Today is rather complex. We are celebrating Shabbat, our weekly opportunity for rest and renewal. It is also National Holocaust Memorial Day, the day set aside by the British government since the millennium for remembrance of the Holocaust, and for educational activities about the horrors of Nazism and subsequent genocides.[1] So: a day of joy […]
NATIONAL HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY – THE POWER OF WORDS On 27th January, it will be National Holocaust Memorial Day; the day set aside by the UK government for annual commemoration of the Holocaust; chosen because 27th January 1945, the date when the Red Army liberated Auschwitz, marked the beginning of the end of the Nazi […]
With the Christian festival of Christmas just two days away, this Shabbat, I’m going to talk to you about the connections between the stories of three nice Jewish boys: Joseph, Moses, and Jesus. Of the three, Joseph is the odd one out, since there are no tales about him as a baby – Joseph’s story […]
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME TO THE SERVICE OF CELEBRATION 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT, 1967, Liberal Jewish Synagogue, 29.10.17 Good afternoon everyone. It’s my privilege to welcome you to this special celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act that decriminalised sexual acts between two men over the age of […]
This week, the cycle of Torah readings turns to the stories of our ancestors, beginning with the tales of our first patriarch and matriarch, Abraham and Sarah, related in parashat Lekh L’kha, which spans chapters 12 to 17 of the Book of Genesis. My first sermon was on this portion on 26th October 1985, 11th […]
This year, the month of October starts the day after Yom Kippur. So, the Days of Awe – yamim nora’im – are behind us, and the season of our rejoicing – z’man simchateinu – is about to begin. With Sukkot, just five days after Yom Kippur, traditionally, one begins erecting the sukkah immediately after the […]
FROM AV TO ELUL When I was young, I loved the music of Simon and Garfunkel; in particular, the way in which each song tells a tale. One of my favourite songs was – still is – “April, Come She Will” (released in 1966), which tells the simple story of young love from the spring […]
When groups of non-Jews visit the synagogue, they often ask me how I would sum up what is distinctive about Judaism and Jewish life. Well, Jews very rarely get together without food being part of the proceedings. But then, we’re not entirely unique in this respect. Jews are also very family-orientated. But then again, so […]
To say that there’s been rather a lot in the news lately about leadership is a huge understatement. In just three weeks, in the wake of the third horrific terrorist attack in as many months on 3rd June, the General Election on the 8th, the devastating conflagration that destroyed Grenfell Tower block and claimed the […]
REMEMBERING JUNE 1967 Looking back fifty years, 12 years old at the time, I have two enduring memories of June 1967: the release of the Beatles’ spectacular LP, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which came out on the 1st of the month, and the Six-Day War, which began on June 5th. I remember sitting […]