a ‘carbon neutral’ city – in other words, with no net emissions of CO2 and other ‘greenhouse gases’. We argue that as a leading world city, not only will this contribute tangibly to global targets, it will set an example to other cities, as well as greatly improving the quality of life for our citizens. For the climate change issue intersects with all others. New housing, as well as being affordable, should be built sustainably and with low energy consumption; reducing pollution improves public health; enhancing green spaces helps take young people off the streets. Importantly, the Climate Change group will not only be making demands of the Mayor, but offering our support throughout the process, to motivate and organise ordinary citizens to take action individually and in their communities. On Wednesday 20 November, London Citizens is holding a Delegates’ Assembly (see poster on page 6) at which different policy areas will be discussed and prioritised. For this we need to bring an FPS delegation of 5 people to represent our community and to vote for the issues we think are most important (as part of the FPS Green Team I would love us to vote for the Climate Crisis!) Please let me know if you’d like to be a delegate. The event is from 6-8 pm at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H 8EP. Contact me on adrianlister@blueyonder.co.uk
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Notice Board
Thank you to everyone who voted for our Mitzvah Day theme. The Cleaner & Greener activities won by a long way - the Eco-Synagogue team will be delighted and looking forward to seeing everyone on Sunday 17 November!
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Beit Tefillah
services at fps
services- november / cheshvan leading into kislev Friday 1 November
6.30pm Kabbalat Shabbat Service
Saturday 2 November Friday 8 November
11.00am Shabbat B’Yachad
Saturday 9 November
11.00am Shabbat Service celebrating the Adult Bat Mitzvah of Laura Lassman
Friday 15 November
6.30pm Shabbat Resouled
Saturday 16 November
11.00am Shabbat Service celebrating the Bat Mitzvah of Maya Milner
Friday 22 November
6.30pm Kabbalat Shabbat Service
Saturday 23 November
11.00am Shabbat Service
Friday 29 November
6.30pm Kabbalat Shabbat Service
Saturday 30 November
11.00am Shabbat Service celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of Reuben Greene
6.30pm Kabbalat Shabbat Service
people get well wishes to
anniversaries: Annabel & Roy Balint-Kurti celebrating their 20th, Naomi & Stuart Gold their 50th and Martina & Jack Hirsch their 60th
Lionel Lassman
mazal tov to
condolences to
Laura Lassman celebrating her Adult Bat Mitzvah on 9 November; Maya Milner celebrating her Bat Mitzvah on 16 November Reuben Greene celebrating his Bar Mitzvah on 30 November
welcome to new members Jessica Bellwood with Grace, Jacob & Sophia
Margot Katz, Andrea Rappoport and Jeff Roberts on the recent death of their mother Lorna, longstanding member of FPS. happy birthday to
the following members celebrating milestone birthdays in November: Hilda Hart, Dorothea Cole, Valerie Boyd-Hellner, Danielle BrandonRocks, Richard Greene congratulations to
stone setting
The stone setting for David Kahan will be at 10.15 am on Sunday 1 December at Edgwarebury Cemetery. Rabbi Rebecca Birk will officiate.
three couples celebrating significant wedding
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Beit Knesset
community events, all welcome!
bridge group
pilates
Mondays @ 7.30pm, £4. There are even small prizes for winners! For details contact Paul Silver-Myer via the synagogue office on 020 8446 4063
Thursdays @ 5.30-6.30pm. Led by Tali Swart. Beginners to intermediate; individually tailored instruction. Payment in blocks of six, roughly £8 per lesson. Contact taliswort@btconnect.com
yoga
takes a break this term. Contact Richard Kravetz on 020 8349 9602 book club
Wednesday 13 November @ 8.00 pm The Book Club meetings are held in people’s homes on the second Wednesday of each month. Contact Sheila King Lassman skinglassman@gmail.com or Edgar Jacobsberg e.jacobsberg@gmail.com
cafe ivriah
Saturdays (Ivriah term only), 9.45-10.45am All welcome to an informal discussion, on a wide range of topics, over coffee and biscuits, between Ivriah drop-off and morning service. weekly Torah portion to current affairs.
