8th May 2021 / 26th Iyar 5781 / 41st Day Omer Dear Member,
Please see below for our weekly e-newsletter.
Booking is now open for Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday, 14th May at 7.15pm and for Shabbat on 15th May at 10am.
Bookings will close at 6pm on Wednesday, 12th May.
Booking is now open for our Shavuot morning services on Monday, 17th May and Tuesday, 18th May at 10am.
https://myus.theus.org.uk/events/64351/shavuot-services/
Bookings will close at 6pm on Monday, 10th May.
We are now open for Shacharit services, Monday and Thursday at 7.15am, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 7.30am, Sunday and Bank Holidays at 8.15am, booking is now open.
Bookings will close at 6pm on Thursday, 13th May.
We are now open for Mincha and Ma'ariv services on Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm.
To book your place please click here or call Robin on 07956 617669.
The Shul office will remain open for phone calls only. Please do not visit the Shul office for any reason. If you are due to make a payment, this can be done by debit/credit card by ringing Michelle on 020 8629 2783 or by cheque through the post.
If you know of anyone that needs our help please contact the Shul office.
This week’s Cranbrook News is kindly sponsored by
Shabbat Shalom
Cranbrook US
News and Views
Last week we heard about the horrific death of 45 of our brothers and sisters in Meiron on Lag B’omer. There are so many emotions and thoughts which could go through our minds in the aftermath of this tragedy. There has definitely been a question of who is to blame. Some argue that the participants were incorrect in going because they should have respected the restrictions in this Covid age. Others have argued that the Israeli government is to blame for not providing adequate measures to ensure the safety of those who travelled to Meiron. However, I believe that neither of these two responses is correct at this moment. It doesn’t matter right now who is to blame in the face of the grief of those who have lost loved ones. Apportioning blame will not bring back those who passed away. Pointing the finger will not make anyone feel better. A colleague of mine, Rabbi Robinson in the United States said the following: “while those questions (of who is to blame) will all have a place and a time - right now the urge to go there is because it removes us from sadness and grief. We don't want to be sad, it's uncomfortable. And we look for other feelings that charge us up. But it's ok to be sad. This is a tragedy. We have to be sad, we have to cry, we have to mourn. We are Jews, these are our family members. Grief matters, and grief is appropriate.”
I have also been asked why as Jews we should make such a fuss of this tragedy, while the world at this moment is so full of tragedies. A mention should be made of the thousands who are dying in India due to Covid at this very moment. Why should we not make a clamour about those who died there?
This excellent question deserves a good answer, and I hope that I express it correctly. As Jews we have a responsibility to care not only for ourselves, but for the entire world, especially those who are in pain and deprived. In fact, one of the core forces that should drive us is the idea that since we were taken out of Egypt, we should be the ones who best know what it feels like to be deprived, what it feels like to be “less than”, and what it means to be enslaved. The reason that we needed to be redeemed from Egypt specifically from such circumstances, is so that we never forget that we were redeemed for this important task - to take care of those who are without, and to support those that are in need.
There is no doubt that this is true, but at the same time, we need to acknowledge that the sense of sadness that we feel should be greater for those in Israel, not because of the size of tragedy, but rather because we should realise that those who passed in Meiron are our family. One of my teachers in Israel said on Facebook this sad comment: “I taught Donny Wednesday night, and then by Thursday he was gone. A sweet, holy neshama (soul) blessed be the truth Judge”. The people who died are not strangers to us. They could have been our family members, a brother or a sister, and when a family member dies, no matter what other tragedies occur in the world, the family is the hardest hit. They will not be thinking about the external world and its woes at a time like this.
That doesn’t mean to say that the plight of those in India is not great. It is indeed, but it is understandable at this moment in time that family comes first.
I wish you all a good Shabbos
Rabbi Steven, Siobhan, Maya and Talia Dansky.
If you have a question that you would like to address to the Rabbi’s News n Views, please email rabbi@cranbrooksynagogue.org.uk. I look forward to seeing your questions!
Weekday Shacharit: In Shul and on Zoom Tues 11th, Wed 12th & Friday 14th at 7.30am.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84248315505?pwd=WTZDL0JndG1ZVWRiQjZtNms1Ny9SZz09
Meeting ID: 842 4831 5505 / Password: 013639 Mincha & Ma'ariv: In Shul and on Zoom Monday - Thursday at 7:30pm.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81050022128?pwd=ZEpwZXkxVFgzNko1aGNSSDhZV2Ntdz09
Meeting ID: 810 5002 2128 / Password: 434484
Shabbat Times - Behar-Bechukotai
Kabbalat Shabbat at 7.15pm in Shul. Candle Lighting at 7.40pm (8.19pm).
