24/25 September 2021, 18/19 Tishrei 5782

Sukkot comes up so quick after Yom Kippur. Just five days to move from that profound spiritual reflection and hope for transformation into the physicality of this festival. Building the sukkah and then hanging out in it too, with the last of the warm autumn sun shining on our faces, if we are lucky as we have been this week.
I like the sharp juxtaposition and our small sukkah at home has been just such a sanctuary. Our Delving into Judaism class built and decorated our FPS sukkah with fruit for longevity-take a peek, it’s wonderful.

We fitted in perfectly for our Sukkot service, with copious children drinking their hot chocolate as we sipped on mulled wine.

I struggle with the notion of commanding joy, Sukkot as our time of joy zeman simchateinu but there is certainly something liberating about this autumnal moment for us all.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom friend of the maturing sun,

John Keats was anticipating our Sukkot.

And onto the next after this shabbat where we celebrate Ellie Jackson’s Sukkot Bat Mitzvah, and into Simchat Torah and a celebration of learning. The joy continues.

This year we celebrate Chris Nash as our Chatan Torah and Zoe Jacobs as Kallat Bereshit with two youth Kallot Ruby Reich and Rebekah Treganna. Do join us for Simchat Torah as the last moment of the Tishri Festivals as we finish and begin again our cycle of Torah
Shabbat Shalom and then Chag Sukkot Sameach.

Rebecca

17/18 September 2021, 11/12 Tishrei 5782

Last night we affixed the first nail in the sukkah at the end of the Yom Kippur service. For many years Lionel Lassman did this religiously in honour of all he was always doing for our building. This year we asked a new couple, Josh and Louise who will be part of the team building the sukkah this weekend. And although Lionel was at home for the Neilah service I was reminded of all he has done for FPS.

After 25 hours denying physical and practical focus, we turn to the Sukkah, the season of our joy.

Our Delving into Judaism class, will this year build our sukkah, this class has brought so many new members and seekers to FPS, who appreciate the community. That is our theme this year, showing off our community and inviting guests in.

Please join us for Sukkot Monday evening and Tuesday morning and bring guests you think would like to experience some of the FPS warmth- Mulled wine and hot chocolate inside the sukkah and friends gathering inside it.

I look forward to this next moment together, and a gentle Shabbat in between.

Shabbat Shalom and then Chag Sukkot Sameach.
Rebecca

10/11 September 2021, 4/5 Tishrei 5782

It was so good to see so many of you online and in person for Rosh Hashanah.

These ten days are particularly rich for connecting and delving deep.

On Shabbat Shuvah our Adult B’nei Mitzvah group will lead us in Torah reading and service. And in the afternoon of 11th September we will meet at FPS after the service and walk to Dollis Brook for Tashlich.

This is a particularly special moment in the year and nice to do it as a community. Dogs are very welcome as are all ages, those with less ease of walking we can arrange to meet you right at the water.

We will be using duck friendly tashlich material to throw and creating ways to make this ancient tradition meaningful.

Tishri is a full month - with Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah still to come. It's our strong way to begin the year. Tashlich is an opportunity for thoughtful immersion in Jewish tradition as we direct ourselves forward and set new intentions.

It makes such a difference having each other there.

Shabbat Shalom

3/4 September 2021, 26/27 Elul 5781

Are we proud of and content with our habits? Are we ready to consider who we have become and what more we can be? Change is always possible, it seems.

We are what we repeatedly do..Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.- Aristotle 

Teshuvah is About Change and Growth rather than just Return. Is it Possible to bring new growth and wisdom into our lives?   The philosopher William James wrote about habit and our capacity to change;

Plasticity … in the wide sense of the word, means the possession of a structure weak enough to yield to an influence, but strong enough not to yield all at once. Three ways to secure change.

1. The acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old one, we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong and decided an initiative as possible…in short, envelop your resolution with every aid you know.

2. Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life. It is surprising how soon a desire will die of inanition if it be never fed.

3. Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits.

20/21 August 2021, 12/13 Elul 5781

Elul: The month of Elul calls us to look within, look back and look ahead – an accounting of the soul, often referred to as a cheshbon hanefesh.

