11/12 December 2020, 25/26 Kislev 5781

Chanukah begins on today (Thursday 10 December), which is 25 Kislev.

We recall the very unexpected defeat of the Seleucid Greeks by the Hellenist Jews. A rededication (Chanukah means dedication) of the temple long unavailable to the Jews of that period and a purification of Judaism practiced at that time.

So a victory for the Chasadim, purist Jews of that time, 164 BCE.

A great story. Although surely one to discuss and interpret for contemporary times. But in terms of the message of religious freedom it’s important Today is another important anniversary, that of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights agreed 10 December 1948 after the devastating atrocities of the Holocaust.

There was a hope that the tyranny experienced there would never be repeated, but of course it was. And the UDHR has been a map and a reminder of what humans (should) strive for.

In a year where our shared experience with other people, no matter who or where, has been unprecedented, the link between Chanukah and this anniversary is important.

The work establishing Human Rights continues and is as needed as ever. Just think of this year. Hate crime leading to Genocide is the focus of the Human Rights organisation Rene Cassin. And here we are arriving at Chanukah 2020 with respect and safety for all very much on our minds; amongst others our eyes are on and hearts leaning towards the Uyghur Muslim Community in China being brutalised still. Mosques desecrated and their religion and culture assaulted daily. Let’s pick this thread of awareness from our celebration, amongst the joy and the moments of light, that religious freedom is still compromised for many.

This whole year due to Covid regulations we have had to restrict all our festival celebrations. From Seder to Rosh Hashanah to now. As we ‘dedicate’ ourselves for this Chanukah let’s hold that balance; creative celebrations, generosity for those celebrating Christmas this year, allowed a few days of togetherness whilst holding that consciousness for the brutality of those still suffering under brutal regimes.

I look forward to seeing you at our Chanukiah lightings on each day of Chanukah, all in purple below. Whether you know the hosts or not, do join any and every night you fancy! Plus I'll see you at our Big Chanukah Event on Sunday!

Shabbat Shalom to all and a particular Mazal Tov to the Angels on Lucy’s Bat Mitzvah inside our synagogue this Shabbat. There are spaces still to book for Friday or Saturday.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Rebecca

4/5 December 2020, 18/19 Kislev 5781

WORD FROM OUR CHAIR

Hello everyone,

We had a bit of a mishap this month and ‘Word from the Chair’ was accidentally omitted from Shofar, so Rebecca suggested I take this weekly e-mail spot instead.  In a further departure from the usual weekly e-mail fare, in place of more general reflections I’m going to seize this opportunity to talk to you about what council actually does and in particular about what we’ve been up to in our first two meetings of the year.  I hope that by keeping you informed about these practicalities we can be accessible, transparent and accountable as a council. 

We have a minhag of starting each council meeting by going around the room talking about a highlight of the month for each of us at FPS. Last month Rafael Qassim’s Bar Mitzvah unsurprisingly loomed large as did our Shabbat b’Yachad Remembrance service. I’d had a literal highpoint: the opportunity to go up onto the synagogue roof with a roofer – not something that I’d ever anticipated would be part of my experience as chair.I really enjoyed seeing our building and our relationship to neighbouring buildings from that very different perspective!

In October we received a report from Beit Tefilah – the committee responsible for the liturgical side and the ‘rites and practices’ of synagogue life - on the question of our physical return to the building for services.  We came to a decision about how to move forward, to be reversed almost immediately by new national restrictions.  We were very happy to have enabled members to come to worship in the building for one Shabbat.  This brief experiment was extremely useful in testing out our procedures, and ensuring we are able to meet again safely.  We also fed back to Beit Tefilah about how we thought the High Holy Days Services had gone – brilliantly, was the consensus! 

We have reviewed the plans we made last year - inevitably, Coronavirus has had a major impact in every area of our work which meant some things hadn’t happened at all and others had taken surprising new turns – and discussed possible areas of focus for the year ahead.  For example: Outreach and care: How do we keep in touch with our members, support those who are vulnerable and in need, and make it easy for people to ask for, get or provide help?  Membership and community development: Is our membership changing and if so how?  Who is joining as new members?  How do people hear about us, become members and then become more involved and take on leadership roles? How do we plan effectively for membership growth?  Technology: All of our events are likely to be either exclusively online or to combine online and in person attendance for the foreseeable future.  How do we make hybrid events successful for members both at home and in the building?  How do we continue to engage members online?  How is our use of technology likely to develop and expand?  What equipment, capabilities and resources do we need?  What new opportunities are there for outreach, communication and raising our profile for example through social media, vlogs and podcasts?  What will it cost and how will we pay for it?  Building and Grounds:  How can we take responsibility more effectively for managing our building and grounds?  How do we keep on top of routine maintenance?  What about health and safety, fire procedures etc? We don’t at present have a care-taker.  Can we manage this with the staff and volunteers we have or do we need additional staffing capacity?

