We are just a couple weeks away from ushering in another new year, 5776. These Yamim Nora’im (Days of Awe) will be my fifth with the congregation and I, as each year, look forward to our sacred time together.

So much that has occurred during the past year – the terror threat of ISIS, or Daesh, streams of Middle Eastern refugees, continuing Israeli tensions, a likely change in Western relationships with Iran’s Shiite theocracy, the Greek financial crisis, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Elections at home highlighted worries over immigration.

For Belsize Square Synagogue, there were more triumphs than not – increased membership and continued enthusiasm for our beloved congregation and its activities, with celebrations galore and glorious musical offerings from our multi-talented members, young and old.

The challenges remain the same: enhancing Jewish identity, raising educational levels, offering a vital home for our youth, developing leadership and new volunteers, and never taking our future for granted.

We may approach the holidays with our usual presumptions but there are ways we can improve. For many the holidays are an ordeal, attendance something we “have to do”, services boring and prayers written in a time hard to relate to. We are unaware of the symphony, history and moral genius of the liturgy. We come late, leave early and let our minds wander or talk to our neighbours.

Despite the regular assumption that I must be disheartened by the lack of attention, I am fully aware how difficult it can be for some of you. The Hebrew is difficult, translations even more so, and services are long. And while I spend days and weeks writing my sermons, it is always a wonder that anyone really listens to my words, whose theme this year is Fear: Fear of God (the Yamim Nora’im), terror, loss of health, life, relationships.

The biggest challenge for us is this: we have too blithely turned our services into a spectator sport. People come to watch the action take place on the bimah instead of in the seats! You can change that by doing something to make our time together more engaging.

• So make some noise at services! They are not supposed to be quiet. I hope for a constant buzz of people singing along with the choir and Cantor and it is OK to chat to our neighbours, so long as we avoid long conversations that detract from the focus of the services and disturb others.
• Make the services more meaningful before you even get here! Find someone to whom you owe an apology. Ask forgiveness and forgive others at home, work and synagogue. Do real cheshbon hanefesh (scrutiny of our lives and souls) to put us in the right frame of mind to use the service as a catalyst for self-improvement.
• Da lifnei mi atah omed – Know before Whom you stand. If you are distracted in synagogue, have negative thoughts, get annoyed with this or that, say to yourself: “I stand here before my Creator and I must take account of who I am.” It will jolt us into experiencing truly meaningful prayer and devotion.

There is a tale of a wagon driver who took a rabbi from town to town. Passing an orchard. the driver said: “I’ll get some apples.” As he climbed a tree, the rabbi yelled: “He’s watching!” The driver scrambled down and ran. The rabbi drove till he caught up. “Rabbi, why did you yell: ‘He’s watching’? There was no one there.” The rabbi said: “I wasn’t talking about the farmer. I said – and he pointed upwards – ‘HE’s watching!’”

Come to our synagogue, a haven of sanctity. I want them to have a constant buzz, with all of you singing, thinking, engaging with God, Torah and the Jewish people. Then our ushering in of 5776 will be the best ever!

My wife Ella and our son Micah, with my daughter Elana and son Eitan, and I wish you all a sweet, healthy, blessed and peaceful new year 5776

Bivracha, shana tova u’metukah
Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

Shalom Chaverim,

This is a wonderful time of year to recharge our batteries and begin planning our Synagogue calendar for next year, 5776.

Let me share with you some of my ideas to ensure that our congregation remains at the forefront of leadership, especially in Jewish education and affirmation.

Our Shabbat calendar is already almost filled with Bnei Mitzvah. I am also booked for weddings and speaking engagements.

We will continue our weekly exploration of The Great Thinkers and Jewish Responses in the modern period: Hume, Kant, Hobbes, Rousseau Voltaire and Sartre, with their Jewish counterparts: Mendelssohn, Hirsch, Zunz, Graetz, Frankel, Rosenzweig, Buber, Kaplan and Heschel. Sunday mornings sessions are followed by guest speakers and special events.

Field trips are planned to the Cairo Genizah at Cambridge, the British Museum and British Library.