rosh chodesh (cheshvan)
Wednesday 27 November @ 8pm. Celebration of the New Moon by women who meet for sharing, learning and spiritual exploration. This month a talk on the French philosopher, mystic, and political activist, Simone Weil, by Hannah Altorf. Contact Wika Dorosz on vdorosz@gmail.com delving into judaism
Wednesday 7.00-9.00pm. Weekly adult class exploring the building blocks of Judaism plus Hebrew classes. lunch & learn
Thursdays, 12.00-1.00pm An hour’s learning in the small hall with Rabbi Rebecca with a bring-and-share lunch such as sandwiches, soup and cake. Starting on 14 November, a 4-week series on Talmud with Rabbis Adam Frankenberg and Rebecca Birk
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Beit Midrash
learning at fps
We’ve discovered there is an appetite for some synagogue trips for adults and families. We are excited to have 3 trips in the pipeline, but we’re looking out for other locations of Jewish interest - can you recommend somewhere locally that you find interesting? Might you run or support a visit there? Please contact our Education representative on council, Sam King, with all your ideas. 10
Notice Board i left my tallit in shul - it’s in a blue bag!
Aren’t they nearly always? Does one of these belong to you? Please email the office if you wish to claim! The white one contains a gorgeous, possibly hand-made, tallit for a Bat Mitzvah. .... l’hitatef b’tzitzit ....
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Meet New FPS Members beverley & barry kafka
We joined FPS because the community seemed so vibrant when we visited. We like the Shabbat Resouled and musical aspects of the services and were always warmly welcomed, whether it be at Shabbat or Yom Tov services. We really enjoyed the Rosh Hashanah Morning service and find the Rabbi’s sermons interesting and thought provoking. We have reconnected with old friends that we hadn’t realised were members of the shul and are looking forward to making new friends too. We’re very happy to chat over a glass or cup of something!! There is so much going on at FPS, we need time to settle in and decide what to get involved with. Over the years, we have been involved in many aspects of Synagogue life, from The Board of Deputies, Israel committee, Education and Ritual Activities committees, Security and Fundraising. So it will be good to see what there is at FPS and decide where to spend our time and energy next. deb hermer
Hello I’m Deb and a few months ago I joined FPS with my daughter Jess aged 14. I was brought up as a member of the United Synagogue in Cardiff and in truth, it nearly put me off Judaism for life. But recently a couple of things have happened which made me want to 12
explore my religion again. I’m so happy I did as the warm welcome from FPS, particularly from Rabbi Rebecca and other members, makes it feel like the exact right move. I look forward to meeting more members in coming months and getting involved with lots of FPS activities. Outside of synagogue I’m a passionate outdoor swimmer, a TV box set watcher and very amateur baker. I work as a PR consultant and last year, with others, set up a charity in Hackney called Read Easy helping adults learn to read.
michelle, paul, amy, charlotte & hannah golding
After 18 years at Southgate Progressive Synagogue (SPS) we, as a family, decided it was time for a change. We attended many services at different synagogues and FPS stood out a mile. The warm welcome we received along with the fantastic music and spiritual guidance of Rabbi Rebecca at all the services made FPS a clear winner. We were all very involved at SPS, in particular being on Council, Security, Fundraising, Religious Activity Committee as well as a 3 year stint as chair of SPS, along with our 3 children being Religion School teachers, so you can imagine how strange it was meeting up with some ex-SPS members over the High Holy Days. I am sure as time goes by we will get more involved with FPS and we look forward to many, many happy years here.
