woodford liberal synagogue€¦ · israel’s first bedouin diplomat mr khaldi, the third of eleven...
TRANSCRIPT
bimahMay-June 2012
WoodfordLiberal Synagogue
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Branches at:–
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It should be noted that according to the Constitution of the Synagogue only members not morethan two calendar months in arrears with their subscriptions shall have the right to vote at themeeting, and be eligible for membership of the Council.
J Toffell, Hon Secretary
AGENDA
1. Opening Prayer 8. Membership & PR Report 2. Minutes of last AGM 9. Education Report 3. Chairman’s Report 10. Rites & Practices Report 4. Rabbi’s report 11. Election of members to Council 5. Treasurer’s Report 12. Election of Auditor 6. Burial & Cremation Secretary’s Report 13. Resolutions 7. Bimah Report 14. Any other business
WLS AGM Tuesday 22 May @ 8pm
Council would like suggestions of charity/ies members would like considered forthe 2012 Kol Nidre Appeal. You will be asked to speak about your choice
at the High Holyday services. Please submit your request to [email protected]
or phone Donna on 020 8989 7619
an evening with
Ishmael KhaldiIsrael’s first Bedouin diplomat
Mr Khaldi, the third of eleven children, was born in Khawaled, a villagenear Haifa. He attended school, which involved walking four milesround trip, and tended flocks of sheep.
Khaldi attended the University of Haifa where he gained a bachelors degree in political science andsubsequently earned a masters degree in political science and international relations from Tel AvivUniversity. As well as being a political analyst in the Israel Defense Forces he also served in the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Israel Police.
He was inspired to become a diplomat through encounters he had after initiating a project called Hike & Learn with Bedouins in the Galilee which brought thousands of young Jews to Khawaled to learn about his culture and the history of the Bedouin.
Ishmael Khaldi has written a book – A Shepherd’s Journey – about his extraordinary life.
Please contact Donna – 020 8989 7619 – to book your place and receive full details.
For security reasons only listed people will be allowed entry
Tuesday 15th May 2012
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WLS Refurbishment – a lasting legacy
I was delighted to read in the recent BimahLitethat Rabbi Jacobi is one of the 6000 London2012 Games Makers for the Olympic andParalympic Games, determined to make thegames an experience of a lifetime for ourselvesand everyone else. Richard wrote that WoodfordLiberal Synagogue was here long before thegames wereawarded to eastLondon, and thatwe will still behere when thegames are over;we have anongoing purposeto enrich the livesof our membersand thesurroundingcommunity andthat we cancontribute tosomething muchbigger than usand makesomething reallyspecial.
Well, when thegames are overwe at WLS havethe most excitingproject that willlast for muchlonger than the two months of thegames but willdefinitely leave alasting legacy forour members andthe widercommunity, apromise that the Olympics committee have yetto achieve in east London.
I am of course referring to the refurbishment ofour sanctuary that many of us have beenplanning for the last 18 months.
This ambitious project provides a uniqueopportunity to renovate the sanctuary, entrancehall and kitchen, extending the space to buildinto the awkward corners of our site. This majorprogramme of work will remove the currentheating and lighting system, replacing them withmore energy efficient and comfortable options
whilst allowing for some sound proofingbetween the sanctuary and the classroomsupstairs. Doors and windows will be replacedoffering double glazing and heightened security.A new floor will be installed. The possibility of alift to help those less able to use the first floor isbeing explored.
And, mostimportantly, the arcand bimah will beredesigned, so thatthe space is moreflexible andinclusive and giveus something reallyspecial that we canall enjoy and beproud of. Therefurbishment willprovide a seamlessdesign and a morecontemporary feelto our synagogueand an opportunityto prolong the lifeof a well lovedbuilding
Please come andsee the plans andideas that will belaunched at theAGM on Tuesday22 May. At themeeting we willalso launch thevital fundraisingappeal; we willneed to raise in theregion of £200,000,no small task forour community, but
a minute fraction of what the Olympics will cost!
And to end on a London 2012 theme, I will beone of 8000 London Ambassadors, promotingour fabulous city and helping visitors from allover the world enjoy our games; I hope that youwill become a Woodford Ambassador andsupport our refurbishment plans in any way thatyou can.