Also in the planning stage is a visit to Poland with Professor Antony Polonsky, our distinguished member who is the world’s leading expert in Jewish Eastern European History, specialising in Poland, and recently appointed head of the Warsaw Jewish Museum. Together we will lead a BSS group on a unique tour, which will include the Warsaw Ghetto and Majdanek camp on the outskirts of Lublin.

Let me also invite you all to Cantor Heller’s autumn leyning class. Learning to read from the Torah gives us the skills to take a greater part in our services.

Our music programme continues, with a surprise concert bringing us the very best in the classical music world. We have an outstanding Music Committee chairman in Philip Keller. Stay tuned!

I will be away in July and August visiting family in the US and attending a Bible conference in Germany. While in Los Angeles, I will meet Rabbi Professor Elliot Dorff, head of the Committee of Laws and Standards for the Conservative Movement international. With a PhD in philosophy from Columbia University, Professor Dorff teaches Judaism and Legal Ethics at UCLA Law School and is a prolific writer and good friend of your Rabbi. I hope to arrange a visit for this leading Jewish philosophy scholar to speak to us. It will certainly enhance our educational profile.

One of the things I have initiated for the benefit of our wider community is the Camden/Hampstead/Belsize Park Interfaith Matters, an inter-religious clergy association. From a handful in January, we have extended our reach to leaders in over 15 religious institutions: Jewish Orthodox (2) and non-Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant, Muslim Shiite and Sunni. The group has enabled us to hold important religious dialogue on extremism and the need to combat anti- Semitism.

Through this body, I spoke at the Islamic Centre of England (in Maida Vale), where I called for dialogue with a Sunni mosque which had invited a well-known anti-Semite from Qatar to London. Dialogue can make people aware of the dangers and reduce the damage.

In May we hosted the outgoing Mayor of Camden’s Interfaith Dinner, with 25 religious lay leaders of all faiths. I took the occasion to introduce them to Judaism. Such interaction is invaluable, and I firmly believe BSS can play an important role. It is a little known fact that one of the major failings of Jewish life in Berlin was the absence of inter- religious dialogue. By remaining insular, with no meeting ground to cultivate friendship and mutual respect, any possibility of averting the destructive hatred against Jews that led to the Shoah was lost. We are hoping to put together a Limmud-type study day for all religious faiths, as a huge step towards fostering better relations.

So there’s lots to do. Just a note: Yom Kippur services will begin at 9.30am rather than 10.00am. Pseukei d’Zimra (early morning Psalms) will be abbreviated to make time for later parts of the service and a 45-minute discussion before Mincha on The Jewish Future. We’ll uplift our services even more spiritually and intellectually.

My very best to you and your loved ones for a joyous and fulfilling summer.

Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

Shalom Chaverim,

It is indeed that time of the year. We are approaching our summer break and taking stock of what has transpired over the past year and what we plan for the future. Here are some reflections on past events and future challenges.

Religion & Judaism: We had a busy schedule with an overflow of B’nei Mitzvah celebrations, aufrufs, baby naming, conversions, new members, anniversaries and special birthdays. Our High Holiday attendance keeps growing, our Friday night attendance is creeping upwards and on Shabbat morning is improving. We continue to get amazing feedback, especially from guests. We will continue to work on increasing participation.

Education: I still measure the uniqueness of a congregation by its commitment to Jewish education. We are doing better all the time but still need to inspire more people to take advantage of our educational opportunities. We have seen steady growth in our Sunday morning study group. We held a more than successful Lehrhaus in November, attracting people from across the community for a stimulating day of learning. The fourpart course taught by Reverend Nicholson and myself, alternating between next-door St Peter’s Church and Belsize Square Synagogue was a real treat.

Our Monday night Introduction to Judaism course, designed for converts but open to all members, continues to enjoy steady growth. Four students have passed through the door of the Bet Din to throw in their lot with the Jewish people. I am proud both of them and the way they have been integrated into our congregation. They are a huge part of our future.

Next year: a Cantor’s class on learning to leyn; three Hebrew Reading Marathon sessions; a trip led by our member, Professor Antony Polonsky, and myself to Warsaw. Professor Polonsky, the world’s leading authority on Polish and Eastern European Jewry (I read his work long before I came to Belsize Square Synagogue) is now Director of the new Jewish Museum in Warsaw. Stay tuned for details.

