On March 5th EHRS were delighted to welcome over 80 members and guests from the Muslim and Christian communities to their second Interfaith Iftar. In partnership with the Faiths Forum for London, the community invited Muslim friends and neighbours to break their Ramadan fast with us.

A vegan meal was lovingly prepared by a team of synagogue volunteers, and the congregation were able to enjoy an explanation of Ramadan and its spiritual meaning from Imam Monawar Hussein (Chaplain at Eton College and founder of the Oxford Foundation) and heard from Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers and Julie Siddiqi MBE on the theme of ‘Hope’.

During her talk Rabbi Debbie said ‘hope, like seeds, starts out in small packages. I love this idea, because hope needs nurturing to flourish and grow, but sometimes it can take root in the most unexpected places.’ All acknowledged the importance of coming together at such a difficult time.

Janet Brand, Chair of the EHRS Interfaith Committee who led on organising the event said: “It was a wonderful evening – we studied together, spoke together and broke bread together, proving that we have more in common than that which divides us”.

This event was part of a continuing effort at EHRS to expand our interfaith engagement, from local interfaith groups to an interfaith TuBishvat seder in February and an interfaith Shabbat morning service planned for June.

For more information please feel free to contact Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers rabbi.debbie@ehrs.uk

Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue hosted a ‘Havdallah for the Hostages’ on Saturday night, 22nd February. Over fifty people from several Synagogues came as Shabbat ended to be together to mourn the deaths of the Ariel, Kfir and Shiri Bibas and Oded Lifshitz and to welcome the release of the six Israeli hostages who had been held captive in Gaza for between 505 days and over ten years. Rabbis Rachel Benjamin, Nicola Feuchtwang, Mark Goldsmith, Lea Muehlstein, Tanya Sakhnovich and Debbie Young-Somers led the ceremony. Members from all of their Synagogues, EHRS, Alyth, the Ark, and Mosaic were among those attending. We heard testimony about Oded Lifshitz, his work for peace and his creation of the cactus gardens at Kibbutz Nir Oz as well as seeing a brief video of him playing his piano, the frame of which was so poignantly preserved after the destruction of his and Yocheved Lifshitz’s home by Hamas terrorists. We also heard testimony about Omer Shem Tov, one of the released hostages, his life and his mother’s words after his release. Following the moving ceremony almost all attending stayed for refreshments together, to talk, to hug and to support each other.

We are delighted that we have been able to help be part of re-emerging Jewish life in Vilnius. At the end of August, Rabbi Tanya led a delegation of members to Poland, taking with them one of our Torah scrolls which has been presented to a young and growing Jewish community in Lithuania’s capital city, where Jewish life was almost destroyed after the Holocaust. Following a request for help from the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ), our Council offered the long-term loan, forging a bond between our two communities which we hope will only strengthen and grow in the years to come. Before the war Vilnius was one of the most important centres of Jewish life and learning in Europe.
Please click here for the coverage in the Jewish Chronicle, and click here for the article from The Movement of Reform Judaism.