Sh’elot U’Teshuvot: Questions and Answers which have appeared in previous editions of Shofar (our monthly magazine). The answers were provided by our former rabbi Mark Goldsmith, whose successor at FPS is Rabbi Neil Janes
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In what ways are non-Jews welcome to participate in services at Finchley Progressive Synagogue?
To begin with, we must note that non-Jews have always been welcome to attend services at Finchley Progressive Synagogue.
This is true both on an informal and formal level. Informally anyone who would like to see what happens in a Jewish service
can be part of our congregation and, of course, no non-Jewish partner of a Synagogue member should ever feel that they are
excluded from being with us. This is supported by Jewish tradition as non -Jews were able to bring voluntary offerings and
sacrifices to the Temple in Jerusalem when it was the place of Jewish worship (see e.g. Babylonian Talmud Menachot 73b).
On a more formal level, every year in which we hold a Civic Service we invite the local Member of Parliament, the Mayor
of Barnet and our local Councillors to join us irrespective of their religion. Memorably in the past, our congregation
included Baroness Margaret Thatcher when she was the Member of Parliament for Finchley. Whenever a Bar or Bat Mitzvah has
a non-Jewish parent they are invited to join their child on the Bimah when the Bar/Bat Mitzvah prayer is recited at the
end of the service in order to demonstrate their support for their child's upbringing as a Jew. Similarly, if one or more
parents of a Bride or Bridegroom are not Jewish then they are invited to join their child under the Chuppah in order to be
fully included in the celebration of their child's wedding.
The limitation that we put on the participation of non-Jews in our services it that they are not invited to perform
mitzvot, such as reading the blessings over the Torah (aliyah) or opening the Ark. They are also not invited to act as
Shaliach Tzibbur (leader of the congregation in prayer). We make this limitation in accord with the principle recorded in
the Mishnah that "a person who is not themselves under an obligation to perform a mitzvah (Jewish duty) cannot perform it
on behalf of a congregation" (Rosh Hashanah 3:8). In this case the mitzvah is participating actively in Jewish worship.
Whilst it is obvious that a non-Jew would not then be asked to act in the place of the Rabbi or, say, to read the Haftarah,
the question remains whether or not a non-Jew can be invited to be a member of our Synagogue choir. The answer depends on
whether you see the choir as being among those who lead the service (acting, as it were, as a collective Shaliach Tzibbur)
or rather, solely as an aesthetic enhancement to the service, there only to add beauty to our music and not to lead us.
Synagogues that use a choir (professional or amateur) which is composed mostly of non-Jews - this used to be the case in
our Synagogue a couple of decades ago - presumably take the latter view. It might be said that our choir, currently made up
entirely of Jews, does act as service leaders and thus should be open only to Jewish members.
There was a discussion group on German television recently talking about do's and don'ts on Shabbat. The Liberal Rabbi explained that sporting activities of a non-professional nature are permitted, since they are normally associated with fun and relaxation. Is this correct? Why?
Jewish Law, Halachah, does not object to playing sport on the Shabbat ab initio. Rather ball games, swimming, tree climbing
and horse riding have become banned activities on Shabbat for Orthodox Jews because of violations of other Shabbat laws that
might result from their performance. For example, if you play a ball game the ball might go out of your private property and
then, in order to retrieve it, you would have to carry the ball in a public place – which is a forbidden task on Shabbat.
Even if you can play your ball game entirely in your back garden, a ball or bat might hit soft earth and cause a depression
or you may need to repair it if it is broken, both of which are a violations of Orthodox Shabbat law. A swimmer might
inadvertently splash water out of a pool thus causing a furrow in the ground, so swimming is only permitted in a pool that
has an overhang by some authorities, but is banned by others since you might squeeze water out of your swim-suit. (Based
on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayyim339:2 and 308:45.)
Liberal Judaism, is, in the words of Claude Montefiore, one of our founders “no less eager to sanctify the Sabbath than
our Orthodox brothers and sisters, but we feel that the sanctification must be effected in a living way ….we can no longer just
refer to the paragraphs of a code. We ask that every Liberal Jew should himself consider whether a given action is or is not
consistent with Sabbath sanctification with making the Sabbath a day of peace and joy, different from other days to some extent
even in its pleasures. Two questions have to be put. First, is a given pleasure in accordance with the spirit of the Sabbath?