Community Relations: Thanks to so many people’s efforts, our synagogue continues to lead in teaching the lessons of the Shoah to London youth.

With the help of Reverend Paul Nicholson, I have begun a Camden Area Interfaith Forum. Starting in January with six clergy members, we now have over 20 from the Anglican, Catholic, Muslim (Shia and Sunni), and Jewish communities, including two local Orthodox rabbis.

I would like to develop our Social Justice Committee and make those efforts a greater part of our synagogue mission. Our religious vision depends on our efforts towards tikkun olam, making the world a better place.

Music: A real highlight this year were the four superb concerts. The peak, of course, was the playing of the Bach Double Violin Concerto in D Minor, with the famous duo of Maxim Vengerov, world-renowned violinist, perhaps the finest in the world today, and …. your rabbi! I’ve given many sermons, led many services and had to officiate at some very difficult funerals but this concert was the real crucible for me.

Time now to thank our brilliant Cantor, Music and Choir Directors, our three choirs and all who make Belsize Square Synagogue the centre of London’s Jewish music. We are indeed blessed with a high calibre of musicianship.

We have mourned pillars of the community, Norbert Cohn and Herbert Levy, all shining stars and angels who continue to bless us. We will never forget them in our prayers and memories.

We have battled anti-Semitism this year at the Tricycle Theatre in the debacle of the UK Jewish Film Festival boycott and seen the rise of anti-Semitism at home and across Europe. We have taken part in the General Election and seen Israel’s election give a fourth term for Netanyahu – love him or hate him, Israelis have spoken at the ballot box during difficult times. There’s Iran, ISIS, beheadings, the continuous threat of terror – and then there are our prayers and our deeds.

Let us keep our faith, our faith in each other, our faith in our Judaism, a religion that goes back further than any other “ism” in history. With God’s blessing, we face our future with joy and shalom.

Have a wonderful summer of reflection, learning – and peace.

Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

Dear Chevra,

This month of May marks two outstanding accomplishments and features of Jewish history: Israel and the giving of Torah at Sinai. Frankly, my love of Israel (both state and people) and my love of Judaism have been pillars of strength every day of my life. And both, Torah and Israel, are miracles outside the logic of history and ideas.

On Thursday 14 May, the secular date, we celebrate the 67th anniversary of Israel as a modern nation state. No state was ever established by any people after a 2000-year hiatus of dreams and hopes. In 1948, when Israel was founded, the population was approximately 660,000. Today it is a state of more than eight million.

In 1948, six Arab armies attacked Israel, vowing to destroy the fledgling nation state – just three years after the liberation of Auschwitz. With one tank and a completely volunteer army, Israel defeated its attackers and has sought security and recognition ever since.

In 1948, Jerusalem was divided into two sections, separated by barbed wire, and the ancient Jewish Quarter evacuated. Despite guarantees of Jerusalem’s international status and the protection of religious sites, all synagogues were destroyed and cemeteries desecrated. Until the miraculous restoration of 1967, Jews – and not just Israelis – could not even visit our most sacred sites.

And when Israel’s place among nations, alongside a new Arab state, was approved by the United Nations on 29 November 1947, the Arab nations rejected the very idea. In consequence, 650,000 Arabs became refugees, a situation still unresolved. We all know that as long as the goal of Israel’s neighbours is its destruction, there will be no peace.

One day there will be security and room for both peoples. One day Israel will not have to spend 18% of its hard-earned GNP on defence. Children on both sides will grow up in peace and with respect for each other. Hatikvah – that is our hope on Israel’s 67th birthday.

And then there is the miracle of Torah, celebrated this year from the evening of Saturday 23 May right through to Monday 25 May, the holiday of Shavuot, Matan Torateinu, the gift of receiving the Torah at Sinai. On that day, 6 Sivan, in approximately the year 1290 BCE, our people received a Law, a Scripture, an ethic, a theology, a constitution that revolutionised humanity. The dignity of all human life was emblazoned into the hearts of our people to share with the rest of humanity.

