No glamorous, new location for writing the ‘Letter from the Chair’ this month: I’m at home, recalibrating my body clock after the recent disruption to my daily routine. Normal service will be resumed shortly!
I hope you all enjoyed a restful and relaxing festive season; however you chose to celebrate. It was great that people enjoyed the Chanukah party we held jointly with NHC and that a good crowd turned out to watch Rabbi Kaye light the Chanukiah outside The Forum. These two events are becoming vibrant annual traditions; they cement the friendship and kindred spirit shared within the Jewish community in Norwich (and beyond of course), and enable us, should we wish, to acknowledge our Judaism proudly and publicly. Thank you to all in the NLJC and NHC for helping to organise the festivities.
We welcomed a large congregation for Gershon’s installation as our Rabbi at the December service. It was wonderful to see so many new faces, and to welcome old friends. Follow the link below for a lovely write up on the Liberal Judaism website. Rabbi Danny’s sermon was typically thought-provoking and humorous, and helped set the tone for such an important occasion. After the service, Gershon, Danny and I shared tea with the High Sheriff of Norwich and her consort at the Guildhall.
https://www.liberaljudaism.org/2020/01/rabbi-cantor-gershonsilins-inducted-in-norwich/
We are delighted that Ruth Seager, the Deputy Chair of Liberal Judaism, will be joining us for our Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday 10 January. This will be at 7.30pm in the Peill Room. Do please join us. This will be followed the next day by our usual monthly service in the Old Meeting House.
Finally, you may have heard about a new fundraising initiative that we have introduced. It is called ‘Give As You Live.’ If you visit their website (giveasyoulive.com) and choose to subscribe, you can raise money for NLJC simply by doing your normal online shopping – Amazon, Tesco, M&S, eBay, John Lewis are all there as well as many other stores. Please give it a try!
My best wishes for a happy and peaceful 2020.
Peter Whear