What's The Biggest Synagogue In The World?

Wikipedia would have it as the Belz Great Synagogue in Jerusalem, but for a short time on the Erev Shabbat of 18 August just passed, that certainly wasn’t the case. I know – I was there. 

And where was that? Ruth and I were on board the Royal Caribbean liner “Serenade of the Seas”, celebrating our silver wedding. These days, the Serenade ranks as a relatively modest vessel. Its 90,000 tonnes, twelve decks and space for 2,500 passengers comes well down the list of largest cruise vessels afloat. But for that Shabbat, it (or at least, as small part of it), did become the biggest shul in the world. 

We’d cruised before, and I remember the last time we were aboard I’d seen a line in the day’s cruise calendar saying that there would that evening be a self-led Erev Shabbat service. Wherever it was, I never found it. Perhaps it was in too remote a part of the boat, or there weren’t enough Jews on board to make a minyan. 

But I thought I’d try again this year when I saw the same line in this year’s cruise calendar. And after all, the entertainments team had been boasting of how many different nationalities they had on board. “And 63 Israelis…”, they had said, after going through the list of Yanks, Brits and other assorted Euros afloat. So it had to be worth a try. “I’ll see you in ten minutes” Ruth, ever sceptical, said to me as I set off. 

I found the venue easily enough, a separate area just off from one of the main dining rooms. And there were other people – about twenty. The ship had provided all of the necessaries. Two electric candles (definitely no naked flames at sea), some siddurs (definitely not ULPS), a cholla (definitely large enough to feed the whole ship) and two bottles of kosher wine (definitely not on their regular wine list). 

I thought, “well, we’ll do a few hamotzis and that will be it” – but no, we more or less did the whole service, supplemented at each break by our going around the room, saying who we were and where we were from. And as it happened, almost all of us were either from the States - or Southgate! Yes, there were indeed three families who had never met before, who lived within a 15-30 minute drive of each other and who had other mutual acquaintances. We all spent time comparing notes on schools, shuls and Rabbis. And two of the 63 Israelis - a couple from a kibbutz up near Kinneret - added to our diversity. 

And the funny thing was, I’d never seen any of the people anywhere on the ship before that moment. Perhaps that’s not surprising when there are 2,500 of you. But on the Saturday following, we kept on bumping in to each other at every turn! 

And the other funny thing is that amidst all of those nationalities (and presumably faiths) on board, I never saw publicity for any other similar gathering. No Jumu’ah, no Vedas, no Communion. Why was that? Is it just the Jews who choose to cruise? Or are we more keen than others to connect with fellow believers from around the world? Perhaps that’s something to do with there being fewer of us – we’re that much more keen to make those links. 

And so for that Erev Shabbat, the Serenade certainly was the biggest shul in the world – for me at least. It certainly made for a different and fun Shabbat and if we’re ever afloat again, I’ll look out for a repeat event. 

Julian Sampson 

Religion School News

During the first half of term, we have focussed on the High Holidays. Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we took some of the younger students to Oakwood Park to do Tashlich: symbolically throwing away our mistakes from the past year, in the form of bird seed, which of course pleased the local ducks on the pond in Oakwood Park. However, we didn’t just focus on our mistakes. We celebrated our achievements in the past year, and chose some positive aims for the year ahead, all sealed by eating Honey Cake. Other highlights of the trip were the excellent playground, and the opportunity to wave to the trains from the railway bridge (see photograph), with one train driver whistling in response.

During Sukkot, we had Tefillah in the SPS Sukkah, and found out about the four species that make up the Lulav. Several students waved the Lulav, and we wondered whether we could grow our own Lulav in future. We will be looking into buying a Willow or perhaps a Myrtle to plant in the synagogue garden this Tu Bishevat. However, both the Palm and Etrog are used to warmer climates, and will need to grow in a greenhouse or conservatory. Before Simchat Torah, we had a fantastic visit from the Liberal Judaism youth group, LJY-Netzer, who ran fun educational activities for the students. LJY-Netzer also have a full range of holiday activities, including Hadrachah (leadership training), and you can find more details on their website: www.ljy-netzer.org. 

