Together Groups
EHRS Together Groups are all about making our congregation of over 3000 people a place where we know each other and are can find people who share their interests. It’s a great way of making sure that more and more of our members find the people within the Synagogue that we would especially enjoy getting to know. It is based on a very successful model that has been developed by a number of other large Synagogues around the world. Two great examples are Central Synagogue in Manhattan’s Core Groups click here, and The Temple of Atlanta, Georgia’s Temple Connect Small Groups click here.
The idea is this: your synagogue supports our members in creating groups, which could be as few as five or six people or as many as twenty-five to thirty, around any interest or topic that sits alongside the values of the Synagogue. They could be shared care groups or interest groups. They could be groups to help meet a challenge. They could be groups just for fun. They could be learning groups. The principle is that they are led by members of the Synagogue with the support of the Synagogue staff team to get started, get out to members and find resources.
Together groups are a natural way of bringing our community together, person by person and helping our Synagogue to be more and more. It is a way of building great relationships in our lives with people we do know and with people we don’t. If you have a group you might like to get going please contact any of our Rabbis, Marian Cohen or Val Joseph at the Synagogue and we will be delighted to help you.
Our current and proposed EHRS Together groups are listed alphabetically below.
Badminton Group
Mondays, 20:00-21:00 in Aldenham
Do you play, did you play or do you want to play Badminton?
Come and join us each week for a friendly doubles game or two in a non-competitive environment.
Level – recreational / social
Please click here to register
Bridge for Beginners
Have you always wanted to learn how to play bridge but didn’t know where to start? We are delighted to be able to offer you the opportunity to attend Absolute Beginners Bridge. Led by an experienced Bridge teacher, these two taster sessions will enable you to learn the basics of the game in a friendly and welcoming setting. To get the most benefit from these lessons, it is recommended that you attend both sessions.
We will be holding 2 Beginners Bridge Taster Sessions on Thursdays 6 & 13 July, 20:00-21:30
Booking is essential. As places are limited to a maximum of 20, priority will be given to EHRS members.
Donation: £2 per session for EHRS members, £10 per session for non members
To book your place for 6 July please click here and to book your place for 13 July please click here
Please click here to register your future interest in this group or please email debbie.drapkin@ehrs.uk
Coffee & Chat
Wednesdays, 10:30-12:00 fortnightly
Our tea and coffee mornings at EHRS are for those on their own who would like to meet others in the same situation. All are welcome.
Please click here to register
Cookalongs
Join our monthly Cookalong’s where we create delicious treats together with all different types of foods, led by Rabbi Debbie and open to all adults who would like to join us.
Past Cookalong’s have included Hamantashen for Purim, Vegan dishes, Chinese fakeaway, fresh pasta, a Tu B’Shevat seder, Pesach florentines and cocktails, Foraging and Freebies, Shavuot alternatives to cheesecake, challah making, cookies & loaf cakes for tea, making our own ice-cream, and vegan & Parev desserts.
Wednesday 24 May, 19:00 in person at EHRS
Shavuot Cookalong: Join Jewish Domestic Goddess Denise Phillips for a live demonstration & cookalong. Denise will be giving you the chance to improve your kitchen skills whilst offering some healthy & economic alternatives to anything you can get on “DeliverJew”! The menu includes olive & cheese bread swirls & mini raspberry cheesecake, and some ‘cheesey tips’ for the best cheesecake. £10 per person and promises to be a delicious evening. Please click here to book.
Please click here to register your interest in our cookalongs
Cycling Together
Sunday 2 July, 9:15-11:30
It’s time to dust off or polish your bike as EHRS are excited to run our first cycling together group ride and would love for you to join us. This is aimed at everyone who is confident at riding on a road in a group for 20 miles at a leisurely pace (with a refreshment stop halfway).
Arrive at EHRS by 9:15, leave at 9:30 and back to EHRS at 11:30. The event is free, but bring some money for a coffee/cake/ice cream on route. All types of bikes (road, mountain, hybrid, e-bike, tandem, penny farthing) are welcome, but please make sure that they are roadworthy. Children are welcome but, if aged under 15, must be accompanied by an adult, (and confident to ride on a road).
For more information, please contact Andrew Woolstone, andrew.woolstone@ehrs.uk
Please click here to book your place
Foraging Group
During the special Jewish Year known as the ‘Shmita’ or sabbatical, we are looking forward to learning with our EHRS member Peter Bradley about local foraging opportunities through the seasons.
Find what food the local area offers us for free, and learn how to use them from Vegan Honey to Ketchup, Salad to Soup!