I measure my own success as a rabbi not only by the numerous services and life cycle events that I officiate at, but in large part to the students I teach. In fact, every service, every sermon is a learning opportunity to my mind. And there is nothing more precious than delving into Talmud Torah, the study of Judaism, with full resources and depth.

So after the 6.45pm evening service on Saturday 23 May, and a break for refreshments, our Tikkun Leyl Shavuot sessions will begin with the first of our five distinguished speakers. This year’s theme is ethics and the role of justice. Please join us. This is an enormously popular part of our annual schedule and an enriching experience for us all. There will be plenty of coffee and scrumptious dairy desserts and delights.

My thanks to our Shavuot Tikkun chair, Alasdair Nisbet, as well as to Claire Walford, organiser of our thriving Adult Discussion Group. They are gifts to our community, helping to perpetuate our most important agenda – Jewish learning.

So to us all, in celebration of two miracles: the birth of the state of Israel in 1948 and the gift of the Torah, around 1290 BCE. We should never forget who we are and the glory of what our people have given to the world.

I wish all of you and your loved ones a delicious, meaningful and blessed Shavuot, filled with Jewish learning and celebration.

Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

Dear Chevra,

Spring is in the air. It is Passover, the celebration not only of the change of seasons but also the commemoration of our liberation from bondage to freedom, the beginnings of the Jewish people.

Of course, Passover is a uniquely Jewish holiday, steeped in ethics and memories of our own experience. But it is a holiday whose message has resonated in the souls of many peoples and nations, in the quest for freedom.

Freedom, in order to be preserved, requires responsibility to the poor, to the disenfranchised, to the unliberated and the oppressed all over the world. The Jewish soul cannot rest until all are free.

“Let my people go so that they may worship me.” The latter part of this famous cry for freedom in the Book of Exodus is often left out. The purpose of freedom is to better the world; we call it “to worship” or “to serve” God in making this world a kingdom of God on earth.

I am writing this message a few weeks before Pesach but I think that this year’s Passover is a reminder in a world often dominated by terror, autocrats and oppression, that we in a few selected countries enjoy the privilege to vote and choose our elected leaders. The Pharaohs of the world are not chosen.

We might complain about our elected officials, but we have the freedom – and responsibility – to choose them from among many. Freedom in the coming election for this nation’s future in May; freedom exercised in Israel – Israel’s democracy is often chaotic and volatile but the people have chosen their next government in a swarm of nations surrounding her that know nothing of democratic choice; and in my country, the USA, next year will see another round of debates, primaries and the final vote in November 2016 for the next President. Cheers to all three nations!

Passover also allows us to ponder why God created our people and to ask what has been the uniqueness of Judaism, our message, since our liberation from Egypt in approximately 1290 BCE. I suggest the following possible answers for what we have taught the world:

• Freedom must lead to education and learning. Literacy and knowledge leads to the right behaviour among us: Talmud Torah k’neged kulam, the study of Torah is equal to all other Commandments.
• Freedom involves passionate and sincere debate. Many points of view, many paths of discovery and respect for the differences among us lie at the heart of religious faith.
• It is OK to ask questions about everything: faith, religion, politics, social values, history, literature, freedom, justice. A society that suppresses the right to ask questions is a society of Pharaohs. In too many other places in the world, people still do not have the right to challenge what they have been taught and to question whether it is true.
• Absolutism, fundamentalism, certainty of belief is the kiss of doom to freedom. Freedom means that we continue to search for the truth. It never teaches us that all truth is revealed and known. Fundamentalism of the type the West is struggling against today leads to violence and intolerance, as was the case in the former Soviet Union, today’s Iran and other terrorist-based entities.
• The chiddush, that which is new, is to be cherished. Religion is not just to preserve the past but is meant to stimulate our search for new solutions, a more just society, a more moral society.
• Seeking the “good”, morality, is the heart of true freedom, the basis of the Ten Commandments. Ours is a God who “brought us out of the land of Egypt”, not a distant God who created the universe but a God who cares the most about the way we treat other people – the heart of all religious life.
• Making this world a place where God can truly dwell, a kingdom of peace on earth, is our most important quest and vision. It is our behaviour that counts the most, not what we believe. To seek each day a path that can lead us toward making this world into what it ought to be tomorrow should be the essence of every human being on earth.

