We just visited Bordeaux for the weekend. How can one not be restored by French cheese, wine and architecture? What I hadn’t anticipated was how intriguing I’d find the churches and religious buildings. The intricate spire of Cathedral Saint-Andre was visible in detail from our attic room terrace. The central window would guide us home at night. I’m taken, as you know, by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s insistence that Judaism creates palaces of time rather than space, Shabbat being the most impressive. But here in Bordeaux these buildings speak of a conversation with God.
This week’s parasha begins the Book of Vayikra, Leviticus. It’s known to contain a great deal of dry minutiae of sacrifice and other laws but its name means to call out.
And God called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the tent of meeting.
Leviticus is the book in which we are called to our religiosity, whatever that is for each one of us. And certainly that is what I experienced in Bordeaux. Indeed, in the cathedral, there were life size story boards of individual young people who’d taken the path of service to God, next to the stained glass windows and chapels.
“Et toi, que veux tu?” “And you, what do you want?” asks Pierre, a newly ordained Dominican wearing Ray Bans and a beret.
So I was ready for the Great Synagogue to be a similar expression of reaching towards God. It was the first major synagogue built after the emancipation of Jews by Napoleon. It was finished in 1812 then destroyed in a fire in 1873, and rebuilt by 1882 to be France’s largest synagogue at the time, costing 660,000 francs all which came from donations (and some grants from local and national government).
There are two towers, similar to bell towers on church facades; I read some Jews at the time were worried it looked too like a church, even with tablets of the ten commandments on the top. Even then community disagreed on building plans and ideas!
But it was an expression of pride and religiosity. I captured the dark green of the stained glass and it was beautiful. Movingly, the synagogue was used for internment before deportation to the camps. The building was pillaged and desecrated. But since the war, it has been lovingly restored to a living, breathing synagogue again.
Faith buildings always tell a story. Ours does at Hutton Grove. It may not be grand with towers and buttresses but it is ours and it has contained so much within its walls over these last 65 years or so. We now need to mend and restore it (our roof is in dire need) to enable its future life and a continuation of our story.
You are cordially invited to attend either Saturday evening 5.30-7pm or Tuesday 28th 7-8.30pm to begin this process; hear how we will be raising funds, asking for your gifts and applying for grants (as they did in Bordeaux). It is our calling. I so hope to see you there.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
….For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.from Peace of Wild Things
– Wendell Berry
So three years ago exactly as our world closed in, a group of our members asked for a morning service, an online shacharit (Hebrew for morning service). And so it began. Four days a week we created an online congregation. We saw it as an alternative to the Today programme and offered instead morning blessings, Shema, Psalms and alongside Dean’s voice, we wove in poetry to lift our spirits, to comfort and to offer the kavannah (direction of the heart) alongside traditional fixed liturgy, keva.
There were so many midwives to this project-Valerie Joseph, Bobbie Hood, Mandy Carr and Janet Tresman all lead the services now as well and Patricia Hinson writes new poetry for it. The words of this week’s portion Parashat Vayakhel – Pekudei talking of building and decorating the mishkan (sanctuary) capture something we did.
And every wise hearted person among you shall come and make everything the Eternal has commanded. Ex 35:10
And so this group did in building and beautifying our congregation. They built a community within a community and the skills of prayer and mindfulness have been honed and polished like precious materials and jewels mentioned in this portion.
We are only now tentatively making sense of what happened to us all during COVID, the loss, fear and changes we sustained. In some corners we built and grew and this is certainly one of them.
Join us for our anniversary service Tuesday 21st March 8.30am. (Please contact the office for the Zoom link)
We come out of Purim shaking off the violence and aggression however playful and we are met with Exodus 33 of Parashat Ki Tissa. This week’s portion is about love. It is about love and intimacy and the request to learn and know the others. It is Martin Buber’s seed, if you like, for his I and Thou and the understanding of true intimacy through seeing the other.
And so we stumble into this scene at Sinai when God tells Moses,
“I know you by name and you have pleased me.”
And Moses asks “Please may I see your glory?”
In this intimate moment between God and Moses, Moses is desperate to see, feel and experience God and God is warm towards Moses as well – and of course, it is all about love. And the message for us reading it now is how we choose to be open and part of things, and to understand that that desire to know and investigate is an expression of love.
