January 2005 VOL. XXXII No 1
ljtoday
Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January, marks 60 years since the liberation of the Nazi death camps. In accord with this year s theme of Survival, Liberation and Rebuilding Lives, Stephanie Brickman of Sukkat Shalom Edinburgh looks at the life of a 90-year-old member of her community
A joy forever
From Poland to Palestine Ida Skubiejska is a survivor in every sense of the word. Born Ida Tintpulver in Bedzin in Lower Silesia in Poland in 1914 into a middle-class Jewish family, the eldest of three daughters, by the summer of 1939 she graduated a Master of Philosophy from Yagellon University. Having completed training for war emergency at the University s Medical School she became an officer in the International Red Cross. Soon the Nazis were marching into Poland, and Ida and her sister Hanka set off for Romania, saying goodbye to their parents and sister Helena. They found themselves in the path of the Soviet Army and were deported to the sub-arctic Taygar Forest. This saved their lives. Conditions were harsh: they were treated like prisoners of war and made to work in the forest. In 1940, when interned Poles were released, Ida headed south to enrol at the Polish army headquarters in Buzuluk. Thousands of released Poles were sent to Guzar, south of Samarkand, on the Afghan border, in the shadow of Hundu Kush Masif. There were epidemics of typhus, typhoid and dysentery in which thousands died. Ida did her best to help but the
regiment was working with nothing. The evacuation of the Polish Army to Persia, across the sea on ancient Russian ships, brought Ida to Pahlevi, Persia (now Iran), where the British Army was waiting with tents, shavers, good food and hygiene and a warm welcome . She then worked in Tehran in the British Army Hospital, Polish Section. While in Tehran Ida found a camp of Jewish refugees children and young mothers who had come from Russia as Army dependants. They needed to get to Palestine but the only land route was through Iraq and passage was denied to Jews. It was October 1943, and Ida convinced a sea captain from Liverpool to sail them across the Arabian Sea to Aden and from there to Suez on the Red Sea. She says: At Suez, a long, elegant passenger train was waiting for us, commanded by the Jewish Palestine Service (British Army), who controlled all transport during the war in the Middle East, and they were wonderful. We crossed the desert and a day later Continued on Page 2
Rabbi Pete Tobias (right), of The Liberal Synagogue Elstree, joins Roman Halter, who designed the synagogue s new Ark Doors and Ner Tamid, at a consecration ceremony in November. The doors are made from bronze and inlaid with stained glass, which is lit from behind. Roman told the congregation that in the small Polish village where he grew up, the synagogue was the centre and everyone took pleasure in its adornment. As a concentration camp prisoner during the war, he learned to work in metal, a skill that enabled him to survive the Holocaust. Later, in England, he trained as an architect, and has enjoyed once again being able to beautify a synagogue.
Page 2 LJ Today Continued from Page 1
we passed the Gaza Strip and entered Jewish Palestine. We were greeted along the route, everybody knew of our coming. Ida s eyes shine as she describes seeing the sun rise over Jerusalem for the first time. Leaving was hard but she was determined to help her family in Poland once the war was over. She was in Gibraltar when D-Day was announced and then set off for Scotland, where she worked at a large military hospital near Perth, followed by a year at a centre in Carnoustie, where limbless soldiers were trained to use artificial legs and arms. Then Ida discovered that her mother, father and sister had perished in Auschwitz along with 39 other members of her extended family. Although the pain of this is with her daily she rarely speaks of it. Ida has been involved with the Liberal movement for over 30 years and is currently the most senior member of the newly formed Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community. She says: Years of belonging to the LJS gave me peace of mind, some great gratitude that so much has survived and keeps going forward. The few photos she kept with her through the war are all that Ida has to remind her of her parents, Maurice and Miriam Tintpulver. But to have produced a daughter like her they
January 2005
