Well – it’s been quite a couple of months. After a very successful High Holy Days with terrific participation from the community, we reached Sukkot.
Hannah was sadly unwell with Covid, but we were fortunate to get Rabbi Margaret Jacobi to lead our Interfaith service. This went extremely well and many local friends from all faiths and none were there. The Sheriff of Norwich stayed beyond her time frame as she was so interested in the service and the related festivities.
As we were celebrating two of what are supposed to be the most joyous occasions in Judaism, news of the massacre in Southern Israel was becoming known. The conflict continues and I’m sure will be addressed elsewhere in this newsletter, so I don’t wish to dwell on it here.
What I do want to speak about is Heritage Day (on September 10th), when Linda and I co-led a talk about Liberal Judaism. This was at the NHC, and the dialogue that took place was terrific. People were really interested in the Liberal perspective and the discussion continued even once we’d left the room. Linda and I worked well together – myself with my traditional Liberal Jewish background and Linda as a progressive Jew with experience covering the conflict in the Middle East. We complimented one another well and I think it was our dialogue that prompted such a good response. More of these to come, I hope!
I would also like to thank Hannah for providing a space for Kabbalat Shabbat prayers. It is likely that these will be continuing every Friday for as long as we need them. It has been hard to establish the right format, but I think that last Fridays’ gathering was quite beautiful. As ever, Hannah is sensitive, thoughtful, and on point with the way she leads our community. I’m sure others will share with me in thanking her for all the support and leadership she has shown over the past few weeks.
With my very best wishes, Annie