The reply might condemn some pleasures …Secondly, is a certain pleasure or action undesirable on Saturday for me? If my
circumstances never enable me to play cricket except on Saturday, that is a good reason for playing cricket on Saturday.
If my circumstances enable me to play cricket on other days, that is a good reason for abstaining on Saturday. The mind
must be used in these matters, not a mere rule of thumb.” (“Liberal Judaism and Convenience” 1924)
In a 1913 pamphlet (“What would you have us do?”) Montefiore drew a distinction between a professional golfer and one who
plays solely for pleasure. For the professional, golf on Shabbat should, of course, be avoided, whilst the above test should
be brought into action for the amateur. He also makes the point that such hobbies must not be allowed to be so all consuming
that a person neglects to join his or her community in prayer on Shabbat.
Claude Montefiore’s views are, in my opinion, valid for today’s Liberal Jews – and Reform Jews (see R. Jonathan Romain’s
“Faith and Practice” p136). Thus I would agree with the Rabbi quoted in your question – but I would re-iterate that a Shabbat
that is chock full of sporting activity with no time for worship or reflection on the week is no Shabbat.
How does an Eruv work and why do some Jews want one?
Most London Jews are aware of the long running controversy surrounding the proposal to erect an Eruv around the area of
Golders Green and Hampstead Garden Suburb. If the proposal goes ahead, then Jews who observe the Sabbath law against
carrying anything in a public place will, within the confines of the Eruv, be able to carry objects and push pushchairs
and wheelchairs without the concern that by so-doing they are breaking Orthodox Jewish law. The reasons why the proposal
has aroused controversy seem to me to be because of how an Eruv is made and the objection by some Jews to a process which
they feel may make Judaism seem ridiculous to non-Jews.
An Eruv is made by connecting up at least four poles of at least ten handbreadths in height with wire in such a way
that they completely surround the area within which observant Jews wish to carry. Though existing poles and some natural
boundaries can be used for this purpose, there will need to be new poles erected on some of the prettiest roads in
Hampstead – hence the objections! This arrangement “works” because it creates the “legal fiction” that all of the houses
within the Eruv are actually surrounding one huge courtyard, mutually “owned” by the residents of the houses. Since the
Shabbat laws against carrying do not apply in one’s own private domain, you can then carry anything within this area.
For example, an observant Jew would be able to carry his Tallit bag and Siddur to an Orthodox Synagogue on Shabbat, which
would otherwise be a violation of the Orthodox Shabbat law.
It is the creation of such a “legal fiction” which is considered objectionable by some. Objectors reckon that the
creation of so visible a means of circumventing Jewish law makes the whole Jewish legal process appear absurd. However,
this “legal fiction”, which was first devised nearly two thousand years ago, will enable observant Jews in the area
surrounded by the Eruv who are wheelchair bound to attend Synagogue on Shabbat for the first time and it will enable
observant parents to take babies for a walk in their pushchairs on Shabbat. Most cities in Israel are already surrounded
by an Eruv as are several Jewish neighbourhoods in America. If you are sharp eyed when driving down roads in Golders
Green you may notice that many houses have an Eruv wire over their driveways in order to enable the residents to carry
throughout their property.
This answer generated some correspondence particularly from the international band of users of our synagogue website.
Among this correspondence was this from Jon Eccles of Bristol:
“I have just read your short piece about eruvs. As a non-Jewish and indeed non-religious person, I come to the question
of eruvs from the outside, but it does seem to me that there is a simple solution. The earth is a sphere, therefore any small
square drawn on it could be interpreted as enclosing either the smaller area or the whole surface of the earth except for that
smaller area. You could always just make a 'reverse' eruv, thus "consecrating" the whole of the earth for Jewish people, and
removing the whole problem. This is obviously a fix to get around a problem of religious law, but then again according to the
website so is the whole concept of an eruv in the first place.
Why not solve the whole problem in one fell swoop, striking a blow for lateral thinking at the same time? This would
create a small rectangle which would then be the only area in the world which was outside the eruv. Obviously, it could not
be hosted by a Jew, as it would create an inconvenience for them in their own home, nor by an anti-Semite, as they could
then use it for their own perverse ends. I volunteer to host the eruv in my back garden. I live in Bristol, so I'm some
distance away from you, but as it would be an eruv for the whole world it doesn't really matter where I live. Or you could
just find someone local to host it instead.
