March/April 2018 VOL. XL No. 2
Liberal Judaism is a constituent of the World Union for Progressive Judaism
www.liberaljudaism.org
ljtoday
Liberal Judaism’s Biennial Weekend is our movement’s flagship event for 2018. We hope you enjoy this four-page pullout dedicated to all we have planned - as we ask you to join us and explore what makes Liberal Judaism what it is today.
A word from our keynote speaker
RABBI DANNY FREELANDER, president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ), will be one of the Biennial Weekend’s keynote speakers. Danny will pick up on the task he set at the recent WUPJ Conference, challenging us to continue evolving our global Judaism so it is truly liberal in all areas from inclusivity to theology. To prepare you for the Biennial Weekend, we are reprinting an edited version of that powerful speech:
THE Biennial Weekend takes place from Friday June 29 to Sunday July 1 at the stylish St Johns Hotel in Solihull. Prices are £250-300 for adults, £100 for children aged 5-16 and £150 for students. Children under 5 are free. Accommodation, all meals and refreshments, full use of the hotel facilities and materials are included.
FROM the beginning, Judaism has evolved. From the Judaism of Abraham and Sarah to the Judaism of Moses and Miriam. From the heritage of the wilderness to the future of the Promised Land. From the priestly cult of the Second Temple to the synagogues of Rabbinic Judaism. From Torah to Talmud, and Talmud to responsa, and responsa to enlightenment. From slavery to full gender and egalitarian equality. We have seen two thousand years of creative adaptation - not merely to survive, but two thousand years of creative adaptation to make a difference in the world. To live knowing and demonstrating that each life matters, that each person is holy. To absorb the new wisdom of each era, and then grow into more than we were a generation earlier. We are the rishonim and tanaaim of our time. We are the Israel Jacobsons and Abraham Geigers. We are the inheritors of the imperative for innovation. When we look back, we do so in order to look ahead. We do not merely perpetuate the past. We are not rule enforcers, afraid of experiment and change. We are inventors, engineers and entrepreneurs – the essential Jewish risk takers of the 21st century. Our WUPJ congregations must lead the whole of the Jewish people, not merely our own Progressive Jews. We must move forward, dream and innovate. We are the ones to guide the Jewish people
Day delegates can attend for £60 (programme and catering only). We are also offering £20 off adult weekend tickets for those who sign up to the Biennial event page on Facebook. Go to www.facebook. com/events/738176126373726 and select ‘attending’. Then email t.rich@ liberaljudaism.org for a discount code.
into the future because our theology, our philosophy and our way of life resonates with profound meaning and integrity. In Jewish life what counts is what we do; how we enact our values and ethics every day. Bloodline merely defines inheritance. Choice inspires the future. Progressive Judaism must champion that one’s lifestyle trumps one’s bloodline. We must publicly promote conversion, and we must also embrace our non-Jewish families. We must market publicly, resoundingly and proudly that non-Jewish spouses are welcome fully in our synagogue life. We need to decide whether we want to increase our membership base, or make it more difficult for intermarried Jews to consider participating in our congregations. Some of our communities have addressed this on a policy level, but not yet really proclaimed it through public marketing. Our ambivalent attitudes show the truth… that we’re demonstrating a kind of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’. What are we afraid of? Let’s stop looking over our shoulders and start to look forward instead. We must trust that we have the wisdom and the experience. Trust our proud heritage of innovation. We must open our doors as widely as possible. That way anyone who enters will want to help us further our powerful and impactful vision of a meaningful Jewish life in today’s world.
We do not want financial constraints to prevent anyone from taking part in the Biennial Weekend. For information about financial assistance, please email t.rich@liberaljudaism.org. All correspondence is kept confidential. You can get further ticketing details, and reserve your place, by visiting www. liberaljudaism.org/calendar/biennial
March/April 2018
News
LJ Today Page 1
A new siddur fit for a new age L IBERAL JUDAISM has started the process of creating a new siddur, the movement’s first since 1995, with a draft morning service being piloted and tested in Liberal congregations throughout 2018. This draft Shabbat service will also be used at the Liberal Judaism Biennial Weekend, when the process for submitting feedback will be launched. The new siddur will be the first anywhere in the world ever edited by two women rabbis - Rabbis Elli Tikvah Sarah and Lea Mühlstein - and will contain some feminised Hebrew for the first time. In another major change for Liberal Judaism, Hebrew will be accompanied on the page by both English translation and transliteration. Below, Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah explains the need for the new siddur and what we can expect from it:
OUR MOVEMENT has published a new prayer book every 25 to 30 years “in order to satisfy the needs of the age” – a core principle first articulated by Lily Montagu, one of the founders of Liberal Judaism, in the Jewish Quarterly Review in 1899. In 1967, our then Liberal siddur, Service of the Heart, broke new ground by introducing modern English. The next 25 years saw huge changes in society, not least the emergence of the women’s liberation movement. So in 1995, Siddur Lev Chadash came out and introduced a gender inclusive translation. In the 20 plus years since then, things have changed again. Since the dawn of the millennium, alongside Liberal Judaism’s championing of equality, the new watchword has been inclusion. Therefore a major focus of the new siddur is how the individual may be included and enabled to participate in the service.