Learning from our inheritance Sue Lukes looks at the experience of the second generation Invited to do a workshop on the second generation in a day school on The Uses and Abuses of Memory, I found myself among a wide range of speakers, many of them academics. But I was at this event, put on by the Jewish Socialist Group, by a simple accident of birth. And even that accident had left me towards the bottom end of the hierarchy of suffering : my father arrived alone and all his family were murdered, but he spent no time in camps. My workshop title was the second generation: dealing with traumatic memories . One of the problems of the second generation, of course, is that we do not have those memories, traumatic or otherwise. We are characterised, often, by an absence of people with stories to tell. Helen Epstein, one of the first writers to find the second generation, said we are as diverse as our murdered family members: old, young, good, bad, straight, gay, observant, secular and so on. Our connection is simply that some of the most important things in our lives happened before we were born. But that can be true of many others. Eva Hoffman, whose recent book (After Such Knowledge) asks whether it is not time to stop the mourning, let it gently go , talks of the second generation as an imagined community, characterised by dimensionless
melancholia and resentment of one s parents for having monopolised the existential grandeur of authentic suffering . My journey started with political engagement, through working with refugees, to a personal involvement with second generation activities and a recent move into observance via the North London Progressive Jewish Community. From my father I had learned that being Jewish could lead to trouble so great that he could not talk about it. I am concerned that now, children talk about the Holocaust and are taught it in school, but that the story is decontextualised, the suffering medicalised and the presentation of the events as the ultimate evil encourages a refusal to question or think, rather than action or enquiry. It is an open question for me as to how exceptional the second generation or the first is in some respects. In practical terms what they need is what anyone needs: respect, a decent health service, a community that supports them. But discussion in the group questioned this: with some posing a clear challenge to the Jewish world to think more about the ways in which we, as Jews, should respond to, understand and use our proximity to the Holocaust. Others pointed up the need to think more about those who rescued, a theme I would love to explore further.
Manchester group is up and running
Ida Skubiejska: indomitable
More than 60 people attended a Friday night service in November that served as the inauguration of the Metropolitan Liberal Jewish Congregation of Greater Manchester. Rabbi Sheila Shulman, of Beit Klal Yisrael, led the service and Rabbi Aaron Goldstein led the singing. Nigel and Andy Cole represented Liberal Judaism, and Rabbi Bobby Silverman, of Jacksons Row Synagogue, attended following the service at his own congregation. Members of various Liberal Judaism congregations who have moved to
Manchester attended, as well as a number of patrilineal Jews, and about 20 people from the George House Trust, which supports people who live with HIV. In her address, Rabbi Shulman talked about the challenges of setting up a new synagogue, and encouraged the project as one that would not live within the comfort zone . The community plans to hold fortnightly Friday night services and intends to apply for membership of Liberal Judaism at some point in the future.
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Rabbi Rich appointed chief executive Council of Patrons Danny Rich, who has been rabbi of Kingston Liberal Synagogue since 1988, has been appointed to the new post of chief executive of Liberal Judaism. Rabbi Rich said: I am thrilled, and feel honoured to have been chosen to head a movement which affirms the equality of each individual Jew, regardless of race, gender or sexuality. I look forward to leading Liberal Judaism in partnership with the officers, the rabbis, and the dedicated team of staff and volunteers, who are the backbone of the movement. Rabbi Rich serves as Jewish Chaplain to Latchmere House prison in Richmond, and Coldingley in Bisley; to Kingston Hospital; and to Surrey Oaklands National Health Service Trust. He is the founding chair of the Dittons Branch of the Council of Christians & Jews, and the first chair of the new Kingston upon Thames Inter-Faith Forum. In a further change at Liberal Judaism, Nigel Cole was elected chairman at last month s council meeting. Nigel, who was an honorary treasurer for two years and has been deputy chairman since June
Rabbi Danny Rich: honoured
2004, replaces the outgoing chairman, David Pick. Nigel said of Rabbi Rich s appointment: We are delighted that Danny has accepted the post. His appointment follows a rigorous and transparent selection procedure in which rabbis, chairs of communities and officers of the movement participated. Danny s background is steeped in Liberal Judaism. His commitment to the values and ideals of our movement is unswerving, and we feel confident that with Danny at the helm, Liberal Judaism s future looks very bright.
