bimahJanuary to March 2015

WoodfordLiberal

Synagogue

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The ever popular

WLS Supper Quiz is back!

When? I hear you say…

Saturday 21st February at 7.30pm

Where could such a great eventbe held?…

Marlborough Rd, E18Tables of 8 maximum

for comfort.

Fish ‘n’ Chip SupperAnd all this for only £12.50

Bimah 2015

In future Bimah is now going to be four ‘Bumper’ issues with a leaflet version just forthe High Holy Days.

So, the magazine will now run as follows: January to March, April to June, July toSeptember and October to December. We hope the calendar will be included with eachissue; however you can see all information from the weekly updates sent out by email.Please ensure the Synagogue has your correct email address.

May we take this opportunity to request once again for you, the community, to send usas many articles as you can. Please let the editorial team know you are really interestedin keeping Bimah in print. Our magazine has always received many compliments on itsproduction and we want to maintain the high standard. We can only do this if ourmembers show interest and support Bimah with articles, photos, comments – maybequestions to the Rabbi or Council.

Come on put pen to paper and email your articles to JenClaire@aol.com /susanpll5@aol.com / bimahstuff@yahoo.co.uk

The Bimah Team

Come and join us for a fun social evening!

Please book your places by calling Tina Gold on 020 8500 6335

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The Gett – the Trial of Viviane Amsalem

I went to see this brilliant but harrowing Israelifilm on my first visit to the Jewish Centre JW3in Finchley Road. The film shows the struggleof Viviane against her husband in a RabbinicalCourt to obtain her Gett (or Jewish divorce).The title role is played by Ronnit Elkabetz whotogether with her brother Shlomi wrote thisfilm as the last part of their film trilogy aboutmale domination. I read before I saw thisproduction that it stood out alone and it wasnot necessary to have seen the other films.

The film takes place entirely in the court roomover a period of five years. It shows howantiquated Jewish law is, entitling the

Rabbinic Court, entirely dominated by men, to decide about the divorce. The wife reallydid not figure in the proceedings: she wasexpected to sit passively and listen to howshe should stay with her husband.

Viviane is a fiery woman who eventually hasoutbursts trying to tell the court how trappedshe has felt for years. The husband is sodetermined not to give his wife the Gett, hefails to turn up to the court at one time only tobe jailed for a period of time. The couplehave never really spoken to each other as thehusband seems to be incapable of expressinghis feelings after 20 years of marriage.

I described this film as harrowing because itwas so brilliantly portrayed, I felt like I wasgoing through the main character's trial withher. The Rabbinic Court and the witnessesthere constantly reminded her that even witha divorce she was 'damaged goods' and thateverything that went wrong with the marriagewas her fault. It showed they neverconsidered how her husband’s inability tospeak of his feelings for so many years wasslowly killing her spirit.

As an aside, the JW3 Centre is worth a visit,especially the restaurant. We had a delightfullunch there before the film which was shownin the very comfortable small cinema.

Jenny Sclaire

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From school to shool

Two sets of year-4 pupils from the Gilbert ColvinPrimary School, Clayhall, accompanied bymembers of staff, recently visited theSynagogue as part of their Religious Studiescourse. Each set was welcomed by the Rabbiand then split into two groups, one of whichstayed in the Synagogue hall where they weregiven general information about Judaism andJewish practice by some volunteer helpersfollowed by some creative colouring of theirschool’s name in Hebrew characters, whilst theother group were treated to an amusing andinformative exposition on the Sefer Torah, withthe children participating in the reading of anopen scroll. The two groups then interchangedat half-time. Each event ended with a Q & Asession hosted by the Rabbi.

The children, of a diverse ethnic, cultural andreligious mix, were a delight – attentive,involved, curious and asking pertinent andintelligent questions.

Many thanks are due to the Synagoguevolunteers and, particularly, to theaccompanying teachers, who had obviouslydone some valuable groundwork on the topic ofJudaism.

The event will, hopefully, contribute much tointerfaith understanding and relations in thearea.

