Download - Shofar September 2013
September 2013
Shofarthe magazine of finchley progressive synagogue
‘A Sweet New Year!’
Cover photograph: Decorating the Sukkah
Copy deadline is the 10th of each month. Please email all content to [email protected]
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And so we come to the end of a long summer and a long
year. A new academic year starts, brimming with fresh
challenges as much as opportunities for many families.
And here, at FPS, we’re looking forward to a fresh new
year with all the hope and trepidation that the possibility
of a fresh start entails. I probably tend to become a
bit too introspective this time of year, as I review my
personal log book: where did I stop this year? What
could I have done better? Where – or who, have I failed? And, most importantly:
Where to next?
Our 60’s anniversary has been overwhelmingly positive. We had and
have much to celebrate. In this way, from all of us involved with Shofar, we
wish everyone a sweet and magical 5774, full of fresh new beginnings and
adventures – L’Shana Tova!
From the Editorpat lehner
Mazel tov to Sadie Westbury!
A big mazel tov to Sadie Westbury
on her 90th birthday back in
March. Sadie joined us when
North London closed and has
been sticking labels on our
envelopes for Shofar for years!
Sadie has 2 sons, 3 grandchildren
and 2 great-grandchildren.
And she still walks here from
her home in Finchley. Our
warmest congratulations to an
indispensable member our Shofar
team!
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rabbi rebecca qassim birk
This new year
As I write this Nelson Mandela lies dying.
He has been dying a long time, yet something
extraordinary emanates from Mandela’s
hospital room in Pretoria. What emanates is a
sense of him as a man beyond his physical body.
Mandela’s spiritual legacy hangs large, over
the hospital where he rests, over the nation of
South Africa and over the world.
This past summer when Barak Obama visited he
spoke of Mandela’s influence on him personally
and on the world we live in now. It’s an
extraordinary tribute for any individual to carry.
And Nelson Mandela carries a history of
incomprehensible fortitude, tenacity, faith and
above all patience. Incarceration of that length
requires a patience of almost superhuman
quality. The fact that he wasn’t superhuman
adds to his extraordinary legacy.
Hasidic Rabbi Zuzya of Hanipol is reported to
have said, with anxiety, (In Buber’s Tales of the
Hasidim) as he approached his death, “In the
coming world, they will not ask me: ‘Why were
you not Moses? They will ask me: ‘Why were
you not Zuzya?’”
So ditch the comparisons. But there is
something about death and legacy that raises
the question, what do I regret not having done
thus far in my life?
Rosh Hashanah and the season it ushers in is
a bold invitation to consider the way in which
we live. Not because these are our last days but
rather because they are the first: the first of the
rest of our lives.
It is never too late to be different and do differently. It is never too late to integrate the trials and
hardships of our lives and work them into something strengthening
now.
I have had a hard year, maybe others have too.
I am sure it wasn’t my first, nor will it be my
last, but these past months will inform and
instruct me as I enter this new year, with new
intentions, ambitions and hopes.
I wish you a strong and healthy year with the
capacity to reflect and grow.
From the Rabbi
The start of
the academic
year (coinciding
wonderfully with
Rosh Hashanah)
always seems
to be a time
of enthusiasm for good resolutions and
new projects which invariable dwindles by
November.
This year at FPS is different. The projects in hand
continue the 60th anniversary celebration. The
summer holiday has been a period of intense
endeavour for many of us working on these
events: the anniversary book with its wonderful
tales from our members is being prepared for
the designers; the fundraising dinner at the Royal Academy of Arts is to be enriched by
an online art auction; and the Generations Day is blossoming into the event of the
century. Additionally, the annual calendar is in
preparation, the building is being refurbished
room by room and the community continues to
flourish.
So much of this is underpinned by the effort of so many wonderful volunteers but we need more.
We are asking every physically fit member to
contribute something for community service
by way of security, hospitality (kiddushim)
or stewarding: look out for your rota slot
with the calendar mailing in September. In
addition, we welcome volunteers for one of
the many projects and activities that bring
people together and enable us to support one
another and those beyond FPS. Please ensure
that volunteering at FPS is among your plans
for 5774.
L’shanah tovah
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laura lassman
From the Chair
Succot 18 & 19 September
Do you have an allotment – or a friend that grows fruit?Please bring locally grown produce to share at Kiddush
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HIGH HOLYDAYSFPS Family Preparation Day leading into Selichot
Preparing for the Real Thing!Saturday 31st August 2013@ FPS
3.30-6.30pm bring a dish to share and RSVP [email protected]
57742013
Meet RoshHashanah ReadyWith some practical and spiritual
warming up
Rosh Hashanah Cards, Honey Tasting, Cake
Making, Reflective readings, Tzizit key rings,
Yoga, New Ways for Apologies.