To play its role and harness its potential, our movement needs to be clear about its objectives, as well as confident, well organised and well resourced. That is why we are setting up the Council of Patrons. We are asking members of Liberal Judaism who are in a financial position to do so to help to shape the future of our movement. Contributions to Liberal Judaism from constituent synagogues cover basic running costs, but do not provide permanent financial stability for the movement, let alone fund our ambitious plans for growth. Along with VIP invitations to important community events, the patrons will be invited to regular meetings with the officers of Liberal Judaism to be updated on progress towards the goals that have been set. We intend to invite the patrons and their partners to a dinner at the House of Lords, hosted by Stanley Fink and chaired by Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, on 11 February. The Liberal Judaism Patrons Committee
City celebrates its new wave synagogue
Katherine Shock, of the Oxford Jewish Community, describes the background to the building s Rededication service
Our Rededication service, to mark the rebuilding of the synagogue, was unusual. But then Oxford is a very unusual community, where simultaneous services take place in one building for Orthodox, Liberal or Masorti groups, but without rabbinic leadership. In 2001, the Jews of Oxford decided that if a huge fund-raising effort was to go ahead to replace the flat-roofed building that was leaking so badly, then it was the ideal opportunity to recreate a prayer house to suit their growing needs. In the past, the Liberal group often held services in the lounge. Now a purposebuilt second prayer hall gives us room even to hold simultaneous services for the High Holydays, never before achieved
under one roof in Oxford. And what a roof! Its green waves float above the rooftops of Jericho proudly displaying our presence and optimism for the future. The architect, Simone Bloom of Herbert & Partners, took the wavy-roofed theme originally designed for the interior of the main synagogue by the Danish architect, Arne Jacobsen, and continued with it outside giving us some very exciting new interior spaces in the process. A three-storey classroom block now caters for the needs of its Cheder students and Oxford Brookes University students as well. They can eat their kosher meals in the new Dining Hall in term time and relax in their lounge afterwards. Playshul for under-fives now comes under the same
roof on Sundays, and a smart café bar encourages parents, students and other congregants to stop and stay for coffee and bagels. At the service in November, everyone present could see how a single congregation really does work. Rabbi Aaron Goldstein represented Liberal Judaism at the service and, to complete the ceremony, I read a themed reading from Liberal Judaism s Siddur Lev Chadash, which describes its roles as beit knesset, beit midrash and beit tefillah (house of meeting, house of study and house of prayer). The passage reflects our community s hopes for our new building.
January 2005
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FOR THE LIBRARY
Liberal Judaism: The First Hundred Years, by Lawrence Rigal and Rosita Rosenberg, £12.50
A FASCINATING ANTHOLOGY A Reader of Early Liberal Judaism: The Writings of Israel Abrahams, Claude Montefiore, Lily Montagu and Israel Mattuck, Selected, edited and introduced by Edward Kessler. Vallentine Mitchell The arrival of Edward Kessler s anthology of readings by the founders of Liberal Judaism has coincided helpfully with my own arrival back at the LJS as part of a rabbinic team with Rabbis Mark Solomon and Kathleen Middleton. The portraits of these four scholarly and inspiring individuals can be found on the walls of the new LJS as one ascends the stairs and upstairs in the hallway. It is not difficult to conceive of the serious and intense influence each of the four had on Liberal Judaism during their lives. The introduction to Kessler s book is to be commended. The origins of the Liberal Jewish movement, its original aspirations, the attack under which it came before it had scarcely established itself, its rapid development from 1912 when a site was purchased for a synagogue and the arrival of Rabbi Dr Israel Mattuck, were remarkable and auspicious in many ways, not least because it attracted both scholarship and adherents and addressed itself to the needs and deficiencies of the time. Kessler offers us brief biographies of the four founders Israel Abrahams, who combined a scholarly and imaginative approach to Judaism; Montefiore, the most ponderous in style next to his contemporaries, anxious to present a pure ideological expression of Judaism; Mattuck, incisive and inspiring, bridging the realm of faith with the practical life of the individual; and Montagu, whose personal faith and passion are transparent in all her writings. The Reader is divided into four sections: The Bible, Christianity and the New Testament, Rabbinic Judaism and Liberal Judaism. Montefiore s abiding quest is how one can create a congruence between Judaism and Christianity. This question dogs him in passages written as far apart as 1912 and 1937. The purity of his ideology, his desire for consistency, appear to remain unaffected by the historical events around him. The extracts from Lily Montagu s writings are the most personal and often the most passionate. Her desire