Jews in Poland “I was born with two sins. My christening
freed me from my original sin, but I drag the second with me. My mother was Jewish and many Poles cannot forgive me.” This is an extract from a memoir my mother wrote in her native Warsaw in 1962. Her entire Jewish family, bar one aunt who made aliyah in 1933, was murdered in the Holocaust. Mum survived because she was hidden in a convent. I guess her Catholic education began there for her father was not a religious man. And if he did have a belief system, cruelty was central to it for once his Jewish child was back in his life he despised her. On one occasion residents in his apartment block threatened to report him to the authorities. He scared them into dropping the idea. Of late, Mum has come to the view that her Jewishness was the reason for her father’s hatred. She remembers him mocking the Yiddish inflections of his former in-laws’ Polish and recounting, with mirth, how it was fine to ride a Jewish horse, but you should take care not to fall off it. And he adored the daughter of his third wife, the non-Jewish step sister with whom Mum was raised. My grandfather’s anti-Semitism hardly marked him out. Yes, of course, there were, and still are, righteous gentiles in Poland. Mum owes her life to Polish nuns and Yad Vashem has recognised 6,706 Poles for such acts of heroism, but many were, and remain, haters of the Jewish people. As her memoir tells, Mum felt this hatred acutely. In all her time in Poland she never knowingly met a fellow Jew and she lived in a constant state of anxiety that people would guess she was one. Her fears were well founded. Of the very small number of people who knew
karen glaser
the truth some would, when expedient, use it to slur her integrity. “Shut up you Jewish dog,” her friend’s boyfriend yelled when, aged 17, she asked him to return some money he owed her. Some years later, Mum would write: “Lord Jesus, please come down to Earth again and say that Jews are people too and that if they sometimes behave badly it is not because they are Jews but because they are people.” My world view today could hardly be more different from Mum’s then. I am a Jewish humanist and universalist. But despite these differences her story has shaped me enormously. I always tell people I’m Jewish. Even when it would be easier not to, when it would be easier to blend in. When I was small, she would tell me to make sure people liked me, that I had made a good impression. That’s the entirely understandable emotional response of someone who has internalised other people’s hatred. Me, I don’t need or want people to like me in spite of who I am. A longer version of this article appeared in the Jewish Chronicle on June 16, 2019
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Jews in Bulgaria T
his past spring, I had the pleasure of buying my first home - in Bulgaria. My house is in a medium-sized village called Zdravkovets, in the mountains of Gabrovo. Whilst the village is only a fifteen minute drive to the city, it is quite rural, with farmers, goat herders, spelunkers (cave explorers) and a Frenchman, as well. My first visit to Bulgaria was in 2007, when I travelled there to explore my family’s heritage and conduct research for artwork about their departure in World War II. This was an extraordinary experience, as I had only been told of this far-away land by my grandmother. My next visit was the following year, filming for my art installation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 1941, Bulgaria joined the Axis Powers and began to implement the Law for the Defense of the Nation (similar to the Nuremberg Laws). My grandfather, Sharlo Nachmias, had been the owner of Bulgarska Hartia, the press which printed many of the daily newspapers in Bulgaria. As a prominent member of Bulgarian Jewish society, he was targeted and the family were forced to leave their home in Sofia. My grandparents and fouryear-old mother fled to Cyprus, then Palestine, and eventually settled in New York. Most of the 50,000 Bulgarian Jews, predominantly Sephardim, left after World War II and went to Israel. Today, there are only several thousand Jews living in Bulgaria but their numbers have been rising. Visiting the Gabrovo region several times since 2008, I fell in love with the sylvan landscape and reconnected with a culture and language 14
monica rabinowitz
that were so familiar to me. From house renovating, learning to read and understand Cyrillic, battling determined dormice, to potato digging and fruit picking, I have been on an incredible journey. What has made this even more special was my mother’s visit this summer. We had the opportunity to return to her family home, which in Communist times had become the Syrian, then Ecuadorian, and finally the Hungarian Embassy before being restituted to our family in 1994. Non-citizens were required to sell their reclaimed property and after several private owners, the house has now become a beautiful kindergarten. We were greeted with excitement, warmth, and kindness. It felt as if
they had been waiting for us to arrive this entire time. I am returning to Bulgaria this week, overseeing more renovations and delivering prints to my mother’s former house. We were asked for old family photos to put on the walls of the kindergarten. Finally, the Nachmias family is coming home.
Jews in Belgium
alexandra SIMONON
T
he 30,000 Jews of Belgium live mainly in Brussels and in Antwerp. The two communities have a very different feel. Antwerp is home to one of the largest chareidi communities in the world after New York, London and Paris. The 18,000-strong community lives in the very centre of the city, where many work in the diamond trade. It is also where the numerous synagogues, shtiebls and Jewish schools are located, as well as a variety of kosher shops, restaurants etc. In sharp contrast, the Jewish community in Brussels is almost entirely secular, and doesn’t tend to live in one particular area. After the war, a young Holocaust survivor called David Susskind founded a Jewish secular sports club in Brussels. He had grown up frum, but after the experience of Auschwitz and the loss of his entire family he had become an atheist. He believed in Jewish identity and peoplehood and soon his sports club became a community centre, still thriving today, central in the life of many Brussels Jews. It has replaced synagogue membership for many. It celebrates all the Jewish holidays non-religiously, with the notable exception of Yom Kippur, which doesn’t get a mention. In the early 1990s the Centre began a non-religious bnei mitzvah programme, and since then hundreds of young people have gone through this rite of passage. As a child and a teenager growing up in Brussels, Jewish life seemed to be shaped by both: the memory of the Holocaust, and a special bond with the State of Israel. Synagogue attendance, for many, didn’t feature at all. There were five thriving Zionist youth movements, attended every single Saturday afternoon by hundreds of children. Every year at Lag B’Omer all the movements would celebrate
together by holding a giant sports day. The ghosts of the Holocaust were still very present in Brussels when I was growing up in the 1980s, and I’m sure most people of my generation still cannot take a tram ride around Brussels or walk past certain buildings without thinking of what happened there during the war: this building on a fashionable avenue used to be the Gestapo’s headquarters; in this other building lived such and such family, who were deported and all perished; this house used to be a Jewish fur business before the war, etc, etc, endlessly. The ghosts were everywhere, walking with us on our way, asking us not to forget. I left Brussels more than twenty years ago, but I hear that the mood of the Jewish community has changed. Antisemitism has risen. Jewish children, who traditionally did not attend Jewish schools, are now flocking to them because of antisemitic incidents in other schools. A staggering 40% of Belgian Jews has experienced antisemitism in the past year, and the same percentage has thought of emigrating that time too.
