“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
At Rosh Hashanah I shared the story of the synagogue who created lamps and light in their sanctuary by naming one for each member so when they came the lights turned on and when they were not there the darkness pointed to their absence.
I told you this with long term late member Maurice Needleman z’l in mind. He treated the synagogue as his home and we its members loved him. Maurice at his death left half of his estate to FPS demonstrating his love for ‘his family’. It has helped us secure our future and we always hope others might consider us similarly. This Shabbat is his yartzeit and we will host a special kiddush in his honour on Friday evening and Shabbat morning. On Shabbat morning we will share his kiddush with another beloved member, Richard Greene, whose presence has contributed to our home that we know as FPS. Richard has brought his learning, his charisma, his loyalty, his prayer leading skills and of late, his dedication to transforming and renewing our building, our home. We’ll be celebrating with him with a certain bitter sweetness as he moves to Jerusalem to take up the post of CNN’s Bureau Chief of their Jerusalem office. We are proud and delighted for him, but a little forlorn to see him leaving Hutton Grove (albeit temporarily). Megan, Reuben and Myfanwy will stay here so we know he will be back and forwards. Join us on Shabbat to give him a special send off.
As we begin the Book of Exodus this week, I am reminded that Israel means us the Jewish community, our congregation, our synagogue. As well, of course as that land between Jordan and Egypt. This Shabbat I am interested in the power of names-each one of us so critical to our mass, to the flavour and mood of our synagogue here in North Finchley. Even Rashi suggests in his commentary to this verse-
Although [God] counted them in their lifetime by their names, God counted them again after their death, to let us know how precious they are, because they were likened to the stars,
What better thing to be reminded of as we begin our 70th anniversary year and look to our first event of the CIVIC SERVICE January 28th. I bumped into our mayor on Ballards Lane yesterday; she was in jeans not full regalia, and told me how much she was looking forward to joining us. Put the date in your diary; please be there.
And these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; with Jacob, each person and their household came:
Shabbat Shalom to all of you and your loved ones,
Rebecca
Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven. Both Jacob and Joseph died in Egypt and were prepared for burial the Egyptian way which may well have involved mummification.
Then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel. So the physicians embalmed him, taking a full forty days, for that was the time required for embalming. And the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
And then a little later; So Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten. And after they embalmed him, he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.
Both men begged to be taken back home for burial. It was demonstrably important to them. They had been absorbed and integrated into Egyptian society. And what is so intriguing is we finish the Book of Genesis with these words and begin Exodus with a stark reminder that a new King arose who did not know Joseph. In other words all intimate knowledge and affection for the Hebrew people had vanished.
I have just returned from a week in Upper Egypt travelling between Luxor and Aswan on the Nile. No Jews are left in that area of Egypt. At all. We did investigate Elephantine Island by the banks of Aswan which now is home to a very large Movenpick hotel and a new rougher Nubian village. Once it served as a military garrison of the Persian Empire where Jews were guarding the southern border of Egypt in the 5th century B.C.E. so we had connection to it. We spent a week exploring the extraordinary temples and tombs of Ancient Egypt and saw with our own eyes the visual reminders of change and progress as the Coptic Christians of the 4th century erased the hieroglyphics of the Ptolemies and those that preceded them and added their own religious images. The progress of history viscerally etched into the Philae Temple walls and many others.
Pre 1948 Egypt had a thriving Jewish community, as many as 63,550 in 1937. Things changed as we know with the establishment of the State of Israel for many Jewish communities in Arab lands like Egypt and Iraq. And congregations were dismantled as Jews fled violence.
Now just a handful live in Cairo and Alexandria only; the two communities there, Sha’ar Hashamayim and Eliahu Hanabi have neither rabbi nor regular services in the building. But there are traces of their presence. The Bassatine Cemetery in Cairo is considered one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in the world. I listened carefully when our guide told us almost the whole country were pleased to have peace with Israel. When Anwar Zadat said in 1979, No More War. Apparently the majority of his people agreed. And that sentiment is still there it seems.
