The sun is shining on the trees as I write these words, but it’s a cold light. Winter is still upon us but the first taste of spring is in the air. As I write, it’s Tu Bishvat, the New Year for trees, the time when the sap begins to rise inside the plants preparing […]
Words from the Rabbi – Chanukah 5783
On Sunday, we celebrated a wonderful pre-Chanukah event inspired by Chocolate. It was wonderful to see so many children crafting their own chocolate treats, making dreidels, and learning about the Jewish history of chocolate. For the adults, learning from Michael Leventhal about Jewish involvement in cocoa and chocolate through the centuries was deeply fascinating (not […]
Words from the Rabbi – High Holy Days 5783
When her majesty the Queen passed away last week, I was more upset than I had expected to be. I had thought that I knew it was inevitable, I thought that it wasn’t something I felt particularly close to – yet when the time came I experienced a real sense of loss. When I tried […]
Hachnasat Torah May 2022
[…]
Words from the Rabbi – Tisha B’Av 5782
Two years ago, it seemed very strange to me that I had learned almost nothing about the Flu epidemic of 1918-19 at school. The second deadliest epidemic of all time, second only to the Black Death of the 14th Century, seemed to have been erased from our collective consciousness, reduced to foot notes in volumes […]
Words from the Rabbi – Shavuot 5782
Every Friday, we light Betty’s candlesticks. My grandma Daisy passed away when I was twelve and a year or so later, we adopted an honorary grandma into our family – her name was Betty, and just as we needed a grandmother around, she needed some grandchildren. Her own granddaughter was living far away in Japan and […]
Words from the Rabbi – Pesach 5782
“Doesn’t it get a bit depressing after a while?” That was the question I was asked this week when discussing the seder. We were looking at the line “Next year in Jerusalem!”, and thinking about how we always look forward that perhaps next year the Messiah will have come, that perhaps the world will be […]
Words from the Rabbi – Vayikra 5782
I’ve known days when a passing sight Was window to the infinite. -From ‘Roots’, by Thomas Sharp in “Behold, this Dreamer!” ed. Walter de la Mare Sometimes it’s the small things that matter, the small things that we can hold on to, tiny things that can give us a glimpse of the infinite. […]
Words from the Rabbi – Terumah 5782
I’ve been a great believer in education, especially for children. That’s why before I went to rabbinical school I spent two years in Manchester, first getting my teaching qualification then teaching Religious Studies at Manchester Grammar School. It felt really important to me that if I was going to be working in a community, that […]
Words from the Rabbi: Ha’azinu 5780
Shana tova! I stepped out of our Yom Kippur services last night on a real spiritual high. I had found our service moving and up-lifting. I always love Yom Kippur, but each year, as I look around the congregation and see a mix of new and familiar faces, I’m always freshly moved that so many […]