30 January 2017 Liberal Judaism’s senior rabbi, Rabbi Danny Rich, helped to rededicate a plaque commemorating the Kindertransport in the Houses of Parliament. Danny joined Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, Lord Alf Dubs and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, … Read More
[Sermon] The People vs Trump
29 January 2017 Rabbi Elli Tikvah Sarah A ‘Reality TV’ star has become President of the United States. Is it a joke? When ‘President Trump’ was featured on ‘The Simpsons’ in the year 2000 the spectre was supposed to make us laugh – and perhaps also, to make us think… … Read More
Last day of Chanukah is last day for Woodford
3 January 2017 Woodford Liberal Synagogue held its final service, on the last day of Chanukah. The special inclusive service – which is welcoming of all and caters for many forms of disability – marked the last for the community, which has now united with Bet Tikvah to form the … Read More
Nottingham welcomes Austerlitz scroll after 50 years
3 January 2017 The congregation at Nottingham Liberal Synagogue (NLS) have welcomed a Torah scroll from Austerlitz, in the Czech Republic… finally putting a 50-year mix-up to an end. The community was founded in 1965 as Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation and immediately applied for, and received, a Torah from the … Read More
Liberal Judaism’s Top 5 Landmarks in 2016
While the last year has seen many setbacks for those with Progressive values, Liberal Judaism as a movement has enjoyed another 12 months of growth – with strengthening communities, enhanced social action work and a louder voice in Anglo-Jewry, Britain generally and, indeed, the rest of the world. Below we … Read More
Coming Soon: NPLS Liberal Jewish Online Music Library
20 December 2016 NPLS Choirmaster Ruth Colin has been hard at work over the last year digitising the scoresheets for the entire Liberal Jewish Siddur. Ruth has already begun using this fantastic resource to take the NPLS choir completely paperless, and totally interactive. With the ability to use tablets to read music, … Read More
Rabbi Harry Jacobi conducts AJEX Remembrance Ceremony
21 November 2016 Liberal Judaism’s Rabbi Harry Jacobi MBE conducted this weekend’s 82nd AJEX Annual Remembrance Ceremony and Parade, alongside Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Rabbi (Major) Reuben Livingstone. Harry – who twice fled the Nazis, first from Germany to Holland and then to the UK – served as a … Read More
Leo Baeck College celebrates 60 years of training Europe’s rabbis
8 November 2016 More than 200 people, including 43 rabbis and student rabbis spanning six decades, attended the 60th Anniversary Service of Celebration for the Leo Baeck College this weekend. Leo Baeck College is a preeminent institution of Jewish scholarship and learning, based in Finchley, Barnet, that is the heart … Read More
[Blog] There’s a very thin line between exercising power for the sake of the public, and exercising power for its sake
Rabbi René Pfertzel 14 October 2016 Le Blog Français, The Jewish Chronicle In my previous life in Normandy, I used to be a History teacher. Once, I brought my students to the local archives in Evreux, a middle-sized city located south from Rouen. We wanted to study the archives related … Read More
A tribute to Shimon Peres
28 September 2016 It will be with undoubted sadness that Liberal Jews will learn of the death overnight of Shimon Peres, who died in the early hours of this morning, surrounded by his family. Peres suffered a stroke two weeks ago and, despite significant improvement, his condition rapidly deteriorated yesterday. … Read More