I look forward to seeing you at the AGM
Jenny Rabin
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There has been, inrecent years, a massiveincrease in what is nowoften referred to as'Social Media' – the useof networking andinformation sharingservices via the Internet.
Many people and organisations now have theirown pages on Facebook, share their latestnews via Twitter, or upload photos (usingFacebook, Twitter, or numerous other photosharing services). It has been said for sometime that computers and the Internet aremaking the world smaller – if we now live in aglobal village, Social Media is the villagegossip enabling each of us to instantly shareour news with everyone.
For some – Politicians, Civil Servants,Government Departments, Local Authorities,Journalists, Celebrities, Advertisers, and(especially) Teenagers – Social Media is now amust have. How else, in our increasingly busyand interconnected lives are we going to stayin touch with everybody else?
Even if you do not own a computer – you willhave seen increasing references to SocialMedia in advertising, press reports, and ontelevision or radio. We are increasingly askedto follow products on Facebook or Twitter –and it is getting increasingly impossible not tonotice the increasing appearances of the # or@ symbols. The BBC, for example, likes toput a hashtag at the start of some of theirprogrammes – #bbcqt at the start of QuestionTime or #hignfy before repeats of Have I GotNews for You, etc. Celebrities and teenagersnow use Twitter to announce everything fromthe mundane to latest breaking news.
You may wonder, what purpose does SocialMedia serve to a community like WLS; wellthe answer is really dependent on how wechoose to use it. Many communal and
religious groups are using Social Media topromote themselves, their communal events,and to identify with like-minded other bodies.Since it is very much an instant medium,Social Media is a useful tool for updatinginformation and reporting on events as theyhappen. Many Jewish organisations,including some Synagogues and their Rabbis,are starting to use Social Media. LiberalJudaism is on Facebook and has a twitteraccount (@LiberalJudaism). I suspect some of those attending the LJ Biennial Conferencein April will be tweeting about events as ittakes place.
Such is the spread of Social Media, thatLiberal Judaism recently requested details ofthe Twitter accounts used by the constituentsynagogues across the movement. LiberalJudaism uses Twitter to keep its followers upto date on various activities involving thewider movement, its staff or rabbis, andrelated organisations. By following the Twitteraccounts of its constituent synagogues, LJ can keep up to date with their latest news.When LJ made their request, WLS was notusing Social Media in anyway – although wedid have a Facebook page or group for the50@50 celebrations. WLS does send out aweekly e-mail message with details offorthcoming events, including services, andour website is updated every week. However,we have no mechanism for spreading urgentmessages or passing on information andrequests from other organisations – other thanthe weekly e-mails or via Bimah. Nor can wetell others what we are doing and share ournews or successes with the wider world. For these reasons, we have now created anaccount on Twitter and we are tweeting; so if you are on Twitter please follow WLS@wls_info.
Bob
To tweet or not to tweet – why WLS has joined Twitter
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What does ‘Equal’ really mean to us?
I write this the day afterour very successfulCommunal Seder, forwhich our thanks areowed to a team ofpeople who helped toorganise, set it up,serve, and clear up for
the 90+ people who attended. During theevening, I was asked about the orange weplace on our seder plate, and I explained thatit has become a symbol of the need toinclude everyone at our seder, including thosewho are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender,who are sadly unwelcome in other strands ofJudaism.
Reflecting on that explanation, I am remindedof the fact that the government sent out apublic consultation in March on the proposalto introduce gay civil marriage, a full equalitynot currently allowed by British law. Nationally,there have been quite a few headlinesprompted by this and, locally, a number ofreligious leaders wrote to the Ilford Recorder(22nd March edition) setting out theiropposition to the proposal. At the time ofwriting, a letter I co-wrote with my friend andcolleague Rabbi Larry Becker of SukkatShalom Synagogue has not been published.In it, we made clear that we, and both theLiberal and Reform movements, not onlysupport the concept of marriage for all, butalso seek the right of those religious groupswho so desire to be able to officiate at suchmarriages.
I know this is not a comfortable topic forsome people, and I will confess to being veryunsure of my opinions eighteen months agowhen the subject came up for discussion.Part of me felt that marriage must be betweenone man and one woman, while another partof me felt that any two people in a committedrelationship deserve to have the affirmationand security of a legal and moral relationship,which we have always called marriage.
