Spy Club: Chanukah Party

On Sunday 13th December SPY Club had their annual end-of-year Chanukah party/ Bring-a-Friend party. This is always extremely fun and enjoyable with a variety of games and food; there was fish finger wraps and, of course latkas!

The games included making edible Chanukiah's out of chocolate fingers, marshmallow fluff, wafers, sponge fingers and smarties. Other games included a darts tournament and a range of games with balloons which ended in a competition to see which team could burst the balloons first by sitting on them. 

The whole evening was a great success and everyone looks forward to future meetings in the coming year. 

SPY is aimed at school years 5 and over. There is a small entrance fee which helps to cover the food and to provide games and activities. It is a great way for young people to meet and have fun together from all over the community. 

What's Going on?

What's going on between 28th - 3rd January?

Monday        28th      7:30 p.m      Bridge

Friday          1st        8:15 p.m      Erev Shabbat Evening Service

Saturday      2nd      10:00 a.m     Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Saturday      2nd      11:00 a.m     Shabbat Morning Service

What's Going On?

What's going on between 21st - 27th December?

Monday        21st      7:30 p.m      Bridge

Monday        21st      7:30 p.m      Table Tennis

Friday          25th     8:15 p.m      Erev Shabbat Evening Service

Saturday     26th    11:00 a.m     Shabbat Morning Service

Book Club

The SPS book club has been running for about 10 years, during which time we have read and discussed a variety of different genres. We meet about once every 4 to 6 weeks with members taking it in turn to host the evening; the host provides refreshments and offers discussion questions about the book which can lead to some interesting differences of views.  

Overall our meetings are good fun.  All we ask is for a £1 donation which is given to the host to cover the cost of food.

Some of our books are provided by Barnet Library, a service they offer to book clubs; others we order from our own library, buy or even download onto Kindles.

Our last meeting:

At our November meeting we discussed The Farm by Tom Rob Smith.  

Opinions varied although the majority of us found it a page turner, but we did agree that there were quite a lot of loose ends. Our discussions, as usual, took us in different directions including mental illness,  flats being built in Finchley and libraries possibly closing in Barnet.

Future meetings:

Our next meeting will be on 18th January when we will discuss One Night in Winter by Simon Sebag Montefiore.

We decided that our February meeting will be on Wednesday 17th, and we will discuss Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain.

Due to various holidays – school and religious -  we decided to ignore March and go straight to April and agreed on 11th when we will discuss The Daughter's Secret by Eva Holland. 

New readers are always welcome and anyone wishing to join our group can contact the Synagogue office for more information. 

What's going on?

What's going on between 14th - 20th December?

Monday        14th      7:30 p.m       Bridge

Monday        14th      7:30 p.m       Table Tennis


Tuesday       15th      7:30 p.m       TECS film night 

Tuesday       15th      8:00 p.m       Access to Judaism with Rabbi Yuval

Thursday     17th      10:00 a.m      Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Friday          18th     8:15 p.m        Erev Shabbat Evening Service

Saturday     19th      9:30 a.m        Religion School 

Saturday     19th     11:00 a.m       Shabbat Morning Service

What's going on?

What's going on between 7th - 13th December?

Monday        7th      7:30 p.m      Bridge

Monday        7th      7:30 p.m      Table Tennis


Tuesday       8th      7:30 p.m      Rummikub 

Tuesday       8th      8:00 p.m     Access to Judaism with Rabbi Yuval

Thursday     10th    10:00 a.m    Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Friday          11th     6:30 p.m      Chunukah Chavarah

Saturday     12th     9:30 a.m      Religion School 

Saturday     12th    10:00 a.m     Tots Service 

Saturday     12th    11:00 a.m     Shabbat Morning Service


Sunday       13th     6:00 p.m      SPY Club (Chanukah party - bring a friend)

Religion School

Every Saturday morning from 9:30 till 12:30 there is a Religion School for all children aged 5 to 16. 