The letters of the month ELUL  alef, lamed, vav, lamed -- stand for ani l'dodi, v'dodi li -- I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. An intimate and soulful way of looking at ourselves and the month ahead as we prepare and anticipate the High Holy Days stretched over the month of Tishri.

It would be a waste to turn up without this forethought. Our hope is about the year ahead. As the writer Rebecca Solnit suggests:

To be hopeful means to be uncertain about the future, to be tender toward possibilities, to be dedicated to change all the way down to the bottom of your heart.

Some of the pearls of thoughtfulness you’ll receive come from Craig Taubman’s pearls of Elul of preceding years, some from meaningful messages of others. Every day of Elul an email will arrive with a reflection and an invitation to reflect.

Go Well and feel free to ask me anything along the way.
Rabbi Rebecca

13/14 August 2021, 5/6 Elul 5781

Elul: The month of Elul calls us to look within, look back and look ahead – an accounting of the soul, often referred to as a cheshbon hanefesh.

The letters of the month ELUL  alef, lamed, vav, lamed -- stand for ani l'dodi, v'dodi li -- I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine. An intimate and soulful way of looking at ourselves and the month ahead as we prepare and anticipate the High Holy Days stretched over the month of Tishri.

It would be a waste to turn up without this forethought. Our hope is about the year ahead. As the writer Rebecca Solnit suggests;

To be hopeful means to be uncertain about the future, to be tender toward possibilities, to be dedicated to change all the way down to the bottom of your heart.

Some of the pearls of thoughtfulness you’ll receive come from Craig Taubman’s pearls of Elul of preceding years, some from meaningful messages of others. Every day of Elul an email will arrive with a reflection and an invitation to reflect.

Go Well and feel free to ask me anything along the way.
Rabbi Rebecca

6/7 August 2021, 28/29 Av 5781

Take care of your soul…she is turquoise, agate and jasper…refresh your weary soul. If you do not keep your own soul alive, how will you welcome the morning light? (From an anonymous Medieval poem translated by Rabbi Sharon Cohen-Anisfeld).

We talk a great deal how we have survived and even thrived as a Jewish community during this pandemic. We did. We jumped into Zoom before we fully understood whether it was merely an acronym or a media platform. We moved enthusiastically into online services. I learned to look at the screen. I, as a rabbi used to standing in front of my audience (a.k.a. congregation), learned to establish an energetic connection to worshippers even through the ‘glass life’ of our screens. We established for those who were comfortable postcode groups to support. And for many these were a lifeline in a time otherwise very isolating.

We tried to be there for those who were suffering, visiting when I could, calling or standing on doorsteps very aware of the Talmudic promise; "They who visit a sick person takes away one-sixtieth of their illness” Baba Metzia 30b.

Mostly I was aware of the task to sustain spirits and hope. “Assur l’hit’ya-esh”  - It is forbidden to despair, declared Nachaman of Bratzlav famously, and for me this was the most important task throughout those months. Praying for those who were unwell, so our congregation knew who needed a call. Some congregants were hit hard financially and work dried up. Where we could, we helped. That is what a synagogue community is for. We were there to minimise the fear experienced, and support those who were unwell and isolating as we did in our Morning Service group. We were keen to be as present as possible for those who were struggling.

“And you shall restore it to him” says Deuteronomy 22:2.

But what none of us anticipated was what Covid-19 left for many. The heavy burden of Long Covid persisting in the body way after the virus had left. I’ve seen the way it has decimated so many lives, that were full previously and what I hear the most is ‘when will I feel myself again’. Most of us take for granted that we can access ‘ourselves’, our energy and our capabilities. This is not so for those left with Long Covid. "Give it time," they have been told. But it’s taking way, way longer than anyone expected. The poet Edna St Vincent Millay said “Time doesn’t bring relief”.

And for this, she anticipated well. I see this suffering now amongst our congregants and their families. And I want FPS and our community to respond. The psychological and physical parts of rebuilding oneself is spiritual work. One member struggling hugely still with breathing and energy told me how much kind acts physically impact her and raise her up. That, we can do.

So here at FPS we are beginning to explore, investigate and understand this better, and ways to support. This work is not just about encouraging the continual surge for being ‘back to normal’ but for some the acknowledgement that they will never be their 'old self' again. And that is the most challenging, infuriating, exhausting, anger-inducing part of the legacy of Long Covid.