Some day … some day … Adonai Echad u’shmo Echad – The Lord is One and His Name will be One.

My wishes to you and your loved ones for a blessed, rich, tasty, freedom-filled Passover with family and community.

Chag Pesach sameach to all.
Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

It’s all go at Belsize Square Synagogue

Dear Friends,

I am writing this message to you having met with the last of four schools visiting Belsize Square Synagogue for our annual Holocaust Education days. The impact of our outreach to children who never came to a synagogue and who had no exposure to any Holocaust education or testimonies, is a most powerful experience, a reminder, once again, of the role our synagogue and community play in our wider society.

I cannot thank enough Henny Levin, our chief organiser of this event each year, and all the volunteers, who are an integral part of this tremendous outreach. May we all hope for the day when the lessons of the Shoah have truly been understood and that our world will never tolerate again words such as extermination, genocide, Holocaust, anti-Semitism, bigotry, racism and any ideology that disrespects the image of God that is a part of every human being on this earth.

We pray for the four million refugees from Syria, 200,000 killed in the war there, the victims of terror around the world, and those who live in daily fear in Eastern Ukraine, Nigeria and elsewhere around the globe.

It is Purim, after all, that reminds us of the delicate balance between death and sorrow on the one hand, life and celebration on the other. One minute Haman plotted to exterminate the Jews of Persia; the next minute he fell, due to the valour of Queen Esther and Mordechai. We celebrate with song, food and laughter.

This year we will have a special performance of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at 6pm on Wednesday 4 March, followed by a se’udah (festive meal) and the reading of the Megillah. On Thursday we will have a Purim lunch, for music and talk.

As a highlight this month, I am pleased to announce that St Peter’s Anglican Church, under Rev Paul Nicholson, and Belsize Square Synagogue will host our first joint adult education class, with two sessions at St Peter’s and two at Belsize Square. Please take advantage of the tremendous opportunity to learn, share and discover, together with our neighbours at St Peter’s, listed here.

One last note. Passover follows straight after this month. I ask all of you to consider participating in Maot Hittin, the
“selling of hametz”. It is embedded in our Jewish tradition to “welcome the stranger” and to “feed the hungry” and what better way of doing that than to make out a cheque for £10, £15, £25, or whatever amount, to Belsize Square Synagogue – Rabbi Altshuler’s Discretionary Fund.

The money collected will be forwarded to Manna (formerly Meir Panim), a partner group with our synagogue, dedicated to providing food in dignity to those in Israel who are desperately hungry, specifically to celebrate Pesach. Manna began as a response to the many Holocaust survivors in Israel below the poverty line, most of them from the former Soviet Union.They needed help and Manna came into existence. All you need do is fill out the “contract” that allows me to sell your hametz and, with a contribution for Manna, you have more than fulfilled the core mitzvah of this season.

I want to wish all of you a good month of March, a raucous celebration of Jewish survival with Purim, and a meaningful preparation for the coming celebration of Passover.

B’shalom always
Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

Shalom, Dear Members of Belsize Square Synagogue,

This past month has been a difficult one for us because of the horrific terrorist murders that took the lives of 17, including four Jews simply shopping for Shabbat.

We now know that one of those victims was Yoav Hattab, aged 21, son of the Chief Rabbi of Tunisia. At the start of the supermarket siege he tried to grab the terrorist’s gun. His last text from the shop to a friend, was to “light Shabbat candles to bring peace into the world.”

Such a contrast between the Jewish environment we try to create in our homes and the violent ways of many around us. There has been much discussion about the future of UK Jewry, about the increase in uncertainty and fear that has gripped parts of our community.

While there is some disagreement about the validity of the results, Jews are talking about the recent survey of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, showing 45% of British Jews believe that Jews “may no longer have a long term future in Britain.”

I have been in this country for the past four years and am certainly not oblivious to the dangers of terror and the violent anti-Semitism gripping much of European society, including the UK. But from what I have observed, British Jews are thriving. Never before have there been as many opportunities for Jewish learning, life, observance and participation.