In it, we see that Divine love triumphs over Divine anger, as Moses has no difficulty persuading God to abandon the plans for violence after the Golden Calf incident. So we see as Rabbi Professor Yochanann Muffs put it,
“Love is an act of bravery and tolerance at the same time.”
With great poignancy, this moment of Torah speaks to us now, this week, as we stand paralysed with fear and anguish at what is happening in Israel, not just that tiny land between Jordan and Egypt and Syria in the north, but the whole Jewish story that is ours here in the diaspora as well.
I speak with love even though my words may be hard for some.
The lack of knowing, of investigation and concern into the other, has possibly led to the extremists now holding power, people who once were considered too niche, too extreme to join the dialogue, who are now at the heart of the government of Israel. This is not a case of right, left, young, old. Even those at the traditional and hawkish end of the spectrum are calling for justice and what is right. We want to be awake and responsive to this moment now and to be part of this protest that seeks to protect the judiciary, democracy and human rights of Israel – and we can’t do that without love: without love for the land of Israel, ‘inspired by an age-old dream’ and all who live in it; without love for the Jewish journey and the challenge to ensure our own suffering makes us open and responsive to our neighbours; without love for the others as Torah reminds us 36 times “not to oppress the stranger because you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
Without love we would miss out on the extraordinary work of Tzedek Center, the NGO we are supporting through the NIF, that trains and enables collaborative work across all citizens. Without love we would miss the fact that the future of Jewish Israelis is bound up with the security and ease of their Palestinian neighbours. Without love we would miss out, as Dr Cornell West wrote “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public” and without it we are an impoverished version of ourselves.
These verses of Torah remind us of all of that. It matters.
Here is the link to the protest here in London on Sunday which I will be attending. Sometimes one needs to show up for love.
Shabbat shalom,
Rebecca
The Jews had light, happiness, joy and honour. (Esther 8:16)
Purim is a festival of the diaspora and we are nothing if not that. Here we are celebrating our own longevity, 70 years’ presence of a Jewish community here in our city of Finchley (Shushan!) So this Sunday we will taste a little of that light and happiness we are so good at creating here.
Our musicians will give us a concert capturing the last seven decades – an Anglo Jewish cream tea with hamantaschen of course. Those turning 70 this year will tell the story of Esther [and Vashti!), our children will sing and we will celebrate having sustained a liberal Jewish community, sometimes against the odds, right here in N12 – and yet we are here and hope to be at least for another 70 years.
This week’s Torah portion Tetzaveh affirms all of this when it begins with the instruction to keep a light burning always – in the sanctuary – a ner tamid.
And that is what we’ve been too.
An everlasting statue for all generations from the Children of Israel. (Exodus 27:21).
Purim for me this year has a new meaning, a chidush, (newness) that I am rather enjoying and very much looking forward to.
I hope to see you for this rather special afternoon on Sunday.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
This week I opened an email from Boots, the Chemist, offering an opt out of Mother’s Day publicity, if one’s heart wasn’t willing. I was impressed by the sensitivity for those without mothers, those who mourn not being mothers or indeed just having uneasy relationships with mothers or children. We might think this level of sensitivity is new, but it’s not. There is evidence in Torah, this week’s parasha even, that ultimately everyone is motived by their own desires and comfort levels. Boots, the Chemist appreciates that and so did God in talking to Moses appealing gently to the hearts of others.
Speak to the children of Israel and have them take for ME a gift from every person whose heart inspires them to generosity….
Rashi explains this expression of the person whose heart inspires refers to willingness, openness etc.
Rashi explains that in old French, this refers to willingness, openness, “an expression of good will in French,” all to be given voluntarily, that is the most important thing.
We in the business of community organising, of enabling and empowering others to be part of things, understand that everyone gives of themselves when they want to, when they feel seen and their hearts motivate them. In other words, there must be self-interest. I think a great deal about that and how we nurture a congregation that should inspire this and be a place where we operate sensitively and ultimately, encourage willing hearts.
This Shabbat Rafael and I will be visiting Ruben in Scotland and our services here at FPS will be led by our phenomenal lay leaders whose hearts are very much willing and able.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
There is one tiny line in this week’s portion that caught my eye.