Accepting one’s new self, doing much less but with one's value not decreased. One of the names given to the synagogue is Beit Knesset, a house of meeting of community. Being supported by one’s community is paramount;  and I am happy for us to be offering this. – That is our work now as a synagogue.

We have created a support group for those suffering from Long Covid and its devastating effects. We will explore means to financially help those who need for ongoing treatment and support, and find ways to raise up and enable a gentle return to life alongside the new normal along with the skills to navigate it all.

Our first informal meeting was on Wednesday 4th August at 2pm. Be in touch if this speaks to you.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Rebecca

30/31 July 2021, 21/22 Av 5781

“Freedom Day" (19th July) did not necessarily mean freedom.

We are committed to caution and thoughtfulness around how we gather in the building. We will watch carefully to ensure we remain vigilant. We know the Delta strain is raising concern but keeping open and available is also our priority.

We are, this week, able to bring in a lovely change advocated by Liberal Judaism alongside our fellow organisations of Reform, Masorti and United Synagogues.

We can now sing (quietly) behind face masks!

As promised we will continue to:

1. Observe social distancing in the synagogue, laying chairs 1 metre plus and encouraging all social interaction to happen in the car park and beyond.

2. Provide kiddush with individual plates for us all so we get to share in hamotzi.

3. Keep doors and windows open to ensure the best ventilation possible.

4. Run learning and groups on line, indeed all events will now be hybrid for the foreseeable future.

Shabbat Shalom

23/24 July 2021, 14/15 Av 5781

I don't know about you but a particular tiredness has set in for me. I'm certain this will be cured by some time in nature and a little bit of river swimming, as we head to Wales for a few days tomorrow.

But I like to think acknowledging exhaustion and when we've run out of steam allows a certain awareness of our lives. It has been busy. It's ok to be tired.

Va'Etchanan this week's Torah portion includes not just the second version of the Ten Commandments but also the Shema, that piece of Torah that has become our preeminent prayer:

Hear O Israel the Eternal is Your God, The Eternal is One.

I like to focus on the instruction to "Hear", not just passive listening but active hearing of what is being said, what is happening around us and what are the voices we pay attention to inside ourselves.

Last year's first lockdown saw a dramatic decrease in traffic, both on the road and in the air and we heard all sorts of things we hadn't for a very long while. Life has now returned to its previous noisiness, and I am hoping to hear less and more when we head to the River Wye.

Will I be able to respond to the Shema's call and be renewed by what I hear. I hope so.

And I hope to see you over the Summer when things, for a while, will be quieter and calmer.

Shabbat Shalom
Rebecca

16/17 July 2021, 7/8 Av 5781

The 9th Av is the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar, when the destructions of the first and second temple are mourned.

The day has become a magnet of grief and now marks the day of all Jewish atrocities.

Indeed the Haredim in Israel boycotted the creating of Yom HaShoah (holocaust remembrance day) because, they argued, there already was a day of mourning.

As Progressive Jews the day has lost some of its intensity as our Judaism doesn't focus on temple rebuilding and return. But the idea of mourning and grief is powerful, maybe particularly this year.

The rabbis, romantically, suggest sinat chinam, senseless hatred in the Jewish community was the cause of the destruction and suffering. Historically we know the Romans were responsible for the second temple destruction and exile. However the destructive idea of hate is compelling.

We've seen such an outpouring of racist hatred this week following the Euros 2021 final on Sunday evening. It is all our responsibility, not just the recipients of such abuse. Children this week have been racially abused on the way to school in our neighbourhood.

We are all duty bound to cry out when our community and society is permeated by such poison. Indeed the prophet Isaiah will remind us of our duty this Shabbat. To be a Jew is to be part of this conversation and as passionate about the sinat chinam that exists as we are about our religious rites:

Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—
I cannot bear your worthless assemblies

The 9th Av gives us pause to consider exile, destruction and hatred and to reflect and respond. Reinvigorating our festival year to bring renewed meaning is at the heart of being a Jew.

Shabbat Shalom

9/10 July 2021, 29 Tammuz/1 Av 5781

Unlocking

Pikuah Nefesh – “Safeguarding Life” is a bedrock principle of Jewish law, and supersedes most other obligations or mitzvot. It is what guided us all to be as conscientious and careful as possible these past 16 months.