Further similar visits from local primary schoolare planned for the near future.

Sid Barrat

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Mitzvah Day 2015

Rabbi Richard led a FamilyMitzvah Weekend Service atWoodford Liberal Synagogueon Saturday 15th November.The service was attended bymany cheder children andtheir families.

After the service familieswere invited to take part in aflower making session. Eachchild made a flower andattached the Mitzvah thatthey were going to do to it.

During the session, led byCheder headteacher JoshNewham, the children andtheir parents talked aboutwhat a mitzvah is and whyit's so important to do them.The flowers are displayedaround the Synagogue with aview to see how completinga Mitzvah can grow…

Later on Rabbi RichardJacobi and myself, and othermembers of the community

delivered over 600 items –food, toiletries and crockeryto Jason Lee House in YorkRoad, Ilford, which providestemporary housing for thehomeless.

The items were generouslydonated from Members andfriends of Woodford LiberalSynagogue.

Merle Muswell

Rabbi Richard Jacobi with Jason Lee House worker Mercy Olubays and some guests of Jason Lee House

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Notification of Extraordinary General Meeting

Thursday 29th January 2015 at 8.00pm

Having researched the position over severalmonths, the council and officers of WoodfordLiberal Synagogue ('WLS') recommend tomembers that WLS changes its status from anunincorporated association to a companylimited by guarantee.

At an EGM on 29 January 2015, a resolutionwill be proposed on such terms, full details ofwhich will be posted to members in earlyJanuary 2015, together with formal notificationof the EGM and the proposed newconstitution of the company.

For the ease of reference, this process hasbeen branded by the synagogue council as'Project Noah'.

Recently Liberal Judaism completed a similarprocess, by changing its legal status to acompany limited by guarantee. At least twoother synagogues in the Liberal Jewishcommunity, Northwood & Pinner and FinchleyProgressive have decided to do likewise: infact they are further advanced than we areand are sharing with us what they are learningfrom their experience.

When you receive your formal notification ofthe EGM in early January, we will explain morein relation to Project Noah, such as thebenefits of incorporating, one of which islimited liability. One of the drawbacks ofWLS's current unincorporated status is thatthere is, potentially, personal exposure on thepart of the trustees of WLS. However, if WLSbecomes a company limited by guarantee, the current trustees, who are the members ofcouncil, would become directors of the newcompany and would no longer be personallyexposed in the same way. This is particularlyimportant given the fact that the synagogueintends entering into agreements of significantvalue with contractors in the next 12 monthsin relation to the refurbishment.

We hope that this gives you some informationas to the background to the EGM and Project Noah. As we have said above, moreinformation will follow in early January, but ifyou should have any queries in the meantime,please do not hesitate to contact us.

Bob Kamall (Chair)

Jonny Hurst & Ben Fryer (Council members leading Project Noah)

Change of Undertaker

Due to a number of service issues with our previous undertakers, from 1 January 2015 Ronnie King of Michael King Funeral Directors will serve as

the Liberal Judaism undertaker in place of M M Broad.

Ronnie's contact details are 0208 368 7453 and his mobile on 07595 956 936. Ronnie can be contacted 24 hours per day, 7 days per week,

including Bank and Jewish holidays.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me.Jonny Hurst, Burial & Cremation Secretary

jonnyhurst@hotmail.com07973 361479

Abigail wins the ‘Jack Petchey’ award

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Coming back for hersecond stint of

teaching, Abigailtook responsibilityfor the progressionand development of

the Liberal Judaismcurriculum at

Woodford, using andadapting it to suit the children in her class.

She enabled the children to become moreconfident learners and helped to enhancetheir Hebrew skills with well thought out plansand strategies.

As a young teacher, Abigail always showedthe flare for teaching and she certainlyshowed this again last year.

She is certainly missed at Cheder this yearand her enthusiasm, dedication and sheerhard work is definitely hard to replace.

Abigail is most definitely a worthy winner ofthe Jack Petchey award for November.

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Sue Powell gets agricultural!

