There were 80 on a tiny boat heading to a retreat. On the ferry to the island of Iona, one of the interfaith pilgrims described their group’s reason for coming as ‘Our souls are feeling thin.’ What a charming way to articulate a worn-outness of spirit.
I have just returned from an epic family Scottish trip to walk part of the West Highland Way. It was magical. I was so proud of Ruben as he graduated. I then spent a few days on the Isle of Iona with the children. It feels like the end of the earth: an island off an island off an island. I heard Bishop Rowan Williams speak beautifully at the Abbey about paying attention. Nothing focuses the spirit like a long journey or indeed many journeys – it took 7 hours to get here from Glasgow! Obviously, I’m thinking about journeys and about how we internalise where we’ve come from, where we are going and the stops and life choices we make.
This Shabbat we celebrate our Kabbalat Torah group – 7 of our teenagers who, after their B’nei Mitzvah, didn’t want to leave FPS, and chose rather to continue their journey with us. They will read from Parashat Chukkat;
Miriam died there and was buried there. (The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron. The people quarrelled with Moses
We see the Israelites at the lowest ebb of their desert sojourn; they are lost. They feel very lost and are struggling with all their memories. As James Baldwin described in Evidence of Things not Seen; “My memory stammers, but my soul is a witness.” They are angry and resentful -caught between moving forward and looking back.
But not so our KT group.
Even at the age of 15, our young people are learning what it means to look back and to make choices. One of them is to commit with such pride to FPS. I hope you’ll join our Shabbat services and be led by them this weekend – they’ve asked to lead the congregation back to Hutton Grove for kiddush in the rose garden. (Our builders agreed.) That’s how attached they are to our synagogue and to its place in their hearts.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
In these dark days of concern and distress, I am trying to reach for what is good. Celebrating people is the best way to do that and I am grateful for this opportunity that came out in the news at the end of last week.
Our own Paul Anticoni received an OBE for ‘services to the vulnerable’. We are immensely pleased and proud for Paul, as well as for Jan, Lily and Evie, who must be thrilled for him. Paul has worked in the Aid sector and for the past 19 years, has raised the profile of WJR to be the only Jewish charity that responds to global disasters in their way. I am particularly struck by ‘services to vulnerable people.’ What could be more impactful than that? Pirkei Avot suggests to us: where no-one behaves like a human being, behave like a human being. I love that invitation embedded in our Jewish tradition to be the best and do the best we can. Paul has definitively led on that.
In the Progressive version of Oseh Shalom B’imromav, we have added this clause to the verse:
May the most High Source of Perfect Peace grant peace to us, to all Israel, and to all of humanity.
WJR tries very hard to bring such peace and ease and with Paul at its helm, it has been acknowledged for doing so.
This week’s Parashat Shelach Lecha has the spies under Joshua scout the land. Ten of them return to Moses weeping, terrified by the giants (Anakites) who live there and the bumper size fruit to go with them. To give context, a couple of men are needed to carry one bunch of grapes. The spies think they’re seen as grasshoppers by the inhabitants and, frankly, by themselves. Two of them, Joshua and Caleb, are braver and appreciate that new adventures carry risks. It has endless relevance every year as we read this piece and maybe particularly so as we celebrate Paul, who has really been intrepid and thoughtful in his leadership.
As we watch the escalation of anguish in Israel and the Middle East and fear for our family friends and all those suffering, our hearts are breaking. These are terrible times indeed. But for a moment closer to home, we can schlep nachus and appreciate it’s possible to do good, be acknowledged for it and celebrate the fact. I look forward to seeing photos from Buckingham Palace of Paul with Jan receiving his Order of the British Empire.
Shabbat Shalom
Rebecca
Last Shabbat, we ran the first of our FPS listening projects*. B’nei Mitzvah families got to say in just 60 seconds what they love about our community and what they’ve been disappointed by. It was excellent. I very much want to hear both.
We clearly need to ensure all our prayer books (siddurim) have transliterated Hebrew so that all feel included.
People love that we are committed to making our Jewishness – our Torah, our services, learning and conversations – relevant and in touch with contemporary events. Thank you. I hear that clearly.
This week’s Torah portion describes the Israelites being bored, very bored indeed, of manna, that celestial food whose name literally means ‘what’s this?’ It is described as looking like puffed cotton seed and as tasting creamy and versatile enough to make cake or bread.
Instead of being grateful for this miraculous food dropped by God, the Israelites wept and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat free in Egypt. The cucumbers, the melon, the onions and garlic… .’ Numbers 11:4-5)
How can I read about God-given nourishment and the longing for food without being mindful of the hunger in Gaza and the withholding of food aid? Many, many Jews, both in Israel and outside of it, have spoken against this. Our foodbanks are overrun in this country, the need for food and the help to eat does not feel an ancient idea at all. While we read this portion this year, we must be mindful of this and of the imagining and story telling it offers.