Sunday 4 June, 14:00-16:00
Peter will meet you at the Valencia Road entrance to Stanmore Country Park. Peter hopes you will learn to love daisies, gorze, flowers, and bramble leaf tea!
Please click here to book your place
Genesis
This recently established informal, friendly and caring social group is for those aged 60 plus who lost their partners during Covid or in recent years.
If you are interested in this group please click here to register your interest.
Israeli Dancing
Mondays, 11:00-12:30
Please join us for our Israeli Dance Class at EHRS. This class is for all adults and runs weekly.
A warm welcome to all who want to join us for this energetic and fun morning.
Please click here to book your place
Juke Box Gold
Thursdays 20 July & 17 August, 20:00-21:30
(This group was previously known as The Shaking Sixties)
If you lived through the 1950s, 1960s, or 1970s or just love music from those eras, then this group is for you!
From Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley, Roy Obison, Neil Sedaka, Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Supremes, to great singers such as Matt Monroe, Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Scott Walker, together with many other memorable groups and singers from that era.
We look forward to welcoming you each month with videos and songs on very informal basis, where we will play many of your favourites!
Refreshments available from 19:30. Hosted by Richard Hartman.
Please click here to register
Let's Talk about ED
If you are the parent of a teen who is battling an eating disorder, you might like to chat with other mums and dads in a similar situation to share your struggles, exchange tips on how to cope or just know that you are not alone.
To join this warm, non-judgemental group, please click here to register.
Opera Appreciation
Do you like opera?
If so then please join our opera appreciation group at EHRS with other like-minded members.
This group will meet at EHRS in the early evenings to see classical opera on DVD which will be introduced and then discussed by the group.
After the success of the first meetings we will see why great operas by composers such as Mozart, Puccini, Bizet, Verdi Donizetti have lasted the test of time and are as popular today as they were 200 years ago.
Upcoming dates: Thursday 18 May, Wednesday 31 May, Thursday 8 June, Thursday 6 July
All are welcome. Refreshments will be available during an interval.
Please click here to register your interest for this group.
Phoenix
Following on from the success of Genesis, a recently established bereavement group for those who have recently lost their partners and which is now full, there is demand for another group.
This group will be for those in their 70s and bereaved, who would like to meet others in a similar situation with a view to doing things together.
If this appeals to you and you would like to find out more please click here to register your interest for this group.
Rabbi Kraft Memorial Book Club
The ‘Rabbi Kraft Memorial Book Club’, was set up in memory of our dearly missed Rabbi Neil Kraft z”l. Rabbi Kraft was a keen reader and we’re sure that he would have been pleased with this new venture. As a tribute to Rabbi Kraft we will include books which touch on the values he was most passionate about, such as understanding and caring.
We will meet on the first Tuesday of each month (unless specified)
For more information about the book club and your suggestions for future books to discuss, please email education@ehrs.uk
Coming Up:
Tuesday 6 June, 19:30 on Zoom
We will be discussing ‘The Herd’ by Emily Edwards
More details of these books can be found on the calendar section of the website
Please click here to book your place
Rambling
Rambling Group
There’s only one thing that beats getting out into the fresh air and discovering new places – and that’s doing it with other people.
As part of EHRS’s Together Groups, Rambling is a fantastic way to make new friends and learn about local lore. Worried about breaking the ice? That’s the beauty of being part of a group, you will have your love of great views, fresh air and a love of nature in common.
Led by our member Phil Muller, our monthly walks will be approximately 1 – 2 hours, moderately challenging, and super friendly. Open to all ages.
To find out more about our future walks simply email rambling@ehrs.uk
Next Walk:
Sunday 28 May 10:30-12:30 Ruislip Woods.
Click here for more details of this walk and where to meet.
Please click here to register your interest.
Future Walks:
Sunday 25 June and Sunday 30 July
Rosh Chodesh
The New Moon is a traditional women’s holiday, but this monthly study group is open to all.
Rabbi Debbie welcomes everyone who would like to learn at this monthly group on Zoom. Please email admin@ehrs.uk for Zoom details.
A New Series for 5783: Sun and Moon – Both Give Light
For this new year of months, we will be inviting guests who might typically be seen to have opposing view points, and exploring how they hold space together despite their differences.
Thursday 25 May, 20:00
Our regular Rosh Chodesh evening in May falls on Thursday 25th, when you are all warmly invited to join us not only for a Rosh Chodesh session but a whole night of learning for Shavuot Tikkun Leyl – come for as much or as little as you fancy!