As unlocking begins in earnest I am thinking deeply what PIKUACH NEFESH can mean.

We know it can mean literally, the saving a life from death. But it also means the quality of that life, the nuanced and complex way we feel alive.

The utopian day of 19 July will mean so much and so differently for each of us. I’m considering, as you might imagine, how that informs our synagogue life.

We will gather as community but with such different attitudes and experiences, some more fearful than others. As always, I hope kindness and consideration will inform how we are. Some of us are needing community and relationality above all things, simply as a life saving option. Some are afraid of loosening restrictions for our hard won health and safety.

The chances are our community is made of all those attitudes and probably many more. We will be considering carefully mask wearing and singing in our services by listening closely to PHE's advice to faith institutions, and of course using our common sense.

Pikuach Nefesh will guide us as it always has in keeping each other safe and comfortable, but now in new extended ways.

We have been through a She’at Hadehak – “ an Extraordinary Moment” – how will we reflect communally on it and continue to be kind to each other even as our opinions and perspectives on this differ?

Jewish life has always made adjustments in times of emergency and crisis. We did, when we became more than a building. Opening up requires a similar sensitivity and thoughtfulness. I intend to offer as many opportunities to talk and navigate through these stages. I hope it will be guided, informed and inspired by Chesed “Profound Love and Kindness” so we act with tremendous love and understanding with each other.

We truly are, once again, a mixed multitude. A community full of folk whose own encounter and appreciation of what we have been through is diverse.

We will do this well.

Please continue to book in, and now you can even enjoy kiddush under your seats.

Shabbat shalom to all
Rebecca

2/3 July 2021, 22/23 Tammuz 5781

History happens all the time. And of course changes are made to laws, customs and ideas.

This month Rabba Dr Lindsay Taylor Guthhartz became the first UK based orthodox woman to receive semicha at the Yeshivat Maharat. (Dina Brawer received hers in the U.S) I can’t stress how important this is for us even though as Liberal Jews it’s been old news. We claim Regina Jon as the first in Europe, 1935 followed by Jackie Tabick in 1976. All of them came from a situation where they asked for more. They asked for greater, fuller Jewish inheritance. Every time that happens, surely we must applaud and encourage.

Indeed it was only 2011 when our Queen, Elizabeth II, changed the laws of succession. Sons and daughters of any future UK monarch will have equal right to the throne. Commonwealth leaders agreed to this progression, so it’s now enshrined in constitutional law.

The desire to receive inheritance equally and equitably is a good one. And it stems from a desire to be alive and engaged.

“The secret of success,” Jackson Pollock’s father wrote to the teenage artist-to-be, “is to be fully awake to everything about you.” 

Being awake is what the daughters of Zelophehad famously were in this week’s portion of Pinchas. After appraising their family situation and legacy they saw what was missing, them being able to inherit. And amazingly when they asked, their request was granted. “Zelophehad … had no sons, only daughters” (v26:33). And [so] …The daughters of Zelophehad … came forward. The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and said… Let not our father’s name be lost to his clan just because he had no son! Give us a holding among our father’s kinsmen!” (27:1-4)

Being fully awake to everything about you is what made our founders and builders insist on a tweak in Jewish inheritance, for all to be open. Let women come down from the balconies, insisted Lily Montagu over a century ago.

Moses needed to confer with God, he was uncertain. Naturally. But the answer was a resounding “yes”.  And these daughters paved the way for women. To inherit. And we continue this tradition of being awake and asking for more. Only last month at our shared Shavuot celebrations the scholar and theologian Professor Judith Plaskow reiterated the words in her 1990 book Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective   “I am not a Jew in the synagogue and a feminist in the world. I am a Jewish feminist and a feminist Jew in every moment of my life.”

I can’t help but celebrate this portion again. The chutzpah of Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah invite us to consider what we might need to ask for next.         

That’s what Mr Pollock meant when he told his artist son to be awake. And for us the laws of financial inheritance that Zelphehad’s daughters negotiated, have transformed for us into a keenness for equal inheritance and opportunities for leadership.

It’s always been there. It was Henrietta Szold who captured that [the] Jewish heart has always starved unless it was fed through the Jewish intellect. 