I hope this suggestion comes across in the sincere and constructive spirit that I intended.”
This was my response to Mr Eccles:
Thank you for your intriguing suggestion of how to provide an eruv for the world - and in particular volunteering your
back garden to be the area outside of the eruv. There are a couple of reasons why I don't except it to be taken up:
1) The original eruv (called "eruv hazerot" - the border of the courtyard) was literally a courtyard arrangement
around a dwelling or enclosed by it and so the reason for the legislation was literally to enable carrying to take place
within a household - this was then extended to make, so to speak, a giant household. The main difficulty with your suggestion
is that this link with the original "concrete" concept becomes lost. I accept that the message of universal world citizenship
which comes out of your suggestion would be a lovely way of expressing shared religious ideals. However the way in which
currently operating eruvs enclose areas with a large Jewish population and have a diameter no larger than a reasonable
walking distance makes them feel like real extensions of people's dwelling space.
2) The eruv does not in any way "consecrate" an area of ground. It merely marks it out an area within which observant
Jews are excused from some parts of the Sabbath legislation. I think that the idea of "consecration" - really a Christian
concept - is one of the reasons that many people oppose the eruv -as if it somehow creates an area that Jews consider is
"theirs" - it doesn't!
My parents have both died and we are considering selling their home. We came to America from England in 1949 and my parents both honoured the traditions they learned as young people. What practices/traditions do we need to observe? I am particularly interested in knowing what to do with their mezuzot. We do not know, yet, who will purchase the home.
We derive the commandment to affix a Mezuzah to the doorposts of our homes from the Shema verse Deuteronomy 6:9
“And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house”. A Mezuzah contains the Torah texts Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21.
One can be affixed to every doorpost in a house except for the bathroom, though many Jews who do not observe this mitzvah in
full still affix one to the front door of the house, partly because they nowadays are above all a means of Jewish
identification and a symbol of public Jewish unity. Only a permanent resident (one who lives in a house for more than
thirty days) is obliged under Jewish law to affix a Mezuzah.
It is the general practice to remove any Mezuzot from the doorposts of a house that may be sold to non Jews so that
there is no chance of them being destroyed inappropriately. They should not be thrown away but rather the hand-written
scroll inside should be treated as would a Sefer Torah, which is buried when no longer usable. However if it known that
the new owners of the house would be offended if the Mezuzot were to be removed then Moses Isserles (17th Century Poland)
writes in his gloss to the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 291:2) that they should be left in place for the sake of good
relationships between Jews and non-Jews. I am not aware of any other special Jewish practices on selling a home.
Why do Jews have beards?
The stereotypical image of a Jewish man is a fellow with a full beard and moustache. Though many of our bearded friends wear
them for reasons of personal choice, there are also some reasons in our tradition for men to refrain from shaving, especially
in the strictly Orthodox section of the Jewish community.
The Talmud regards the beard as the "adornment of a man's face" (Baba Metzia 84a), which demonstrates maturity and piety.
Young priests in the Temple who had not yet grown a beard were not allowed to bless the people. The beard was considered to be
one of the main things which distinguishes a man from a woman and therefore, in compliance with other Jewish laws which require
men to look different from women, it was not be shaved off. For example Jewish men and women are required in Jewish law to
wear different clothing, which is why you will never see a strictly Orthodox woman in trousers! (See Deuteronomy 22:5).
Particular styles of facial hair were worn by the various peoples who lived in the Middle East during Biblical times.
Egyptian monuments show most Egyptian males with clean shaven faces except for the ornamental beards of the Pharaohs, which
extended only from the chin. The Hittites were also clean shaven whilst the Babylonians and Persians had curly and carefully
groomed beards. The Torah commands the Israelites not to "round off the corners of your heads nor to mar the corners of your
beards" in Leviticus 19:27. We can presume that this commandment distinguished the male Jews from other pagan peoples.
By the Middle Ages this verse had been interpreted to mean that a male Jew could only trim his beard and could only use a two
bladed instrument, such as scissors, to do so. For this reason, the traditional Jewish beard is full and includes a moustache
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