Being reminded of Jewish stories and migration is part of the Jewish conversation I wish to be in. Looking forward to hearing your stories this new Gregorian year of 2023 and all it may bring to us here at FPS.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Rebecca
This week I am away with family taking some days to recharge and be together. It’s fitting that this week’s portion Parashat Vayiggash shows Joseph unable to control himself as he is reunited with his brothers after so many years. The emotion in the verse is palpable;
Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone withdraw from me!”
So there was no one else about when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
Joseph forgives and loves so fiercely, which I have always felt was so profoundly impressive. He cannot contain his feelings and Torah does not seek to edit them out. This candour is powerful.
Meir Soloveitchik wrote that the Jewish people is the result of God’s falling in love with Abraham and founding a family with him and Sarah. Families – no matter how complex and strained the relationships – hold us in their grip. And when you can spend easy time together it is a gift of such immense proportion. I’m taking that now with my parents and children.
Wishing you Shabbat Shalom and a nice move into the Gregorian New Year.
Rebecca
Chanukah is such an interesting time, recalling a time of restrictions and closure. Here’s a verse from the Book of Maccabees not easily accessible as it’s in the Apocrypha.
”And whosoever was found with any book of the covenant, or if anyone kept the commandments, the king’s edict was that they should put them to death”. (Book One 1:55)
Religious freedom and a sense of confidence in our differences is the mark of a healthy and respectful society. We get to celebrate with enthusiasm how much better things are for so many people and peoples now. An American friend was visiting last week for the first time in two decades and as we drove down North Hill in Highgate towards East Finchley station she marvelled at the lit Chanukiah that stands proudly there. This was not the UK she expected to see.
Divali lights, before the Christmas ones. Eid Mubarak signs in the windows of Tescos and their delivery vans, all this is progress of freedom of expression and the individual rights of each of us.
This is what we teach our children, that their religious freedom is only as precious as their neighbour’s. That’s what Chanukah reminds us. And I am grateful for that aide memoire. And the fact there is much more work to do. I saw a post on social media which offered a challenge so apt for Chanukah;
You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.
And so this festival of Dedication invites us to do just that.
Shabbat Shalom and Chanukah Sameach and join us for Latkes and lighting this Friday night and not too late to book in for a Shabbat lunch on Saturday 24th and early lighting.
Rebecca
Chanukah always gives me pause.
My children love that I start buying chocolate coins in November. And I have heard comments made that it is a refreshing festival as there is little prayer service throughout. Chanukah has benefited from (or lost out to, depending on how you see things) Christmas. It has grown in stature, our festival of light. Eight days to give generous gifts, copious opportunities for latkes and doughnuts and anything else made with oil to honour that slightly dubious miracle that we celebrate.
But Chanukah means dedication and tells the more nuanced story of a rare moment of military victory by a small minority over an established nation. It tells the story of a beleaguered group of pious and focused Jews who were exceedingly bothered by the Hellenised ways of their fellow Jewish folk. And the rededication of the second Temple was doubtless a victory, a return. The eight days of Chanukah reflect the eight days of Sukkot the previous festival uncelebrated because the Temple was out of bounds for everyone who wanted to worship. (Sukkot was one of those three foot festivals that required pilgrimages to the Temple). How can one not celebrate this? It’s fun and it’s tribal to a point. Early stamps in the State of Israel depict the Maccabi heroes. Yet I often wonder as a religious and integrated Jew who benefits from my host culture and being part of the multi cultural Britain I love, where would I have stood in 167 BCE Palestine?
I love asking that question.
And I love the opportunity to dedicate and rededicate myself to the Jewish life I choose and must recommit to every day, let alone every year. But this is the annual occasion that encourages us.
Here at FPS we are using Chanukah 5783/2022 to dedicate ourselves to each other, our synagogue and our building and will be looking back and forwards as we do so. Sunday 5pm after the World Cup Final. (I know it’s unfortunate timing but we will play it to our advantage.) Please join us because our community; our home is all about you who make it. Sign up here. As well as music, food and joy, there will be gifts and activities for children of all ages.
“Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them”. (Exodus 25:8, So said God to Moses about the first sanctuary/mishkan.)
Never a truer word was spoken.
Chag Chanukah Sameach and Shabbat Shalom.
