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Shabbat, 23rd May 2020 / 29th Iyar 5780
Bamidbar / 44th Day Omer / Pirkei-Avot: Chapter 6

Mevarachim HaChodesh

Dear Member,

 

Please see below our weekly e-newsletter.

 

On the advice of the Chief Rabbi's Office, please note that all services at the Synagogue have been cancelled until further notice.

 

We hope that where possible you will keep to the Government's advice regarding self isolation and avoiding non-essential gatherings. 

 

If you are in need of anything then please ring the Synagogue Office on: 0208 629 2780 and we will try to assist you.

 

This week’s Cranbrook News is kindly sponsored by
Michael Griver in loving memory of his sister Betty bat Eliezer z”l.

 

Shabbat Shalom,

 

Cranbrook US

The Chief Rabbi's Shavuot Message

Clarification regarding the Shabbat times during the summer months

 

Ordinarily Shabbat begins 18 minutes before sunset. However, as we enter the long days of summer in our community we will be bringing Shabbat in at the earlier time of 7.40pm.

 

This will allow our members to have their Friday night meal at a more convenient hour.

 

For the benefit of our members who are unable to light candles with the rest of the community at 7.40pm, we will publish in the newsletter the latest time for candle lighting.

Good Shabbos to all

 

We are about to experience the festival of Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah. The Talmud describes the giving of these commands as a form of getting married. The Mountain is a canopy of the chuppah, the Jewish people are the bride, and G-d himself is the groom, and the 10 commandments is the marriage document.

 

The giving of Commandments as a method of marriage seems incredibly unromantic. It effectively minimizes the emotion and the grandeur of an undying love into a legal document. Yes at Mount Sinai this is exactly what happened. G-d tells us that we will be a “Kingdom of priests and a holy nation”, but there is a catch - we have to ensure we serve G-d, keep the Shabbat day, respect our parents, don’t desire things that don’t belong to us. 

 

Is this what love is about? 

 

I love you, therefore will you do all these things for me?

 

How are we to understand this?

 

Perhaps we need to think about love in a different way.  Love is not about grand gestures. Love is a constant. It is expressed in the small things that one does for one another, in the washing and in the sewing and in the cooking and in the cleaning and the way that we help each other take care about children and grandchildren, how we think of each other and what our significant others need. It is how we support one another during the difficult times, through sickness and uncertainty that defines love. It is giving each other space when we need it and being together when we need that as well. It is a constant, it is not a yearly emphasis.

 

G-d says that he wants a relationship with us, and a relationship is not a Valentine’s-day relationship - it is a constant exercise in empathy - thinking about what the other would want.  It is a relationship that takes place every single day, from the time we wake up in the morning until the moment we go to sleep, and finds its utterance in the 613 commandments which essentially tell us how to express our love and constant devotion to the Almighty. This is truly what love is about. There can be no greater expression of love than this.

 

Shabbat Shalom

 

Rabbi Steven, Siobhan, Maya and Talia Dansky

Shalom Magazine, Rosh Hashanah 5781 Edition (September 2020)

Bored?

Fed up with being stuck at home?
Looking for something to do?
Why not contribute to the Rosh Hashanah Edition of Shalom, your Shul Magazine?  “Anyone can Write”, so put pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard - and produce an interesting article, preferably with a Jewish content!
Please email articles by 10th July 2020 to stanton.philippa@gmail.com or, if you aren’t on email, post your written work to Philippa Stanton, 39, St Peters Close, Newbury Park, Essex, IG2 7QL giving your telephone number.

All contributions will be acknowledged either by email or by telephone.

I look forward to hearing from you. - Philippa Stanton - Editor

Befrienders needed

 

Prior to the pandemic, we were being asked by some of our older members if they could have someone visit them on a regular basis and become a befriender. This is more important than ever with members having to self isolate because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

 

It is very important that we, as human beings, have contact with another person, whether to benefit their mental health, create a friendship or just having someone to talk to. Could you be this special person bringing some sunshine and positivity into the life of one of our older/vulnerable, valued and interesting member? 

 

At the moment all that would be required is to make a regular phone call.  However, once the pandemic is over it would be great if the befriender could visit instead of ringing but that decision would be made by the befriender and the person being called.

 

Please consider becoming a much needed befriender during such a difficult time. Lorraine can be contacted on: lsilverwelfare@cranbrooksynagogue.org.uk or call the office 020 8629 2780.

If you would like to mark a birthday or Simcha, or want to commemorate a Yahrzeit, this can be done by sponsoring Cranbrook News. In the forthcoming weeks, there are many dates that are available. The cost of sponsoring Cranbrook News is £15.

 

Sponsorship is available for the on-line version of Cranbrook News on the following dates, May 30th; June 6th, 20th and 27th; July 4th and 25th.
To book any of these dates please call the synagogue office on: 020-8629 2780 or e-mail admin@cranbrooksynagogue.org.uk

Condolences to:

 

Lorraine Silver on the loss of her sister, Esther Lyne.

Howard Vilka on the loss of his mother, Esther Lyne.

 

Maurice Arkus on the loss of his mother, Millie Highbloom.

 

Natalie Alter and Nigel Spring on the loss of their mother, Yvonne Spring.

We wish Long Life to everyone who is observing a Yahrzeit this week:

Tracy Abrahams, Kitty Adleman, Barbara Bass, Beatrice Baxter,

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