Recently on a visit to Israel I took theopportunity to visit "Kaima", the organic farmmentioned in the Bimah in January 2014.

The farm aids young people, some who havelost their way in life, to feel valued andrespected. One such young man, at themoment, is in the process of designing acherry tomato weighing machine and isgetting interest and help from an engineer.Another volunteer who is autistic is muchcalmer after spending a day at the farm.Everyone has to help with digging, plantingand harvesting; this working togetherencourages friendship and bonds.

Once a week the produce is taken to the

packing area, at this time local volunteerscome and help. 180 boxes are packed with aselection of salad produce and vegetables.The produce varies from week to weekdepending which crop is ripe for picking.(Nothing is wasted, if some produce is not upto standard it is made into soup and everyoneworking there at the time enjoys a verydelicious and social lunch.) The boxes arethen delivered to homes who pay for thisservice on a monthly basis.

The whole project is a charity and if you wishto find out more please visit: www.kaima.org.il I found my visit very uplifting and I wouldrecommend to anyone going to Israel to tryand visit the farm.

Over the weekend of 21/22 November,Woodford held its annual memorial weekendwhen we remember the community ofBlatná – lost on Holocaust. Blatná is thetown in the (now) Czech Republic that wasonce the home of the scroll on loan toWoodford. The scroll is one of just over1500 brought from the communistgovernment of (the then) Czechoslovakia bythe Memorial Scrolls Trust. These werebrought to London and many of them havebeen loaned out to Jewish communitiesaround the world.

This year, joining us for the services wereHelena and Chris Underhill, who recentlyvisited Blatná and have translated a bookby Dr Dimitrij Slonim about the Jewishcommunity transported from Blatná in 1942.

On Friday, we welcomed Judita Berndorff aformer resident of Blatná. Their visit helpedbring to life some of those lost after the 1942transportation – up to now known to us onlyby their names.

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The Blatná Scroll M

An exhibition of photos and stories was ondisplay, using material provided by Chris andHelena, much of it from their translation of Dr Slonim’s book.

We also learned of an additional name toadd to our list of the Holocaust victims fromBlatná. The mantle for the scroll has a starfor each victim from Blatná – we are lookinginto adding an additional star. The scrollitself is still being repaired. You can make adonation to the cost of repairs or evensponsor a specific Parasha: contact theoffice for more information.

Helena also told us that the community inBlatná are planning a civic service toremember its lost Jewish community. Wewill look into attending and in so doingbuilding bridges with the modern communityof Blatná.

Further information about the weekend canbe found on WLS website at:http://woodfordliberal.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/blatna_remembered/

Bob Kamall, WLS Chairman

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Memorial Weekend

Photos: HELENA UNDERHILL

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A

Marriage SecretaryIS STILL URGENTLY REQUIRED

The position requires two people who either work together or are able to take over when

one is unable to attend a wedding.

It’s a very satisfying job taking up very little time

when organised.

It’s also a great way to become involved in our community.

Please email me:JenClaire@aol.com

or phone 07813 309 503

DO YOU HAVE ANY UNWANTED CLOTHES WHICH ARE CLEAN AND IN USABLE CONDITION? OR HANDBAGS, BELTS, SOFT TOYS?

Items such as bedding, towels, books or bric a brac CANNOT be donated.

If you do they can be used to raise funds for the Synagogue.Just bring them along in a carrier bag or black bag and leave them in the

Synagogue annex where I will collect them.

So far we have raised over £450 from these collections!

If you have any queries regarding donations please email me: david@woodfordliberal.org

Clothes needed!

Toys needed!

In one sense,moving from one dayto the next is simplya routine thing to do.Yet, the changeoverfrom December 31stto January 1st isvery different. As wechange our secularcalendars anddiaries for new ones,

new year’s resolutions, new hopes, plans andambitions result from our awareness that theGregorian year has advanced. We also know,with general elections in the UK and, it seems,in Israel, that politicians’ promises will be amajor theme of 2015. We will all hear many,many words, too many to pay attention andlisten properly!