We will read this and feel deeply the fragility of this moment of people’s desperate suffering and our continued turning to Torah to speak to us where we are.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
* Please be in touch to share your thoughts with me if you are not able to attend one of these home events with wine and food.
יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהֹוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ
May God bless you and protect you!
יָאֵ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה ׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ
May God deal kindly and tenderly with you!
יִשָּׂ֨א יְהֹוָ֤ה ׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם
May God turn to you and grant you peace and wholeness
וְשָׂמ֥וּ אֶת־שְׁמִ֖י עַל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַאֲנִ֖י אֲבָרְכֵֽם
Thus they shall link My name with the people of Israel, and I will bless them.
Tucked away in this week’s parsha, Naso, amongst the rather heinous description of the ritual of jealousy, a terrible ordeal for women whose husbands suspected adultery and who couldn’t pass the test – if guilty, you lived and were punished; if innocent, you died. Then it’s followed by the rules of the Nazirite, women and men who lived devoted to God and who avoided wine and haircuts: think Samson. Within this, is this tiny fragment of blessing that has become the blessing for us, for ourselves, our children and each other – the voice and gift of love, kindness and hope. We offer it every Friday night. Dean wrote a melody for it as Eamon, his son, turned thirteen. Dean will be with us quite a bit over the next couple of months as Natasha recuperates so we will get to hear this again and again.
Today, post-Shavuot and standing again at Sinai, after hosting wonderful Israeli rabbis representing RHR, after learning of the injury to our colleague Rabbi Marc Soloway on Sunday night in Boulder, Colorado, as he and his synagogue community stood at a Peace Rally, I am content to let these beautiful words do the talking. In their simplicity, they offer grace, peace and protection – all things we need so desperately.
June marks pride month and I’m happy and proud to flag this up as the inclusive, loving community we are. This blessing is so powerful. I hope all our LGBT+ members feel safe and very much at home.
I wish you all this and Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
As we walk these final days of the Omer towards Shavuot, it would be fair to say that the Jewish world is in turmoil. Shavuot is the day when we recall standing at Sinai and receiving the tablets of Torah – the 10 commandments, the essence of what would become Jewish life. We celebrate not just Jewish legacy but also the tradition of conversion, as we read the Book of Ruth and are reminded that the Jewish people is, and has always been, enriched by those who choose to join us. That, along with cheesecake, makes this the best of festivals. In a sense, at this moment of history, we’re being asked what it means to stand as a Jew within the wider global Jewish community.
We have always said we are a mixed multitude – an erev rav – of opinions and outlooks. That is who we are and will always be: Jews with different perspectives. Perhaps this moment of Progressive Judaism coming into being is key for us all. In the latest saga of some of the representatives, 36 of the BoD signed a letter calling for accessible aid for Palestinians in Gaza. It caused upset. But now, a few weeks later, Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board, gave a well-received speech last Sunday, when he made calls very similar to his Deputies. Things are complicated and simple simultaneously.
“We have been clear to Israeli leaders that we need to see aid flowing into Gaza, not a basic amount but enough to feed the civilian population… . Put simply, food should not be used as a weapon of war.” Condemning settler violence, the president branded Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich “a stain on the Zionist project,” adding “every time they open their mouths something appalling comes out … . Replacing despair with hope is a key part of fighting Hamas too. We all want this war to end as soon as possible.”
I am heartened by his words. I am sure many Israelis are too, particularly the families of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Judaism is predicated on strong values of justice and concern for every person. We must speak to it and be brave as we do so.
In eight different synagogue gatherings this Shavuot, beginning Sunday evening 1st June, Progressive Judaism and Masorti will welcome from Israel five Rabbis for Human Rights, who will bring news and compelling hopes and prayers for how they are supporting and working for the soul and future of Israel – and in a very real way Diaspora Jews are alongside them. I’m so grateful Rabbi Dahlia Shaham will join us for a keynote address 6.30pm Sunday 1st June when we gather at SPS for Erev Shavuot study, service and supper and then again Shavuot morning 11am SPS. Rabbi Dana Sharon will be staying with me on Monday evening 2nd June – if she isn’t too tired we will open a zoom meeting 7-8pm on the Delving link. Please message me for details.
At a time when Jews are called upon to claim their Judaism, this couldn’t be a better offering for us. We are in it together. See the poet Adrienne Rich’s prophetic words (In Those Years, Adrienne Rich). See you over Shabbat and I do hope you will join for some of Shavuot.
Shabbat Shalom
Rebecca
We are Week 32 of our building works. You can peek at the sanctuary and progress right now.
This week’s parashat Emor describes the festival year in detail – the way we mark time and pause for commemorations.