The children learn Hebrew as well as understanding Judaism including the Jewish history and laws. The aim of the syllabus is for all the children to gain knowledge of what it means to be a Liberal Jew, the skills to follow a Liberal Jewish lifestyle and an appreciation of out Jewish values and heritage. The school's syllabus covers The Bible and Jewish literature, customs and traditions, festivals, Shabbat, life cycle, history and Hebrew. 

Throughout the school year there are times when the whole school comes together, typically on festivals where there are themed activities for the whole school. On Purim everyone dresses up and some of the activities include acting, singing and crafts. On Pesach a 'Cheder Seder' is held giving the children the opportunity to experience a Seder night as well as practicing for their own. Not only on festivals but also other occasions such as Mitzvah Day where the children help out those in the community.

From the youngest class the children begin to learn the Hebrew letters, prayers and about the festivals. We are introducing the opportunity to develop a basic knowledge of spoken, modern Hebrew that the students will be able to use when they visit Israel. 

After their Bar/Bat Mitzvah there is the Kabbalat Torah class where they go into more depth about Jewish traditions and ethics. This gives the children a deeper understanding of Judaism and a chance to express their own views. This class lasts two years and at the end the students have the opportunity to take the GCSE exam based on what they have learnt in the two years. 

Once the children have left Religion School they are given the opportunity to stay on as a helper and eventually become a teacher. This gives them a chance to continue helping within the community as well as developing their knowledge further.

Each week an assembly is conducted (Tefillah) where the whole school comes together with prayer and ethical discussions based on Jewish traditions. 

Whats going on?

What's going on between 30th - 6th December?

Monday        30th   7:30 p.m    Bridge

Monday        30th   7:30 p.m    Table Tennis

Tuesday       1st     8:00 p.m     Access to Judaism with Rabbi Yuval

Thursday     3rd    10:00 a.m    Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Friday          4th   8:15 p.m      All Hebrew Erev Shabbat Service

Saturday     5th    9:30 a.m      Religion School 

Saturday     5th   10:00 a.m     Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Saturday     5th   11:00 a.m     Shabbat Morning Service

What's going on?

What's going on between 23rd - 29th November?

Monday        23rd   7:30 p.m     Bridge

Monday        24th   7:30 p.m     Table Tennis

Tuesday       25th   8:00 p.m     Access to Judaism with Rabbi Yuval

Thursday     26th  10:00 a.m    Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Friday          27th   8:15 p.m     Erev Shabbat Service

Saturday     28th   9:30 a.m      Religion School 

Saturday     29th  11:00 a.m     Shabbat Morning Service

Fundraising: Barn Dance

Throughout the year the fundraising committee holds a variety of different events to raise money for the community and to bring everyone together for a night of fun! We like to do different types of evenings to appeal to everyone and keep it exciting. These events include the most recent Barn Dance;

On the 17th October a barn dance was held in the Schindler hall with around 50 people, of all ages, and was a great success! There was food, dancing and a raffle all to raise much needed funds. The caller was extremely enthusiastic  and energetic and kept us dancing all evening by teaching us various dance sequences which needed a lot of practicing to make sure we got it right! A buffet style meal was provided for everyone by the fundraising committee. A raffle was also held halfway through the evening which included lots of different prizes to be won.

The whole evening was extremely enjoyable and brought the community together outside of religious practices. People are already asking when the next one will be so it was definitely a great success!

What's going on?

What's going on between 16th - 22nd November?

Monday        16th   7:30 p.m     Bridge

Monday        16th   7:30 p.m     Table Tennis

Tuesday       17th   8:00 p.m     Access to Judaism with Rabbi Yuval

Wednesday  18th   8:00 p.m     Interfaith Evening 

Thursday     19th  10:00 a.m    Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Friday          20th   8:15 p.m     Erev Shabbat Service

Saturday     21st   9:30 a.m      Religion School 

Saturday     21st  11:00 a.m     Shabbat Family Morning Service


Sunday       22nd                     Mitzvah Day


Sunday       22nd  6:00 p.m     SPY youth club

Whats going on?