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The National big Iftar Project5_Layout 1 19/07/2013 09:43 Page 1
Andrea NarcinBSc (Hons), BA (Hons), PGCE
Personal Tutor Maths to GCSEFrench to GCSE
Primary School Teacher All subjectsCRB checked
Mobile: 07969 471522E-mail: [email protected]
Calling all KnittersWe are still looking for volunteer knit-ters for our mitzvah project for World Jewish Relief. You don’t have to be able to knit as we have several volunteers who would be happy to teach you! If anyone, man, woman or child is interested in joining in please contact Jo Dowling [email protected] or 07976 352799. We can even supply the needles and the wool. Happy Knitting!
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The National big Iftar
As many of you will be aware, in June the
Bravanese Somali community, based in Muswell
Hill, lost their community centre in an arson
attack. An action aimed at victimising and
excluding a section of our society back-fired!
Within a short time representatives of FPS
joined with other communities, religious and
secular, to rally to the support of the Bravanese,
walking beside them, picnicking with them, and
offering alternative accommodation for their
services, community centre and educational
activities. On 25th July the Bravanese took the
occasion of the Big Iftar as an opportunity to
say ‘thank you’, and invite back many of their
supporters.
Kathy Harrington and I represented FPS, and
alongside guests from across the Christian,
Hindu and Jewish communities joined the
Bravanese as they broke their Ramadan fast
(including specially provided Kosher food!). The
“Big Iftar” has been held across the country, as
Muslim communities use the evening meal to
invite locals and build links across communities.
The Bravanese Somalis provided an emotional welcome; as one tearful speaker pointed out, the response to their misfortune has proved to them that they are truly included at the
core of their local community.
The government was represented by Eric Pickles
but the true importance of the evening was the
united support of the various groups that make
up the Finchley/Muswell Hill community. As I
walked back from the local synagogue which
has housed Iftar every night of Ramadan, I
reflected upon the multi-cultural, inter-faith
community that is Finchley.
andrea Narcin
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Beit Tefillahservices at fps
Wednesday 4 September Erev Rosh Hashanah
Thursday 5 September Rosh Hashanah
Friday 6 September Kabbalat Shabbat Service
Saturday 7 September Shabbat B’Yachad Service and Breakfast Shiur
Friday 12 September Kol Nidre Service
Saturday 13 September Yom Kippur Services
Wednesday 18 September Erev Sukkot Service
Thursday 19 September Sukkot Service
Friday 20 September Shabbat Resouled
Saturday 21 September Shabbat Service inc. Bar Mitzvah of Sam Andrews
Wednesday 25 September Erev Simchat Torah ServiceThursday 26 September Simchat Torah Service
Friday 27 September Kabbalat Shabbat Service
Saturday 28 September Shabbat Service inc. Bat Mitzvah of Noa Rees
services - september
saturday 7 september
8.45 am PAUL SILVER-MYER returns with
one of his thoughtful, insightful Shiurim:
“ANNIVERSARIES”FPS is 60: we have a colourful 60th anniversary
logo and are holding 60th Anniversary events
throughout the year, but so what? What is the
logic and meaning of anniversaries and why
does humankind place so much importance
in remembering them each year? Do they
comfort us or do they perhaps restrict us? Do
we regress to the past or do they in fact help us
move forward towards the future? In this shiur,
deliberately timed to coincide with the New
Year 5774, we shall look at the Jewish attitude
to anniversaries and the role played by the
number 60 in the Bible.
Please join us for this once in a ‘three score
years’ event!
saturday 6 OCTOBER8.45 am RABBI GRISHA ABRAMOVICH “WHAT ARE THE THREE MAJOR THINGS THE
FORMER SOVIET UNION JEWS CAN LEARN FROM
THE UK JEWS – AND WHY JUST THREE?”
Rabbi Grisha Abramovich, a native of Belarus,
graduated from Leo Baeck College in 2003.
He serves all the 13 Jewish Progressive
communities in Belarus including our twinned
community Keshet in Mogilev.