We’ve been reviewing our safeguarding policy.  Now two years old, it is already significantly out of date.  The need to move much of our provision online has also raised many new considerations.   It’s at times like this that it’s really useful to have a Head Teacher and other experienced teachers on council! 

We’ve been discussing next year’s budget.  A budget is a values document: what you spend your money on reflects the choices you have made about what matters most.  When we first created the post that Zoe now holds, council agreed that part of the cost would be paid out of capital as an investment in the future of the community.  Two years ago we decided that this could not be sustained and that we needed to be able to pay for that post and still balance our budget.  We managed that last year, but it’s going to be much more difficult to break even next year.  Our income has taken a hit because we’ve lost some of our lettings income. The cost-savings we made this year during lockdown when we were unable to be in the building can’t be sustained now that Southover – our main tenant and a major income source – is back in the building and when we ourselves return.  We may need to draw on capital to invest in some necessary maintenance work.  Our largest source of income is membership subscriptions and our largest expenditure is on staff, so although there is no necessary direct relationship between the percentage increases in subscriptions and salaries, there is a balancing act.  We are thinking about how to maximise our income through managing our reserves, fund-raising and in due course from rental income for external users of the building.  It falls to our superb treasurer to finalise a budget that reflects what were essentially moral as well as economic arguments in council to be approved at our next meeting. 

I hope that gives you a flavour of what we’ve been up to.  If you would be interested in helping with any of these areas please do let us know.  And do let us know what you think we should be working on and thinking about as priorities to ensure that FPS continues to flourish as a community.  We are of necessity a relatively small group, so we need to hear your views and experiences to best represent the community as a whole. 

Tamara Joseph

27/28 November 2020, 11/12 Kislev 5781

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep." So said Prospero in The Tempest.

So this week’s Torah portion is all about Jacob’s famous dream and the meaning it offers for life; both sleeping and awake. What he sees when he sleeps and when he wakes up is quite affecting.

Famously Jacob dreams of a ladder which has angels ascending and descending. The direction they move is intriguing; unusual for celestial beings (surely?), that they are grounded and move upwards.  The Jungian psychotherapist and former monk Thomas Moore made much of this idea in his book Care of the Soul. He says the downward, “descending” movement in human life is the most important. And that’s what Jacob’s angels demonstrate.

Is that why we love this dream, this portion called simply "Jacob left"? “Thomas Moore frequently spoke about “growing down” – that is, adding substance, weight, and depth to our character. Is this what the angels were demonstrating? The messier, more real experiences are what make us soar. The poet John Keats called life ‘the vale of soul-making.’

So that when Jacob awoke on the bare uncomfortable earth with a stone for a pillow, in a moment of recognition of what he saw he was able to say

Achein yeish Adonai bamakom hazeh v’anochi lo yadati, “Oh yes Surely God is in this place and I, I did not know it!” (Gen. 28:16).

Being awake is what we all strive for. Noticing those moments where it all comes together.

I’m so conscious of so many making adjustments to expectations and hopes during these days. Families marking Bnei Mitzvah or a wedding. This week Liz and Yoni Avital accompany their son Ariel as he becomes Bar Mitzvah. It will be at their kitchen table and we will be cheering on with pride. John Rubinstein, his teacher will guide him and Richard Greene and I will lead the service and I hope we will be able to say; God was in this place and I, I did know it.

Shabbat Shalom to All,

Rebecca

(Thanks to Rabbi Rick Shechter for his teaching on Thomas Moore)

20/21 November 2020, 4/5 Kislev 5781

From Zoe Jacobs:

"You cannot serve from an empty vessel" 
Eleanor Brown, American author.

At first we had lockdown anxiety. The newness, the constant change, the sudden and immediate danger made our heads spin and our stomachs churn. Looking back at March - those days where streets were empty but for one-hour walks - feels a world away, despite only being eight months.