While feminised Hebrew is being introduced into the siddur for the first time, it was already pioneered in the Kiddushin-Covenant of Love anthology published by Liberal Judaism in 2005. Rabbi Mark Solomon crafted feminised versions of the prayers used in that anthology and is now doing A double page spread from the draft of Liberal Judaism’s new siddur the same as a member of Taking its cue from the ‘new song’ – the editorial group for Siddur Shirah shirah chadashah – that the Israelites Chadashah, a group which also includes sang at the shore of the sea following the Rabbis Janet Burden, Dr Margaret Jacobi, exodus from Egypt, the new prayer book Dr René Pfertzel and Alexandra Wright. will be called Siddur Shirah Chadashah. The siddur also looks very different. Just as the titles of the 1967 and 1995 The layout of each double page spread prayer books were significant, so is the is intended to enable participation and a title of the new one. The name reflects fuller comprehension of the service. the desire to express the prayers we Looking at the top half of the double have inherited in new ways in order page spread, the Hebrew text is set out to ensure that they speak to as wide a with a transliteration to the right and a range of people as possible, both those translation to the left. And then, to the who have traditionally been members of left of the translation, explanatory points synagogues and previously disaffiliated and questions for reflection. or unaffiliated people who have begun to On the far left of the double page, a seek their home in Liberal Judaism. vertical menu indicates the headings True to the spirit of creating ‘a new for each section of the service with the song’, the name of Siddur Shirah current one highlighted in bold. On the Chadashah is in the feminine form and bottom half of the double page spread the siddur includes feminised Hebrew are readings and poems, which may be versions of some of the prayers. read by the congregation as alternative For example, the second blessing of texts or read by the individual in silence the Amidah, the ‘standing’ central prayer to themselves during the service. known as G’vurot, God’s ‘powers’, is Ultimately, the new siddur will reflect presented in feminised Hebrew to subvert the input and needs of the entire Liberal the traditional association of ‘powers’ Jewish movement for this age – and we with masculine attributes. look forward to hearing your feedback. TWENTY SEVEN young people, three rabbis, two LJY-Netzer leaders and one community worker – representing four different communities – visited three parts of the Midlands in one weekend. The Kabbalat Torah students from Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue, Birmingham Progressive Synagogue, Finchley Progressive Synagogue and Nottingham Liberal Synagogue came together as part of their studies. They spent Friday night at a service in Nottingham, before heading to Lincoln (pictured) and finishing with an emotional visit to Newark’s National Holocaust Centre and Museum.
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Communities
HMD in Luton
March/April 2018
End of an era in Essex
By Hilary Fox
Members of all faiths and none at HMD event
BEDFORDSHIRE PROGRESSIVE SYNAGOGUE once more helped to organise Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) in Luton. The annual event remembers the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, and the millions of people killed in the Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Attendance was higher than the previous year with a welcome increase in Muslim numbers. When the large choir was seated it became standing room only for latecomers. The Luton Youth Cantores Choir began the evening with the moving song May It Be by Enya. They were followed by the Stopsley High School Drama Group, who performed a unique piece they had devised based on this year’s HMD theme ‘The Power of Words’. The event’s main speaker Antoinette Mushimiyimana related her terrifying experience as a Tutsi in Rwanda when she was only 12 years old. Through her strong faith, Antoinette has somehow managed to transcend the loss of many of her family in unspeakable circumstances and her own suffering. Antoinette now works for Youth With a Mission in Harpenden, teaching and educating using the ‘Power of Words’. She has also written a book called This Is My Story. James Hart of the Bedfordshire police force was the next to speak - reporting on his work on hate crime in the county with the help of the Anne Frank Trust. We also welcomed Imam Saqib Sikander who gave a powerful address on the horrors of all genocides including, most recently, the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Remembrance candles were lit and David Corfan and Lawrence Benjamin led the Kaddish. The choir then closed the event with Wherever You Are of Military Wives fame, which gave us a hopeful ending to a very moving event.
Main: Rabbi David Hulbert with synagogue members at a Perryman’s Farm Road open day Inset: Hazel Isaacs, Rose Lautman and Jean Summberbell hold a Q&A after the final service
RABBI DAVID HULBERT led members of East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue (ELELS) in paying a fond farewell to the community’s iconic building in Perryman’s Farm Road. Perryman’s Farm Road was the home of Bet Tikvah, formerly known as Barkingside Progressive Synagogue, for more than 30 years. Bet Tikvah united with Woodford Liberal Synagogue in January 2017 to form ELELS. A day-long celebration included: a Shabbat morning service; chavurah lunch; the opening of the Bet Tikvah Archive; a question and answer session with four of the synagogue’s founders; Havdalah; a closing ceremony; and the removal of the Torah scrolls. Delivering a powerful sermon on the wonderful memories created in the building, David said: “What has made this building a holy place is not the bricks and windows and roof tiles. No, it has been the people. Not politicians, not film stars, celebrities or musicians, not famous footballers or great scientists - just ordinary English Jews.