FPS BREAKFAST SHIUR
congratulations & mazal tov
To Jasmine and Tom Horna on the birth of
their new baby Hugo
To Lorna and Harry Roberts who celebrated
their 68th wedding anniversary
To Margot and Aaron Katz who celebrated
their 40th wedding anniversary
To Rabbi Dr Frank Hellner and Valerie
Boyd-Hellner who celebrated their Silver
anniversary
To Sharon & Paul Silver-Myer who also
celebrated their Silver anniversary
To Noa Rees on her Bat Mitzvah
And to Samuel Andrews on his Bar Mitzvah
Mazeltov to all!
Many members are celebrating important
life milestones by hosting and accepting a
mitzvah at a Shabbat service. If you have a
celebration you would like to share with the
community please contact the office.
our sincerest condolences
To Hannah Grossmith Dwek on the death of
her mother Victoria (Vikki) Slowe. We wish
Hannah her husband Paul, daughters Chloe
and Amy father Martin and sister Emily
strength and comfort at this difficult time
To the family of Diana King, we wish Diana’s
sons Mark and Peter and their families
strength and comfort at this difficult time
We wish the family long life.
a warm welcome to new members
Zuzana and Richard Philip with Ella and Lucy
Helene Dane
Please contact the office if you need a
hospital visit, or equally, if you would like to
become involved in supporting activities.
yahrzeit list
If you want to be reminded of an upcoming
Yahrzeit, contact the office.
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people
FPS BREAKFAST SHIUR
Beit KnessetDiana King obituary
It’s a strange phenomenon that going to a
community funeral allows fellow members
who are not intimates to get to know more
about the person who had died than they did
when that person was alive.
We all saw and greeted Diana King, who died
in July, Shabbat after Shabbat. Some of us
knew her story, that she was a Viennese girl
who, aged 15, came to London as part of
the Kindertransport, and that, like so many
others, she never saw her parents again.
Diana was a quiet woman, devoted to the
Synagogue and taking as great a part in the
community as she was able. She came to
Café Thursday whenever she could. She
was a regular member of the Book Group
and only when she was unwell – or when
her taxi did not turn up - did she miss a
meeting.
At her funeral we learned about her
love of cooking, naturally Viennese, her
wild garden, and above all, her strong
individuality. What we saw in the
congregation was a self-effacing woman
who might have been surprised by the
large number of FPS people who came to
say goodbye.
Sheila King Lassman
adult study
Our popular Thursday evening program returns
after the High Holy Days
Hebrew/Delving into Judaism: A Course to
Refresh and Illuminate Judaism
PILATES AT FPS
Please contact the office or Adrian Lister on
[email protected] or 07966 222953
(evenings preferred)
cafe ivriah
Returns September 21
Shabbat mornings, from 9.30amAn informal lively discussion over coffee for
Ivriah parents & others
Lunch and Learn returns Wednesday 25
September
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learning at fps
Beit Midrash
Mitzvah day is here again!
Your chance to do a good deed and help others. Last year we baked, dug, planted, painted and made music!
What have we got for this year?
Mark 17th November in your diaries!
Winners of the 50/50 in June1st Leon Pilpel £30
2nd Paul Lichtenstern £20
3rd Ann Pelham £15
Winners of the 50/50 draw in July1st Paul Lichtenstern £30
2nd Ella Golan £20
3rd Leon Pilpel £15
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Arts at FPS
6 October | On the Waterfront (1954)
considered one of the most powerful films
ever to come out of Hollywood. Based on
New York Sun reporter’s Pulitzer Prize winning
exposé of crime and corruption. Directed
by Elia Kazan, starring Marlon Brando, Lee
J. Cobb and Rod Steiger, scored by Leonard
Bernstein. Winner of eight Academy Awards,
including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best
Supporting Actress and Best Director.
3 November | My Father My Lord (2007) is an
intimate and deeply disturbing story of the
conflict between a father’s love and his deep
devotion to religion. A respected Orthodox
Rabbi dotes on his only son but when the
The Screen On The Grove 7.30Pm
father’s all-consuming obsession with observing
religious ritual leads to tragedy, his previously
subservient wife rages against both her
husband and God. A dramatic retelling of the
story of Abraham and Isaac with a devastating
twist.
Beit Knesset
what’s happening at fps
cafe thursday
Thursdays @12.45pm / £6
Contact Nicky Marzell at the synagogue office
yoga
Mondays @7.oopmTuesdays @7.30pm Contact Richard on 020 8349 9602
film club
Sunday 6 October @7.30pm, ‘On the Waterfront’. For details please see page 11.
book club
The Book Club Meetings are held in people’s homes, 7.30pm on the second Wednesday of each month. Contact [email protected] if you’d like to join
bridge group
Mondays @7.45pm / £4
Contact Gunter Lawson on 020 8346 5208
rosh chodesh group
Celebration of the new moon by women
gathering for learning and spiritual exploration
over a glass of wine.