On Simchat Torah itself, we organised activities for children, including making our own Torah Mantle costumes, and creating model Torah Scrolls out of sweets! During November, Ruach will be visiting the Hugh Myddelton nursing home, as our Mitzvah Day project. Throughout the term, we will be collecting Tsedakah contributions for World Jewish Relief’s International Disaster Appeal. You can read more about the charity’s work at: www.worldjewishrelief.org/support-us/appeals. 

For our very youngest members and their friends, our parent and toddler group, Mini-Ruach, was back in October, after a short break for the High Holidays. The next session of Mini-Ruach will be on Friday 10th November at 10am. Meanwhile, our popular Friday Children’s Service will be on Friday 3rd November at 4.15pm, and our monthly Tots Service will be on Saturday 18th November at 10am. 

Finally, after the Chanukah break, we hope to repeat the success of last year’s History Project, where we asked adult members of the congregation to come into class to talk about their childhood memories. This time the theme will be “Israel,” to tie in with the younger students’ Jewish Studies curriculum. 

Book Club

MONDAY 30TH OCTOBER AT 7.30 P.M. off-site

(PLEASE NOTE NEW STARTING TIME OVER THE WINTER MONTHS)

We will be discussing two of this celebrated writer’s novels - so if you have never read any of her books, or not recently, and would like to discuss them in more detail please join us for what will be an enjoyable evening with refreshments provided.

Cost £1. All welcome. Please contact me for further details and venue:
Marion Smith Email - marionksm@gmail.com

My Cousin Rachel 
Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent cousin, Ambrose. Resolutely single, Ambrose delights in making Philip his heir, knowing he will treasure his beautiful Cornish estate. But Philip's world is shattered when Ambrose sets off on a trip to Florence. There he falls in love and marries - and then dies suddenly in suspicious circumstances.
Before long, the new widow - Philip's cousin Rachel - arrives in England. Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, mysterious woman. But could she have masterminded Ambrose's death?
An extremely clever novel with an ending that will haunt and trouble the reader.


Jamaica Inn 
After the death of her mother, Mary Yellan crosses the windswept Cornish moors to Jamaica Inn, the home of her Aunt Patience. There she finds Patience a changed woman, down trodden by her domineering, vicious husband Joss Merlyn. The inn is a front for a lawless gang of criminals, and Mary is unwillingly dragged into their dangerous world of smuggling and murder. Before long, she will be forced to cross her own moral line to save herself.
First published in 1936, this novel is one of the author’s finest and con?n-ues to enthral its readers to this day.

Happy reading.

Chavarah Supper With Words From The Savoy Butler

Congratulations to Jane Greenfield for organising a thoroughly enjoyable chavurah service in early September. She managed to get over sixty people to come and listen to Sean Devoren, the Head Butler at the Savoy Hotel, regale us with revelations of what his job entails. 

He took us into a different world that most of us could never aspire to. It was fascinating and at times bewildering but great fun. Special thanks to the lovely ladies of the house committee, who as usual made sure the amazing choice of food was served with aplomb. 

Wonder who Jane will come up with next time. What about the life and times of a London Cab Driver? Could be interesting, or perhaps not.

