London: 21:04 Birmingham: 20:00 Sheffield: 21:16 Jerusalem: 19:05 London: 22:24 Birmingham: 22:39 Sheffield: 22:58 Jerusalem: 20:35 Last week was Volunteers' Week across the UK offering us the opportunity to say thank you to the countless, wonderful human beings who do so much to support our members and the wider community. In any 'normal' year, we would use this as an opportunity to demonstrate the Jewish middah (value) of hakarat hatov, gratitude.
But in 2020, in a year that is far from normal, we must shout it from the rooftops: not just for the committed volunteering that goes on week in, week out, to support those in need, but for the unprecedented level of activity we are seeing in response to the Coronavirus crisis.
Our Community Care Co-ordinators and their volunteer teams have worked tirelessly to ensure members in need get a food parcel, meals for Shabbat, medicines and food delivered or just a simple phone call to say hello and remind somebody that they're not alone.
Volunteers have also been supporting asylum seekers who are usually helped by our two drop-in centres which have been closed during lockdown. Volunteers have been delivering essential packages of toiletries and nappies to families who have fled war and persecution to seek a new life here in the UK.
Thank you
We also thank the Chairs, Synagogue Councils and all who volunteer for our communities for giving of their time so generously and our dedicated Rabbis, Rebbetzens and shul teams who have gone above and beyond in the past few months.
The Chief Rabbi has recorded a short thank you video which you can watch here. Our President, Michael Goldstein, has written to our volunteers to say thank you on our behalf (you can read his letter here). And we also asked some of our volunteers to share their experiences on what it's been like over the past few months. You can watch that lovely short film here.
We need you
We need drivers to help us deliver food to our members and to asylum seekers. We are also working with the Ambulance Wish Foundation who have repurposed their ambulance (and also have a van) and are using it to take food prepared by Compassionate London to NHS workers and to those in need throughout London.
Please e-mail my colleague Yael Peleg on ypeleg@theus.org.uk if you would like to be a volunteer driver. (To drive the ambulance, you need to have a C1 Driving License.)
Thank you to you all.
Last week's You&US on the death of George Floyd generated a huge amount of correspondence - thank you very much for all of your emails. Thousands of people watched the community events we supported this week and you can watch them again now at your leisure:
Shabbat shalom,
Richard Verber Communications Director, United Synagogue
New Rabbinic couple for Hadley Wood... Hadley Wood Jewish Community has announced the appointment of their new Rabbinic Couple, Rabbi Akiva and Rebbetzen Batya Rosenblatt. The Rosenblatts have been the Assistant Rabbinic Couple at Woodside Park United Synagogue since 2018 and are expected to take up their new post in August. They are only the second full time rabbinic appointment in the United Synagogue community’s history and the first since the opening of its new shul and community centre in 2018. Kaddish Buddy Project launches today Among the many hardships and painful experiences since the onset of coronavirus, the inability of being able to say Kaddish has been one of the most painful and ongoing challenges for mourners. In light of this the US has set up a facility to enable Kaddish to be recited on your behalf by someone in Israel attending a legal Minyan. We will match your request with a volunteer who has agreed to say Kaddish at least once a day for one person or at least once a day on a Yahrtzeit.
Government permits private prayer in places of worship Earlier this week the government announced that houses of worship can re-open, if they wish, for private prayer. This will no doubt bring comfort to many people of faith, though given Jewish tradition is to pray with a minyan in shul when possible, we are sadly not yet able to open our buildings more fully. We pray that time will come soon. You can read our full statement via the button below. United Synagogue nurseries start to re-open Many of the United Synagogue nurseries have re-started in light of government guidance to re-open education settings. Pictured here is Little Goldies, the nursery of Golders Green Synagogue. The children celebrated their return to nursery with toys, games, singing and a socially-distanced Shabbat party. The children have adjusted to their new normal and are settling in well. WATCH AGAIN BBC's Jon Sopel on events in America The BBC's Middle East Editor, Jon Sopel, joined South Hampstead Synagogue's Rabbi Shlomo Levin for a fascinating in-depth conversation on the death of George Floyd, the protests which followed and the response of President Trump. It's well worth a watch. THIS WEEK'S KABBALAT SHABBAT! Shulem Lemmer and Kenton United Synagogue welcomes you tomorrow! CORONAVIRUS CHOIR A world first for Mill Hill United? The choir at Mill Hill United is believed to have achieved a world first by releasing a live choral recording made during lockdown despite all participants being isolated in their own homes. Find out how via the link and take a listen to the recording! WILLESDEN JEWISH CEMETERY Can you help us trace these families? We are seeking to trace the owners of monuments to Henry Arthur Nathan and the Neville family. Specialist stone conservation work on these monuments will start soon, following the recommendations of a professional survey into the condition of key memorials at this historic cemetery. This week Rabbi Mordechai Wollenberg shares his favourite proverb...
“Educate the child according to his way; so that when he is older he will not stray from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
This verse is usually taken to mean “educate a child from an early age in the ways of God” (“His way”), so that as the child gets older he or she is used to doing mitzvot and studying Torah, and will continue to do so.
As a parent I strongly encourage Jewish learning and practice from an early age. If my child is already used to say making brachot from an early age, it becomes second nature.
But there is a different understanding which contains a vital lesson about education – “al pi darko” – “according to his way” – the way that works best for that child. If you do that, when they grow up they will retain what they have learned and assimilated. Don’t assume that a child just fits into a box: find the way of learning that works for that individual and it will remain with them.
When we go back to school, anyone who is told about the importance of exams and league tables might shrug their shoulders and cite 2020 as the year everything changed.
Maybe it could give us cause to consider whether “one size fits all” really works, to go back to basics, to educate each child in a way that brings out their strengths and talents, that will then remain with them for life. In Judaism that means finding a way that connects to each child, that is meaningful for them and talks to them in such a way that they want to keep it up for life.
Rabbi Mordechai Wollenberg is the Senior Rabbi of Woodford Forest United Synagogue RICHMOND UNITED SYNAGOGUE An evening with Lord John Mann Join Lord John Mann, the Government’s independent Adviser on Antisemitism for a discussion and Q&A on 'Anitsemitism in a new political world'. It will be hosted by Rabbi Shindler of Richmond Synagogue next Thursday (June 18) at 8.15pm. Live on the United Synagogue YouTube page and via Zoom. WOODSIDE PARK UNITED SYNAGOGUE Mental health and wellbeing seminar Join Woodside Park on Wednesday at 8pm for a fascinating panel on mental health and wellbeing challenges during the Coronavirus crisis. With speakers from Grief Encounter, Jewish Care, JAMI and Camp Simcha, this will be a fascinating evening. COCKFOSTERS UNITED SYNAGOGUE Annexation with Judah Ari Gross Judah Ari Gross is the military correspondent for The Times of Israel. He will speaking about some of the hot topics in Israel right now, including the proposed annexation of portions of the West Bank and social changes taking place within the IDF. Tuesday, 11am. ST JOHN'S WOOD UNITED SYNAGOGUE Compelling conversations Join St John's Wood for a new series of compelling conversations. The series continues on Wednesday (17 June) at 9pm with Melvyn Hartog, Head of Burial at the United Synagogue, looking at death and Jewish burial in a pandemic. Live on Facebook. Photo of John Mann is by Roger Harris - https://members-api.parliament.uk/api/Members/1387/Portrait?cropType=ThreeFourGallery: https://members.parliament.uk/member/1387/portrait, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86632787 This email was sent with love from the United Synagogue. If you no longer wish to receive this email, please unsubscribe here |