PREDICTION FULFILLED
to create an expression of Judaism that was coherent with its age, that spoke to the individual, that set the immutability of faith above the tragedies and dislocations of the world in which she lived, that called to men and women, parents and young people to infuse their lives with knowledge, righteousness, purity and love, although idealistic in many ways, still speaks to us today. Montagu, more than the others of this Reader, reveals more of herself. In An Autobiographical Note , there is more than a hint of frustration with her male colleagues. Despite the joy over being inducted as a lay minister, her heart really lay in the direction of the rabbinate. This frustration never prevented her from founding her own congregation in 1928 and going on to develop the cause of Liberal Judaism. The contrasts and similarities of the writings of the founders are fascinating. But what I found frustrating was the lack of a historical progression within each section. I wanted to know how the thought and writing of each of the four developed. How were they influenced by the First World War, and later on for Mattuck and Montagu, by the Holocaust? These questions do not diminish the timeliness and importance of Edward Kessler s book, which is required reading for those of us engaged in formulating a Jewish theology for the 21st century. Alexandra Wright
The Four Founders of Liberal Judaism is published at £39.50 and Aspects of Liberal Judaism (to be reviewed in March s LJToday) is published at £37.50. Liberal Judaism can offer either of these books to its members at £25 plus postage & packaging. To order these, or Liberal Judaism: The First Hundred Years, ring the Montagu Centre on 020 7631 9822 or email s.o dwyer@liberaljudaism.org
The minutes of a meeting of the Jewish Religious Union in December 1912 contain the suggestion that at some future day it would be eminently desirable that a history of the movement should be published . It was therefore resolved that all documents relating to the movement should be collected . A copy of this minute, which includes a handwritten note by Lily Montagu, appears on the opening page of the book, which 92 years later fulfils the prediction contained in that minute. It contains detailed information about the decades that followed that meeting as well as the one that preceded it, beginning with the formation of that organisation in 1902. Montagu s handwritten note, charging a Mr Mendelssohn with the responsibility to arrange for the conservancy of such papers was scrupulously observed. Such papers were therefore readily available to Rabbi Lawrence Rigal and Rosita Rosenberg, who researched and detailed the first and second halfcenturies of the development of Liberal Judaism respectively. Many of the pages of this book contain extracts from or reports of the meetings that led to the birth and growth of Liberal Judaism in Britain. Many readers may find that the knowledge that they too have attended such meetings or served on such committees is inspiring and allows us to recognise that something significant is achieved by such machinations. The impact that Liberal Judaism had on Anglo-Jewry is recounted in detail via contemporary articles and exchanges of letters, which give insight into the issues of the day. That many of these are not so different from the struggles within contemporary Judaism allows the reader an easy, if somewhat resigned, empathy with the concerns being expressed. The attitudes of various chief rabbis and others to the radical innovations of Liberal Judaism such as the role of women and the use of English in services or the perennial question of Jewish status indicate that there is nothing new in the dispute between the liberal and orthodox strands of Judaism, which can probably be traced back at least to the days of Hillel and Shammai. Pete Tobias
January 2005
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FROM THE OUTREACH Herefordshire and Kent celebrate Two Liberal synagogues celebrated their barmitzvah DIRECTOR S DIARY
The clearest collection of Psalms in the Psalter are those of Shir hama a lot, A song of (or for ) ascents (Psalms 120-134). There are 15 of them. Early rabbinic tradition connects these 15 psalms to the 15 steps of the Temple. Double that (we have two feet!) was the number of Liberal Judaism s communities at the beginning of the year. In 2004, I have engaged with, if not physically been to, every one of our centres of Liberal Judaism, have welcomed two new ones and seen the potential for more. As I ascend to each one I am filled with emotions that mirror my simple readings of our Shir hama a lot: the relationship between the individual, the People, Israel and God. This was exemplified by one recent visit to a group Jews who were investigating the different forms that their Chavurah (Group of Friends) might take. In a small room were 15 people who came from unbelievably different places, in all senses. They were there to express their personal aspirations and to represent them to the rest of the group. However, when pushed to think beyond each one s personal reasons, it became clear that in some sense or another, each one was there in that room with this group of individuals and a rabbi (!) because of a commitment that compelled them towards the People, Israel. Although the aspirations were all remarkably different, common threads emerged, teased out through the use of a Torah text from that week s parashah (portion). Despite an initial focus on social and cultural connection, it was the religious and spiritual that was finally the mechanism to move forward. This experience highlighted the strength of Liberal Judaism s message going into 2005: the encouragement of individuals to make informed choice; 32 places and ever more to be the People, Israel and the foundation stone of our religion, God. I think I need to get LJY-Netzer to write a few more Shir hama a lot! Rabbi Aaron Goldstein