September: no meeting (Rosh Hashana)
Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan: Thursday 3 OctoberRosh Chodesh Kislev: Monday 4 NovemberTopics TBA – contact the office for more details
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Aging Parents I have been a member of FPS since my daughter
Tiffany was tiny – she’s now 22 – and Rabbi
Rebecca asked me recently what I’m up to these
days.
After working for many years for a major
pharmaceutical company I decided to reinvent
myself as a personal and business coach,
something I’ve always wanted to do. I now
support anyone experiencing change, particu-
larly those worried about ageing parents.
Looking after family is very important in the
Jewish community. People are living longer,
sometimes with dementia or other illnesses,
and caring for the elderly can be difficult and
stressful. When our parents get older we can
become ‘mother or father to our own mother
or father’ and we face a bewildering array of
practical and emotional issues, like:
Can I keep my parent(s) safe and well in their
own home?
Why do I feel so guilty, angry, sad, resentful?
What to do when everyone is arguing about
what’s best?
How do I start that difficult conversation
when the older person won’t talk about it?
Sometimes, but not always, clients are women
from the ‘sandwich generation’ looking after
teenage children as well as worrying about
ageing parents. Sadly, my own mother has de-
mentia so I’m very aware of the kinds of issues
that can arise. As a coach I listen, support and
guide without judging. There are often no easy
answers but thinking about problems before
they arise is better than hoping they will go
away or waiting for a crisis when everything
has to be done in a rush. If anyone would like to know more, do feel free to contact me for a confidential chat or take a look at my website
http://www.lesleytrenner-changecoach.co.uk
Inreach/Outreach This more modern title for the old membership
committee of FPS demands time and thought.
It has to be central to the future of the
congregation.Presently, several of us in the
community are finding ways in which members
can be helped, should they so wish, to become
more integrated in communal affairs - In/reach;
as well as attracting new members - Out/reach.
We need to move forward, seeking external
advice and experience where appropriate,
adopting a strategy for membership and finding
ways to welcome and retain new members into
the congregation. How do we try to attract
them? Possibly through personal introduction;
maybe by hosting an open day, advertising in
the local press or wider media and highlighting
our strengths such as Ivriah, Shabbat Resouled,
our music in general and so on. We are also
exploring social media such as Facebook and
networking and Rabbi Rebecca is actively
engaged in finding creative solutions. Inevita-
bly, a congregation also loses members, and
therefore the need to secure and retain new
members is evident for a thriving community.
Once a member joins the congregation it is felt
that a system of monitoring might be
appropriate, perhaps through the careful in-
troduction of a buddy system. The involvement
of new members needs to be addressed.
We have also considered the use and funding
of the building itself, and we are considering
the possibility and implications of running a
nursery.Hugh Isaacs
Lesley Trenner
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Visit to Beth Shalom
27 October 2013
Beth Shalom is the only dedicated Holocaust
Museum and Education Centre in the UK.
The Centre provides an exhibition of human
and personal perspectives of the Holocaust,
focussing on Jewish life in Europe before
World War II, the rise of National Socialism,
the Holocaust, survival and post-war justice.
On 27 October we shall be privileged to hear a
well-known survivor who will relate his story.
Such remarkable people will not be with us for
ever so I urge you to take this moving historic
opportunity.
There will be an opportunity to explore the
Centre’s beautifully landscaped memorial
gardens, the rose gardens and the space for
reflection. There is a bookshop and a coffee
shop as well as an extensive library which
can be accessed by appointment.
I have booked a coach to meet the FPS party
at Finchley Vue and bring us back there later
in the day. Full details are on the separate
booking form or can be obtained from FPS
office.
Corinne Oppenheimer
THOSE WERE THE DAYS!!!
When I saw the first issue of the FPS
Newsletter my mind went back to the 60ies
when my husband, Werner, and I were the
editors of the Finchley Liberal Synagogue’s
newsletter.
Not for us, the modern press-button machine
we knew nothing about computers. We did,
of course, have to do what is done today in
the way of chasing up articles etc. but it was
after we had received those that the real work
began.
First I set and typed it all out on a foolscap-
sized paper before Werner corrected and
edited it. I then transferred it onto a sheet of
waxed paper with cut-out stencils at the top.
Typewriters were able to by-pass the ink-tape
so that the letters cut into the wax. Back
then every office had a Gestetner Machine.