Words From The Chair

On Tuesday 29th August the Synagogue’s revered Hon Life President Hilda Schindler passed away. 
In 1946, three years after it was founded, Hilda joined Southgate & District Liberal Synagogue as it was known in those days, and in a short space of time became Head Teacher. Apart from a period at the old NLPS cheder, she taught at SPS for fifty two years. In 1983 she was made Hon Life President, and in 1986 was presented with a certificate for forty years of service. Hilda also served as Hon Secretary for seventeen years, and was on just about every committee, as well as attending Council meetings, where she did not suffer fools gladly. She was a stickler for protocol as was her dear friend Doris Reese. In 2010 I nominated her for the LJ Chairman’s Special Award; she won hands down, as her CV was far more impressive than any other nominee. Apart from her beloved Religion 
School, the other great loves of her life were The Friends of Progressive Judaism, and the Leo Baeck Education Centre in Haifa, where she was held in the highest esteem. Many years ago I told Hilda I was going to Israel, and she said you must visit Leo Baeck, which I duly did. There was security outside the office and when I asked if I could come in and look around the answer was an emphatic no. When I said Hilda Schindler told me it was ok for me to visit, it was like a magic wand had been waved, and I was treated like royalty. Subsequently I visited Leo Baeck on a number of occasions and was always very well received. 

Hilda retired from Religion School in 1998; throughout the many years of her dedicated teaching career she touched the lives of countless young people, including my two daughters. Even when they reached adulthood they still referred to her as Miss Schindler and always treated her with the greatest respect. Sadly the last few years of her life were in care homes, and at times in and out of hospital, but she battled on because, even though the body “In 1983 she was made Hon Life President” was weak, she had the heart of a lion. As the quality of her life deteriorated and she finally passed, it could be deemed to be a blessed release for someone who once had such vitality and fervour. Inexplicably it took nine days before she was laid to rest. Unfortunately, as the Synagogue had no input with the arrangements of the cremation, it was beyond our control to rectify that sorry state of affairs. Hilda did not have any immediate family, but SPS was undoubtedly her surrogate family and she loved and served the community with unceasing commitment and passion. 

In the evening of her cremation a service was held in the Synagogue in front of nearly one hundred people. Rabbi Yuval set the tone for the evening with his moving recollections of the short span of time he knew Hilda. There were also reminiscences from Pearl Phillips, Jane Greenfield, myself and especially her friend from Germany, Rabbi Harry Jacobi, who brought tears to people’s eyes when he referred to how they were like brother and sister. Hilda Schindler will be fondly remembered by all who knew and worked with her. She was an iconic figure in the history of SPS, and her like will never be seen again, may her memory always be for a blessing. There will be a service to celebrate Hilda’s life on Sunday 26th November; details will be in the next issue of the Gate. Despite our mourning, life must go on, and another towering figure of the Synagogue, the Hon Life Vice President Pearl Phillips was nominated at the September Council meeting to take Hilda’s 
place. Also unanimously nominated to take over from Pearl is another Synagogue stalwart, the indomitable Phyllis Freedman. Both will be put forward for ratification at next June’s AGM. 

Bob Dulin

Words From The Rabbi

In Parashat Vayelech, Moses delivers his final address to the nation he shepherded through the desert for the last forty years. At the beginning of that journey, events unfolded at a very rapid pace. The Ten Plagues were inflicted on the Egyptians for no more than several weeks. It took them three from the time they left the land of Goshen until they crossed the Red Sea. A year later, they stood at Sinai to receive the Torah (and worship the golden Calf); two months later, they sent the spies to tour the Promised Land. It was the report of the spies and the response of the People that convinced God that, although it took only a few to get the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, it would take a lot longer to get the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, and turn them into a nation. Some processes need to take time, experience and maturity. Some mind-sets can only be shifted over the course of generations.

Moses, who gave up on herding sheep at the age of 80, was bidding farewell to the nation he helped form for the past forty years. His last piece of advice to the Nation was: “Be strong and resolute, do not fear or dread the others; for the Eternal your God marches with you. God will not fail you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)

