“Leave your land, your birthplace and your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you. (Gen. 12:1)” We talk a great deal about this portion of Lech Lecha symbolising change, redirection and courageous new moves. Avram and Sarai were told to move from all that was familiar to a place initially unrecognisable. They are promised blessing and abundance on doing so. Robert Frost ‘s poem captures the choice of paths we all take:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I’m interested that we applaud this biblical couple’s bravery yet contemporary migration and moving to new lands can be fraught with suspicion and a reluctant welcome.
The idea of moving and changing one’s life is an old one. It gives us pause this week to consider attitudes to those that move because they know they must for a safe life of blessing.
And that is good. Conversation with Torah should give us pause and opportunity to consider life; our own and others. Next week we have an opportunity to protest peacefully against the new Borders Bill that threatens such migration we read Abraham and Sarah undertaking.
Everything is connected.
You’ll see some of us are gathering at the Refugee Welcome Solidarity march next Wednesday-see below. If you are bringing coats to FPS, please bring hangers too. Many thanks.
Shabbat shalom,
Rebecca
AFTERNOON RALLY- BORDERS BILL
Refugee Welcome Rally,
[Meet at the Millicent Fawcett Statue 4pm]
Wednesday 20th October, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Parliament Square, London SW1P 3. Join with other FPS members and LJ folk to stand up for refugee rights, spread the message that refugees are welcome here and protest against the cruel and unfair new Nationality and Borders Bill. Just when the UK needs to uphold its commitments to refugees, the new Bill is progressing through parliament and moving closer to becoming law. Come and join us to show solidarity with refugees.
I love these photos from our past month of Tishri. We managed real community moments together. This new month of Cheshvan sees a focus on learning, as you saw in Shofar. The promise of second chances gets reinforced by Noach and the rainbow coming this Shabbat. “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
Here are the FPS learning opportunities ready for this fresh academic year. Hebrew reading with some modern Ivrit as well with Eti Wade on Wednesdays at 1pm (for those interested in evening Hebrew class please let us know). Were you struck by the camaraderie and learning of our our Adult B’nei Mitzvah group? A taster meeting will be next week 13 October 6pm. Delving into Judaism will be asking this term Is God Compulsory? Cafe Ivriah promises stimulating chat and connections. And look out for more in the coming weeks.
We’ll channel the poet William Blake.
“In seed time learn, in harvest teach,
in winter enjoy.”
Shabbat shalom,
Rebecca
Zoe writes:
With 24 hours behind me, I can take a breath and look back at the High Holy Days of 2021, 5782.
We truly weren’t sure what it would be like. With so many changes to normality; pre-booking, mask-wearing, social distancing, we didn’t know whether our FPS-ness could come through these obstacles.
But it was wonderful. Wonderful to be together in the building. So many of you told me you were anxious before your first visit back to the synagogue. And yet, once here, it was all okay. An embrace from an old friend, someone said.
I encourage you to come when you feel ready. We are here – and we know we can make not just Shabbat, but even our High Holy Days, meaningful in these strange times.
During the HHDs I become a citizen of FPS, of my spirituality, of my body. But as the cacophony of Tishrei festivals ebb away, the noise from the outside world becomes louder. I return as a citizen of the world. And it’s sometimes a difficult place to be. The reports from the Sarah Everard case are hard to read. The ongoing and urgent need for support for Afghan refugees is horrifying.
In a Barnet Citizens meeting just this morning we were looking at how the Barnet Refugee Welcome Board – set up to support Syrian Refugees – is now turning to Afghanis. We will continue to update you as we have more information, for the moment please do drop off children’s and adult’s coats to FPS.
May the joy of these festivals, our community, and celebration, lighten us as we continue along the road.
Shabbat shalom,
Zoe
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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