Shacharit begins at 10am in Shul. Shabbat Ends at 9.31pm.
Shabbat candle lighting (Bamidbar) next week at 7.40pm (8.30pm).
Clarification regarding the Shabbat times during the summer months
This will allow our members to have their Friday night meal at a more convenient hour.
Kabbalat Shabbat will take place at 7.15pm throughout the summer.
COVID PRECAUTIONS
MEN TO ENTER THROUGH THE FRONT DOORS.
PROCEED STRAIGHT TO A SEAT WITHOUT STOPPING. AVOID GREETING AND TALKING IN FOYER
LADIES TO ENTER THROUGH SIDE DOORS AND PROCEED TO SEATS UPSTAIRS KEEPING TO THE LEFT
ALL CLOAKROOMS ARE CLOSED KEEP BELONGINGS WITH YOU
NO COMMUNAL SINGING OR CHANTING, RABBI / LEADERS ONLY
MEN TO EXIT ONLY THROUGH THE SIDE AND REAR FIRE EXITS
LADIES TO EXIT USING THE MAIN STAIRCASE, KEEPING LEFT AT ALL TIMES AND PROCEED SLOWLY DOWN THE STAIRS TO FRONT FORECOURT
PLEASE OBSERVE THE 2M SOCIAL DISTANCING RULE AT ALL TIMES
WASH HANDS REGULARLY
Please remember the Guidelines are there for your protection and safety.
Condolences to:
Susan Terpilowski on the loss of her mother, Stella Shaw.
Debra Dougal, Susan Clarke, Helena Howard, Leslie and Jeremy Goldberg on the loss of their mother, Josephine Goldberg.
The form to add birthdays, wedding anniversaries and yahrzeit insertions in the 2021/22 Cranbrook Synagogue Calendar were recently sent out in your Pesach mailing; if you have mislaid the form it can be downloaded from the synagogue website. Please return the completed form to Ruth Lyndon via the synagogue office; these need to be returned by May, 31 2021.
There are occasions that we need men to help make a minyan at a levoya, this is a great mitzvah. We appreciate that during this difficult time men do not want to go out, perhaps some of our younger members would like to help out.
Marion Dobin, Sonny Finberg, on their respective birthdays.
Sponsorship
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: June 5th & 12th; July 3rd, 10th, 17th & 31st.
To book any of these dates please call the synagogue office on: 020 8629 2780 or e-mail admin@cranbrooksynagogue.org.uk
We wish Long Life to everyone who is observing a Yahrzeit this week: Kitty Adleman, Bernice Bass, Barbara Bass, Michelle Bean,
200 Club Winners March
April
Rosh Hashanah 5782 - Shalom Magazine
Many thanks to everyone who submitted articles for the Pesach Edition of the Shalom Magazine - we have had some excellent feedback from our readers.
I am now working on the Rosh Hashanah 5782 Edition of the Shul Magazine. If you have any interesting or amusing articles with a Jewish content that you would like us to include, please email them as soon as possible to Philippa Stanton at stanton.philippa@gmail.com.
Tell us your opinion and win a £100 Amazon voucher!
Thank you for being a member of our community. We want you tell us how we’ve done during the pandemic and your thoughts on engaging with the community in the coming months.
Between Monday 10 May and Wednesday 12 May, you will receive an email with a bespoke link to a survey. It will take about ten minutes to complete. Your responses are very important: the more members who fill in the survey, the better the data will be to help us plan ahead and meet our members’ needs.
You could also win a £100 Amazon voucher! Two lucky people who complete the survey will each win a £100 voucher.
The survey is confidential and is being administered centrally by the United Synagogue. Please do fill in the survey when it arrives in your inbox next week: it will come to the email address associated with your membership. This is your unique code and shouldn’t be shared with anyone else – all members (aged 18 and over) will receive their own email. If the email has not arrived by Wednesday 12 May, please check your junk/spam folders. If there are any problems or for any queries, please email survey@theus.org.uk.
Thank you very much once again for being a member of our community.
Shul Office Opening Hours As the Shul office is not open currently please call Estelle on 020 8629 2780 or Michelle on 020 8629 2783.
Rabbi Dansky is available out of hours. You can contact him directly on his mobile 07780 236697 or by calling the Shul office and selecting option 3.
Reverend Newman is available out of hours. You can contact him directly on his mobile 07882 054321 or by calling the Shul office and selecting option 4.
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