What's going on between the 9th - 15th November?

Monday    9th  7:30 p.m   Bridge

Monday    9th  7:30 p.m   Table Tennis

Tuesday   10th 7:30 p.m   TECS Film Night

Tuesday   10th 8:00 p.m   Access to Judaism with Rabbi Yuval

Thursday 12th 10:00 a.m Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval

Friday     13th  8:15 p.m   Erev Shabbat Service

Saturday 14th  9:30 a.m   Religion School 

Saturday 14th 10:00 a.m  Tots Service

Saturday 14th 11:00 a.m  AJEX Remembrance Shabbat Service 

Introduction to the blog

Southgate Progressive Synagogue is a lively, friendly and thriving synagogue with a range of activities and clubs for all ages. We are located in North London, only a 5 minute walk from Oakwood Underground Station, on the Piccadilly Line. You can visit our website for more information at; www.sps.uk.com

The Rabbi

Rabbi Yuval Keren has served our community since 2012. He began his studies at Leo Baeck College in 2004 and obtained a first-class bachelor's degree in Hebrew and Jewish studies in 2007 and a master's degree with distinction in 2009. He received his Rabbinic ordination at the west London Synagogue in July 2009. Before joining our community Rabbi Keren was a student Rabbi at Hendon Reform Synagogue and remained there for three years before joining our community in 2012. 

Rabbi Keren provides spiritual leadership and support for our community; he promotes Jewish wisdom, encourages learning and supports our community members through good and bad times. He has a strong commitment to studying and teaching Judaism. Since arriving in the UK, from Israel, in 1993 and during his Rabbinic years he has been actively involved in Jewish education, community leadership, interfaith dialogue and pastoral care. 

His guiding principles as a Rabbi are the belief in God and the application of religion with reason. 

Services 

We hold weekly Friday night and Saturday morning Sabbath services which usually begin at 8:15pm and 11am respectively. 

We hold festival services to mark the beginning of each festival throughout the year. There is typically an evening service on the evening of the start of the festival and a morning service for the first day of the festival. For some festivals we hold alternative services including; at Chanukah when we have a Chavurah (a bring and share meal). At Purim we celebrate with a Spiel which is great fun with lots of noise and laughter, fancy dress and refreshments. For Shavuot we join Finchley Progressive Synagogue and Sha'arei Tsedek where we have an evening Chavurah meal and study sessions. There are activities for children, youth and young adults. 

We also like to hold alternative services throughout the year such as a Friday night rock service, guitar led music services, Chavurah's (bring and share meal), and informal circle services. We like to hold these services to appeal to everyone in our community and to enhance the Sabbath experience. 

Religion School

Ruach is our Religion School for children aged 5 to 16 and many of the students continue on to become helpers once they have graduated the the Kabbalat Torah class. Ruach takes place on Saturday mornings at 9:30. 

The aim of our syllabus is for the children to gain knowledge of what it means to be a Liberal Jew, the skills to follow a Liberal Jewish lifestyle and an appreciation of our Jewish values and heritage. The children also learn Hebrew and gain an understanding of our prayers and the Torah, this will allow them to follow and join in with the services.

The whole of Ruach come together in Tefillah (an assembly) where they discuss what they have learnt and have a discussion based on Jewish traditions. 

The hall

The Schindler hall not only holds our High Holy Day services, but is the perfect place to hold celebrations and corporate events. The hall can seat 160 people for a sit down function or 130 people with a dance floor. It has a vegetarian or fish kitchen, a cloakroom and excellent washrooms. As a synagogue we hold several functions throughout the year including our most recent barn dance and rock service. It is perfect for all occasions including Bar/Bat Mitzvah's, wedding receptions, private parties and charity events.