Here’s to more audacious asking.

Shabbat Shalom to all.
Rebecca

25/26 June 2021, 15/16 Tammuz 5781

Mah tovu ohalecha Ya’akov, u’mishk’notecha Yisrael

These words of Balaam offered every Shabbat morning as we gather in prayer, in all synagogues, have become significant for us wherever we are.

And so they are sung to our synagogue buildings and communities. Indeed these words are what bind us at the start of every morning service.

Or as Talmud Sanhedrin suggests,

How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, those places of your spiritual gatherings, and all the places where God’s presence dwells among you...(Sanhedrin 105b).

Now we are returning to our four walls, back in the tent of FPS, the dwelling place of Hutton Grove. It’s this actual week that we read Balaam’s words and this (reluctant) blessing.

'We're 'more than a building' we’ve reassured ourselves and each other these past sixteen months. And now we must turn to our building and think how to love it again. It's a time for those who can, to attend, and for those who can’t let, we Zoom you into your home from on the Bimah, in the Ark, in our synagogue sanctuary.

Next month we plan to lay out an individual personal kiddush plate under every chair so those in the synagogue can eat kiddush alongside those at home. We are slowly tasting what real space and time community feels like again.

As we return, we must do so safely and with care for each other. The most important way is to book your place. It is so easy but without doing that we threaten the numbers we have allocated.

I must ask you to please help us be safe, prepared and confident that we are doing well for each other. Here is the link to make your booking. It couldn’t be simpler.

Each form can book only people from one household, so you may need to access more than one form if you are booking for other family members.

By coming to our ohel, our mishkan, you are agreeing to our Code of Conduct which is the Torah we must abide by for the moment.

Shabbat Shalom to all.
Rebecca

18/19 June 2021, 8/9 Tammuz 5781

The town of Austerlitz had one of the oldest Jewish populations in Moravia dating back to the twelfth century. Relatively peaceful for several centuries Jews paid tribute to local nobles but by 1757, Empress Maria Theresa issued an edict restricting the number of Jewish families in Moravia to 5000. Austerlitz was allowed to shelter 72 of them. This is where one of our Czech scrolls are from. A community that was decimated by the Shoah, deported on 4 April 1942 to Terezin on transport Ah. (Those in neighbouring Kolodeje were deported on 18 April of the same year.)

Torah scrolls were gathered from all over Czechoslovakia and Moravia and left in the Michle synagogue, many rotting in damp and neglected conditions. The extraordinary story of their rescue by Ralph Yablon, a British Jew who brought 1,564 to Westminster synagogue in February 1964 is the stuff of legends. As is the Sofer (scribe) David Brand knocking on the synagogue's door looking for scrolls to mend and staying 25 years.

We as a community are fortunate to have three of these precious scrolls on loan including one of their binders, our Emeritus Rabbi Frank Hellner brought one back from the Knightsbridge synagogue on the tube, carrying his precious cargo with care.

Our Bnei Mitzvah read from these scrolls and learn of their provenance.

This shabbat we rededicate them in our shabbat service. Torah is still the heart of our Jewish lives, the rhythm of the scroll read every shabbat, the stories and insights in its columns still speak to us.

We are blessed to have this connection to our past and be the guardians of these and the history they hold.

Join us this shabbat as we bring out our three scrolls, one known as an orphan scroll and so tiny it has been used as a children’s Torah. We will read from one and recite the names of those lost in the community that owned them once upon a time. It’s a profoundly important moment for us a congregation.

Do join us.

Shabbat Shalom to all.
Rebecca

11/12 June 2021, 2/3 Tammuz 5781

This week I attended an international conference for Women Rabbis, WRN. I met many rabbis from around the world, some of them the first in their own countries. All of the women I met described their youth movements enticing them into deeper learning and eventually the rabbinate. We don't expect all our children to become rabbis. But I do hope that many get to experience their Youth movement and what it offers in terms of challenging and thoughtful Jewish identity.

I'm sorry this message is especially for parents and grandparents but it's important just this week. Finally after the year of uncertainty we've had our youth movement LJY Netzer has confirmed our Summer Camps. They have worked so hard to adapt and craft newly safe and Covid compliant camps.