Picture: The Hereford Times
and batmitzvah in the autumn
Members of the Herefordshire council, pictured at the barmitzvah event: From left, Andrea BerryOttaway, Edith Birkin, Gerry Weisbloom, Ann Mozer, Eileen Hooker, Josephine Woolfson, Maurice Rollnick (secretary), Joan Simcox and Susan Kirkhope
Herefordshire Jewish Community, formed 13 years ago, celebrated its barmitzvah with a special service in October, led by Rabbi Aaron Goldstein and helped by Rabbi Danny Rich from Kingston, followed by a lunch. The ceremony was attended by many of the members, and by a large number of local ministers and officials. The Dean of Hereford Cathedral spoke of the help received from members of the Herefordshire congregation when the Anne Frank exhibition at the cathedral was shown to many schoolchildren in the county. Kent Liberal Jewish Community celebrated its batmitzvah with a special Shabbat service in November in Maidstone. The Mayor of Maidstone, Peter Hooper, along with the Bishop
of Maidstone s representative and members of the Quaker Movement joined nearly 80 congregants, including all three former chairmen. Hazel Bishop, the community s chairman, said that 13 years previously the group had been a very disparate group of Jews living in Kent who didn t know each other. Now we are a vibrant, supportive, welcoming community which holds regular services for sabbaths and festivals, an annual communal Seder, an active cheder and enjoys a lively social calendar. Rosita Rosenberg, former executive director of the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues (now Liberal Judaism), was among those called up to the bimah.
Kent s batmitzvah: From left, Mrs Hooper, Mayoress of Maidstone; Peter Hooper, Mayor; Beverley Taylor, the community s Ba alat Tefillah; Jenny Hodkinson, 14, who read from the Torah; and Hazel Bishop, pictured after the batmitzvah service
January 2005
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Liberally Speaking
Community Israel Tour 15 - 22 May 2005
Dan Ozarow, of World Jewish Relief, tells of the early experiences that shaped his understanding of Liberal Judaism, an understanding that has motivated the various causes in which he has been involved
I am hoping to create an expanded Liberal Judaism trip, both in terms of numbers attending and quality of programmes offered; to support the Israeli people and, in particular, the IMPJ (Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism), RHR, LBC Haifa, UJIA projects and other schemes with which Liberal Judaism and our congregations are involved; to provide a complete experience for our smaller congregations that are unable to run their own trip; and provide opportunities for individuals to follow their own interests as part of a friendly group. To achieve these goals a modular programme is proposed:
It all started when I was very young. My initial exposure to my religion was through shadowing my late Zayda, Louis Steinman, in his duties during the latter stages of his 35-year long beadleship of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue. I recall feeling such a sense of adventure, waking up at the crack of dawn each Saturday and travelling to St John s Wood in the car with my grandma, Sybil, and Great Uncle Morry. I would assist him in the preparation of prayer books, rabbi s notes and robes, Torah scrolls and all the fixtures in the building to ensure that the Shabbat morning services ran smoothly. I remember being intrigued and excited by the special community spirit that surrounded the occasion, and by the glass of grape juice that I would receive as a reward for my help. As I grew older and studied for my barmitzvah, I started to appreciate what Judaism meant to me. As my understanding of Liberal Judaism matured, so did the value of one of its central pillars, Tikkun Olam (the need to repair the world). Consequently I began to involve myself in various social action projects designed to reduce inequality, social injustice and prejudice. Thanks to my rabbi at Bet Tikvah synagogue, David Hulbert (who always keeps me in touch with community projects), I travelled to Israel where I took part in the Encounter Youth Exchange Programme for Interfaith Dialogue for young Jews, Muslims and Christians from the UK and the Holy Land. Like many students, my politics radicalised while at university and I quickly identified a parallel between my religious values and my political idealism for a better world. I spent many hours a day on campus at University College London fighting hard on a range of campaigns.