Thursday 22 June, 20:00
Tammuz: Bybilonian influence in Judaism. We know that Judaism has influenced at least two major modern religions such a Christianity and Islam. To what extend ancient Judaism was influence by the Babylonian culture and believes? We will also talk about special times in our lives when it feels like we are in a vast desert during hot summer. How do we cross the deserts of our lives? Join Rabbi Tanya and Gwen Morgan (a member of Yelala’s circle and minyan) for a conversation, discussion and a celebration of Rosh Chodesh Tammuz in a creative way.
Rummikub
Calling all Rummikub players!
Do you love playing Rummikub? This new Together Group will take place fortnightly on Tuesday afternoons, 14:00-16:00.
If you are interested please join this friendly group at EHRS.
Donation £2 per person. Booking essential.
Please click here to book your place
Schmoozing with the Rabbis
New Options: For the active retired and semi-retired (60 plus)
Join our Rabbis for a light hearted topical discussion, in an informal setting, in person at EHRS
Coming up:
Tuesday 20 June, 10:30-11:30 with Rabbi Tanya
Please click here to book your place
Singing Circle
Mondays, 14:00-15:00
Do you enjoy singing in the EHRS service and are in awe of the choir?
The Singing Circle is an opportunity for anyone who doesn’t have perfect pitch to sing a medley of EHRS favourites and learn some new Hebrew songs based on short texts which will be transliterated. We can always throw in some English hits of yesteryear. And you don’t have to read music.
Join Lawrence Cohen, your song leader, for an hour of joyous harmonies! This group runs weekly at EHRS.
Please click here to book your place
Spanish Conversation Group
Tuesdays, 14:00-15:30
Hola, hablas español? Do you speak a little Spanish? Want to brush up your Spanish conversation in person?
This EHRS Together Group is for those who wish to improve their Spanish and runs fortnightly.
A facilitator is welcome.
Please click here to register
Talmud Class
EHRS’s stimulating and friendly Talmud class is open to all levels of Jewish knowledge.
Join Rabbi Mark to grapple with the ideas of our classical Rabbis. Join the discussion of 2000 years ago and its remarkable relevance to issues today.
No previous Talmud study experience necessary, just a thirst to get deep into the foundational texts of Judaism.
This class is conducted online through Zoom as discussion and argument is what it is all about!
Please email rabbi.mark@ehrs.uk to get the Zoom details and the Talmud texts we are studying.
Upcoming dates:
Sundays 4 & 25 June, 10:00-11:00
TV Addicts Club
Do you like films but not the cinema?
In each series of the TV Addicts Club we meet fortnightly on a Thursday evening to enjoy brand new and old classics of movies. Come along and meet people with the same enthusiasm and relax in front of the box, safe and comfortable, with delicious treats to enjoy whilst we watch.
These features show real life situations and conversations, and are relevant to the context of the feature.
The TV Addicts Club returns in the Summer running fortnightly from June-August 2023 with our ‘Oscar Winners’ series of films.
We will enjoy watching films that have won an Oscar for various categories including Best Actor, Best Picture, and Best Costume.
Thursday 15 June, 19:30-22:00: ‘Green Book’
Winner of the 2019 Oscar for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali
Dr Don Shirley is a world-class African-American pianist, who is about to embark on a concert tour in the Deep South in 1962. In need of a driver and protection, Shirley recruits Tony Lip, a tough-talking bouncer from an Italian-American neighbourhood in the Bronx. Despite their differences, the two men soon develop an unexpected bond while confronting racism and danger in an era of segregation.
Thursday 29 June, 19:30-22:00: ‘Judy’
Winner of the 2020 Oscar for Best Actress
Starring Renee Zellweger, Finn Wittrock
Thirty years after starring in “The Wizard of Oz,” beloved actress and singer Judy Garland arrives in London to perform sold-out shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub. While there, she reminisces with friends and fans and begins a whirlwind romance with musician Mickey Deans, her soon-to-be fifth husband.
Please click here to register your interest to join this group and be added to our mailing list for future showings.
Whisky Tasting Group
Join us at EHRS for an evening of whisky tasting where you can sample different whiskys and chat about your favourites with others who share the same love for this delicious tipple.
Members are asked to supply whisky which we can all have a taste of. Please bring your own whisky tumbler if you so wish, though small disposable shot glasses will be available.
Light refreshments will be provided. Hosted by Laurence Stein.
Please click here to register
Yiddish Group
Do you speak Yiddish? We are gauging interest for a Yiddish redendike Together Group.
We’re not entirely sure what form this would take just yet, but it’s likely to be a conversation group for us to shmues af mame-loshn.
Please click here to register