But now it’s lockdown blues. The exhaustion and weariness of keeping on keeping on. It is funny how much we get used to. If you sit with a tiger for long enough, do you forget the danger? And is that bad - or just human nature ensuring we always take the next step?

The world doesn't seem to be offering many vessel-filling moments, just now. I think we are all feeling a little run down, our patience thinner, our resilience softer, our stamina shortened.

Eleanor Brown says we cannot pour from an empty vessel. The lesser-known end to that quote is "When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow". She expects overflow?! What about when there's a global pandemic and we have to live with a half-full vessel? Do we pour, just more cautiously? Do we wait for a more reassuring quantity of liquid before giving it away? Do we pour generously, in good faith that more will come?

Just now, sitting tight, acknowledging the exhaustion and fear, it seems all three of those options are happening and are valid.

At other times, we rally, get up and walk on. From the #CaringForCarers campaign, to the Black Lives Matter movement, people are pouring their love and energy into important and urgent campaigns with radical faith that soon their cup will overflow again.

I guess for most of us, most of the time, we sit in the middle. We are pouring more cautiously than usual, giving love to those closest to us, finding small moments to connect.

Each vessel is our own. Each choice is our own. Let's be kind to ourselves.

Shabbat shalom

Zoe
Community Education and Development Manager

13/14 November 2020, 26/27 Cheshvan 5781

We have good news. We raised wonderful money at our HHD appeal.

The breakdown is as follows

• New Israel Fund: £20505.75

• Jewish Women's Aid: £2785.75

• Foodbank Aid: £2,745.75

• Finchley Progressive Synagogue: £4,845.75

Each charity including our synagogue has benefited from your generosity. We made a decision this year to commit to ongoing relationships with three charities.

On Sunday night many of us attended the New Israel Fund’s Human Rights Dinner. I’d been before but this time it was DIY catering at home. Seeing the difference NIF makes to Israelis on the ground was uplifting. Two of their winning charities were WAV (Women Against Violence) and Israel’s Women Network who have helped women from all backgrounds in Israel. The pandemic has made life substantially harder for certain women; those unsafe at home and those struggling financially to support themselves and their children.

This Shabbat we mark ahead of time International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Our own Andrea Collett will speak about Jewish Women's Aid.

I found a d'var torah Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z’l wrote. I quote…"When it comes to abuse, the home provides the maximum of temptation with the maximum of opportunity." He like many other rabbis have spoken candidly about the need for Jewish Women’s Aid in all parts of our communities. "Judaism places such emphasis on shalom bayit, peace within the home. It is here that we are tested, here that we learn … love is respect, consideration, gentleness, the capacity to listen as well as speak, sensitivity, graciousness …” This week Parashat Chayyei Sarah ends with a description of Isaac and Rebekah’s home. Isaac brought her to his mother's tent and Rebekah became his wife and he loved her and Isaac was comforted after the death of his mother.

It offers pause for thought as to when and how peace at home, Shalom Bayit, exists and our sensitivity to it.

Shabbat Shalom and look forward to seeing you.
Rebecca

6/7 November 2020, 19/20 Cheshvan 5781

What a strange and difficult week this has been. We still don’t know if the attack in Vienna was aimed at the synagogue but there are now four confirmed deaths in the capital of civilians that night. Our hearts break for them and their families, just as in Nice. Today begins our second lockdown and as I write the results from the U.S elections are far from clear but what is clear is that conflict will be definite. It all feels grim.

Perhaps there is a way for us to keep positive, ready to be surprised and open. I note in our Torah reading this Shabbat Parashat Vayera, Sarah comments on the surprising news of her pregnancy and subsequent birth of Isaac:

And she said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children, for I have borne a son to his old age!”

זוַתֹּ֗אמֶר מִ֤י מִלֵּל֙ לְאַבְרָהָ֔ם הֵינִ֥יקָה בָנִ֖ים
שָׂרָ֑ה כִּֽי־יָלַ֥דְתִּי בֵ֖ן לִזְקֻנָֽיו:

Rashi reads Sarah’s words mi millel as an expression of praise, esteem and surprise. I’m touched by them. Can we hold that openness during these strange days? Much has happened of late to cause us concern. P’tach libi says the prayer at the end of the Amidah. Open My Heart.

This Shabbat before Remembrance Day we welcome Ron Shelley from AJEX to speak to us and capture a moment of remembering. As we, as a community, honour our ex-servicemen and women, who this year will not be marching to the Cenotaph.