“But of course they weren’t at all ordinary; they were quite extraordinary. I thank God for giving me the privilege of being with such very special people.” Speaking after the service, Rabbi Richard Jacobi, who leads the new ELELS community alongside David, said: “Today we saw the life-enriching nature of community at its very best. All generations cherished the past, enjoyed the present and anticipated the future.” Liberal Judaism chair and ELELS member Simon Benscher added: “It was a day of mixed emotions, of excitement tinged with sadness. Liberal Judaism is proud of the achievements of Perryman’s Farm Road, but is equally looking forward to the continued development of Liberal Judaism in East London and Essex.” The ELELS community had been holding services at Perryman’s Farm Road for the last year, but have now sold the building as they seek a new and unified home. Services will continue at Marlborough Road – the former site of Woodford Liberal Synagogue – until a new building is found.
Shabbat cooking Hilda honoured THE Carpenter family welcomed the Reading Liberal Jewish Community to their home for a unique Shabbaton. Congregants prepared ‘red stew’ to go with the story of Esau and Jacob and the selling of a birthright for that same dish. While it was bubbling away, Jane Carpenter led a study session.
The oldest and youngest members of the Southgate Progressive Synagogue religion school planted an olive tree in memory of the community’s beloved former life president Hilda Schindler, who had served as headteacher for 52 years.
Communities
March/April 2018
LJ Today Page 3
team with Liberals triumph at Quiz the magic touch Mitzvah Day Awards
Rabbi Tanya Sakhnovich (right) and the team from Salaam Shalom Kitchen with their award
NOTTINGHAM LIBERAL SYNAGOGUE’S Salaam Shalom Kitchen won the Mitzvah Day 365 Award in a ceremony at JW3. The Salaam Shalom Kitchen – a partnership between NLS and Muslim social justice group Himmah – offers a weekly hot meal and company, in a café atmosphere, for guests including those suffering from food poverty, refugees, people with mental health issues and the elderly and isolated. Members of Muslim and Jewish communities, together with many others, help at the kitchen. The Mitzvah Day 365 Award was to recognise the work that goes on there all year round - especially how it brings together people of faith. Nottingham’s Rabbi Tanya Sakhnovich said: “Our project doesn’t just help those in need. It helps the Muslims and Jews involved to build better relationships. “There are things I wouldn’t know about the Muslim community were it not for this project. It has allowed people to make genuine friendships. We think of ourselves as a family.”
East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue member Sonia Muscovitch was presented with the night’s top award for Outstanding Mitzvah Day Individual. Guests were told how Sonia, who is both employed by and volunteers for Langdon, “has dedicated most of her life to working with, and inspiring, young people with learning disabilities - overseeing Langdon’s evolution from a beneficiary charity to its members playing a full role in Mitzvah Day.” More than 4,000 people took part in the voting for the Mitzvah Day Awards. Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue was a runner-up in the Outstanding Interfaith Partnership category, for bringing its cheder children together with two local Muslim Madrasas to learn about one another and create gifts for the Christian charity New Hope. A village-wide project in Hawkshead, Cumbria, spearheaded by its only Jew, Abigail Mann – daughter of Rabbi Alan Mann – finished as a runner-up for Outstanding Mitzvah Day Group.
A QUIZ team made of up of members of Nottingham Liberal Synagogue and Leicester Progressive Synagogue came second in a nationwide competition to find the UK’s cleverest Harry Potter fans. Charlie Barker, Max Worth, Rachel Benn and Pat Dean – known as ‘The Felix Felicis Four’ – finished as runners-up in the Harry Potter Trivia Tournament. The quartet reached the final by winning their region’s round of the competition, held in the village of Lowdham in Nottinghamshire. They then headed to London, where they pitted their brains against 19 other regional winners. The team - named after the magical Harry Potter potion that makes the drinker lucky for a period of time dropped only half a mark in their heat and then scored 50 out of 60 in a tricky final. They were narrowly beaten by a team of young adults from Oxford. Proud mum and Nottingham member Karen Worth said: “From fantastic beasts to quidditch, and through audacious alchemy to wondrous wizardry, our four intrepid Potterheads put in a truly bewitching performance.” The competition was organised by Bloomsbury Books to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book.
