My first experience of interfaith engagement was when I was studying to become a rabbi at the Leo Baeck College in London (1984-89). As part of the curriculum, the student body would spend eight days in Germany each March, meeting with Christians and Muslims, who were also, for the most part, students. 

Being immersed in interfaith encounter in such an intensive way had a profound impact on me. As a consequence, interfaith engagement has always been a major component of my work as a rabbi, and I have participated in a large number of interfaith encounters, both short-term and long-term, and written extensively on interfaith topics.

The two films included here, made by local filmmaker, Sarah West, were produced in the context of the activities of the Brighton and Hove Interfaith Contact Group in which I was involved during my years as rabbi of Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue (2000-2021). 

The first captures the Annual Interfaith Service, with contributions from faith groups from across the city, which was held on this occasion at Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue. 

The second focuses on the Tree of Life year-long project adopted by the B&H IFCG in 2019, which included an event at BHPS that brought together groups from across the city of all faiths and none to highlight the indispensable contribution made by trees to the life of the planet. The project was created deliberately as a life-affirming interfaith response to the antisemitic attack against the ‘Tree of Life’ synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 27 October 2018.