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
Week of Pesach 2025
My sedarim were wonderful: meaningful, challenging and of course delicious – expert catering by Ian and Ruthie Gaskin and their cre
w at the communal seder for 80 and my own for the first night, where our lingering conversations – from Empathy, to the Prince of Egypt, to Passovers past – served only to make the cooking chickens more tender. We made every word of the Haggadah speak to us personally, bringing sensitivity to our story as Jews from Egyptian bondage, through Roman occupation, to the European pogroms and crusades, to the inquisitions, then through to the Holocaust and now into this aching moment of history. Throughout this, the quest has been for freedom for all. ‘Unless all are free, no-one is free,’ were our closing words. What a hope. What a prayer. We have scars for our trauma, clear battle marks of it all.
We also know that personal liberation must precede every communal one, that freedom always begins with us, in our hearts.
Min hameitzar karati yah v’anani v’merchav yah.
From narrow straits I called to you and You answered me in wide expansiveness.
This verse of Hallel, Psalm 118, is the heart of Pesach for me: it is an invitation and encouragement to notice where you are, to observe that the bars that surround you may come from your own habits, choices and fear, then to seek to move beyond them and then to free yourself – even partially.
This moment of Hallel, this moment of reaching for personal release, is the hidden gift of Passover. It speaks of relief from illness, from the awful paralysis of grief, from struggle and disappointment into a wider expansive existence not confined by the narrow straits in which we have been held. We may not be cured of our afflictions or our situations but somehow, we may be looser and easier with them.
This personal idea of freedom, which is deeply compelling to me, is right there.
We can seek this opening for ourselves and interrogate what a freer, more expansive existence might look like. In the opening lines of her poem, Ruth Brin, poet and liturgist, suggests this so gently:
No one ever told me the coming of the Messiah
Could be an inward thing.
No one ever told me a change of heart
Might be as quiet as new-fallen snow…
I hope you find a little change, newness, courage this Passover.
Below is a reminder of all the things going on for which we need your support and engagement.
Yom Hashoah next Wednesday evening. 23rd April Ella Ebner Garai (child of FPS members Mark Ebner and Janine Garai will speak about her grandfather at a G2G Yom Hashoah event. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/27/holocaust-grandpa-experiences-survivor-testimony.
At our seder one of our story tellers shared this-the young become older and the old become younger, and we take it seriously in our remembering.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
Israel
When I was there in February we met Rabbi Gilad Kariv MK (first ever Reform Rabbi) who critiqued eloquently the current government and the situation pre October 2023 and since. When we asked what we could do he begged us to vote in the World Zionist Elections. This is why we are urging you with the help of our Voting Captain and Rep David Rigal to register and be ready to vote and ensure a progressive voice (Maasorti, Liberal and Reform UK) are represented. Progressive Judaism and our vision of Israel as a democratic, pluralistic state face historic challenges. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis and extreme politicians control key levers of power and aim to relegate non-Orthodox Jews, women, LGBTQ+ Israelis, and ethnic minorities to secondary status. All FPS members will be entitled to have a vote that directly impacts resources and funding for Israeli Reform synagogues, rabbis, values, and advocacy.
What is it? Founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897, the World Zionist Congress election happens every 5 years. This year in the UK it is coming down to a real electronic vote.
How urgent is it? 8 April – 13 May, is the registration period. Anyone who is going to vote has to register at this time. This is how you register: Click Home | Arzenu UK and just follow the Register to Vote procedure. It will cost you £1 which is a token amount to help to underwrite the cost of the election and to make sure that automated ‘bots’ do not undermine the voting. In the process you will be asked to accept the ‘Jerusalem Programme’ of the World Zionist Congress. If you click The Jerusalem Program Explained – ARZA then you can find an explanation of how this document came about and Reform Jewish reactions to it. The vote itself is 9-16 of June but it will be won or lost in the 8 April – 13 May registration period.
Why is it important? Progressive Judaism in Israel, Pluralism, Democracy, Equity, Security, Justice, a path to Peace, with billions of dollars in the balance. If we don’t take our rightful share of the votes and resources, they will go to those who actively work to oppose our members’ rights, our movement’s presence, and the values that animate many of our Zionism. Our people on the ground need our support and our votes.
Yom Ha’Atzma’ut
On Wednesday 30th April we join with four other synagogues, in a very special initiative will share Israel’s Independence Day Yom Ha’Atzma’ut in a service together and with several learning sessions structured around the Declaration of Independence and the core founding principles of values. We will end with eating together . The evening will ensure there is something for everybody; whatever your feelings about the state. A chance to explore hope and empathy and raise up the voices of those working hard for democracy there, as well as dance and poetry and Israel’s history. Please book for food prep.
It has been a heartbreaking year and this Pesach we feel it deeply.
Whilst in Israel I met with the most extraordinary rabbis and educators and those working for shared hope. Many of them work on and encouraged us to attend this service. Tuesday 29th April will be the 20th shared Israeli-Palestinian Memorial service of Yom HaZikaron organised by the Israeli and Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace and Combatants for Peace. I hope to arrange a virtual watching group and would ask you to let me know if you would like to join me.
On that day tell your child, ‘I do this because of what the Eternal did for me when I came out of Egypt.’
This is not just an empty verse we will read in the Haggadah; it is an obligation we all carry to bring contemporary meaning and relevance into the Seder. When I was a teenager, we brought the plight of Jewish refuseniks leaving the USSR. A few years later, we described Operation Moses and Solomon bringing Ethiopian and Yemeni Jews to Israel. All of these acts of contemporary liberation added to our understanding of the Seder story.