As 2015 commences, I shall begin twomonths’ sabbatical leave, with a further twomonths to follow later in the year. Together,these periods provide an essential opportunityfor me to re-charge my rabbinic batteriesthrough quiet, study, exploration andexperiencing the leadership of others. AliceWilcock and the Rites and PracticesCommittee have worked with me to ensurethat you have an interesting mix of serviceleaders in my absence – our own lay leadersand visiting rabbis and cantors – and coverfor other rabbinic work. I hope you willsupport them and tell me what you likedabout how they lead services.

My focus during the sabbatical periods will be on prayer and liturgy. For the long-term, I am editing the next Liberal Siddur, and thesabbatical time will help kick-start this majormovement project. Of shorter-term value, I intend to renew our creative liturgies forShabbat and festivals, responding to theinterest there is at Woodford in new prayers.My hope is that we at Woodford, who are veryreceptive to new ideas and varied servicestyles, will be a pioneering synagogue overthe coming five years of Siddur development,in the vanguard of the next generation ofJudaism.

I also need to use the time for reflecting onhow I have been leading Woodford's spirituallife, and how I need to be as your leader inthe coming few years. In this context, I amwriting having been in Nottingham for aweekend of training in community organisingalongside people from nine other Liberalsynagogues. Perhaps the biggest singlemessage I have taken away from that very fullweekend is that I need to give more time tolistening to you, each of you, one at a time. I don’t mean discussing projects andprogrammes with you, and being polite whenyou’re speaking. I do mean sitting with youand hearing your story, your priorities,passions, and pressures. You’re notpoliticians, and I want to pay attention to whatyou say when you speak from your hearts.

Liberal Judaism aims to be the leading edgeof Judaism, meeting the spiritual, intellectualand emotional needs of people who are verymuch part of wider society, and who are (orintend to become) Jewish. It is obviously truethat one cannot meet needs unless one hasascertained what these needs are. If I listenwith my own agenda too much at the front ofmy mind, I won’t hear you, no matter howclearly or loudly you speak. Yet, also, LiberalJudaism must be about needs, not wants andso our conversations have to distinguishbetween these two very differenceexpressions.

If I focus on the next Liberal Jewish siddur, we need to be producing something that willbe valid and valuable for a generation. Thismeans it has to anticipate the emerging needs of Jews, stretch and challenge us, yet comfort and support us too. I can’tproduce something this wonderful, but WE,together, can!

I hope this year will see us listen to eachother’s unique stories, value each other’shumanity and help Woodford to be a valuablepart of each other’s lives.

Richard Jacobi

New Year, New Challenges and Opportunities

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Once again we havereached the start ofa new secular year,a chance to lookforwards and makenew starts or restartthe promises madein previous years.

Of course, new yearresolutions are often

broken and maybe even forgotten not longafter being made. Others have more resolveand stick to their promises – making thechanges that they hoped to make.

Changes are not only made by people,organisations also change and WLS is noexception. In fact there are three knownchanges coming up in the next few months.

Firstly, our rabbi is taking a short sabbaticalduring which time some of our services willbe led by our volunteer layleaders. Arrangements for theseservices, and other areas ofrabbinic cover, have been madeby the volunteers on our Ritesand Practices committee.

Secondly, as announcedelsewhere in this issue of Bimah,we having an extraordinarygeneral meeting in January todiscuss changes to the legalcharitable status of WLS. Thisreflects change in the adviceprovided by the charitycommission and the preparatorywork for this has been done bytwo volunteers (who are alsovoluntary members of council).

Thirdly, we moving forward with therefurbishment project – thanks to a smallgroup of volunteers, including some withspecialist knowledge, whose hard work anddiligence is making sure this projectcontinues to move forward.

There will no doubt be other changes too –not least new ideas for our services whenRichard returns from his sabbatical!

Many of these changes will be discussed,reviewed and (as required) implemented byvarious volunteers. Volunteers on council;those on committees – rites and practices,new generations, house (includingrefurbishment), – our Bimah editors,friendship club organisers and helpers, andeven members of the knit and natter group –whose craft work led to the craft fair raising£160 for the Cheder Chai fund.