Shabbat Shalom
Rebecca

30/31 October 2020, 12/13 Cheshvan 5781

This weekend marks the end of Black History month, but as a Black friend of mine said meaningfully, Everyday is Black history month for me.

I have been learning about the iconic Dame Jocelyn Barrow – the first black female governor of BBC. How is it she is not a household name? We recognise our community, alongside many others has work to do in expanding and enlarging our understanding of the Jewish family. This is a good moment to highlight and draw attention to the work and words of Black Jews and Jews of Colour who have and do contribute so profoundly to our Jewish experience.

This past Rosh Hashanah Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl delivered a searing sermon about race and the Jewish people. We will recognise much of what she says. Do read it here ahead of this Shabbat. This week’s Taste of Torah will focus on this sermon and allow us a moment of conversation alongside Parashat Vayeira: Expulsion and Division.

This Shabbat will be Parashat Lech -Lecha where our Jewish journey began with Abraham and Sarah leaving with their possessions and the souls they had made in Haran, and they went to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to the land of Canaan.

וְאֶת־הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂ֣וּ בְחָ֑רָן וַיֵּֽצְא֗וּ לָלֶ֨כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ אַ֥רְצָה כְּנָֽעַן:

Rashi quotes Bereshit Rabbah and suggests this was conversion, Abraham converted the men and Sarah the women. Either way this is the first time we see community growing.

We have always been a people growing, gathering others along the way. What a perfect verse to read this week. Our ancestors are from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt as well as the later Ashkenazi line.

This Shabbat fellow Liberal synagogue Kehillah North London is holding an all black led service . If you would like to support and be part of this please do please zoom in and let us know. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/899668970

Shabbat Shalom

Rebecca

23/24 October 2020, 5/6 Cheshvan 5781

This week is like the day after the night before.

The Chagim (festivals) of Tishri finished, and now we sit in the new month of Cheshvan. Funnily Cheshvan, one of the few Hebrew months containing no festivals was referred to in the Rabbinic period as Mar Cheshvan (Bitter) because it's without the joy of festivals. In the world of professional Judaism Cheshvan is the pause for breath we've all been waiting for. And then you add, for this Jewish professional a Bar Mitzvah, and the pause is very welcome.

In Parashat Noach we see God pausing and breathing, well almost.

God said quietly, to Godself, I won't ever again destroy humankind as I have just done. (8:21)

What a detail, that private thought, shared with no-one else, but a commitment and promise nonetheless. What a way to begin this quieter, calmer month with that silent promise of the rainbow sealing the covenant between God and the earth.

Surely a good time to head outdoors and find moments of divinity and calm in nature.

To that end FPS will share both Shabbat services with Rabbis Alexandra Wright and Igor Zinkov at LJS. A rest for the whole FPS team and an opportunity for synagogue visiting from your living room. Look forward to seeing you the following Shabbat 30/31 October when we will begin services in our sanctuary.

Shabbat Shalom to you all

Rebecca

16/17 October 2020, 28/29 Tishrei 5781

ואתה תמשול בו: אם תרצה תתגבר עליו:

And you can overcome it [your desire to sin]

My youngest child’s Bar Mitzvah this weekend. As Rafael himself wrote in Shofar this month, he’s anticipating a few tears. And he is right to. What is it about the passage of time and these life cycle moments that move us so. Sheila K-L today reminded me when we first joined FPS and of Rafael climbing the steps of the Bimah, to my embarrassment, and wrapping himself around my legs. Things move and change; and that is both the source of joy and wistfulness. Watching our babies become (at times) thoughtful adolescents is a good thing and I couldn’t be prouder of him.

I love that he has this portion, the one that ends with the words describing Cain’s new home East of Eden, the same words that gave John Steinbeck the title for his book. The story of Cain and Abel and their attempts to please God inspired Steinbeck’s story of the brothers Cal and Aron trying to love and be loved by their father Adam. Steinbeck was not alone in loving the story. But it’s the devastating last page that captures the intensity of this biblical narrative about free will and how we choose to behave. Timshel is Adam’s last word directly quoted from Genesis 4 atah timshol bo;  replete with the meaning he gives his sons; 'you can overcome [it]', or as I prefer to understand it, 'you may always choose to do better'.

Shabbat Shalom to you all

Rebecca

9/10 October 2020, 21/22 Tishrei 5781

We are reaching the end of our HHDs and the Tishrei festivals with Simchat Torah and our celebration of two fantastic members of FPS as they bless and bring honour to Torah. Valerie Joseph and Dean Staker have brought so much to our services all through these extraordinary seven months. Honouring Torah and being honoured by it in turn is a very Jewish phenomenon.

