Thursday 21 July 2016

Religion School News

We have just launched our Buddy Scheme, which involves putting families in the congregation who have children the same age in touch with each other. We hope that when the children come along to SPS there will be familiar faces and the children will immediately feel at home in the community. Several families have been invited to take part in the Buddy Scheme.

We recently had a visit from LJY-Netzer, who spoke to parents and students about the youth movement and in particular Kadimah, the summer camp which will be running in August 2016. Some of our own teenagers will be taking part as youth leaders, and it's not too late to sign up for the camp.

This term we have had several successful Family Services, and a children Shavuot Service, which was followed by an Open Morning where visiting children were able to join in one of the classes and get to know the students and staff. 

Thursday 7 July 2016

Words from the Rabbi: Rabbinic Feminism then and now

The Jewish world took one big leap forward last month when a group of eight women were ordained as Rabbi's in Jerusalem. 

Perhaps you will think that there is nothing unusual about ordination of women Rabbis. The first woman to be ordained as a Rabbi was Regina Jonas in Germany in 1935. Regina, who was a student of Rabbi Dr Leo Baeck, refused to make do with a teaching degree and wanted to be formally recognised for her knowledge and skills. It took the courage of Rabbi Dr Max Dienemann to provide Regina with a full Rabbinic ordination. Another glass ceiling was the reluctance of the communities to employ a woman Rabbi but Regina eventually overcame this obstacle to. Like many other German Jews, Regina's property was confiscated by the Nazis and she was sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. In the camp Regina continued her Rabbinic work by supporting those who has mental crises and suicidal tendencies. In 1944, nine years after ordination, Rabbi Regina Jonas was murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz.

Regina led the was to consequent ordination of women to the Rabbinate. The second woman Rabbi to be ordained, and the first in the US, was Rabi Sally Jane Priesand in 1972. The first British woman Rabbi to be ordained in the UK, three years later; was Rabbi Jacky Tabick. Rabbi Tabick received her ordina<on from the Leo Baeck College, a Rabbinic institute that carries the name of one of Rabbi Jonas’ teachers and was established by one of her colleagues and a refugee from Nazi Germany, Rabbi Werner van der Zyl.
81 years aAer the ordina<on of the first woman Rabbi, gender plays little role in the acceptance of Rabbinic students to progressive seminaries around the world.
Yet, in the Orthodox world progress has been slow and there has been strong resistance to the idea of women serving as Rabbis. Interestingly, even though she received her ordina<on from Liberal ins<tu<ons, Rabbi Regina Jonas defined herself as a tradi<onal Orthodox Jew. She felt that her choice of a career was directed by a Divine hand. She could not find any objec<on to women serving as Rabbis in Jewish texts. In her Rabbinic thesis she justfied the women, not by using Liberal claims but by focusing on Orthodox sources. The title of her thesis was ‘Can a Woman Be a Rabbi According to Halachic Sources?’ Based on Biblical, Talmudic, and rabbinical sources, her conclusion was that apart from prejudice, there was no Halachic obstacle to women ordinaton.
The Feminist Revolution has finally hit the Orthodox world this past month when eight women Rabbis received their semicha (Rabbinic ordina<on) from an Orthodox Rabbi. It was only in recent years that Orthodox women were even allowed to study Torah at a Rabbinic level. Yet, those who reached that stage had to make do with alternative titles such as ‘Halachic Consultant’ ‘Halachic Leader’ and even the very inappropriate <tle Rabbanit (‘the Rabbi’s wife’).
The Modern Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Landes who ordained the group of students, told them: “You will be acting in a post-modern environment... As Rabbis you must support the principle of respect for one another.”
The next great challenge for the nearly ordained is not dissimilar to that of Rabbi Regina Jonas. They will need to find communities who will endorse them as their spiritual leader. This will no doubt be an uphill struggle in a world where Rabbis are expected to wear a suit and grow a beard, and they will need to stand firm against vicious attacks from the ultra-conservative side of Orthodoxy. Yet, they cannot and should not become invisible and transparent.
It took Liberal and Reform Judaism nearly eight decades to remove the gender barrier when it comes to communal spiritual leadership. There are now a number of women Rabbis in senior posi<ons in this country. To name a few: Rabbi Alexandra Wright is the senior Rabbi of LJS, Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger is the senior Rabbi of West London Synagogue, Rabbi Laura Janner- Klausner is the Senior Rabbi at the Movement for Reform Judaism. Rabbi Jacky Tabick, the first woman Rabbi in the UK, is the convenor of the Reform Movement's Beit Din. 


This is a beautiful example of the progressive movement leading the way to the rest of the Jewish world. It would probably take a few more decades for the newly ordained Orthodox women Rabbis and their supporters to introduce feminism and egalitarianism to the Orthodox world. 

Monday 4 July 2016

What's Going On?

What's going on between 4th - 10th July?



Monday        4th      7:30 p.m        Bridge



Monday        4th      7:30 p.m        Table Tennis



Tuesday       5th      8:00 p.m        Access to Judaism with Rabbi Yuval



Thursday      7th      10:00 a.m      Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval



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



Saturday      9th     9:30 a.m           Religion School



Saturday      9th     9:30 a.m           Coffee and Learn with Rabbi Yuval



Saturday      9th    10:00 a.m         Tots Service



Saturday      9th    11:00 a.m          Shabbat Morning Family Service