Now similarly, we must bring the suffering of Israel and the Palestinians to our Seder. We will not be alone. Many, many Jews and many of those in Israel will bring this to their tables. They will bring the plight of the remaining hostages and of their families still waiting and mourning them. They will also bring the terrible challenge of the story of liberation at our Seder tables whilst Palestinians experience such oppression and lack of freedom in their homes in Israel and West Bank. ‘Liberty is at the heart of the Jewish story,’ says Rabbi Avi Dabush, ‘not just freedom but breaking the cycle of suffering. If those around you are not free, you remain enslaved. If you use your power to enslave others, you will no longer be free.’
I find these words poignant and powerful this year because having seen it for myself, I know it to be true. When I was in Israel in February, we visited so much in the country, beginning in the South where I saw the Nova festival site. We said Kaddish amongst the red anemones that have spontaneously grown there in this place of brutality and murder. We sat with rabbis in Kibbutz Nirim. I attended Havdalah in Hostage Square and felt an important witness at each of these moments.
A group of us were taken to the West Bank with 10 other British rabbis and 4 Israeli rabbis and educators. That day, being shown the terrain of the Southern Hebron Hills and in particular, one destroyed Palestinian village of Zanuta, we were attacked by a settler. Not just shouted at, but physically attacked and threatened. He drove his truck with purpose towards us as we scrambled higher and higher, unable to escape from his forceful 4×4 vehicle, until we calmly edged past him to the bus, terrified by his presence. He spat at our driver, damaged the car of one of the educators and attempted to drive our little bus off the road once we’d managed, shaking, to clamber back on safely. There was aggression and intent to harm and we all saw it clearly. If this group was demonstrably Jewish to us, then how much more so to others?
We saw it later in Hebron when Jewish children attacked Muslim women walking down the street, whilst the inexperienced soldiers did little to protect them. Then the children turned on us too and no-one stopped them.
As concerned and loving Jews, we have an obligation to support colleagues on the ground and raise up their voices both at Seder and beyond. Liberation is a potent idea this year in so many ways.
Monday 7th 7-8pm online and Shabbat 12th April I will bring writings, resources and pieces to brighten and deepen your Seder.
There is something we can do to support Israel and its values.
Support Progressive Judaism and our vision of Israel as a democratic, pluralistic state face historic challenges. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis and extreme politicians control key levers of power and aim to relegate non-Orthodox Jews, women, LGBTQ+ Israelis, and ethnic minorities to secondary status. We have a vote that directly impacts resources and funding for Israeli Reform synagogues, rabbis, values, and advocacy. This video (click here to watch) is a great but utterly terrifying example of why our campaign matters so much.
What is it? The World Zionist Congress election happens every 5 years. This year in the UK, it is coming down to a real vote, where each of us will need to cast an electronic ballot.
How urgent is it? 8 April – 13 May is the registration period. Anyone who is going to vote has to register at this time. The vote itself is 9-16 June but it will be won or lost in the 8 April – 13 May registration period.
Where’s the link? We don’t have it yet!!! As soon as we have the destination for registrations, we’ll share it. David Rigal () is our captain and will be happy to help register folk from 8th April to 13th May both before services and you can email him.
Why is it important? Progressive Judaism in Israel, Pluralism, Democracy, Equity, Security, Justice, a path to Peace, is very much at risk. There are billions of dollars in the balance and if we don’t take our rightful share of the votes and resources, they will go to those who actively work to oppose our members’ rights, our movement’s presence, and the values that animate many of our Zionism. In the UK election the joint Reform, Liberal and Masorti slate is called ‘OUR ISRAEL’.
Our community is having a difficult time around Israel. Is this going to make it worse? The elections are going to bring up a whole new series of conversations in our wider community, and therefore also in our shuls. Nobody HAS to vote, and even though we’d love all progressive members to vote with the movement, there are other groups running in this election if they’d like to make a different choice.
We have just started the month of Nissan and moved to British Summer time last Sunday. Pesach is less than two weeks away. My kitchen cupboards look at me with relief at this time of year, knowing I will be cleaning them and tidying what’s amassed during the year. The physicality of the festival is comforting beyond measure; my shank bone is safely in my freezer already. Our Seder menu is coming together.
The literal act of clearing out is always welcome, resulting in making one lighter through the process of removing all that is unnecessary in your drawers and cupboards, hallways and even your car. So, you remove the leaven and free yourself a little. The core of Passover offers this: chametz is both heavy baggage you carry with you and unnecessary ‘stuff,’ both material and metaphorical. Chametz is any food that has risen or been leavened and is forbidden on Pesach because, as our Torah teaches us, the Israelites, rushing after the final plague, did not have time for their bread to rise as they were leaving Egypt.
Yet there is another layer of this ritual for us. We refer to this as spiritual chametz. It’s this that causes our egos, our sense of worth and importance, to inflate. Rabbi Arthur Waskow refers to this type as ‘the swollen sourness in our lives.’ This is chametz that prevents us from being free to encounter the world unencumbered, in a more spiritual way. There’s something about this small (albeit exhausting, if your house really needs it) ritual that can model so much and pave the way for a more honest engagement with Passover. The communal begins with the personal. I love these layers to Passover. Reaching for personal freedom from being stuck and fixed can only be a good thing. We start with ourselves and wrestle meaning from the Seder and Passover experience. I’m looking forward to sharing extra readings and ideas at an online learning session on Monday, 7th April at 7pm and in person on Shabbat on 12th April at 10am.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rebecca
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