29/30 January 2021, 16/17 Shevat 5781

Following my sermon last Shabbat on our obligation to support those who need help to feed their families and themselves: First time users of food banks have emerged these past months. People who managed cars, holidays and jobs now in brutally different circumstances and relying on Food Banks, as others are.

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. The anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and so many Genocides that tragically happened since, despite the Never Again.  It is also Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of Trees. So as we anticipate the coming of Spring and the joy of trees and their fruit, we remind the community of what is needed and how to give in the easiest way. We honour those who died and knew well the preciousness of enabling others to eat. Please give: 100,000 victims lost this pandemic and this is a palpable way to help those who have been affected brutally by the collateral damage. It feels profoundly Jewish to look back, to remember and to act.