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Sukkot & Simchat Torah at FPS
zoe jacobs
sukkot
simchat torah
Our festival of sukkot tells so much about strength and fragility. To see our sukkah, so beautiful and yet so frail – knowing it represents all our lives and all our journeys. As the lucky ones with stable lives and houses it is our role to offer strength to those who are less secure. But on Erev Sukkot, in our beautiful, cosy sukkah it was hard not to be joyful. We held the frailty of nature alongside our delight in it. Our delight in a beautiful sunset, a warm(ish), miraculously not-raining evening, and the addition of blankets and mulled wine to keep us toasty throughout the service!
Ben Bag-Bag said of Torah “turn it, and turn it, for everything is in it” – and turn it we certainly did! On Erev Simchat Torah not only did we turn it, we unwound it around the community, and heard one line of Hebrew from 34 of the 54 portions. It was a superb evening for the community to revisit portions from B’nei Mitzvot, claiming these stories as their own, and having such pride in reading the lines. What Ben Bag-Bag might not have known (though he did say ‘everything is in it’, so maybe he did…!) was what witty limericks Torah offers, too! For those portions currently unclaimed, we had limericks that gave us an insight into the action going on.
It was an evening that displayed such extraordinary Torah literacy in a Liberal Jewish community in 2019.… and now the challenge for next year is to see how close to the full 54 portions we can hear! We want to thank the many, many volunteers who made the Chaggim run so smoothly. From the rota writers and the kiddush makers, to the security folk and the mitzvot managers. We describe all these volunteers as Community Makers because they - you - really do make our community! A huge thank you for everything you did, the moments you went the extra mile or extra marathon. We really do appreciate it.
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B’nei Mitzvah maya milner b’nei mitzvah 16 november
reuben greene bar mitzvah 30 november
My name is Maya and I’m taking up the Jewish name Daniel meaning God is my Judge. I was born in England. My dad, Alan, was was born in South Africa but lived most of his life in Israel, which is where he met my mum Lina who is from the Ukraine. I have two half sisters from my dad’s side, Tori & Abigail. My family is scattered all around the globe. I’m not having a Bar or Bat Mitzvah but a B’nei Mitzvah, because I don’t want to be labelled. I want to be my own person without the constant weight on my shoulders of having to be a girl or a boy. I have been a member of FPS since I was around four years old and come to the synagogue every weekend. I like the performing arts and being on the stage and in a play, which is comforting, because everything is in a script and you know exactly what happens next. On the other hand, in real life, you don’t always get what you want but you can try, like I’m trying to have a normal life and conquer my dyslexia,dyspraxia, dyscalculia, PTSD, noise sensitivity and anxiety. Which is why I decided to support the charity Norwood which may help me later this year. I also like art, my favourite genre of music is rock and I’m writing a book with the help of a lot of spelling and grammar checks. I’m proud to be a part of this amazing community and I hope to encourage people to come to Shabbat service on the 16th of November.
My name is Reuben Greene and I have been coming to FPS for longer than I can remember. I love music, and I play piano, drums and guitar. My Bar Mitzvah will be on 30 November. My parasha Toldot - is about the life of Jacob and Esau. It starts with Rebekah, their mother, asking God why she feels so odd. God tells her that it is due to her twins being so different, branching off from one another. Their names are plays on words about how they were born - Esau was hairy and his name sounds like the word for grass, and Jacob was holding Esau’s heel - ‘ekev’ means heel, and sounds like ‘ya’akov’. The portion’s climax is Esau selling his birthright, and its associated blessings, for some stew that Jacob made. My tzedakah project combines two things I feel passionately about - music and the environment. I will be holding a fundraising gig with my band on Saturday 16th November at 6pm to raise money for WWF - the World Wildlife Fund. WWF is a wonderful charity as it helps with researching into our fragile ecosystems, as well as raising awareness about their importance. I truly hope that a difference can be made and our fantastic wildlife will live forever.