Please see the poster, if you have children 7-17 and consider sending them to one of our brilliant LJ camps. I wanted to lend as much support and encouragement as I can to our Youth Movement, who support us in raising thoughtful, happy and proud Jews. Please consider camp this summer.

There is now a camp for years 11 &12, just one week at the start of the holidays. The regular Kadimah at the end for 2 weeks for our years 5-10 and a new one week camp for young children aged 7-11.

I'm sending my children along with other FPSers. And I am happy to chat to anyone who needs to learn more.

Shabbat Shalom to all.
Rebecca

p.s please check out Liberal Judaism's events for Refugee Week.

4/5 June 2021, 24/25 Sivan 5781

I wonder if we are more or less religious than our Liberal ancestors. It used to be that very few tallitot or indeed kippot were worn in synagogue. Now maybe it is quite a few more. We certainly have more Hebrew now. But does that say anything about prayer itself and our attitudes to it. Have our beliefs and doubts changed through the generations?

This week’s portion Shelach Lecha mentions the tallit, prayer shawl or tallis depending on your preference.

The Eternal One said to Moses as follows: Speak to the Israelite people and instruct them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout the ages; let them attach a cord of blue to the fringe at each corner. That shall be your fringe: look at it and recall all the commandments of the Eternal and observe them…Numbers 15:37-39

The text goes on to say these tzitizit, the cords that are knotted on all four corners, are literally aides-memoire to stay true to God and the commandments that tie us to Godself. Some of us may say we don’t need or choose such outward dressing of our internal commitments. After all, as the feminist theologian Judith Plaskow notes, “why should the creator of the universe care whether we put a ‘tassel on the corner of our clothes in every generation’ and what possible difference can it make…?” (Mentioned by Rabbi Lisa Grushcow and quoted in Lawrence Hoffman, ed., My People’s Prayer Book, vol. 1 [Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights, 1997], p.115).

What possible difference does faith make to our decisions and choices as Jews?

I look forward to a conversation during this Shabbat morning about our attitudes to prayer, to doubt and to belief. I’ll be joined by our Life President Sheila King Lassman, who very much chose Liberal Judaism.

Where we find ourselves now is the theme of this week’s Shabbat service.

Shabbat Shalom to all,
Rebecca

28/29 May 2021, 17/18 Sivan 5781

This past week or so we have reached out to our students, teens and children within FPS.

We know that social media is stoking the fire of the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis and their leaders. We know that some of our young people are being asked to comment, explain or even defend a situation they barely can understand themselves. LJ Netzer has offered supportive sessions, we used Ivriah time last Shabbat and Streetwise connected with CST offered a session for teenagers last night to attempt to unpack and find thoughtful language to navigate what is happening and the inevitable overflow into life here in schools and universities. I hope this is a time when LJ and us as a Liberal synagogue can respond and support.

Even we adults know the complexity of opinion and strong seated feelings about the matzo, the situation as Israelis often refer to the political moment.

This week's Torah portion Be'halotecha captures a moment of dissent, argument, even prejudice between Moses and his siblings. They criticise him for his 'Cushite wife', commentaries are divided. Was this a reference to a new wife he took, or perhaps to Zipporah's skin colour. Either way it is perceived as offensive and Miriam is punished. It gives much food for thought about difference, tolerance and acceptance. We'll read this section on Shabbat. But it's a good reminder of the damage words can do and the febrile and inflamed way one can hear them.

El Na Refa Na La, Moses pleads to God in the shortest verse in Torah. Heal her please.

These words gave me pause for thought this week.
Rebecca

21/22 May 2021, 10/11 Sivan 5781

This is a week of heightened tension and awareness both for what is happening in Gaza and Israel but also here, naturally and the consequences that spill over into UK diaspora life.

Zoe and I wrote to our students on university campus, to support them navigating the events and the need to express and articulate themselves.

It's interesting that this week we return to our building, open its doors, and I hope, will rededicate our house as a community home. Yes we are so much more than a building as these past 15 months have demonstrated but our building needs our love and attention too.

It will be a Chanukah Ha'Bayit of sorts, a [re]dedication of our our home.