We would take turns to turn the handle
which started the roller. Each turn delivered
one printed sheet - imagine the time this
took! We then folded them and put them
into envelopes with help from our two young
daughters who still remember “helping”.
Eventually the synagogue invested in the
modern electric Gestetner which made
things much easier.
This must all seem horrific to modern
computer buffs but we thoroughly enjoyed it
and we all had lots of fun.
Tessa samson
Why do I feel so guilty, angry, sad, resentful?
What to do when everyone is arguing about
what’s best?
How do I start that difficult conversation
when the older person won’t talk about it?
Sometimes, but not always, clients are women
from the ‘sandwich generation’ looking after
teenage children as well as worrying about
ageing parents. Sadly, my own mother has de-
mentia so I’m very aware of the kinds of issues
that can arise. As a coach I listen, support and
guide without judging. There are often no easy
answers but thinking about problems before
they arise is better than hoping they will go
away or waiting for a crisis when everything
has to be done in a rush. If anyone would like to know more, do feel free to contact me for a confidential chat or take a look at my website
http://www.lesleytrenner-changecoach.co.uk
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MOSAICNaomi Sleig, a mosaic artist, will be
working throughout the community
in the next few weeks to turn our
ideas and memories into “fruit of
symbols” using fragments of our
memorabilia to add to a stain glass
tree which will be consecrated at
the Generations Day.
Generations Day6 October from 3pm-6pm
The whole community is gathering for a day to remember!
Stalls: Games through the decades
Raffle and tombolaVintage stuff
ZorbingFPS bake off
Memory BoardQuiz
Food and drinkFalafel stall
Chocolate fountainsTea and cake
learnreflectquestionexperiencedebateexplorediscover
Book on line: www.ljcc.org.ukMichelle Hyer, Course Director 0208 457 [email protected]
Discover for yourself Melton’s unique and interactive approach to adult Jewish learning. Join others from across the community once a week for 2 hours on our 30 week programme. Share the excitement of being guided through original texts both ancient and modern on Festivals and Life Cycles, Jewish History and Ethics. No exams, no Hebrew necessary. From Jewish studies novice to the experienced, the multi-layered course is designed to educate and stimulate debate.
Monday mornings 9.45am-12noon or Mondays evenings 7.30pm-9.45pmat the London Jewish Cultural Centre
A big welcome to our new head teacher Adele Silk – interview in next Shofar!
Ivriah term starts 21 September at 9.30am
FPS Youth ClubReturns in October
Jam-packed program, watch this space!
Dance groupStarts21 September
Rikud
Contact Denny Kingston on 0208 482 2149
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Contactsfps who’s who
finchley progressive synagogue
54 Hutton Grove N12 8DR
www.fps.org
020 8446 4063
Charity Number: 1071040
Rabbi: Rebecca Qassim Birk
[email protected] / 07939 227480
Emeritus Rabbi: Dr Frank Hellner
Synagogue Manager: Pauline Gusack
Community Manager: Angela Wharton
executive
Chair: Laura Lassman
[email protected] / 07957 545 569
Treasurer: Martin Silk
020 7435 5572
Honorary Secretary: Joan Shopper
01582 792959
Board of Deputies Reps: Stanley Volk
& Janet Tresman
Life President: Clive Winston
President: Sheila King Lassman
synagogue committees & groups:
Beit Midrash (Education): Co-ordinated
by Laura Lassman. Working groups with
responsibility for Ivriah; Young families; Adult
Education; Youth Club
Beit Tefillah (Rites & Practices): Co-ordinated
by Josie Kinchin. Working groups with
responsibility for Shabbat; Life Cycle; Festivals;
High Holydays
Inreach/Outreach : Co-ordinated by Hugh
Isaacs. Working groups with responsibility for
Contact; Membership; New members; Events
Operations: Co-ordinated by Joan Shopper
Working groups with responsibility for
Premises; Finance; Security.
If you would like to join any of these working
groups, please contact the relevant co-ordinator
shofar editor
Pat Lehner / [email protected] assistant Sarah Aldridge
FPS is a constituent of Liberal Judaism
21 Maple Street W1T 4BE
020 7580 1663
LJY Netzer (youth dept) 020 7631 0584
ashley pageinsurance brokers
Commerce House2a Litchfield Grove
London N3 2TN
Tel. 020 8349 5100
janet tresmanmediator & collaborative
family law solicitor
consultant now at hoffman-bokaei
Suite 2, Exhibition house, Addison Bridge Place,
Kensington Olympia W14 8XP
Tel. 020 7433 2380 / [email protected]