You shall not put off (lo te’aher) the skimming of the first yield of your vats….
Why should Torah be concerned with timeliness in the midst of so many other mitzvot? What does God mean by not putting off and more to the point why does God care? I read some learning by Rabbi Jonathan K. Crane where he identified great interest in this sense of doing things with alacrity, not delay. Rashi, French commentator of the 11th century says don’t disturb prescribed order-Spanish Ibn Ezra a generation later goes a little further by suggesting this phrase speaks to couples not delaying their time together. Either way the message is seize the day, carpe diem. Moments don’t always last.
For me I am intrigued by this call to promptness. As someone as prone to procrastination as the next person I understand well the truth; if you know you want to do something good, why delay? How often I have had a good idea, or instinct for an act of kindness and I put it off momentarily and the moment passes? Amidst the sea of mishpatim-laws in this parasha the learning about focus and timeliness is useful. Last term our Taste of Torah class wrestled with the words of Kohelet;
When you make a vow/commitment, do not delay (lo te’aher) in fulfilling it for God has no pleasure in fools, what you vow, fulfil. Ecclesiastes 5:3.
Within the busyness of our lives how easy is it to put things off and be constantly caught up with other obligations. This is the reminder to us to approach and give time to everything we can – and to do so with alacrity.
We have so much to respond to in the life of our synagogue. This week we are called upon to support the rescue and support efforts in Turkey and Syria. World Jewish Relief as they so often do are leading the community to do so. Click here to donate.
Dear friend of the congregation Nsreen Kaa who came to Barnet with VPRS, has asked for financial support for her family caught up with the disaster in Northern Syria. Reach out if you would like to help her family. This on Shabbat Shekalim when we are called upon to think about our home and what we need to sustain it. Please see below invitations to join us for our first ‘Sip and See’ evenings for Renewing our Home. We want you all to be part of this.
Shabbat Shalom
Rebecca
This week’s Torah portion packs an unusual punch with Yitro giving compelling life advice to Moses, his son in law and consequently to every person who has read Exodus 18 since then. The message is so obvious – working alone and too hard is not just an expression of hubris – but is foolish as well.
The thing you are doing is not good.
You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. This thing is too heavy for you, you cannot do it alone.
It was clear and utterly unambiguous – managing alone is never good. The poet John Donne’s observation echoed this millennia later:
No Man is an island entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent
A part of the main.
Yitro was giving this message; we are stronger, better supported and more effective when we operate together. It is the kindest way. And what Yitro also identified was that people love to be of use, and be part of projects where they contribute and are appreciated. This is a critical piece of Torah now -being of use in a constructive and meaningful way is spiritual work.
Our community manages rather well at involving and benefiting from its members’ skills and generosity. But we can always do better. And getting to know each other in a profound and engaged way is how we go about doing it. Being known and recognised and sharing in this congregation is critical to many of us and the success of our synagogue. What matters to you? This is a question we should be continually asking each other. And I intend to do that at least 70 times this year, not just casually in passing at kiddush, which is also important but real, sit down with a cup of tea or go for a walk kind of time together. An opportunity to carve out time and share a full and real conversation.
So I am committing to seventy of these moments with you all (121s) throughout this our 70th year. And I expect our Council would love to have them with you too. Please book in with Caroline through for a slot. They can be here in the synagogue or a walk or wherever suits. We will begin by connecting this Shabbat for those who will be at services. Be in touch anyway you can.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
“This is because a tree can be only as strong as the forest that surrounds it.”
― Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate
We are celebrating Tu B’Shevat -we did so last night with our Delving into Judaism class and we will do so as part of Shabbat B’Yachad. New year for trees falls on 15 Shevat, hence the name. Once it was once of the four New Years that mark date Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashanah in Tishri, Passover in the first month of Nissan, New Year for Kings (fallen out of use) and for Trees which , thanks to the music’s of Tzvat has continued to be an opportunity to celebrate trees, nature and all things related.
Connections back along the thread of Jewish tradition is important, expanding it to include more of what matters to us now is equally so. As we work to be more environmentally conscious, to see our Judiasm as demanding that of us, so we welcome this festival this year. Baal Tashchit warned Deuteronomy, Do not destroy… trees and and all around them. And will use it as an opportunity to learn more.