Since arriving, I have personally noticed a greater willingness in our own midst to stand up, to be counted, to participate in demonstrations for Israel and against all threats to Jewish honour and existence. While aware of the reality in London and other parts of the country, I do not believe in any overreaction. This is not Nazi Germany.
We should be grateful that terror threats and the rise of anti-Semitism have met a response from leaders of both major parties, police and security personnel, and our own community. We are not afraid and are protected in our freedom and Jewish life by the rule of law.

As Home Secretary Theresa May declared before the Board of Deputies: “Without its Jews, Britain would not be Britain”.

There is another way of looking at religion, very different from the “religion” of the terrorists or extremists, and that comes from our own Source of Life, the Torah . I am addressing the importance of each of the Commandments on Friday nights. I hope you will all come for the remaining sermons.

A recap thus far – Commandment 1: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. One God, one humanity, the sanctity of all life is the basis of all Commandments. This is a God who cares less about the magnificence of the creation of the universe and who emphasises the importance of freeing slaves from bondage. Our compassion and goodness to all human beings is the gateway to God. That’s what our God expects, everything else is secondary.

Commandment 2: You shall not make any other gods besides Me (God). In modern idiom, this means that any time we place anything else – even “good” things – at the top of the pyramid of our value system, it leads to ruin. Humanity has tried placing nation, money, art and music, education, science, even love in place of God, and all efforts to do so have failed us. If you replace God’s Law, the supremacy of God over all, if you divide humanity in any way, if you worship replacement gods, you are violating the viability of our world.

Commandment 3: You shall not take God’s Name in vain. This Commandment in no way prohibits “swearing” or “blasphemy”. What it does prohibit is using God’s Name for unjust and immoral purposes. This Commandment is for all those who kill in the name of God, who find no inconsistency between God and using religion and/or God to brutalise other human beings.

Please come and discover the rest of the magnificence of the Ten Commandments, Aseret Hadibrot, and know why these Commandments, given at Sinai, are the foundation of Judaism and, for that matter, human existence as we know it.

My wishes to all of you for a month of learning, increased Jewish awareness, of life, of peace, of goodness, of sanctity in everything we do.

Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

Shalom l’kulchem,

In just two weeks we will be lighting our Chanukiyot and celebrating the Festival of Lights, the liberation of Judea by the brave Maccabees in the first heroic war fought for religious freedom. The protection of diversity in the Greek world and the defeat of the cruel Antiochus IV Epiphanes, ruler of the Seleucid Empire, was a major step forward in the development of western history. This war

protected the right of people and peoples to be different, to not be swept along by the desires of oppressive regimes into undermining difference and uniqueness in the human family.

Much of humanity is still struggling for freedom and religious liberty — the Kurds in their battle against ISIS; Israel in its fight to preserve the Jewish state and Jewish religious rights in an environment that demands it disappear and insists it has no historic rights in the land of our ancestors; in Africa with upheavals in Sudan and Nigeria; the Ukrainians in their confrontation with their Russian neighbours; and in Iran, where executions occur daily for defying its monolithic theocratic regime. Indeed, a young woman was imprisoned there, an American-Persian Shiite Muslim in solitary confinement, awaiting sentence of up to six years in prison, and all for watching a men’s volleyball game!

Light those candles and remember how fortunate we are to have our own religious freedom and self-esteem as Jews practising our own religion and faith. May the banner of freedom flourish and grow.

To me, Chanukah, a joyous festival that brightens up the darkest hours of the year, is a time for music, colour, art and learning. On Wednesday 17 December at 7.30 pm, our Synagogue will host a unique concert here in the sanctuary. Alice Burla, an 18-year-old wunderkind at the piano, will perform a programme of Bach, Chopin, Scriabin and Kapustin.

Alice, who hails from Toronto, is already an accomplished player. Her parents are from the former Soviet Union. She began playing the piano at four years old. She won first prize at the Canadian National Music Competition and other major competitions and has participated in major international festivals, including the Verbier Festival, the International Summer Academy Mozarteum at Salzburg, Tel Hai International Piano Master Classes in Israel, the Paderewski Piano Academy in Poland and International Piano Master Classes in Berlin.

In 2007, 2008 and 2011, Alice was featured on Public Broadcast Systems telecasts of Live from Carnegie Hall and appeared as a piano prodigy in the 20^th Century Fox major film, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. She is currently studying in Madrid with the world’s leading piano instructor, Dmitri Bashkirov, at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia.

