Every summer, members of the Edinburgh Liberal Jewish Community, Sukkat Shalom, celebrate a special countryside Shabbat. This year’s service brought them to Newstead Village Hall, near Melrose, where a 30+ strong congregation and local community members made it one to remember.

The service was led by Rabbi Mark Solomon, and made possible by Isobel King, a resident of Newstead, who not only organised the Shabbat gathering but hosted a generous kiddush and lunch in her cottage and garden. The sense of hospitality echoed the theme of family, friendship and shared faith.

Among the congregation was Paul Langsford, Chair of The Movement for Reform Judaism, who was invited by the community’s former Co-Chair Nick Silk, who knew Paul was Isobel’s half-brother. His presence reflected the many personal connections across Progressive Judaism.

One moving moment came with the baby blessing for Oren Cahen, surrounded by three generations of family, including his great-grandmother, Dorothy Sefton-Green.

Paul explained he was attending not only as a relation of Isobel King’s but also as a leader of the merger of Reform and Liberal Judaism. He told them he was a member of Alyth synagogue like baby Oren’s great-grandmother, Dorothy Sefton-Green, who was also a longstanding family friend. And that Dorothy’s late husband, Marcus Sefton-Green, was one of the original communal leaders behind the first attempt to create one Progressive movement back in the early 1980s.

Paul emphasised the “importance of family, community, and Movement, and the value of our connections across Progressive Judaism.”

Andrea Torres, current Chair of Sukkat Shalom said: “Bringing our Shabbat service to Newstead every year is a profound reminder that Jewish life thrives wherever communities take root. The countryside setting offered connection, and a sense of welcome that made everything feel sacred. Sukkat Shalom was doing what its name promises, a shelter of peace.”

Picture, left to right: Gillian Raab (former co-chair and current honorary secretary), Maurice Naftalin (former co-chair, current council member), Sue Bard (former co-chair, current council member), Andrea Torres (current chair), Paul Langsford (MRJ Chair), Nick Silk (former co-chair, current council member).