So we all owe our thanks to the manyvolunteers whose work not only keeps theWLS ticking over but ensures that changesare smoothly handled. If you are thinking ofmaking a new year resolution – somethingthat is rewarding and enjoyable – why notresolve to do some volunteering?

Wishing you all a peaceful, prosperous andhealthy 2015.

Bob

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Happy New Year!

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Can we ever be totally free? Do we want to be?

Left to right: Richard Stevens, Leah Simmons, Rabbi Richard Jacobi, Freya Preedy, Merle Muswell

These were just two of the questions thatWoodford’s dynamic duo of Freya Preedy andLeah Simmons posed for the congregation onthe morning of their Kabbalat Torah, Saturday6th December 2014.

In the unusual service-leading attire of armyuniform and camouflage make-up, Freya andLeah separated the congregation into thosedressed to conform to a uniform dress code,on one side of the aisle, and those dressed toreflect their individuality, on the other. Fromthe opening song onwards, the uniform groupwe subject to stronger discipline and thistension peaked when the modern Haftarah, apoem by Siegfried Sassoon, was discussedopenly by the individuals with Freya. On theother side of the sanctuary, Leah wasimposing a totalitarian interpretation on theuniform group!

Their message was an important one. Howeasily we accept and conform to instructionsthat have no merit or positive purpose! How small are the steps by which we canlose freedom! However, the title questionsabove also made us think about theconstraints on our individual freedom thatneed to exist if society is going to be goodand positive for all.

Through prayers they had chosen, and somethey had written, our two young womenshowed how they are owning the concepts ofLiberal Judaism and that is something aboutwhich all of us in Woodford should be proud.

To complement this very creative Shabbatmorning service, Leah and Freya delivered anOneg Shabbat presentation after the Fridayevening Chavurah Supper and Service, aboutthe Kabbalat Torah trip to Budapest that theyand eighteen other young Jewish Londonersshared. The trip was obviously eye-openingand memorable, as well as great fun for theyoungsters. Who knows, maybe where theyouth have led, the rest of us will follow in2015 or 2016?

It has been a joy and privilege for me to teachFreya and Leah and to collaborate with theirparents and families in celebrating this rite ofpassage, and I want to thank the families forthe wonderful Kiddush they prepared on theSaturday.

I know both Leah and Freya, as they continueto teach in our Cheder, will be encouragingother children to stay on through to KabbalatTorah!

Rabbi Richard Jacobi

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a

g

b

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IZIAH DUCKJESSICA GILLESPIE

MABEL SHUTEZACHARIAH HURST

ISABELLE LEVYPENNY MELNIKOFF

JACK OLSENZACHARY POOLELOUIS REYNOLDS

LOUIE ADLERSARAH LEAH SAMUELS

JOSEPHINE GREENHALGH

a speedy recoveryto all who are unwell at this time

Friendship Club @WLS2.00-4.00pm £3.00 per person

NewMembers

Vera Lubin

Howard Jacobs

Steve, Angeliki & Isabella Cohen

Nicola, Stewart, Ross & Mia Weinrabe

Sunday 18th January We hope to have a local choir

entertaining us.

Please ring Harriet – 020 8524 4505 –

to book your place

Hilton & Jan Ellis onthe birth of their 8thgrandchild, a daughterfor Jan’s youngest sonRichard and his wifeAnouska Conway.Picture shows the newbaby with her two oldersisters, Amelie (on theleft) and Neve.

Howard & Ros Levenson on the birth oftheir fourth grandchild, Molly Phoebe WoodLevenson, a sister to Sammy, born on 30th October 2014 to their son JoeLevenson and his wife Jenny Wood.

Rabbi Rebecca, Ruben and all the family

would like to thank everyone at Woodford

who conveyed such heart-warming and

lovely messages of support. Ruben is

responding well to the treatment and the

prognosis seems to good at the moment.

We really appreciate the warmth of your

support.