Leave Sunday, 15 May 15 - 17 May Community tour, headed by the rabbis participating; based in the centre of Israel and designed to meet different needs for all age groups.
Dan Ozarow: Sense of adventure
I was soon elected co-president of my student union and took a year out to represent the welfare needs of some 17,000 students before moving to Spain, where I spent my gap year living in the old Jewish quarter of Granada. On my return, I became active in the trade union movement. More recently, I volunteered on behalf of the UK humanitarian aid charity World Jewish Relief in Argentina, where I took part in placements supporting middle-class Jews who had become the new poor after having lost jobs, homes and life savings in the economic and social crisis of 2002. Now, aged 25, I am back in the UK and work full-time for World Jewish Relief. I co-ordinate our overseas volunteer programme and raise trust funds for the numerous lifesaving projects we operate. How I perceive my faith and my commitment to Liberal Judaism has been the motivating factor behind all the causes I have been involved with. I am sure I would not be doing what I do now if, as a child, I had never joined my grandfather on those Saturday morning adventures.
18 - 20 May Options for choice, headed by different rabbis and based at different geographic locations (for example: Galil Golan touring and learning/desert tour/art and artists/ Jewish-Palestinian project). 20 - 21 May Shabbat in Jerusalem Sunday, 22 May return or stay for a relaxing holiday. We invite you to respond to this proposal and to help us make it appropriate for your interests and needs as an individual, a family, a congregation and a movement. We need to finalise the group to be taken by the end of February, so put these dates in your diary now and discuss it with your family and congregation. Gili Tzidkiyahu, Shlicha shlicha@liberaljudaism.org
A day to remember When Bethany Aitman presented a new mezuzah for the front door of the Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue to celebrate her recent batmitzvah, also present were her grandparents, Gaby and Irene Aitman, founder members of NPLS, who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. As the children of the cheder stood by the foundation stone to witness the affixing of the mezuzah, the group realised that it was almost exactly 25 years since the stone had been laid, on 21 October 1979.
January 2005
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Youth apathy? Not here! Visit to Jewish Care home brightens up residents afternoon A group of LJY-Netzer members visited Ella & Ridley Jacobs House, a Jewish Care home for elderly people with physical and sensory disabilities. This visit was on the last day of our October Hadracha (leadership training) seminar, and was one of our social action days for this year and was a part of CSV s (Community Service Volunteers) campaign to promote volunteering, Make a Difference Day .
JA N U A R Y : 16 Yom Tikkun (Social Action Day), year 7 upwards January/February
Israel Tour information and security evening, year 11
FEBRUARY: 11-13 Weekend Away, years 7-9 11-13 Walkabout Weekend, years 10-11 MARCH: 25-27 Mifgash (Exchange) with Leo Baeck, year 11 30-April 3 Spring Camp, years 3-10 APRIL: 17 Yom Tikkun (Social Action Day), year 10 upwards
M AY : 2 Yom (day) LJY-Netzer, year 3 upwards JUNE: 14 Israel Tour parents evening, year 11 26-July 3 Mazkirut in Israel, year 13 upwards
Clockwise from top left:Lori Mortimer, 16, with Polly, a resident at the home; Shira Conradi, 17 (left), Sarah Bolsom-Morris, 16, and a resident with their bingo cards; LJY-Netzer October Seminar participants (aged 15-18) with some of the residents
J U LY : 12-13 Israel Tour Orientation, year 11 22-24 Kayitz Netzer Orientation (Europe Tour), year 12 20-17 August Israel Tour, year 11 AUGUST: 1 -14 Kadimah Summer Camp, year 3-10 16 -30
Kayitz Netzer (Europe Tour) SEPTEMBER: Shnat Netzer (Netzer Gap year), Depart year 13 Please note that all ages are set out by English school years and that all are subject to change.