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Messages from Our Students elijah: theology at bristol
So far, the course has been of great depth and understanding; it’s so great to be learning theology within a religiously diverse class, hearing first hand experiences of culture, beliefs and practices. The JSoc is really welcoming to Jews from all walks of life - religious or not, the Chaplaincy is truly here for any issues (Jewish or not). holly: architecture at canterbury
Starting university this September has been a great new experience. I’ve had a great time meeting new people and getting to study a subject that I’ve never done before. Moving away from home has also been great fun and I’ve made amazing friends with my flatmates and people on my course. It’s been incredibly refreshing to have a complete blank start in a brand new city. Starting with an eventful freshers week and diving into a whole new way of studying was a much easier transition than I’d thought and I’m loving every moment so far. 18
dora: philosophy at sheffield
Many people begin university with the idea that they can totally reinvent themselves, and become the person they wished they could have been at school. Rubbish. It is a strangely reassuring experience for everything around you to change so dramatically, and yet to be the same old person inside - kind of like being a hermit crab. My friends and I discovered the student union cinema which shows all sorts of brilliant films for less than your morning latte. I’ve joined the JSoc (see, I did tell you that I haven’t changed) and have been attending beautifully warm Friday night dinners at the rabbi’s house. I’ve also joined singing and creative writing (nothing new there), and have been going to the peaks at every chance I get. The very best part is that I get to do philosophy (yep, I still like that) all the time!
We are so excited to be bringing back our Musical B’yachad after such a successful and joyful service at the end of last year. We are always looking for musicians who might like to be involved in the morning - we spend an hour in small groups, each learning one prayer, and then come together for a beautiful service, full of creativity and music. Last year we had pianos, trumpets, flutes, hand bells, and guitars. We hope to have even more instruments in December!
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Contacts
fps website: www.fps.org
finchley progressive synagogue
Life President: Sheila King Lassman
54 Hutton Grove N12 8DR 020 8446 4063 www.fps.org facebook.com/finchleyprog Rabbi Rebecca Birk – rabbi@fps.org
Vice Presidents: Renzo Fantoni, Josie Kinchin, Alex Kinchin-Smith, Laura Lassman, Lionel King Lassman, John Lewis, Paul Silver-Myer, Andrea Rappoport, Joan Shopper
Emeritus Rabbi: Dr Frank Hellner
contacts
Community Development Manager: Zoe Jacobs – zoe@fps.org Musicians in Residence: Franklyn Gellnick, Dean Staker Synagogue Manager: Pauline Gusack pauline@fps.org executive 2019
Chair: Cathy Burnstone, chair@fps.org Vice-Chair: Anjanette Pavell, ViceChairAP@fps.org Treasurer: Chris Nash, treasurer@fps.org Honorary Secretary: Tamara Joseph, honsec@fps.org board members
Sam King, sam@fps.org Phillip Raphael, security@fps.org Ann Pelham, apelham@fps.org Roy Balint-Kurti, roybk@fps.org
Board of Deputies Reps: Janet Tresman, Stanley Volk Beit Midrash (Adult Education): Adrian Lister adulteducation@fps.org Beit Tefillah (Rites & Practices): Valerie Joseph Keep In Touch Team (contacting members): reached via Pauline in FPS office Website Editor: Philip Karstadt fpswebsite@fps.org Shofar Guest Editors: Rabbi Rebecca Birk, Zoe Jacobs Shofar Team: shofar@fps.org Sarah Rosen-Webb, Wika Dorosz FPS Office: administrator@fps.org The Finchley Progressive Synagogue is a company limited by guarantee (Company No 9365956) and a registered charity (Charity No 1167285) whose registered office is 54 Hutton Grove, Finchley, London N12 8DR
President: Alan Banes
ashley page
janet tresman
insurance brokers
mediator & collaborative family law solicitor
Commerce House 2a Litchfield Grove London N3 2TN
Altermans Solicitors 239 Regents Park Road, London N3 3LF
Tel. 020 8349 5100
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Office phone: 0208 346 1777 Email: janet@altermans.co.uk