Faiths unite for Tu Bishvat and HMD WEST CENTRAL LIBERAL SYNAGOGUE hosted a very special Tu Bishvat Seder with Christian and Muslim guests. The event began with a Shabbat afternoon service which contained readings for Holocaust Memorial Day, remembering all those murdered by the Nazis as well as subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. The Tu Bishvat Seder followed, with the group uniting in poetry and song to appreciate the gifts given us by trees.
Later that evening, around 70 multifaith participants took part in a scriptural reasoning session on the environment. West Central’s Rabbi Jackie Tabick (pictured left) said: “A wonderful warm atmosphere was created where all three monotheistic faiths could share their hopes and fears about the environmental threats facing our shared world. A fantastic buzz of learning and sharing filled our synagogue, with a mound of different fruits eaten.”
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News
March/April 2018
Helping shape a diverse Limmud Abi and Anna’s team included LJY-Netzer leader Robert Simmons and Liberal Judaism staff member Yszi Hawkings, who co-chaired the resources and accommodation/ registration teams. The Limmud Festival organising team included a number of Liberal Jews Abigail was LIBERAL volunteers were part of the also supported in her role by her family – team behind a very successful Limmud including Rabbis Harry, Dr Margaret and Festival, which saw 2,300 Jews from Richard Jacobi – who attend every year. around the world gather in Birmingham Richard helped to coordinate and lead to share and expand their knowledge. the daily Progressive Jewish services, As reflected in the Festival’s tagline which returned to the event, along with ‘Made By You’, Limmud is put together Liberal Judaism student chaplain Leah solely by volunteers, with a small number Jordan, lay leaders and colleagues of paid staff to provide admin support. from Reform Judaism and the Israel This year’s organising team was coMovement for Progressive Judaism. Leah chaired by Liberal Judaism’s Abigail also gave the Shabbat lunch D’var Torah Jacobi, along with Anna Lawton. to hundreds of Limmudniks.
Leo Baeck College principal Rabbi Deborah Kahn-Harris and Liberal Judaism Rabbinic Conference chair Rabbi Aaron Goldstein led sessions, as did Liberal Rabbis Yuval Keren, Dr Margaret Jacobi and Harry Jacobi and members Pam Fox, Gabriel Webber and Sam Grant. Movement officer Robin Moss, UJIA director of strategy, led a series of sessions and sat on a panel about Israel. Other presenters of note included Jo Johnson MP, Gilad Shalit’s parents, Momentum founder Jon Lansman and American podcaster Mark Oppenheimer. In typical Limmud fashion, the event featured a diverse range of sessions and presenters with some of the more fun choices including Adon Olam karaoke, vodka tasting and a discussion with a tattoo artist. Topical issues were also at the fore with sessions on LGBTQI+ issues, interfaith, feminism, politics, the #MeToo movement, Syria and antisemitism. If you’d like to find out about upcoming Limmud day conferences, international events or how to get involved with next year’s Festival, email office@limmud.org
Should Liberals parade the Torah? Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein tackles a subject that provokes much controversy in our communities THE VERY first High Holy Days services I led were in Leicester and I still visit the Progressive congregation there from time to time, last year taking Yom Kippur services. I also did my Ph.D. at Leicester University under the guidance of Dr Alex Keller, a stalwart of the community. It was therefore with great pleasure that I joined the 16 members of the choir from my own Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue, led by Ruth Colin, who went up to Leicester to lead a choral service. After Kiddush a member, Rosalind Adam, presented me with a fascinating book she has just published telling the history of the congregation. I noticed a section on the changes in ritual over the years and one change made from the early days was the introduction of the parading of the Torah Scroll on Shabbat.
Why does this issue create so much heat in discussion between ‘classic’ Liberals and the later members? I’m not sure if parading the scroll on Simchat Torah happened in the early days of Liberal Judaism, but by the 1960s I suspect it was universal. But on every other festival and Shabbat only the most traditional congregations – like North London or Dublin – would have circled the congregation with the Sefer Torah. The origin of processing might well be connected to architecture. In the earliest synagogues – there are some 1st and 2nd century remains in Israel – it seems that the Ark was a moveable wooden box containing the actual scroll. This Ark would be paraded in from an adjoining room when it was time to read the scroll. Much later, in synagogues with a central Bimah, a parade was needed so as to bring the scroll from the Ark fixed on the eastern wall… or indeed western as in India where I have recently been. The Torah was held in great reverence and so naturally people bowed as it went past, kissed the mantle and, as I have witnessed in traditional synagogues, felt a spiritual joy as they did so. So why was and why is such a tradition seen with horror by some Liberal Jews?