It feels fitting that we thank Zoe this Shabbat for the tremendous contribution she has made to our synagogue. For all the seeds she planted and brought to fruition, and to the young people and grown ups, actually, she has nurtured along the way.
Do join us.
Shabbat Shalom
Rebecca
There is a lot here in this week’s portion as we encounter the last three plagues: locusts, darkness and, the most awful, death of the first born. It’s complicated; this story as the separateness of the Hebrews guarantees their safety.
Their subsequent release we recall annually, not just when we read the Torah narratives but when we sit around our Seder tables and sing “Dayenu” — this would have been enough.
I think of this as we prepare to kick off our 70th year and the pride and gratitude we’ll offer for those who founded our congregation.
If they’d met and tried something temporarily perhaps it would have been enough- dayenu
If they’d created a community but never built a home, maybe it would have been enough-dayenu
If they’d built a synagogue but never employed a rabbi maybe it would have felt enough-dayenu
But here we are with a building we love that we will renew and refurbish.
And here I am the fourth rabbi to lead and serve this congregation following my three distinguished predecessors. If you have been part of the FPS story for 70 years, 7 years or even 7 months, then this is your story to celebrate.
Be with us this Shabbat morning for stories, song, prayer and of course a very good kiddush catered as it is by Vice President Laura Lassman.
Memory is so engaging for us. Parashat Bo tells us to remember the Passover story-
And you shall explain to your child on that day, it is because of what the Eternal did for me when I went free from Egypt.(Exodus 13:8)
So we will be doing similarly with the story of FPS. Which if not a story of liberation certainly has been a story of finding a home, a synagogue enthused with progressive values and with the invitation to improve one’s life through this Jewish congregation.
Shabbat Shalom to you all
Rebecca
Just occasionally one has the opportunity to convene a conversation that one knows will change things for those present.
I feel this way about hosting Freddy Mutanguha and Janine Webber next Wednesday for our Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration, and I am grateful to Robin Heller for the introduction.
Marking the liberation of Auschwitz and that hopeful yet hollow cry that reverted through Europe and the world: ‘Never Again’, we have the privilege of hearing about the Rwandan genocide of 1994, through the eyes of a man who dedicated his life to the commemoration of that tragedy. Freddy was eighteen when his parents and four of his siblings were murdered by those who had been neighbours and friends in what is understood now as one of the most horrific genocides in history. Now leading the Aegis Trust and memorial museum Freddy is well placed to discuss the theme of this year’s event Ordinary People and why their stories so illuminate the path of justice for us all – and what better fellow guest than Janine Webber, close friend of the synagogue whose life is given over to tell the stories of ordinary people like her who have become, for us, extraordinary people.
Thinking of Elie Wiesel who wrote “Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must-at that moment-become the centre of the universe”. (from The Kingdom of Memory:Reminiscences). That is the purpose of HMD and why we engage with alacrity.
The three events I wanted to remind you of this shabbat is the aforementioned HMD event, plus our Civic service and FPS hosting a Belarusian event. All are connected by people and how individuals are, of course, the centre of the universe.
Civic service: Celebrating our synagogue’s 70th year is truly celebrating all the individuals who built and sustained our congregation and the spot it occupies here in Finchley and in the wider borough of Barnet in London. We have much to celebrate and I hope you will join us as we kick off the year with this service that will show off all we are – the stories we tell, the music we make and the prayers we offer together as a community. So many honoured guests accepted our invitation and we need you there too. So looking forward to seeing you for this special Shabbat service. Sign up here.
Belarusian tea: After our Civic service next Saturday. As part of our twinning commitment with Mogilev Keshet community and Rabbi Grisha Abramovich, Alex Bud and Wika Dorosz are hosting an event with the Anglo-Belarusian Society all to promote friendship between the Belarusian and Jewish communities in Finchley. With the background of the war in the Ukraine this event of solidarity and cultural exchange feels all the more important. With music, the history of Jews in Belarus and food and drink it promises to be a special afternoon.
Wishing you Shabbat Shalom in the midst of this cold and dark January,
Rabbi Rebecca
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