“Turn it over, and [again] turn it over, for all is within it. Look into it and become old and frail within it, never moving away from it, for you have no better measure than it.” (Pirkei Avot 5:22) and it is so.

To that end I am hoping for a group of adults who might like to work towards reading Torah in the Spring and preparing together. We have chosen Shabbat Acherei Mot-Kedoshim on 24 April 2021. We need three folk only to make this group viable.  It will be a wonderful opportunity to learn and prepare together for one of the most meaningful portions in Torah.

Do let me know if you might be interested.

Shabbat Shalom to all and looking forward to seeing you for our last car park service on Friday at 6.30pm (please book in via the office) and streamed to you on Shabbat at 11am.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Rebecca

2/3 October 2020, 14/15 Tishrei 5781

Never before has our fragility been so apparent.

Usually we would want to pack our sukkah with uzpishin, guests, real and imagined. But this year it will be us, members of FPS who need the sukkah to meet in. Designed to be impermanent and not remotely robust, we bring ourselves into this new space.

This year it would be unsafe to squash into our usual sukkah space so there will be impermanent structures in the car park. Fabulous David Lewis will bring strong outdoor lights for us. Bring warm clothing. The service length will be understanding of us being outside!

We are תשבו כעין תדורו [tashvu k'ein taduru], we sit in the sukkah in the manner in which we dwell in our permanent homes. We make out like it is our home.

But we know as Rabbi Alan Lew z’l described; No building of wood and stone can ever afford us protection from the disorder that is always lurking all around us. So let’s bring all of that into our Sukkah this year whilst also marking our joy. This Sukkot, waving the lulav and eating and dwelling in the Sukkah, is a commandment that can only be fulfilled with joy.

We would love for you to bring fresh fruit and vegetables for the Food Bank (they will be delivered on Shabbat so families have them fresh).

Your local lulav - an opportunity to reflect on this strange time - and a message we can hang in the Sukkah about something you have learned of fragility this year.

Rabbi Rebecca

25/26 September 2020, 7/8 Tishrei 5781

Yom Kippur this year will be hard for many of us, staying at home, fasting perhaps alone, without the throngs of folk and even the occasional irritation with the person seated next to us. All of this we will miss. Be easy with yourselves as you anticipate the day and what it might hold for you. Perhaps prepare to be disappointed or frustrated then one can only be pleasantly surprised.

Our services will be shorter, and there will much to peruse or visit across the LJ community in that early afternoon slot. We wanted to offer as much virtual inspiration as possible, so  have asked four folk ahead of Yom Kippur to share their thoughts on the Torah reading that day. Netzavim talks of community; who is included, and what our Judaism might be.

We're so excited to tell you about our new FPS Podcast. Rabbi Rebecca discusses thoughts and ideas from our Emeritus Rabbi, Frank Hellner,  Sheila King Lassman, our Life President, Richard Greene leading our Building Group and our new Chair Tamara Joseph. Together they offer new insights into being a Jew and meeting Yom Kippur. Look out for the first episode coming on facebook and twitter in the next few days.

We're also delighted to announce our Kallat Bereshit and Chatan Torah for this memorable Simchat Torah. Valerie Joseph has chaired our Beit Tefillah Services Committee and Dean Staker, as we know, makes our services. Both have done much during the past six months to hold services, prayer and community together, both behind the Bimah and on it. Very much looking forward.

Gmar Chatimah Tovah. A good fast, a good day and a good finish.

Rabbi Rebecca

Please do donate the equivalent of your Yom Kippur meals to Foodbank Aid. You can drop bags off at 36 Millfield Lane, Highgate N6 6JB.

18/19 September 2020, 29 Elul 5780/1 Tishrei 5781

I wish you a joyful, an easy and a sweet New Year. I hope you manage to taste new fruits and food.

Managing new moments is the spirit of Rosh Hashanah; new experiences are such a key part of our New Year rituals. In that spirit we'd like to give FPSniks a chance to visit the sanctuary, have a 15-minute moment in front of the ark and essentially re-connect ahead of Kol Nidrei between 10.30 and 12.30 on Sunday 27th. We hope to have some of our new Council here to welcome and wave at you and give you prayers and siddurim. Do book in for your slot by emailing pauline@fps.org

What a year for us to negotiate our way into a New Year with no more clarity or certainty than the one we are leaving. I pray that we can be of use to each other, that our congregation continues to provide solace and even joy and we can together add to the urgent tikun our community and world needs.