Do they see it as idol worship, similar to the kissing of saints or icons in an Orthodox church? Or is it a ritual too disturbing of the solemnity of classical Liberal worship? Why do it on Simchat Torah and ban it for the rest of the year? Personally I am in favour of parading… I think it brings the scroll nearer to the worshippers in the congregation and, as I parade, it gives me the rabbi a time to nod and smile at worshippers as I pass by. And, for a moment, it breaks up the rigid formality of the seating and the congregation all facing one way. Mind you the rabbi can face dangers during the parading. In one congregation in our movement such is the enthusiasm for kissing the scroll, either with one’s tzitzit or siddur, that I fear one day somebody will be injured in the crush. And if the rabbi moves too quickly and misses out a would-be kisser then his or her job might be on the line. To parade or not to parade… that is the Liberal Jewish question. • Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein is president of Liberal Judaism. He can be contacted on agoldstein@f2s.com
News
March/April 2018
LJ Today Page 5
Alliance helps students to Reconnect LIBERAL JUDAISM and Reform Judaism jointly hosted the first ever Progressivelyled Jewish retreat for students in February, as part of a new Alliance for Progressive Judaism initiative. Liberal student chaplain Rabbi Leah Jordan has teamed up with her Reform counterpart, Rabbi Daniel Lichman, for a united effort on campuses around the UK – allowing them to reach more people than ever before. The co-chaplains are also working alongside LJY-Netzer’s movement worker with responsibility for students, Ellie Lawson, and Maya Skaarbrevik, the fieldworker for Reform Judaism’s Jeneration initiative for students. Together they put on Reconnect: A Retreat for Jewish Students, held in the Peak District and designed to give participants the chance to come together and reconnect to the parts of themselves that may have become lost or forgotten over the course of the academic year.
Students from nine different universities attended, from former Progressive youth movement leaders to those who had never been involved with Jewish activity until university.
The three pillars of the weekend saw the participants connect to their Judaism through prayer, learning and discussion; connect to themselves through hiking, friendship and self-reflection; and connect to their community through song sessions and training workshops.
The training, covering community organising and leadership development, was delivered by Charlotte Fischer and Tamara Joseph of Citizens UK. Liberal Judaism’s officer for music, Graham Carpenter, was the song leader for the weekend. Maya Skaarbrevik said: “This event took on the challenge of helping Progressively-minded students transcend their daily lives and reconnect to their Judaism and themselves through community, learning and empowerment. It succeeded beyond measure. “This shows is how incredibly important it is for us to connect with our young people and give them the skills and support to flourish on their campuses and in their Jewish identities.” Rabbi Leah Jordan added: “This retreat showed that the power of Liberal and Reform Judaism working together is much greater than the sum of our parts.” • Pick up the next lj today for an interview with Leah Jordan and Daniel Lichman
Around the communities - Chanukah 5778
Rabbi Charley Baginsky at Board of Deputies Foreign Office event
The young led the way at Reading Liberal Jewish Community
Interfaith channukiah lighting at Kingston Liberal Synagogue
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined Scottish celebrations
A Crystal Maze themed party for 70 members in Gloucestershire
Rabbi Aaron Goldstein turned into a candle at Northwood event
Many channukiot were on display at Nottingham Liberal Synagogue
Faiths joined together for service at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue
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Books
March/April 2018
First look at Rabbi David Goldberg’s ‘last’ book RABBI DAVID GOLDBERG, rabbi emeritus of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, has written or re-edited several acclaimed books since his retirement in 2004. He is currently engaged on what he realistically thinks will be his final book, with the intriguing working title of Almost a Jew, Not Quite an Englishman. Part memoir, part reflection on contemporary issues of hyphenated identity, patriotism, and nationalism versus globalism, it considers whether our historical Jewish experience is a template for other ethnic minorities to learn from as they struggle to adapt to the secular expectations of a modern, democratic nation state. This exclusive extract is from 1967-8 when, after being a volunteer in the Six Day War, David returned to Dublin where he was studying Semitics at Trinity College and working as lay reader at the city’s Progressive congregation. In the chapter, David explains why he chose Liberal over Reform Judaism: AFTER the 1968 High Holy Days I would be leaving Dublin for London, to continue my rabbinic studies at the Leo Baeck College, named after Germany’s foremost Reform rabbi who had been venerated for his care of the inmates in Theresienstadt concentration camp. The College, a wary initiative between the mutually suspicious Reform and Liberal movements to train their rabbis jointly, was in its infancy and struggling. Ever the quixotic supporter of the underdog, I decided to do my studying there rather than at my father’s preferred choice of the large and prestigious Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. In Dublin, for the fourth year running, the festival services were to be led by a retired American rabbi. My job, he let slip tactlessly the year before, was to do those parts of the liturgy he found boring, or when he needed a break. LIBERAL JUDAISM’S Rabbi Charley Baginsky has contributed to an important new book, titled The Fragile Dialogue: New Voices of Liberal Zionism (ISBN: 9780881233056). Published by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the book examines how we can approach the polarising subjects of Israel and Zionism.