When Moses delivered this message, he knew that his work was done. During the forty years of the journey through the desert, the People of Israel managed to shed their slave mind-set, the dependency they had on their Egyptian masters, and the fear they had about controlling their destiny. Yet, Moses also realised that what took forty years of hard work to build could take very little time and effort to destroy. This destruction could come from a ‘mighty’ external enemy, and it could come from their fears and weaknesses. Although Moses explicitly talked about an external enemy, he actually aimed at the enemy from within, the self-enemy that doubts our strength and capabilities. It is the enemy of the slogan “Yes we can” that we know from the children’s TV series Bob the Builder, and from Barack Obama’s 2008 election campaign. Seventy two years have passed since the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp. During that time we were busy learning the lessons from the Shoah (the Holocaust) and ensuring that the generations ahead do not repeat the same mistake.
Nearly a hundred years ago women were allowed to vote in the US for the first time, Britain followed ten years after. Since then our society removed many barriers and indeed benefitted from empowering women in many aspects of life: in the workplace; at home; in politics; in business; in the military; and more.

It has been a hundred and fifty years since the 16th US president, Abraham Lincoln, paved the way for the abolition of slavery, and nearly 75 years since Rosa Parks refused to abide by laws of segregation between whites and blacks in Montgomery, US. Both events marked the beginning of the end of racism and exploitation. Recent events in our world mark for me a setback on some of these trends. Antisemitism is gradually raising its ugly head again, even among circles considered to be enlightened and free from prejudice. The barriers to historical revisionism (a.k.a. Holocaust denial) are gradually removed, and the language associated with anti-Semitism is replaced with a ‘cleaner’ anti-Zionism, anti-Communism or anti-liberalism. The march of the Alt-right last month in Charlottesville, US brought to the fore all sorts of old ‘demons’ of white supremacy, segregation and antisemitism.

The declaration, which announced support for the establishment of a "national home" for the Jewish people in Palestine. All this might leave us in a state of despair and a great sense of setback. This is where the words of Moses must echo in our hearts and minds. We must be strong and resolute in our struggle against racism and prejudice. We must have no fear or dread of those who march with torches and Nazi flags, and who wish to march us back to the times of segregation, slavery and genocide.

So long as we believe in our path of freedom, equality and liberation, and so long as we believe in ourselves, God is going to be on the side of the alt-righteous, and not on the side of the alt-right.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Yuval Keren.

Religion School News

 In July, Ruach celebrated the end of term with an excellent interactive storytelling workshop, run by Amie Taylor, who came highly recommended by the book charity, PJ Library. 

Congratulations also to our prize winners: Oliver, Andrew, Arthur, Ella, Max and Ilana, and many thanks to the SPS Chairman, Bob Dulin, who presented the prizes. 

The new term starts on 9th September, when we will be welcoming three new teachers. Charlotte Golding and Ben Pick who grew up in our community, and have worked in Ruach as teaching assistants for the last two years. I am delighted to announce that they will be starting their new role as teachers from September, working with the younger students. 

Meanwhile, Peter Luijendijk will be joining us from Leo Baeck College, where he is a second year rabbinic student. Peter will be teaching the older students in the run up to their Bnei Mitzvah. 

For our very youngest members and their friends, our parent and toddler group, Mini-Ruach, connues to grow, with 24 children coming along on the last Friday session before the summer holidays. The next session of Mini-Ruach will be on Friday 8th September at 10am. 

Israel Group

Members of the Israel Group attended the East Barnet Festival to help at the Friends of Israel stall. The event was a great success. More than twenty people signed the contacts sheet on the day and now receive emails. Nearly eight hundred leaflets promoting Israel were given out.

 During the day we had visits from the local MP Theresa Villiers and Deputy Mayor of Barnet Val Duchinsky who showed great interest in our work. It is very important that we put Israel's case to the public so as to counteract some of the misleading propaganda that they receive. 

We always welcome new members.

Barn Dance at SPS!

Come and join the fun! 

Saturday 4th November 2017

7.30pm 

£12.50 per person to include deli-style food and drinks. 