LJY-NETZER The youth movement of Liberal Judaism Contact Sally or Liz at LJY-NETZER The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street London W1T 4BE T:
020 7631 0584
F:
020 7631 9838
E:
s.adams@liberaljudaism.org l.green@liberaljudaism.org
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Liberal Judaism Congregations Bedfordshire Progressive Synagogue (Rodef Shalom) T: 01234-218387 E:bedsps@liberaljudaism.org www.bedfordshire-ps.org.uk Beit Klal Yisrael P.O.Box 1828, London W10 5RT T: 020-8960 5760 E: bky@liberaljudaism.org www.beit-klal-yisrael.or g.uk Bet Tikvah Synagogue 129 Perrymans Farm Road, Barkingside, Ilford, Essex IG2 7LX T: 020-8554 9682 E: barps@liberaljudaism.org W: www.bettikvah.org.uk Birmingham Progressive Synagogue 4 Sheepcote Street, B16 8AA T: 0121-643 5640 E: bps@liberaljudaism.org www.bps-pro-syn.c o.uk Branch: Leamington Spa T: 01926-421300 Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue 6 Lansdowne Road, Hove BN3 1FF T: 01273-737223 E: bhps@liberaljudaism.org www.brightonandhoveprosynagogue.org.uk Bristol and West Progressive Jewish Congregation Hon. Sec. T: 0117-954 1937 E: bpjc@liberaljudaism.org www.bwpjc.org Crawley Jewish Community T: 01293-534294 Dublin Jewish Progressive Synagogue P.O. Box 3059, Dublin 6, Enquires Hon. Sec. T: 00-3531 4907605 E: djpc@liberaljudaism.org Ealing Liberal Synagogue Lynton Avenue, Drayton Green, W13 0EB T: 020-8997 0528 E: els@liberaljudaism.org www.ealingliberalsynagogue.org.uk East Anglia Progressive Jewish Community (based in Norwich) T: 01502-731116 E: pjcea@liberaljudaism.org www.pjcea.org.uk Eastbourne Progressive Jewish Congregation T: 01323 725650 F: 01323 417645 E: epjc@liberaljudaism.org www.epjcong.org.uk Finchley Progressive Synagogue Hutton Grove, N12 8DR T: 020-8446 4063 E: fps@liberaljudaism.org www.fps.org Harrow and Wembley Progressive Synagogue 326 Preston Road, Harrow, Middx HA3 0QH T: 020-8904 8581 www.hwps.org Kent Liberal Jewish Community T: 07952 242432 http://beehive.thisiskentandeastsussex.co.uk/kljc Kingston Liberal Synagogue Rushett Road, Long Ditton, Surbiton, Surrey KT7 0UX T: 020-8398 7400 E: kls@liberaljudaism.org Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation The Synagogue, 24 Avenue Road, Leicester LE2 3EA T: 0116-2708437 Liberal Judaism Hon. Life President Rabbi John Rayner CBE Chairman Nigel Cole Joint Treasurers Peter Ellinger, Tony Kerron Hon. Officers Simon Benscher, Penny Beral, Paul Infield, Jeremy Jessel, Joan Shopper Senior Vice-President Rabbi Dr Sidney Brichto Vice-Presidents David Amstell, Jeromé Freedman, Geoffrey Davis, Rabbi Harry Jacobi, David Lipman, Rosita Rosenberg, Tony Sacker, Harold Sanderson, Clive Winston Chairperson Rabbinic Conference Rabbi Mark Goldsmith Outreach Director Rabbi Aaron Goldstein PR Officer Rachel Hudson Shlicha Gili Tzidkiyahu Mazkira, LJY-Netzer Sally Adams Education Officer, LJY-Netzer Liz Green Editor of LJToday Beatrice Sayers
The Liberal Jewish Synagogue 28 St John s Wood Road, London NW8 7HA T: 020-7286 5181 E: ljs@liberaljudaism.org www.ljs.org The Liberal Synagogue Elstree Elstree High Street, Elstree, Herts WD6 3BY T: 020-8953 8889 E: tlse@liberaljudaism.org www.tlse.org.uk Lincolnshire Jewish Community T: 01427-628958 Liverpool Progressive Synagogue 28 Church Road North, Liverpool L15 6TF T: 0151-7335871 North London Progressive Jewish Community Enquiries: 020-8340 5513 E: nlpjc@liberaljudaism.org www.nlpjc.org.uk Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue Oaklands Gate, Northwood, Middlesex HA6 3AA T: 01923-822592 E: npls@liberaljudaism.org www.npls.org.uk Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation Lloyd Street, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 