As the matter was discussed by the RabbinicConference, in November 2010, I learned a lotfrom listening. For many heterosexual women,marriage is deeply flawed in that, for most ofhistory, the married woman was herhusband’s possession. Marriage for aheterosexual couple has only comparativelyrecently in the liberal democracies become ajoining together of two equals. This equality isnot available as yet in many countries of theworld. There is a strong argument in favour ofa civil partnership option for heterosexualcouples, just as there is a strong argument infavour of marriage for homosexual couples. I drafted a position statement on behalf of ourConference, which was approved in February2011. It stated clearly and unequivocally thatLiberal Judaism’s Rabbinic Conference willlobby for the law to change so that anycouple who are in a committed and exclusiverelationship may have civil marriage or civilpartnership. This we are doing during theconsultation period.
If you and I say that we value equally eachindividual person according to their behaviourin society, then we have to adapt and updatesome of our archaic laws and mechanismsaccordingly. This sometimes forces us torealise that we have been carrying roundprejudices and we have to do something very difficult. We have to change our opinion,because someone else has shown us that we were wrong.
What I learned from the listening and fromdoing this, is that being willing to change mymind is very energising and refreshing. So, Iencourage you to be willing to refresh yourselfby changing your mind when the informationsuggests you should. As our prayer bookSiddur Lev Chadash says (p. 297): “Fromprejudice preserve us, from hatred redeem us, and from self-righteousness defend us.”
Rabbi Richard Jacobi
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Alice Wilcock says… Why have a Feminist Service?
On Saturday 3rd March, the Shabbat closestto International Womens day, and also veryclose to Purim, we had a feminist service atWoodford. This was led by Di Kamall, TraceyGrant, Ruth Seager, Rebecca Seager, AliceWilcock and Adva Sapir, the LJ Slicha.
Why have a feminist service you may ask –isn’t the whole point of liberal Judaism thatwomen and men are equal and have equalityin all things, from raising the scrolls to readingfrom the Torah. That of course is true, and wesee this enacted in our synangogue fromweek to week and from year to year.
However thereis somethingspecial in takingtime to have adifferent kind ofservice once ina while, and totake a differentapproach and adifferentperspective.When we beganreading theexperimentallectionary andhaving a threeyear cycle toreading Torah,we of coursespent the wholeof the first yearon Boreishit or Genesis. We explored areasthat we wouldn’t usually study – but –crucially, we still left out the stories of Dinahand of Tamar. When I asked Richard why thiswas so, he explained that he and Pete hadnot felt that they sit altogether comfortablywith the ethos of Liberal Judaism. And I cansee that they do not. They contain rape,horrible violence, using prostitution as aweapon and some rather dysfunctional familybehavior. However, they also contain thestories of two women who suffered a greatdeal, who took matters into their own hands(in Tamar’s case) and who, in commentary
since, have been seen as important for jewishfeminism.
We chose therefore to talk about Dinah at ourservice and Tracey gave a fascinating talkabout the commentary and writings that shehad discovered about Dinah. (Do read theRed Tent by Anita Diamant for a verycompelling re-telling of the story).
We also, as a group, had been through theliturgy and amended it a bit. We kept in themain prayers for the morning service but forother pieces we added material written bydifferent women, which we sourced from both
American,British andIsraeli writings.Di wrote a newcommunityprayer,specificallymentioning thematriarchs andthe positivefemininequalities thatwe hope ourcommunityembodies. Weall read fromthe Torah,which I foundparticularlymoving – somany of us
each taking a chance to read a little, and playa part in reading Torah with our community.
And Adva, the LJ Slicha, gave a fascinatingaccount of the struggle to be an independentyoung woman in Israel, where sometimesreligious practice can be very discriminatorytowards women, as we know from hearingabout Women at the Wall.
Our feminist service gave us the chance tohave a different feel to our Shabbat morningservice, and to think about and celebrate thefact that women have contributed so much toJudaism and will continue to do so.
Left to right: Adva Sapir, Rebecca Seager, Ruth Seager, Alice Wilcock, Di Kamall, Tracey Grant
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Its difficult to talk of Albert without mentioning Gina. As a team their commitment, love forthe community and dogged determination laid the foundations that Woodford has built onover the past five decades.
Albert, Gina and their sons Peter z”l, Colin and Robin were a part of almost every facet oflife during the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s at Marlborough Road.
