It seems a long while since the last newsletter and a lot has happened. What a memorable weekend we had with Max’s barmitzvah. Kim, you really worked miracles and Max’s Hebrew reading was amazing. It was really nice welcoming Charley Baginsky and her wonderful children Josh, Ellie and Cassie. Stu and I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with them.  Max did his family proud and it was lovely to welcome Abi’s mum and dad. The look on their faces when Abi danced with Max – one of the highlights of the evening. Did anyone else notice that it was much quicker getting home from the party venue than it was getting there!

It was good to get to know Gershon better. We had an absorbing Engaging with Judaism session where we studied the interactive Torah. This meant that we looked at different aspects of the Noah parsha and I’m sure all of those who attended, learnt something new. We enjoyed Lily’s singing from the Bimah and Gershon’s singing of the Haftarah added to this. Aren’t we lucky to have such wonderful musicians in our midst!

I know some of you are looking forward to meeting the Archbishop of Canterbury on November 7th at the NHC. If you haven’t let me know you’ll be there, it’s not too late to get your name included! Then on Friday November 9th, Gershon will be leading an EWJ session on singing familiar songs from the siddur. This is in the Peill Room at 7:30. We already have some good singers but things can only get better with Gershon at the helm. Cheder is at its usual 10 o’clock slot (Hebrew primers have been ordered) followed by the Shabbat morning service at 11:15.

On Sunday, November 11th, our community is laying a wreath at the War Memorial outside City Hall at 11 o’clock. This is the first year that our community has been invited to lay a wreath so it would be good to see people there. There is also a candle lit procession in the evening from the Cathedral. Details are on the website.

And people that are going to Limmud – I think Byron, Beverley, Helen, Chris and Tom are all going. Have a great time and perhaps we can find time for you to tell us all about it. Enjoy enjoy!!

Here’s hoping for a bit of autumnal sunshine. Those lovely sunny days in October seem like a distant memory.

Annie

Well so much has happened since August it’s hard to know where to start. We owe a huge debt of thanks to Kim and Philip who organised the High Holy Days to perfection. It was great to see new people up on the bimah – Ros and Claire did themselves proud.

So many highlights – Kim, Philip, Alan, Stephen, Sam and Michael for their wonderful Hebrew readings and Kim and Philip for their sermons. So good to see Olly back up on the bimah and involved.

I felt very emotional when Stephen was processing the scroll. And Lily – your singing brought a spiritual dimension that I don’t think we’ve reached before. Can we have more of that please? And of course I shouldn’t forget Stu and his shofar blowing and Helen’s wonderfully presented study session. There was and is so much to celebrate in our community.

Then last weekend we welcomed Gershon into our community for our annual Interfaith Sukkot. We had a number of guests including Fiona from Peter Mancroft, Don and Della from the Interfaith group in Great Yarmouth and Joanna’s friends, the vicar and his wife.

We should thank Matthew for helping Stu and I get the Sukkah up and Sam for helping to take it down again. Gershon’s voice filled the space and it’s exciting to think that this will be happening on a regular basis.

Thank you Gershon and for a thought provoking sermon.

We’re always lucky with the sunshine and we were able to mix and mingle around the Sukkah and talk to friends old and new. It was great to welcome a number of young families who seemed to enjoy themselves.

Sukkot is such an inclusive festival and has a natural way of bringing people together. It’s always been one of my favourites in the Jewish calendar.

Annie

It’s so good to be sitting at my kitchen table with the sun shining outside. After a very blustery week in Yorkshire, I really appreciate the weather and the effect it has on all of us. It’s strange how, at this time of year, the weather always takes us by surprise. I have memories of my mother buying us winter dresses to wear to shul for the High Holy Days and it was invariably too warm to wear them and we complained bitterly!

In any case, this is a time of renewal and change.  It’s a combination of reflection, anticipation of things to come and hopes for the year ahead. Within our community, we can reflect on a fantastic year with three admissions this Spring alone. Although we will miss Leah, we know that she is furthering her studies to enrich her understanding of her faith. She will come back a richer person and we await news of her blog to keep us in touch with her journey.

