It’s been for some of us a good year and a full year. As we approach Rosh Hashanah, we think of our lives but also what we can bring to other peoples’ lives.
Teshuvah U’Tefillah U’Tzdakah ….. Repentance, Prayer and Charity (justice) will avert the evil decree. We will chant this many times over the HHD services. There is much to comment on this verse, and I will be, but for now as we approach Sunday the idea of righteous giving and support is important. Generosity is key.
A friend received a message the other day. His name was mentioned and honoured as his brother made a donation to the food bank in their South African synagogue. Instead of a physical Rosh Hashanah gift, they donated to the food bank in his name. I loved this idea.
We all agree Food Banks are not the answer and we are right to feel ashamed that so many people rely on them here in our affluent United Kingdom. Charity can’t end poverty. But while the need is there, we are responsible for sharing what we have. So please donate money or food in family or friends’ names. We will happily send a Rosh Hashanah email to anyone you donate for.
Join us in the learning and activities we have as we prepare here at FPS for Rosh Hashanah to bring it extra meaning and joy.
Shabbat Shalom
Rebecca
All of old. Nothing else ever. Ever tried. ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail better. Samuel Beckett, Worstword Ho! 1983
We try hard in our lives, seeking to do the best we can and floundering at times. If HHD gives us a chance to reflect then what better way than to consider our failures. What are we proud of and what do we regret?
There is the clear obligation to forgive others as Maimonides reminds in his Laws of Tshuvah It’s forbidden for a person to be cruel and refuse to be appeased. What about the way we look at our own successes and failures?
Join Rabbi Howard Cooper and me to discuss and study together (at FRS) this Saturday night before Selichot service: Fail Better.
Wishing you Shabbat Shalom and so pleased Ivriah is back and Cafe Ivriah filled the Small Hall last week as the children began their lessons and we learned Kiddush. #TheNewTen #LearningJewishSkills.
Rebecca
Rabbi Rebecca writes;
I am busy searching for all texts and anecdotes to open our hearts this month of Elul. This is to signify the journey we begin on 29 September, Erev Rosh Hashanah.
This week I listened to Malcom Gladwell’s new book Talking to Strangers. His premise: we can never really know the stranger and often as humans make catastrophic errors of judgement about people we meet. We rely on feelings and instinct and sometimes are very wrong. How prescient of the BBC to broadcast this Book of the Week now when mistrust and suspicion is palpable in our parliament and filters down to others.
Gladwell recounts one of the greatest ‘follies’ in 20th century history, Neville Chamberlain’s catastrophic misreading of Hitler. But he softens judgement by demonstrating how difficult it is to read others.
A tiny verse in the portion this week Ki Teitze captures this unease and mistrust:
When you go out [as an army] against your enemies, be on your guard against anything untoward in them. (23:10) and yet is somewhat contradicted by a later one: You shall not subvert or abuse the rights of the stranger… (24:17)
I invite you to consider trust this week, and the way we offer and withhold it. Shabbat will be 14 Elul, almost half way through the month. I am reminded of Barbara Crooker’s poem In the Middle of a life that’s as complicated as everyone else’s, struggling for balance…
Good luck with Elul and look out for our new learning beginning next week and our shared Selichot service at FRS on 21 September, beginning with my study session with Rabbi Howard Cooper entitled Fail Better.
Shabbat Shalom to all
Rabbi Rebecca
Zoe Jacobs writes:
I spent the bank holiday weekend on Brighton beach. The extraordinary sunshine warmed the pebbles around me, and – when I wasn’t swimming – I enjoyed hours of picking up and cradling warm, smooth stones.
They felt so permanent in a moment where everything from our weather to our politics seems frighteningly impermanent. It is calming to have solid, ancient things around us as we navigate through this storm.
Our Judaism, our Torah and our wonderfully dependable festivals offer us this anchor as we transition into September. Join us through Shabbot or Chaggim, through Ivriah or Delving into Judaism. Our roots keep us stable.
And, if on your wanderings, you also find stones warmed by the sunshine please inspect them to see if there is a hole through them. Please also look out for conkers, shells and other rain-proof, natural decorations we can use for our – impermanent – sukkah. Collection jars are ready in the synagogue.
Shabbat shalom,
Zoe
History, as we know, as a way of repeating itself. How can it not?
As the M.S. St. Louis cruised off the coast of Miami in June 1939, its passengers could see the lights of the city glimmering. But the United States hadn’t been on the ship’s original itinerary, and its passengers didn’t have permission to disembark in Florida. As the more than 900 Jewish passengers looked longingly at the twinkling lights, they hoped against hope that they could land. Those hopes would soon be dashed by immigration authorities, sending the ship back to Europe. And then, nearly a third of the passengers on the St. Louis were murdered. Most of the ship’s 937 passengers were Jews trying to escape Nazi Germany.
And so we watch with horror the waters off Lampedusa, Italy. The same island of Lampedusa where that extraordinary fisherman made crosses out of life boats, one of which resides in Pembroke College Chapel, Cambridge.
Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has reluctantly authorised 27 migrant children rescued at sea to disembark from the charity vessel OPEN ARMS anchored in limbo off Lampedusa Island for days.
He agreed to save the ‘alleged’ minors despite it being “divergent to my orientation”. And the remaining 105 adults and 2 accompanying children are to stay on the boat the NGO says is not fit to hold them. They are considering flying them to Spain but their options are limited. Immigration is challenging. We would be naive to believe otherwise, but there are moments when the word ‘No’ is inhumane. Both in stories and in real life. Proactiva Open Arms says the situation is untenable, visiting doctors agreed.
The iconic verse “A human being does not live on bread alone,” found in this week’s portion, Eikev (Deut. 8:3) invites us to think of all in this scenario, those that rescue and those that are rescued.