We, as a community, will always be indebted for the many years Albert was a member ofcouncil and our Honourary Secretary.
Simon Benscher
Remembering Al Gerlis z’’l – Vice President of WLS
Alison Dobias, Simon Rothstein and NicholaBaker plan to write a history of our synagogueover the last 50 years through the process ofinterviews with shul members.
If you have any photos and/or reminiscencesof founding members, chairpersons, rabbis,organists and choir members, these would begreatly appreciated.
The history team hope to organise a specialFriday night history service soon when youcan bring your photos to be scanned andreturned to you during the evening.
If you can help, please contact: Alison Dobias on 020 8220 9154 or
The History of WoodfordLiberal Synagogue
Why not create donations fromyour special celebrations?
Do you have a special occasion coming up and would like the presence
of those close to you but don’t want their presents?
Why not suggest a donation on your behalf to Woodford Liberal Synagogue.
This is a wonderful way to commemorate your simcha and
your generosity will contribute to the continued life of the shul.
For further details please contact DAVID GOLD on 020 8500 6335 or email
We are looking for some excellentprizes for our two tombolas at
the Summer Fayre.Gifts such as restaurant vouchers,bottles of wine & champagne, luxurychocolates and food items, toiletriesetc… as well as toys, teddies andgames for our children’s tombola. If you are able to donate a prize,please leave it in the foyer of the
synagogue for Josh.Thank you!
We need your unwanted items for asecondhand book/games stall at
the Summer Fayre.
Please leave anything in ‘very good’ or‘nearly new’ condition in the foyer of
the Synagogue.
Thanks!
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Having spent daysfrantically throwingoutfits on and off andarguing about whetherto have face paints(Scarlett) and nailvarnish (Saul!), it wastime to set out to theshul’s annual Purimevent. When they hadfinally decided on the well practiced,although notparticularly biblicallyrelevant fancy dressoutfits of a ladybirdand Spiderman (Saulalmost got the bugtheme prescribed byhis sister!) theyhappily paraded infront of the threejudges and were verypleased to receive amedal for their effortsand a coveted bar ofCadbury’s Dairy Milk!
Then it wasdownstairs and time tograb our seats for theequally eagerlyawaited Purim Spiel,and this year’s was
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most definitely worththe wait.
As usual the sanctuarywas transformed into a theatre space, thisyear’s theme being aMichael Jacksonversion of the Purimtale. With song titlesadorning the walls anda catchy mega mix ofJackson songs for walk in music themood was set.
A brilliantly writtenscript wasfantasticallyperformed by Josh(who almost stayedout of a dress) and theCheder teachers with a special guestappearance fromBubbles the monkey...what more could youwant?! The evening trulylived up to the festivalspirit and providedentertaining fun for all the family.
Caroline Levy
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One of the Kol Nidre appeals for 2011was for The London Centre for Childrenwith Cerebral Palsy. We live oppositean adorable young boy named Josephwho attends this Centre and it wasthrough getting to know him and hisparents that we found out about thewonderful work they do.
In addition to the letter of thanks theShul received from the Centre, ourneighbours sent a lovely noteexpressing their own gratitude at oursupport. We thought it would be niceto share this with you all.
Tina and David Gold
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Call Sally Miller on 020 8673 3495 [email protected] for advice on nursing care.www.nightingale.org.uk
The care home for older Jewish people
Our exceptional care makes a real differenceto each resident.We believe Nightingale is a home from home.We have a superb team of dedicated nurseswho care for our residents.Which is what makes Nightingale a uniquecare home for older Jewish people.
Registered Charity No. 207316
Woodford Cheder team go over Fairtrade!
Left to right: Izzy Goldstein, Hannah Jacobi, Rachel Kamall, Josh Newham, Yasmin Muswell, Sam Kamall, Nathan Faber-Baruch, Jodie Simmons
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CAN WE HAVEYOUR UNWANTEDCLOTHES?
Clothes in good condition,as well as paired shoes,
belts, handbags and soft toys wanted forfundraising at WLS. Please ensure they’reclean, bagged, and marked CLOTHES FORCOLLECTION. Please leave in the annexe –they will be collected weekly.