It is a credit to our community that members have stepped up to lead our High Holy Day services this year. Particular thanks goes to Kim and Philip who have put everything together for us. Many more people are contributing to our services this year as a result. And then at the end of this month, we’re delighted to welcome Gershon Silins who is very much looking forward to working with us. I’m personally very excited about his ideas to enhance and improve our community singing.

So exciting times lie ahead. We look forward to seeing you on Sunday night, September 8th for our opening Erev Rosh Hashanah service.

Annie

I can’t believe another month has gone by – with all this hot weather; the weeks just seem to fly past.  A couple of weeks ago I got a surprise package through the post – a chair’s award from LJ.

“Annie Henriques of Norwich Liberal Jewish Community for her involvement in the unprecedented dynamism and growth of the Norwich community. The panel were particularly inspired by her involvement in Norfolk’s refugee resettlement programme.”

I’d like to blame Leah for some of our success! I very much have Meike to thank for our involvement with the refugee resettlement programme and am pleased to say that I have got to know one of the Syrian families who moved here. I’m using the Cook for Syria cookbook – it’s brilliant.

Aside from this, we said a very sad farewell to Leah who left for Israel. She will be writing a blog and will send me the link as soon as she gets going. She’s going to be living with her sister Claire who will be studying Arabic, so it’s going to be a really special time for the two of them.

We also had a lovely shared service with the Suffolk Community in July. Beverley, their chair, found us the perfect venue and the service was brilliantly led by Nick supported by Kim and Sam. There was a really good atmosphere and the shared lunch afterwards was a good opportunity to get to know one another better.

Freddie has been having a wonderful time on the Israel tour and is due back shortly. Meanwhile Max is working hard on his parsha and Kim has been supporting him. Thanks Kim, what would we do without you! Kim has also been working hard with Philip to prepare the High Holy Day services.

We have Elliott Karstadt coming on Saturday, 11^th August so please try and come along to welcome him back to Norwich. This is the third summer he’s visited us and his sermons are always really thought provoking.

Meanwhile keep enjoying this glorious weather – I had a sea swim at Cley today and the water was incredibly warm! Aren’t we blessed to live in Norfolk!

Annie

What a wonderful month it’s been!  Gorgeous sunshine for the most part, our daughter turned 30 and we celebrated Donna’s admission in style. With two small people on the bimah it was amazing how smoothly things went. No baby in the ark this time round! Donna we welcome you and your family to our community and may there be many more mitzvot to come.

The next two months are busy ones for us. Roddy is leading a service using the draft Siddur this Saturday, June 9^th so make sure you bring your copies to shul. We have plenty of community copies so don’t worry if you haven’t got one. After Kiddush, Helen is leading a working group that is looking more closely at the draft Siddur. Helen is going to the Biennial at the end of the month when the feedback process regarding the new siddur will be launched. So we should be ahead of the game!

On Saturday June 23^rd, Gershon Silins is visiting us and after an informal chavurah lunch. Please bring a dish to share. He is Canadian and has worked there, in the US, and more recently in this country. Please try and come along to meet him and experience the musical element that he brings to the service. He is after all music adviser to Liberal Judaism.

Then just two weeks later on July 7^th, we have to say our sad farewells to Leah. We are having a chavurah lunch so please bring something to share to make this special for her. Leah is off to the States on June 13^th until a couple of days before the July service, so if you need to contact her for any reason, now is the time to do it.

And lastly, we have a joint service with the Suffolk Community on July 14^th. I’m aware this means two service weekends in a row but it was the only day that we could get the Quaker Meeting House in Diss. It promises to be an excellent venue. Kim and Sam will be working with Nick Feldman of the Suffolk Community to take the service. Afterwards we are bringing food to share and I’m reliably informed that the grounds are lovely. So if the weather is good it should be lovely. If you need a lift, please talk to me or Hilary. There are more details of the venue on the website.

Lastly, Steve Pruner is now our representative on the Board of Deputies (BOD).  As he said in his manifesto, he would welcome people talking to him about their views so he can take these to BOD meetings. Thank you Steve for putting yourself forward and congratulations!

I hope to see many of you this Saturday.

Annie