For him, it was a remunerative perk to enjoy three weeks in Ireland as a visiting celebrity, but his insensitive attitude towards a trainee rabbi taught me a salutary lesson about treating younger colleagues considerately. He was not unique in his cavalier disregard of a tyro’s feelings. Until ordained, student rabbis were not permitted to conduct weddings or funerals on their own. There had been two synagogue weddings in my first year, for which two different rabbis had come over from England. The first, from the Reform movement, had treated me with curt indifference, even though I was nominally the officiant in situ and the couple wanted me to take part in their service; whereas the second, a Liberal rabbi, had been solicitously thoughtful about my participation. His generosity of spirit was a significant factor in swaying me towards the Liberal movement, when the time came to choose which branch of Progressive Judaism I wanted to work in. For years afterwards I liked to quip that I had been in Dublin two years, one month and 14 days, and left on the earliest plane out. In fact, though, I made several friendships in the community that have lasted to this day, and I have always been enormously fond of Ireland, its culture and conversation, the Guinness and the soda bread. It is another small, proud people defined by its history and folk memories, but unlike Israelis, they are gentler and more reflective. My melancholy at parting was tempered by the anticipation of fresh fields and pastures new, and having to weigh up job offers from three London synagogues keen to employ me while I studied at Leo Baeck College. The first was the congregation of Harold Reinhart, who was no longer at the ‘cathedral’ synagogue of Reform Judaism, having resigned in rather acrimonious circumstances. Written from a multiplicity of views, the book offers 22 essays and thought pieces exploring what it means to have a Progressive religious relationship with Israel. They range from those introducing distinct Zionist philosophies or ideologies to others offering pragmatic solutions to today’s challenges and heartfelt personal tales. Charley writes alongside American Rabbi Neal Gold in a chapter entitled ‘An Intercontinental Dialogue: What North Americans and British Zionists Can Learn from Each Other’.
A group of his wealthy supporters had purchased Kent House in Knightsbridge, the magnificent building where young Victoria had received the news that she would be the next Queen. A new community had formed around him, and Reinhart was looking for an assistant. Any possibility of that being me foundered over my support for Zionism and his implacable opposition to it. An affable interview had turned sticky over our discussion of the Six Day War and the tension ratcheted when his secretary knocked on the door and said that a young girl was outside who wondered if she could talk to the rabbi about teaching Israeli dancing at the synagogue. I stifled a snigger, Reinhart looked as if he was about to have apoplexy, and terminated the interview shortly afterwards. The second congregation, also Reform, was losing its rabbi to Reinhart’s former synagogue. The offer they proposed to me was heady and lucrative; to be in charge of the community during my three years of study, then formally to become its rabbi after ordination. But I had already decided where I wanted to go... The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, the flagship community of the Liberal movement. The Liberal Jewish Synagogue only offered the modest title of ‘student rabbi’ and a pittance of a salary augmented by a grace-and-favour flat. But its senior rabbi John Rayner and his associate rabbi David Goldstein were of a different academic calibre to all the other rabbis I had met, both reputable scholars and exuding an integrity and sense of vocation that inspired me. I felt it would be a privilege to learn from them. I accepted, and thus began a relationship with the synagogue that lasted, save for a brief period elsewhere, for all of my working life. And John Rayner was to become my mentor, guide, closest colleague and dearest friend. The book is edited by Rabbis Stanley Davids and Lawrence Englander and features contributions from many of North America’s leading Jewish thinkers and rabbis. Charley has the honour of being the only British writer. Contributor Rabbi Josh Weinberg, president of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), said: “The Fragile Dialogue is a must read book. Bridging generational and ideological gaps, this compilation offers many important perspectives that are both challenging and inspiring.”
Youth
March/April 2018
LJ Today Page 7
LJY-Netzer is Liberal Judaism’s Zionist youth movement. It gives young people the opportunity to develop a strong Progressive Jewish identity, make lasting friendships and have loads of fun
An unforgettable experience Jack Walton reports from his Shnat Netzer gap year
AS one of LJY-Netzer’s Shnatties – the group of young people spending our gap year in Israel – I’m already having plenty of amazing experiences. The most recent was at Kibbutz Lotan Spending two and a half months in a closed agricultural community like this – with nothing around but the desert, wildlife and the mountains – may not seem appealing to most Jews from a comfortable suburb near London. And certainly, at the beginning of my time at Lotan, I was overwhelmed by new experience and phenomena. Staying in the ‘bhustan’ neighbourhood challenged me to live my ideology by keeping a vegetarian kitchen, learning how to recycle and how to conserve water. However, after three tough weeks, I was then equipped to enter the next part of my Lotan experience by working in the dairy. Starting work was challenging and I found myself constantly out of my comfort zone at first.