13th May1st July
9th September18th November
Entertainment to be announced
Please ring : Harriet (020 8524 4505) or Nicola (020 8418 9586) to book your
place, ensuring we can adequately cater
NEW MEMBERSto Woodford Liberal
Synagogue
Stephen & Sheila Struminger
Happy Birthday!
Jake Levy * Joseph Levy * Poppy GreenBianca Muswell * Brandon Cramer
Annabel Duck * Barnaby Adler Yasmin Muswell * Sam Kamall
Tobi Liebeskind * Ezra NathansonDavid Cohen-Mor * Ben Charles
Harrison Grant * Sophie RichardsKatie Perry
fÑxxwçÜxvÉäxÜç àÉ „
Jenny Sclaire after her recent operationDavid Powell after his recent operation
– and anyone who is unwell at this time –
FriendshipClub @WLS
From 2–4pm
Cost : £3.00
f|ÇvxÜxVÉÇwÉÄxÇvxá „Colin and Robin Gerlis andfamilies on the passing oftheir father, Al Gerlis (VicePresident of WLS)
David (son), Judith(daughter), and families, onthe passing of their mother,Victoria Herbert
I wish to thank everyone who kindlysent cards and good wishes duringmy recent bout of ill health.
Sincerely,Jenny Sclaire
Yonatan Rutman, grandson of Eddie & BettyRutman, on the occasion of his barmitzvah inIsrael on 12th May.
Howard & Ros Levenson, on the birth of agrandson, Samuel Oscar Wood Levenson(“Sammy”) born to our son Joe Levenson, andhis wife Jenny Wood, on 18th January.
Jenny & Leslie Rabin, on the birth of agranddaughter – daughter for their son SamRabin & Nicky.
David & Judy Toffell, on the marriage of theirdaughter Anat to Felix Frey.
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Sue Kaye sharesher theatre viewing
London’s Theatrescene reviewed …
Bingoat The Young Vic
I haven’t been to the Young Vicfor a very long time as theplays they have put on neverappealed to me. A friend wasvery keen to see “Bingo” asshe had read great reviews soI decided to give it a go.
At the end of the play, myfriend turned to me and asked“What was that about?” Ithought about using thephrase “Man’s inhumanity toman” which I usually fall backon when I haven’t a clue.Instead I confessed that, likeher, I didn’t see what EdwardBond was trying to say.
The play is about the lastweeks of Shakespeare’s lifeand stars Patrick Stewart whoworks very hard as the ageingBard. There is lots aboutdispossessed peasants andthe wickedness oflandowners but how thatrelated to Shakespeare I reallydon’t know.
Earlier we had eaten in therestaurant which is extremelynoisy, making conversationdifficult. The food was nobetter than ok and I would notrecommend eating there asother local restaurants aremuch better. Not an eveningto remember but you can’t winthem all.
Stones in his Pocketsat The Tricycle
I rarely go to see the sameplay twice but I made anexception with thisextraordinary piece of theatre.The setting is a ruralcommunity where an Americancompany is filming a film set inIreland allegedly based on theJohn Wayne film, “The QuietAmerican”.
The locals are keen to act asextras on the film but there aredevastating consequences onone villager who commitssuicide by walking into the seawith “Stones in his pockets”.For other villagers their dreamsare destroyed and the effecton the community is profound.
The play is both poignant andvery funny but the mostamazing fact is that all partsare played by two actors withvery little use of props orcostumes. They play all thecharacters, both male andfemale, using their voices andbodies to make them comealive.
Brilliant is how I would sum upthis production. This is thesecond time at the Tricycleand there was a West End runafter the first one. Do see it ifyou can.
Three Days in Mayat Trafalgar Studios
In May 1940, the British WarCabinet met under the newPrime Minister, WinstonChurchill, to discuss the mostimportant question they faced:Should they fight on alone orshould they negotiate a peacetreaty with Hitler even thoughthat would mean allowingNazism to take over Europe.
Warren Clarke is brilliant asChurchill who has to persuadethe other members of theWartime Coalition thatcapitulation was not theanswer. Jeremy Clyde as LordHalifax and Robert Demegeras Neville Chamberlain arealso incredible powerful as thearguments go back andforward until Churchillpersuades the others tosupport his view that Britaincould not give in.
A very fine piece of theatrewith great dialogue by BenBrown and directed withperfection by Alan Strachan,this is a perfect example ofwhy British theatre is so good.See it if you can.
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