May a safe solution be found speedily.
Shabbat Shalom
Rebecca
PS. 2 hours ago the boat was ordered to disembark and the refugees allowed to enter Lampedusa. May they and the Islanders find safety and ease.
LJY Israel Tour just returned. It included 4 FPS folk, and also Kayitz, the year above, visiting Croatia, Serbia and Austria, 20% of whom were from FPS. I have been thinking of Coming of Age Summers. I’m not sure if you can remember yours, I can recall mine and here it is remembered for posterity on Radio 2 Pause for Thought.
There is something viscerally different about these long days of Summer. a slowness kicks in even when we work at our desks. This week’s portion Va’etchannan contains the Shema where we are told to remember and talk of these things; God morning and night. We often forget it’s Torah not a ready made prayer composed generations after. The blessing before the Shema, Yotzei Or u’Vorei Hoshech who makes light and creates darkness takes on more meaning during these light evenings.
This Shabbat evening will be our August Resouled. Do join us if you are here and experiencing summer in North Finchley.
Shabbat Shalom and look forward to seeing you.
Rabbi Rebecca
Last weekend I went to listen to Yael Naim at the Purcell Rooms. She is an Israeli French songwriter, indeed she became the first Israeli ever to be in the U.S top ten when one of her songs was picked by Steve Jobs to advertise the new Mac Book Air in 2008.
She brought much Jewish neurosis ad charm to her performance on Sunday, including her protegee, ‘younger brother’ Eyal another Israeli musician who warmed us up before she arrived. Her repertoire had been upbeat but Sunday’s concert was her new material, ‘fresh from the fridge’ as she described. It was mournful and full of both grief and acceptance. I find such music always moving. Indeed Joni Mitchell and Carole King form the soundtrack of my life, melancholic female vocals.
But sitting in the Purcell rooms life and our Jewish calendar coincided. Unwittingly it was the perfect way to approach the 9 Av which falls this Shabbat and is, as we know, the ultimate day of mourning in the Jewish calendar. We Progressive Jews, have struggled at times with this memorial of disaster; for the destruction of both temples, believing as we do in progress of Judaism from Temple worship, but the day has also acted as a magnet for disaster throughout history. But, of course, we have no problem engaging with grief and mourning and so this day reminds.
Rabbi Alan Lew z’l *changed my perspective when he suggested 9 Av, Tisha B’Av is the gateway to the ‘undoing’ of our hearts in preparation of Elul and the HHD season. We will only benefit from the renewal and return that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur offer if we unpack or break up the walls, protection and stubbornness that we have built through the past year [or years].
Whether you relate to the history and memory of this day or the symbolic and religious opportunity it gives, it offers something rich.
This year we do not have a commemoration at FPS but I attach a Thought for the Day I recorded for Jewish Care on the theme of Tisha B’Av. Click here to listen.
Shabbat Shalom and hoping your summer is suitably recharging and relaxing.
Rabbi Rebecca
*This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation 2003
This is a photo of the entrance to our synagogue. Rarely a person arrives nowadays without commenting on its beauty. Sasha Conroy is responsible for this and her gardening helpers, most notably David and Sam. There is even an irrigation system in place to sustain its bloom. Many of us who come often to FPS might have ceased to notice this impressive addition to our garden. It is universally acknowledged that joy and appreciation diminishes after the initial spike. During the month of Elul why not look again at things we often forget to appreciate, looking up or out at sights that bring us joy.
Gratitude can always be sharpened, indeed focusing on the good is a skill. Elul, the preparation month before the HHD gives opportunities to reflect and consider.
In Musar, the system of ethical improvement created by Rabbi Israel Salanter, a later rabbi Rav Wolbe turns the idea of judgment of ourselves, so necessary for Elul into something appreciative too. (Alei Shur II p. 160): We find that in order to regret one’s transgressions, it is first necessary to know the enormous positive qualities which reside naturally within us. Looking for the good, out and in, is undeniably beneficial
It’s the 5th day of Elul, today Thursday 5th September, do check out all of our Elul activities as we gear up to Rosh Hashanah.
Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Rebecca
Mattot means tribes or clans. the name given to this week’s portion. But it coincides with the quiet period of Summer when many of us will be relaxing in our clans, with our tribes and even ourselves, the most critical clan member. It’s a welcome custom we have of re-calibrating ourselves during the weeks of high summer. The next portion often doubled with this is Maasei; Journeys. Again apt for this time of year.
Some of us travel and some of us stay put and enjoy our gardens. We will be here, enjoying our countryside.
Taking a pause and that second cup of coffee with a book after breakfast might be just what the soul needs after the fast pace of life, work and school. Even for a few days.
Here is my Pause for Thought on Coming of Age summers and the joy of laziness.
Shabbat Shalom to All
Rabbi Rebecca
The picture above is of our Council considering its tasks and the best way to lead FPS. They gathered for a full day of work last Sunday for what was euphemistically called an Away Day although we were here in our Synagogue sanctuary.
We had a nicer lunch than our usual snacks on a Tuesday evening. Our council is made up of Lay Leadership who guide and take responsibility for the synagogue as trustees for three years (usual minimum). They build upon the work by our founder members and the folk that followed them in leading the synagogue.
This week’s Torah portion Pinchas describes Moses handing over the task of leadership to Joshua. To that end I have invited our Our Vice Presidents (former Chairmen and Chairwomen) to join me in the service. Our congregation is nothing, if not M’Dor-le-Dor From One Generation to the Next. Indeed that is our strength.
See you for our Shabbat services this weekend, starting with Shabbat Resouled.
Wishing you all a peaceful Shabbat.
Rebecca
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