‘Speak to the Israelites and say to them, these are the holy times designated for you all. These are my holy days.’ (Leviticus 23)
What follows is a detailed list of our Jewish calendar – Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot… . It’s poignant this year, being out of our building for all festivals. Seder was wonderful at Moss Hall but I know coming to shul with me at Shaarei Tsedek or SPS isn’t the same as being home.
We are on day 31 of the Omer, 5 weeks through this counting. All this while, I am thinking about our building and its progress. How we miss being there and how grateful Council and I are for all your support! Caroline is organising for us another hard hat tour on Friday, 6th June to pique interest and pride in the progress. We are on the last piece of our marathon fund raising. Seeing where we are might remind you of your love and appreciation of our synagogue in Hutton Grove. We are currently looking at ways of our children marking bricks and burying a time capsule to capture this moment, this year, this adventure in the life of FPS.
Shabbat Shalom and here’s to the continuation of our works and a return for Rosh Hashanah together in our newly-renovated building.
Ursula Leguin, a feminist and science fiction writer, wrote: Listening is an act of community, which takes space, time and silence…reading is a means of listening.
Listening to each other is indeed a core value of community life at FPS. We learned that when we joined London Citizens to do justice work across Barnet and to ensure it would be an important part of FPS life.
Talking to FPS congregants is the most precious part of being your rabbi and understanding what matters to you, what worries you, what you would like to see happening in your synagogue.
Our previous Chair, Tamara Joseph, with Blue Weiss (our community organiser with London Citizens) is training some FPS folk in the skills of listening, which will ensure it’s at the heart of congregation.
What matters to us right now is what animates us in our Jewish life and purpose.
What and who are we worried about?
I am intrigued to see what comes of it.
This week’s portion, Acharai Mot-Kedoshim, is the central portion in the Torah, half way through Leviticus and it’s here we receive this teaching, which is repeated so often: “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Rabbi Akiva stated “this is a major tenet in the Torah.” For so many of us, it’s what is at the heart of Jewish life and thought, both for each other here in FPS and in the wider world. We look forward to sharing opportunities to meet for some more ‘listening’ and talking.
Shabbat Shalom on this 25th day of the Omer,
Rebecca
This Shabbat, we will read from the double portion of Tazria-Metzora, a parasha intensely focused on health, illness and the medical ’intervention’ of the priests.
We have to work quite hard to extrapolate these chapters into our contemporary world, where medical care, at least for us, is readily, (if not immediately) available.
However, this year I understand them better. We bring these moments of frailty into our synagogue life. Attending and accompanying those who are unwell is a central part of my role as rabbi. Each week, we think of them in our prayer for those unwell within FPS. It matters enormously that we know who is unwell and who needs support, as well as those whom do we need to mention communally; they are in our hearts and minds. This is how community can operate at its best.
So, far from feeling frustrated by Tazria-Metzora and its squeamish attention to detail, I welcome it as a reminder of how we bring our full selves into congregation – our physicality as well as our intellect.
It was Susan Sontag who wrote about the land of the sick and the land of the well. Until you have experienced illness, you don’t know about the other land that exists in parallel.
“Illness is the night side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place.” (Illness as Metaphor 1978)
Many of us have entered that land for ourselves or with those we love.
Torah reminds us this week that everything is connected. Those offerings of turtle doves or young goats that were commanded after healing were just an ancient expression of relief and gratitude for recovery and safety. When we offer the blessing of gommel – of recovery and safety – we are reminded of this.
I thought about this a great deal on our sponsored Walk Home last Saturday evening. Many of those who walked have recovered from illness and accidents and life changing experiences. The decision to share all of that with the community was absolutely joyful, an expression of life together and our appreciation of FPS as a congregation. It was a wonderful (and gruelling) 8 hours. My feet can attest to that.
But the force and enthusiasm for community powered us through. We raised much needed funds for which I am so appreciative to generous congregants and we raised our spirits. Thank you all.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
We are on the 10th day of the Omer out of the 49 days to Shavuot. Counting marks time and encourages us to pay attention. As a way to note where we’ve been and anticipate where we are going, we have chosen to walk 40,000 steps, which works out under 20 miles (or you can walk any part of it).
The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, created Yom Hashoah v’l’Gevurah as a stop during the Omer counting. It remembers the suffering and bravery of the Shoah (Holocaust) as well as all the souls felled by it. Although the latter part of its name has fallen away, the title was chosen intentionally: the day of Holocaust and Heroism and Remembrance. It was a shocking act for the modern state to add to the festival calendar. Now it feels so right, so appropriate, to be recalling the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and the millions murdered across Europe. Eighty years on, our president, Paul Silver-Myer, is walking this week for the March of the Living.
This Saturday evening, we’ll be doing our own march, walk even, counting ourselves as Jews, Jewish adjacent and supportive and connected members of FPS. It’s not too late to join us with your walking shoes or, on Wednesday evening, to attend our powerful marking of Yom ha-Shoah with Ella Garai-Ebner.
It feels to be an important week.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
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