Today sees us enter the month of Ellul- marking a month before the High Holy Days and the Jewish New Year at Rosh Hashanah. Among the customs associated with the month of Ellul is that we now begin the process of thinking back through the past twelve months, the decisions that we’ve made, our actions, our […]
(originally sent to members on Friday 14th August) This Shabbat is all about linked 75th anniversaries. Why bother to mark them? I know, as do many of you, how distressing dementia is. The effects are devastating for the individual suffering from this disease, but can be as bad, if not worse, for those who know […]
This Sunday see our community’s Annual General Meeting and we are trusting that there will be a large attendance on Zoom. But why does a large attendance matter? The Bible did not know or teach democracy, so we cannot look to our touchstone text for simple, clear guidance. However, one of the key teachings in […]
Tomorrow is always a special day in our synagogue and Cheder calendar, as we hear about the unique contributions each one of the children has made this year and gain some insights into the new generation growing up in our community. Do join us for the service and presentations if you can. When we read […]
Rabbi Richard’s thought for the week 10/7/20 One of the mis-rememberings of modern culture is that Mr. Spock in Star Trek did not actually say “It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it” According to those who are Trekkies, the closest actual quote from a script had Spock saying, “It is not life as we know […]
This Shabbat sees us reading about the death of Rachel, a reminder of the life-threatening risk that child-birth was in centuries gone past, and still is despite all the scientific developments humanity has amassed. The Coronavirus has also reminded us that human beings are not in control of this planet as much as we sometimes […]
A Message from Emeritus Rabbi David Hulbert Muslims and Christians have been sorely tried over the past months because mosques and churches have been closed. Only now have they been allowed to re-open, for ‘private prayer’, with absolutely no singing! It’s striking that the religious life of Jews has not been affected to nearly the […]
“You shall not stand by while your neighbour’s blood is shed.” (Leviticus 19:16) Are you willing to “take the knee”? When a senior member of the government can state that this peaceful action comes from “Game of Thrones”, he is showing either great ignorance, or an absence of empathy, or wilful aforethought. In today’s UK […]
Thought for the Week by Rabbi Richard Jacobi- 5/6/20 Rabbi Herschl Gluck, a mensch whom I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several times, recently pointed out the link between Covid-19 and the thankfully filmed actions of Derek Chauvin and his erstwhile colleagues. Both deprive their victims of the capacity to breathe and cause death. Air, […]
This week sees us, and other countries around Europe marking VE Day and the conclusion of the Second World War in Europe. We in the UK will celebrate this day marking the end of European hostilities and the victory over Nazi Germany, and also know that we stood undefeated. In other countries, like France, the […]