Please contact: 

fundraising@sps.uk.com or office@sps.uk.com 

Please pay in advance by no later than Friday 20th October

Words From Our Rabbi

It is that time of the year. The air is becoming cooler, and daylight is fading away as the days of the week are getting shorter. Autumn is knocking on our doors, and it carries on its wings a spiritually significant time for us: the month of Ellul and the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is time to celebrate the Jewish New Year, enjoy honey cakes and look forward to the powerful sound of the shofar. It is also time to think and plan how we are going to overcome the twenty five-hour fast on Yom Kippur. This is the peak season in the Jewish calendar and for many of us it is also a time to reconnect to our Yiddishkeit, Jewish traditions, customs, practices and ideas, and the Jewish way of life.

In Biblical times the main concern of Jews who lived in agricultural societies in Eretz Israel (the land of Israel) was the end of summer and the beginning of the rainy season. The Middle East is known for its fluctuations in the amount of rain, and no rain will have meant no crops, resulting in famine and death. The High Holydays therefore signify at that time a time of pleading to God for a new year of rain, food and fortune. Communication with God was conducted in the Jerusalem Temple through animal sacrifice by the Temple priests.

Over the years the core idea behind the High Holydays was preserved yet it lost its sole focus on agriculture, and it gained a new focus on personal and communal. The substitutes to sacrifice that we offer are: teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah – repentance, prayer and acts of charity.

The High Holydays are a high spiritual time where we, as individuals and as a community, must engage in ‘cheshbon nefesh’. Cheshbon nefesh literally means spiritual accounting and stock taking.

Once a year every business needs to produce a set of financial accounts. It helps the business to take stock of assets and liabilities, to know whether it is making a profit or a loss and to determine how much tax it should pay.

The 18th Century Italian Rabbi Luzato gives us good cheshbon nefesh advice. “You should always check your deeds and inspect your ways in order to not let bad habits settle. You should be vigilant with your spiritual paths just as a merchant should always be vigilant with his business paths in order that business remains viable.”

Every day of the year we live our lives; we attempt to make a difference in the world. We have our successes and failures, yet we do not pause to ‘take stock’. Cheshbon nefesh before and during the time of the High Holydays gives us the opportunity to assess our distance from God and God’s commandments, examine our spiritual state and plan for the future. Unlike corporate Balance Sheets and Profit and Loss accounts I cannot offer you any cheshbon nefesh templates. Each individual will have to create his or her own template. Yet I can perhaps provide some guidelines. In Judaism we tend to divide the mitzvot into two sub-categories: Between us and God (ritual) and between us and others (ethical).

On the ritual side we need to think about our connection with God, with spirituality and with Judaism. Did we attend synagogue, light Shabbat candles, engage in study, prayer and other forms of spirituality? Did we encourage others to do so? We need to determine what stops us from reaching our maximum spiritual profit and what steps we need to take to overcome them. A good outcome could be: remember to light Shabbat candles once a week, record my favourite TV programme so I can attend Friday Night service, try to attend the monthly Shabbat morning study session.

The ethical side could be broken down to sub-categories: family, friends, colleagues, my community and even society as a whole. Here we need to determine whether we became closer or got further away from people, whether we conducted ourselves properly or we did anything we now regret. Honesty is essential in this process as human tendency is to shift the blame of our ethical failures onto all but ourselves.

One rule of thumb that I have in conducting cheshbon nefesh is to avoid asking the question: ‘whose fault was it?’ and ask the question ‘what can I do to fix it?’

There are two guiding questions that can help us with our annual cheshbon nefesh. The first: What is my primary aim in life? And the second: If I only have a year to live, what would I want to achieve within that year?

The end result of cheshbon nefesh should be a meaningful action list for the days, weeks and months ahead. It could be asking for forgiveness from someone we wronged, attending synagogue once a week, or reducing pollution by recycling and conserving energy.

Annual stock-taking is so important that some businesses even take me out one day in the year day while they take stock. So it is with our spiritual stock-taking of cheshbon nefesh. The High Holydays offer us a good opportunity to pause, reflect and take ritual and ethical stock in order to realign our spiritual life for the year ahead.

Wishing you Shanah Tovah and a successful cheshbon nefesh.