Yesterday I was taught a phrase by the Reverend Dr Rosemarie Mallet, Archdeacon of Croydon, who referred to religion's "inward reach and outward stretch". May this New Year of 5781 be that for us; an inward reach to the profound parts of our Jewish practice and learning and an outward stretch to be felt in the world. Good goals to have.

Shanah Tovah to you all, thank you for all you bring to FPS.

Rabbi Rebecca and all working here in your synagogue
Zoe, Dean, Franklyn, Pauline, Gracielle and Hilary

11/12 September 2020, 22/23 Elul 5780

We are living in an ever changing world. Guidance this week, more robust than before makes gatherings for over six people illegal. Clearly this will disrupt family Yom Tov gatherings for many of us.

Sadly we will not be able to meet together for Tashlich and communal Shofar blowing on Rosh Hashanah afternoon. Instead we will prepare packs for families or groups of six that would like to do this themselves. Please email zoe@fps.org if you want a pack.

We will still manage our car park Friday evening services and move forward on synagogue gatherings under 30. We will keep you informed at every stage. This Shabbat, Ivriah will come into the building and we will gauge how that feels for everyone.

Franklyn, Dean and I will bring Selichot to you on Saturday evening from the sanctuary. In the meantime, as home connection seems inevitable for us all, here are some tips how to make your computer space for services feel a little different over the High Holidays as you zoom into the sanctuary which I hope will allow you to feel closer to us and the building.

When the rabbis asked the question where would Judaism be after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E, they answered 'homes'. Each home would become a mikdash m’at, the miniature Beit Hamikdash (Temple). Shabbat tables would be the mizbei-ach (altar). Maybe we need to remember this during this insane year that keeps us out of our synagogue building.

Some ideas from around the Jewish world for managing being at home and Zooming in for services: 

• Choose your prayer space in advance, spending a few moments of individual contemplation/family discussion. Look at any possible space and think about ways to make it special.

• Say a blessing or kavanah (intention) over it to mark it as your ‘sanctuary'. Even a scarf or table cloth might help.

• Find meaningful objects to grace your space: holiday objects like candlesticks, a Kiddush cup, apples and honey. Cherished mementos, family heirlooms, and photos of loved ones can surround you. If you own a shofar, put it where it’s visible.

• Move the computer space back so that you are watching the screen more than operating or manipulating it.

• Limit or disconnect auditory distractions. Turn off your phone and email, and text message ping sounds.

• Wear clothing that makes you feel as if it is New Year and HHD.

• Have apples and honey ready to share remotely on Rosh Hashanah morning at 11.15am

• Hold a machzor, even if we put t’filah or pages onscreen. Feel its cover and flip its pages, remembering the times you’ve used it before. Inscribe it with a special phrase for this year.

• Use the last line of the blessing said at Havdalah separating Shabbat from the weekday to “separate” your sacred space: 
   
  בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ, הַמַּבְדִיל בֵּין קֹֽדֶשׁ לְחוֹל.
  Baruch atah Adonai, hamavdil bein kodesh l’chol.
  Blessed are You Adonai, who separates between holy and ordinary.

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom and looking forward to meaningful renewal for us all whatever the medium.

Rabbi Rebecca

4/5 September 2020, 15/16 Elul 5780

Schools are going back. Which frankly felt a like a dream until I saw Dora walk up the path and down the road to Woodhouse College. Rafael begins next week and, of course Ruben is finished and it’ll be a year before he begins his Economics degree at Glasgow University.

But all of this does mean that we have arrived at Autumn, as the poet John Keats captured for ever;

Season of Mists and Mellow fruitfulness...

Things have not felt mellow for many of us these past six months. Indeed anxiety has been pretty high. So preparing for Rosh Hashanah this year as we pass through this month of Elul is so different. Time has been strange these past months as days and weeks merged together; and we negotiated work schedules at home and new means of marking distinctions.

But of course preparing for the New Year is also familiar, because this opportunity to gaze inwards comes annually and reminds us that we are responsible for ourselves. This past year has amplified what is beyond our control and Elul invites us consider what we can control and manage. That is, ourselves.  Kotveinu b’sefer chayim we will chant again and again this month, Write us in the Book of Life. That Book doesn’t get written on Rosh Hashanah; we write in it continually. Decisions that were made for us will be in its pages; the experiences of growing up, our parents, our siblings. Our work and our adult choices and of course the decisions we make every day how to be and how to react.