Kibbutzniks are tenderly indifferent and help was difficult to ask for. However, once I did feel able to ask, help came, while at the same time I was left with enough independence to make mistakes and arrive at my own conclusions about how things should be done. Although much of my work involved being knee-deep in cow muck and standing in sewers, there was plenty of variety to keep me interested. I helped milk the cows, which is done almost non-stop three times a day, and very much enjoyed my main role working in the nursery with the calves. I was able to bottle feed newborns and lasso older calves, both things I never dreamed I would get to experience. The people I had the chance to meet were always fantastic and keen to chat. From the Indian volunteers at the dairy to the shin shins – Israelis our age on their own gap year before joining the army – the Kibbutz atmosphere is warm and welcoming to outsiders such as myself. My time at Lotan was unforgettable and, although it was hard adjusting to the new and alien setting at first, the lessons I learned were invaluable. I will carry them with me for many years to come. • If you’re thinking about taking a gap year next year and would like to find out about exciting opportunities in Israel, please get in contact with LJY-Netzer movement worker Simon Lovick on 020 7631 9827 or s.lovick@liberaljudaism.org
Spring into summer By Hannah Stephenson
WE have reached that exciting time of the year where you can sign up to both LJY-Netzer’s spring and summer camps, Machaneh Aviv and Kadimah. Machaneh Aviv gives you a short, sharp and punchy burst of fun taking place over six days. We are super excited that, this year, our spring camp takes in the end of Passover... and we can’t wait to break Pesach all together with a special whole camp Seder. LJY-Netzer’s flagship event Machaneh Kadimah has also arrived. How good is our summer camp? Where should I start? It’s two weeks of magical, creative, fun and engaging activities - providing memories and friendships that will last forever. Quite simply, Machaneh Kadimah is the place to be this summer. We are excited to be in the run up for both camps and are already planning busy timetables to make sure they are bursting with exciting and engaging Liberal Jewish content, as well as some good ol’ fun and games. Aviv runs from April 3-8, with Kadimah from August 13-26. For more information and to sign up, visit www.ljy-netzer.org or contact one our movement worker team by using the details below.
Contact LJY-Netzer: Ellie Lawson (e.lawson@liberaljudaism.org), Simon Lovick (s.lovick@liberaljudaism.org) and Hannah Stephenson (h.stephenson@liberaljudaism.org); Director of Youth - Rebecca Fetterman (r.fetterman@liberaljudaism.org)
Page 8 LJ Today
Israel
March/April 2018
Rabbis unite to fight deportation We weren’t always Zionists By Bryan Diamond IN his excellent article on the Balfour centenary in the last lj today, Robin Moss told how “as a Jewish movement with a strong connection to Israel, we celebrate the Declaration.” But we may need reminding that it was not always so. Chapter 5 of Liberal Judaism: The First Hundred Years by Rabbi Lawrence Rigal and Rosita Rosenberg is on the early attitudes of the Jewish Religious Union (the initial name for Liberal Judaism) to Zionism. Many early Liberals feared it would encourage antisemites. Founder Claude Montefiore, whose biography I am writing, co-signed a letter to The Times setting out these objections to a Jewish state. The letter stated that British Jews “regard themselves as a religious community with which their political status has no concern”. The book notes that Montefiore’s views were often taken as those of the movement. Many shared his stance, including fellow founders Lily Montagu and Rabbi Dr Israel Mattuck. In a lecture in 1926, Montefiore even stated: “My anti-Zionism and my antinationalism are intimately entwined with my Liberal Judaism; because I am a passionate Liberal Jew, I am passionately anti-nationalist.” An English Jew: The Life and Writings of Claude Montefiore by Ed Kessler recalls a 1918 pamphlet published by the JRU in which Montefiore writes that a Jewish state in Palestine would make the antisemites say: “Let them all go thither.” Likewise in A Place to Call My Jewish Home: Memories of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, Pam Fox writes that “all three leaders of the community wrote to the Government opposing the Declaration.” By 1934, the rise of the Nazis in Germany had modified these views. Montefiore was one of the leaders who spoke in synagogues on “German Jewry Day”, on the importance of Palestine for refugees and as the country most favourable for their large-scale resettlement on the land. After the foundation of the State of Israel attitudes in the movement began to firmly change in favour of the Jewish State, probably due to Rabbi Leslie Edgar taking over from Mattuck at the LJS. So our present support for Israel - now evident from the Alliance’s Israel Desk, LJY-Netzer’s Israel Tours, our Shabbat prayer and those Balfour celebrations has had complex antecedents.
LIBERAL JUDAISM’S director of strategy and partnerships, Rabbi Charley Baginsky, joined with rabbis from Reform and Masorti Judaism to meet with Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to the UK and express concern at the country’s plan to deport African migrants. Charley organised the meeting where she represented hundreds of colleagues from around the world, along with Rabbis Josh Levy (Reform) and Oliver Joseph (Masorti), and handed Deputy Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li a global letter signed by 750 rabbis from across all Jewish denominations.