4BP T: 0115-9624761 E: npjc@liberaljudaism.org www.npjc.org.uk Peterborough Liberal Jewish Community T: 01733-358605 South Bucks Jewish Community T: 01494-431885 E: sbjc@liberaljudaism.org www.sbjc.org.uk South London Liberal Synagogue PO Box 14475, London SW16 1ZW T: 020-8769 4787 E: slls@liberaljudaism.org www.southlondon.org Southgate Progressive Synagogue 75 Chase Road, London N14 4QY T: 020-8886 0977 E: sps@liberaljudaism.org www.sps.uk.com Sukkat Shalom Edinburgh T: 07891 439646 E: sse@liberaljudaism.org www.ssedin.org Thames Valley Progressive Jewish Community T: 0118-375 3422 West Central Liberal Synagogue 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE T: 020-7636 7627 E: wcls@liberaljudaism.org www.wcls.org.uk Woodford Progressive Synagogue Marlborough Road, George Lane, London E18 1AR T: 020-8989 7619 E: wps@liberaljudaism.org www.synagogue.demon.co.uk Associated Congregations: Herefordshire Jewish Community Enquiries: 07789 218823 Oxford For details of Liberal Jewish Services: T: 01865-515584 or 01865-765197 www.oxford-synagogue.org.uk Or Chadash Liberal Jewish Community of Luxembourg T: 00 352 31 65 94 E: lljc@liberaljudaism.org How to contact us The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE T: 020-7580 1663 F: 020-7631 9838 E: montagu@liberaljudaism.org www.liberaljudaism.org Youth Department T: 020-7631 0584 F: 020-7631 9838 E: s.adams@liberaljudaism.org E: l.green@liberaljudaism.org
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Fairtrade Bazaar Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation held its first Fairtrade Chanukkah Bazaar at the synagogue in November, our first practical Social Action project since the launch of the Just Action network. Our wider aims were: to provide an opportunity to sample and buy a range of fairly-traded goods; to give local people of all faiths and none an opportunity to visit our synagogue; and to make links with the local Trade-Justice group. The children enjoyed a Chanukkah storycorner, making dreidles, designing fair-trade posters with a Jewish teaching and playing fair-treidle where everyone ends up with an equal share of chocolate coins (fairly-traded of course!). The Just Peace Leicester stall, selling Palestinian olive oil, herbs and soap from an Arab-Israeli fairtrade organisation, Sindyanna of Galilee, was very popular. Sindyanna supports Arab and Palestinian farmers. Salt of the Earth, a local charity, received 80 per cent of the day s profits. As well as achieving our aims, we enjoyed a wonderful social occasion. Michele Benn
The way forward On Friday 4th March Nigel Cole will give a talk, followed by a discussion, on The Way Forward For Liberal Judaism. It will be held at Southgate Progressive Synagogue, at the Oneg after the Friday night service which starts at 8.15pm. Members of other syngagogues are welcome to attend.
One World Week Southgate Progressive Synagogue hosted an interfaith One World Week evening on the subject of being refugees. Rabbi Stephen Howard opened the discussion and was followed by a representative of the local churches, Baha i, Sikh and Muslim communities. The message of the evening was to promote understanding and the need to welcome strangers and to treat them with humanity.
Northwood Nosh As part of its 40th year celebrations, Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue has launched a Jewish cookbook, Northwood Nosh. Priced at £10, it has a foreword written by the cookery columnist and broadcaster Judi Rose. The proceeds will go towards the purchase of an ambulance for Magen David Adom. To order a copy, contact: Raymond Freed on 01923 266907 or Geoffrey Fisher on 01923 820425.