This week's portion of Nasso tells of the life of the Nazir, the one (male or female) who is set apart for God, dedicated to the service of the community. Samson is our most renowned Nazirite, with his long hair and strength. Hidden at the end of the description of this person is the Priestly blessing given to Moses and Aaron for the people. This has become so integral to Jewish life, to Shabbat, to the comfort of generations at signification milestones as well as regular Friday nights.

I can't think of a week we need this more;

May God bless you and keep you; May God's face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
May God reach out to you in tenderness and give you peace.

Shabbat Shalom
Rebecca

14/15 May 2021, 3/4 Sivan 5781

Rabbi Rebecca writes:

What a week this has been for us all, watching the violence and devastation and terror unfold in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. I am sharing part of the message from our friend Rabbi Ofek Meir in Haifa, which I received yesterday.

The last few days have brought deep challenges upon us. We are dealing with the many conflicts, and voices of racism, harassment and violence.

The role of education in our eyes is to remind students and communities of our shared destiny, and the power and beauty of living together.

We in Haifa know how to live together in our schools and in the city’s neighbourhoods. This should be remembered even now as the flames increase. Soon the flames will be forgotten and we will all remain, to continue our lives together. (See his full message here).

U’fros aleinu sukkat shlomecha, cover us with the shelter of Your peace, Dean sings these words for us every Friday night and it takes on new resonance and hope this week. In light of the grim and frightening situation in Israel and Palestine, which we know will have long ranging repercussions for us all as well as those caught up there, I'd like to share with you two events that you may wish to join enabling conversation and understanding:

Just before our fantastic and long awaited Beit Midrash 7.30pm tonight with Dr Agnes Kaposi and Richard Greene. At 7pm there is an opportunity as LJ communities to join our Israeli sister movement, IMPJ, for a special briefing for international supporters at 7pm. The program will include briefings by Yair Lootsteen (chair of IMPJ) and Anna Kislanski (Acting Director General) on how the IMPJ is dealing with the situation on the ground and in their congregations and short briefings by congregational leaders from most impacted areas. Please register in advance for this meeting by clicking here.

Saturday 15th May 8-9.15pm: Eilu v’Eilu: Havdalah and Discussion
Join Liberal & Reform Rabbis for an open space to hear one another and hold on to what is sacred after this terrible week of events in Israel & Palestine followed by a special Havdalah ceremony. “These and these are the words of the Living God” We will follow in this teaching and study all perspectives with humility.The session will include prayer, text study, and guidance from Rabbis at this divisive moment. Click here to register.

I’m so looking forward to SHAVUOT this year, our last opportunity for a purely online shared event with several other LJ communities and rabbis. I love this festival that asks us to consider fidelity and choice in our Jewish life. I get to interview Professor Judith Plaskow, [possibly the person who most influenced my decision to be a Rabbi.] And I’ll be teaching the Book of Ruth at Rabbis at Midnight on Sunday night Is Ruth an Agent of Change?

All this is congregational life marking Jewish moments of time and space. I wish a hearty Mazal Tov to our reconfirmed Deputies for the Board; Stanley Volk and Janet Tresman after our EGM election. We look forward to your renewed representation.

I’m delighted to be back and missed you all. I hope to see you over this busy weekend.

Shabbat Shalom and a Chag Shavuot Sameach.

Rebecca

7/8 May 2021, 25/26 Iyar 5781

Zoe writes:

"3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted"

Has there been a moment before when the Government has dictated our next actions, our seasons, so minutely? The dates I hold in my head are the dates of each easing of lockdown. From 17th May the rule of six moves indoors, and perhaps from 21st June all restrictions will be lifted. Finally we will move back to "a time to embrace" after our long "time to refrain from embracing".

These dates are cemented more clearly in my head than friends' birthdays or celebrations. Indeed, birthdays and celebrations have moved to be in line with lockdown easing so that a greater celebration can take place.

Whether lockdown has been a fallow period, or a time for creativity, it will (please God) soon be over.

This is both exciting and scary. Just as the transition from normal life to lockdown made the country anxious, the journey back might have more positive consequences, but it's not without fear. After over a year of minimal stimulation, crowded shops, bustling streets and noisy restaurants will take some getting used to. Let us be kind to ourselves, re-entering the world gently.

There is a new season approaching - hopefully it'll be full of joy and reunion.

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom,
Zoe