Updates from the NLPS Trust • THE NLPS TRUST FOR PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM - which funds large and small projects in Liberal Jewish communities is holding its next meeting in April 2018. The Trust welcomes grant applications from all Liberal congregations, from across the UK and Europe, including developing and affiliated communities. If you would like to apply for funding for a particular project, please download a copy of the Trust’s application form - by visiting www.nlpstrust.org.uk - and return it fully completed by Friday March 9. • THE TRUST is also looking to recruit three new (volunteer) trustees, including a treasurer, to support its objective of the advancement of Progressive Judaism. The Trust’s Board meets twice a year to consider grant applications, sometimes with an additional meeting to look at subjects such as governance, policies and finance. It is a condition of the Trust that trustees are members of a synagogue affiliated to Liberal Judaism. If you would like to find out more, please email NLPS Trust chair Phil Stone on chairman@nlpstrust.org.uk
The letter was initiated by the New Israel Fund (NIF), HIAS, T’ruah and Right Now, and NIF CEO Adam Ognall and community coordinator Graham Carpenter were also part of the meeting. The group told the Deputy Ambassador that the rare, but unambiguous, cohesion between the different Jewish movements and rabbinates on this specific issue showed how important it was. They stressed that although Israel is a secular state, it was founded on Jewish values and the Israeli Government’s shift in policy – to now force African asylum seekers to choose between deportation to Rwanda and indefinite imprisonment – is abhorrent to those values. Charley – who is also the spokesperson for the Alliance for Progressive Judaism and represents its Israel Desk – said: “On this issue, our movements really did speak with one unified voice. We made clear that we hold the Israeli Government to the same standard as the British Government, and pointed out how our Jewish communities are strongly involved in the work of settling refugees here in the UK because it aligns with our Jewish values and our own story.”
Training day MORE THAN 150 heads, teachers and assistants attended a joint Liberal Judaism and Reform Judaism training day, held at Leo Baeck College. Organised by Liberal Judaism’s Rabbi Sandra Kviat and Reform Judaism’s Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers, the day featured presenters from both movements and the College, as well as from the National Library of Israel, the Israel Movement for Reform & Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), Jewish Interactive, Camp Simcha and the Alliance for Progressive Judaism’s Israel Desk. The wide range of topics covered included technology, inclusiveness, Hebrew, crafts, Israel, behaviour and curriculum development. Sandra hailed an “inspiring” event that provided “a great opportunity for different communities and their teachers to meet and learn, further their own understanding and find new ways to pass on their love of Judaism”.
Looking for community contact details? Log on to www.liberaljudaism.org
Have you got the talent to wow the Biennial?
CAN you sing? Can you dance? Are you always pulling rabbits from hats? Or perhaps you’re one of the next generation of stadium-filling spoon players? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then your movement needs you. In an unprecedented twist, the stupendous Saturday evening entertainment at this year’s Biennial Weekend will be provided by you, our wonderful LJ members, in our first ever Biennial’s Got Talent extravaganza. Applicants are welcomed from solo artists or slickly choreographed teams although we do have a ‘no pets’ policy. So what are you waiting for - tape your audition video and enter today!
HOW TO ENTER: • Record a short video of your act • Send your video to us by emailing it to biennial@liberaljudaism.org • Audition videos will then be assessed by a panel of specially handpicked judges
Look out for our community project MAKE sure to keep your eyes and ears peeled for information about this year’s Biennial Weekend community project. It will entail a fun and creative activity on which members of your community, of all ages, can work together and then bring to Biennial to share with the wider Liberal Judaism family. We will be announcing the details soon. In the meantime you can see examples of our lovely former community projects - such as the one pictured above to make tallitot - at www.liberaljudaism.org/ calendar/biennial/
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:
Youth programme
• The competition is open to all ages and all acts – from singers and musicians to comedians and impressionists to dancers, acrobats and magicians • Acts must be shorter than four minutes • Auditions must be submitted to us by midnight on Sunday March 18
LIBERAL JUDAISM’S youth movement, LJY-Netzer, will be running a full parallel Biennial programme for school age children featuring fun, games, songs and speakers from the main conference. And there’s a staffed crèche for our youngest members too.
The 2016 Chair’s Awards winners with Simon Benscher (right)
NOMINATIONS for the Liberal Judaism Chair’s Awards are open. The Chair’s Awards are presented to those members of the Liberal Judaism community who have served the movement at either a national or local level over a number of years. This is a chance to recognise those within our congregations who are doing wonderful work to support the values and principles of our movement - winning respect, affection and admiration. The deadline for nominations is April 31, and the awards will then be presented at Liberal Judaism’s Biennial Weekend. An independent panel, with the support of Liberal Judaism’s chair Simon Benscher, will select the winners. To submit a nomination, or for the full criteria, please visit www.liberaljudaism.org/calendar/biennial/chairs-awards/
Are you wondering what the numbers in our Periodic Table themed logo mean? Then join us at the Biennial Weekend 2018 when all will be revealed!