In S.Y. Agnon’s beautiful anthology, Days of Awe, we find this story: “A tale is told of one who sat in study before the zaddik Rabbi Mordecai of Nadvorna, of blessed memory, and before Rosh ha-Shanah came to obtain permission to be dismissed. That zaddik said to him, ‘Why are you hurrying?’ Said he to him, ‘I am a Reader, and I must look into the festival prayer book, and put my prayers in order.’ Said the zaddik to him, ‘The prayer book is the same as it was last year. But it would be better for you to look into your deeds, and put yourself in order.’”

And so we do.

Actually this year the prayers will be a little different, service format tweaked and adjusted for the different reality we find ourselves in.  The yamim nora’im, the ‘awed days’ are upon us and I hope they will bring you an opportunity to feel that awe and radical amazement of being alive, of having reached another year and another renewal for us, our lives and our hopes.

Shabbat Shalom for the weekend of Parashat Ki Tavo; the penultimate Shabbat of 5780.

I wish you well and look forward to seeing you in person if you manage one of our Car Park services, or on line as we have been doing.

Rebecca

21/22 August 2020, 1/2 Elul 5780

"All models are wrong,” statisticians like to repeat, following words coined (most likely) by British statistician George Box in 1976  “…but some are useful”.

When does usefulness outweigh justice?

This has been quite a week; five days of much anguish for young people as they surveyed their school years of study and in some instances their future hopes and dreams in shatters. This all followed the A Level results, which had been adjudicated by a computer algorithm created by Ofqual. And on Monday at 4pm of this week, it was trumped by the human touch and knowledge of teachers. And our government reversed their trust in the system and returned to Central Assessed Grades.

There is such an anti-dystopian message in all of this. One A Level student talked of the ‘lack of humanity’ in all of this. Huy Duong, a refugee from communist Vietnam, arriving in the 1980s, now an IT consultant anticipated the errors for 39 % of students, but no-one listened. He described the algorithm as opaque and undemocratic, something he recognised from his youth. And talked of our 18 year olds’ “collective punishment by statistics”. In other words the computer said no.

How can there not be a message or a moral in all of this?

Maybe one is that justice and humanity is sometimes at odds with ‘usefulness’. This week’s portion Shoftim gives Jews their marching cry, it's directed us for many generations. Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof…Justice, Justice shall you pursue. Amidst all the attempts for efficiency and usefulness is the desire for humane justice. This is the case whether calling out environmental damage, responding to poverty and destitution or people fleeing their countries for safety. And indeed even calling for fair and transparent ways of rewarding our school children, wherever their postcodes.

Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Rebecca

14/15 August 2020, 24/25 Av 5780

MESSAGE FROM RABBI REBECCA

These days continue to be so strange. Our executive board are working flat out to prepare for a safe and responsible return to the building.  We all want to be together.  I know for many, zoom services provide a strong and meaningful substantiate for being in our beloved Hutton Grove. For some maybe not so much. And I empathise with how everyone is feeling.

Re’eh anokhi nothin lifnaichem hayom beracha u’klalah. Behold I set before you blessing and curse. This is the opening verse of this week’s portion (Deut 11). The Torah text implies listening and observing the commandments or not designated a blessing or curse. Generations later we appreciate fuller way of understanding the choice in our response to life. Indeed our preparation for the New Year is all about that wrestling we all have to manage. It’s not easy.

We will try our first Car Park drive-in service on Friday 4th September and then again 11th September. We are allowed up to 30 people either in their cars or seated outside the Small Hall doors. We will be outside so singing will be permitted. Dean and I will lead from outside the Small Hall and it will be streamed to Zoom and Facebook as usual. This will be a first step for us!

Do book in to join us. We will manage a first booking system, and will particularly reach out to some of you who have not been using Zoom.

Today I officiated at my first wedding since lockdown. There were 6 guests and many more on the screen from Paris. It was strange to be doing that amongst people. Be called Rabbi by folk in real time next to me; sign a ketubah and stand under a chuppah. It reminded me we will be back, we will return and things will be as they were and maybe a little bit better.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Rebecca

7/8 August 2020, 17/18 Av 5780

Rabbi Rebecca writes:

Your clothing did not wear out upon you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. (Deuteronomy 8:4)

How could I resist this verse?