Rebecca
For religion to have any meaning (and I like to substitute Judaism here) it must speak to the human condition and it must draw us towards the human project*.
I passionately believe this. Not only our own lives should be transformed by the rites, rituals and learning we commit to, but others as well. As Audre Lourde famously wrote; I am not free while any woman is unfree. The way of connection is to feel this empathy.
This week sees Human Rights Shabbat – Rene Cassin’s legacy meant the organisation in his name leads the Jewish world back to his principle: “I would happier if there were a little more justice in the world.”
So I enthusiastically endorse our community’s marking of it. And we have chosen key ways to do so.
Friday sees our first ever British Sign Language interpreted Shabbat service. This is an unusual and welcome addition and will be a poignant opportunity for some. Shabbat morning Rabbi Sybil Sheridan will speak on her connection with, and knowledge of, Beta Yisrael – the Ethiopian community and how Sigd – the Ethiopian Jewish holiday 50 days after Yom Kippur – has been marked nationally in Israel. And on Thursday at our online Beit Midrash Zarlasht Halaimzai will speak about responding to Afghanistan, the refugees here in the UK, and the cruel and inhumane life there.
Continually challenging and improving the human rights of all is a deeply humane and yet religious act. We can see the consequences of committing to the principle that all are created B’tzelem Elohim, in the Image of God. This year Rene Cassin has looked back to Jewish women of note and their words to inspire.
Ruth Bader-Ginsberg’s I am alert to discrimination. Or Helen Suzman and her anti -apartheid work, I stand for simple justice, equal opportunity and human rights. Or Simone Weil after Auschwitz and her reflections coming out of the Holocaust, of the need for a world based on respect for man and his dignity.
*Rabbi Larry Hoffman played with a version of these words.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
My grandmother didn’t particularly want me to be a rabbi. She thought it an odd choice of profession and one that would categorically impede my ability to make dinner every night. She was not wrong there. But what happened over the last 21 years of my rabbinate is that she grew to love it. She came to baby blessings at Woodford Progressive Synagogue (as was) and Rafael at Westminster Synagogue at the rather late age of 18 months, because third children suffer from after thought planning. But it was when she came to FPS that she fell in love with liberal synagogue services, familiar tunes and yet she admitted to me she rather liked the English that permeated the prayers.
Although I must admit she told me she was prouder of my roast chicken than any of my other achievements. It was her style of chicken and she was impressed I’d learned from her. And committed the recipe to memory.
And so this week’s dilemma of being both at her week long Shivah and also with my rabbi colleagues at the long planned retreat was interesting for me. But I know she’d like what I managed.
We Liberal Rabbis and the movement in general raised money to bring over the superb Rabbi Larry Hoffman to teach us and visit synagogues. Larry is both a liturgist and even more so a rabbi’s rabbi who’s greatest interest is in ritual and the power of synagogues to grow, be welcoming and make meaning for its members and friends. He suggests we have things to learn from Howard Shwartz the Starbucks founder who insisted We are not in the business of filling bellies, we are in the business of filling souls.
And as Larry said “if that was so for a coffee selling company all the more so for synagogues!”
Larry is with us here at Charney Manor in Oxfordshire for the Rabbi’s retreat, and he will be joining us for our Friday night Erev Shabbat service and we will hear from him then. I can’t wait.
Today I return to Shivah for my grandmother. This Shabbat is Parashat Vayeitzei and sees Jacob leaving Lavan. And on the way uses a stone for a pillow and sleeps and dreams his dream of the ladder; and the curious thing was that there were angels olim v’yordim.; going up and down. Generations of rabbis and commentators questions this, as angels usually come from heaven down to earth. Why the other way round here? It could not be more perfect for me this week as I mourn my grandmother. The angels here are grounded and centred on the earth, not in heaven. I hope not only that she is safe and at peace, but even more that her menschlikeit (humaneness) here on earth throughout her life, ascends with her. And that her resilience and generosity live on in me and all who loved and learned from her. Because unlike Jacob realising, ‘Truly, the eternal is in this place and I, I did not know it’, I knew how lucky I was every day of my life.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
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