Rashi suggests that their clothes were refreshed by the Cloud of Glory-a sort of celestial dry cleaning. And as children grew the clothes on their backs grew with them; like a snail's shell. I love these details. Even medieval rabbis asked practical questions. But on a deeper level this verse speaks to the idea of surviving trials; walking for those years through the desert was not easy and Deuteronomy acknowledges that. As always it offers succour to contemporary readers and the ordeals we encounter. Sometimes we manage them, and our clothes don't wear out and our feet don't swell; in other words we survive them.

This is a good verse to read through these weeks of Av as we approach the month of Elul. After Tisha B'Av our liturgical tradition dictates the 7 haftarot of consolation-the reminder there was and is renewal and forgiveness. It's a good message to internalise.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rebecca

31 July/1 August 2020, 10/11 Av 5780

From Rabbi Rebecca

This week I wanted to share a thank you letter to you. Never in a million years would I have anticipated this birthday would be accompanied by such generosity from my synagogue.

Truly I was rendered speechless when a group of FPS folk gathered at my garden gate in the rain last Shabbat afternoon and presented this extraordinary cake and the plethora of gifts you gathered for me. You even listen to my sermons; these tiny models of books are all pages I quote from.

We are having great joy unpacking our new garden sofa, around a fire pit (how did you know we had been longing for such things?) New garden lights are being hung and I see no reason why we couldn’t squeeze in here for a Shabbat service one balmy day, or at least Havdalah.  You donated in my name to a beloved collective philanthropy project that helps and supports women and girls in London. You even gave me two nights away, (mid week of course) in a hotel in deepest darkest Somerset with a beautiful restored garden. I have much to be grateful for, but these loving gifts have totally humbled me. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Rafael made a toast at our (small!) birthday dinner and ended saying “You must be an ok rabbi, Mummy, because your congregation has done such nice things for you.” Last Shabbat Dean sang Bob Dylan’s Forever Young "May you always do for others; And let others do for you.” And goodness how you have. Thank you for your kindness, and thoughtfulness;  accompanying me as I mark this milestone, a half a century, as I keep being reminded! Yaaloz libi the psalmist wrote, my heart leaps for joy. (Psalm 28:7)

Shabbat Shalom

Rebecca 

24/25 July 2020, 3/4 Av 5780

MESSAGE FROM RABBI REBECCA

Click on this image to see Elliott’s story

Communities are rightly proud of their children. Jewish tradition urges us to nurture the next generation, and indeed each generation. L’dor va’dor we sing each Shabbat morning, generation to generation. Teach this (whole thing of Judaism) to your children v’shinantam l’vanecha so says the Shema prayer. And Talmud Berachot when it insists children are like builders in what they create:

Rabbi Elazar said Rabbi Hanina said: Torah scholars increase peace in the world, as it is said: ‘And all your children [banayich] shall be taught of Adonai, and great shall be the peace of your children.’ (Isa. 54:13) Do not read your children [banayich], but your builders [bonayich].” -Talmud Brakhot 64a

So it’s pretty clear, generations matter. Not just families and ‘your’ children but the future of all communities. Elliott Karstadt, Dr Elliott Karstadt actually, is a child of this congregation. His parents Lyn and Philip Karstadt raised all three of their children Elliott, Lauren and Jonathan within our congregation (Lauren is my Rafael’s favourite teacher ever, ever.)  Elliott was taught in Ivriah, directed to Bar Mitzvah by the legendary Tzvi Rosenwasser. He continued and became a teacher for the next generation of children. He taught both at Ivriah and Jewish Studies GCSE here at FPS. He teaches adults and has been an integral part of the Delving into Judaism community. He was part of early Shabbat Resouled and has maintained that connection and commitment despite these past five years of learning and serving Reform and Liberal communities across the UK.

This Shabbat is a joy not just for his family but for us his synagogue. Elliott will become a rabbi next Wednesday. It should have been on July 5th with all the pomp and ceremony of all ordinations. Our Dean Staker was to present him and I was to ordain him.  But during these extraordinary times we will have a small, distanced private ceremony next week.

It is one of the greatest privileges I’ve known to be Elliott’s ordaining rabbi. Moses is told ; charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him…. I imagine these words addressed to me for Elliott. And I will do so with your love and pride also.

Shabbat Shalom and do join us for this service.

Rabbi Rebecca