We have the opportunity to witness a budding star in our own synagogue. Our guest presenter will be my friend, renowned violinist Maxim Vengerov, who played the Tchaikowsky Violin Concerto

at last month’s sell-out concert at the Royal Festival Hall. Maxim and I will start off the evening by interviewing each other about violin, music, being Jewish, and more. Maxim will introduce Alice for 50 minutes of piano, with a special treat at the end.

Please contact the Synagogue for your reservations. Money raised will be used to cover the costs of this special event, to support our Music Committee under chairman Philip Keller and their future endeavours, and leave a little assistance for Alice as she makes her strides in the world of classical music.

Another special guest coming soon is Rabbi William Gershon. We will host him and his wife, Raquel, at Belsize Square Synagogue over Shabbat, 12-13 December. Rabbi Gershon is the President of the Rabbinical Assembly, the umbrella organisation of Conservative-Masorti rabbis worldwide (about 1300 in total). He is coming specifically to give me and us here in London his unqualified support. This is a real honour for the Synagogue and I hope you will come and support his visit.

Rabbi Gershon leads a 2500-member congregation in Dallas, Texas, and was installed as the new rabbinic assembly president in May this year. He will speak at our Friday night and Shabbat morning services, and engage us in learning at our open Lunch and Learn following the morning service. He will also address our Sunday Morning Adult Discussion Group the next day, 14 December, at 10.00am.

FYI: We continue our study of the world’s great thinkers each Sunday morning from 10.00-11.15am. We have already studied Plato and Socrates, moving on to Aristotle, and look forward to further study of Graeco-Roman classical philosophy and Jewish responses from Aristobulus, Philo, the writer of Ecclesiastes and others.

Don’t forget to support our popular annual Bazaar, with the added attraction of a Saturday night Jazz Concert on 6 December, and I look forward to seeing you each Shabbat at Belsize Square Synagogue.

My wishes to each of you and to your loved ones for a joyous, uplifting, candlelit celebration of Chanukah. May freedom endure forever!

Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION

There is no day more important on our Jewish calendar than the day after all the chagim!

It is one thing to pray, listen, reaffirm, ask for forgiveness, make new resolves, and another to implement what we have vowed to change and plant in our lives. The holiday period provided great spiritual and emotional uplift for all, but now is the time to walk on the paths that we set out to accomplish.

We have educational opportunities. Our Sunday morning discussion group is embarking on a new course: The Philosophers and Judaism. From Socrates through Plato, Aristotle, Pyrrho, Epicurus, Cicero, Seneca, Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Descartes, Pascal, Spinoza, Locke, Voltaire, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Darwin and Kierkegaard to Marx and Nietzsche – we will discuss and tackle some of the great philosophical ideas and analyse them under the eyes and heart of Jewish wisdom and thought.

Come and join us each Sunday morning when there is Cheder at the Synagogue, from 10.00-11.15am.

Lehrhaus Day

We also have our Lehrhaus on Sunday
9 November, all day at Belsize Square Synagogue. Held in honour of our Synagogue’s 75th anniversary, the Lehrhaus is the culmination of our congregation’s festivities, marking our unique history.

What better way of perpetuating the legacy of our community than through the prism of Jewish learning? There are twenty presentations (shiurim), led by a distinguished faculty, including Rabbis Stuart Altshuler, Markus Lange, Jonathan Wittenberg and Danny Rich; academics Professors Tessa Rajak and Glenda Abramson, Dr Annette Boeckler, Dr Bea Lewkowicz and Ben Barkow; Cantor Paul Heller and our own Belsize elite corps – Andrew Levy, Hilary Curtis, Neil Nerva, Larry Miller and Michael Horowitz.

Topics range from the Biblical Dietary Laws (Kashrut) to Why Do We Read the Torah in Hebrew? to an analysis of Jewish attitudes about Judaism and Israel, to Early Jewish Mysticism.

Please call the Synagogue Office and make your reservation. To cover our minimal costs, the charge is £10 if you register in advance or £15 on the day. This includes lunch and four sessions. Be here at 9.30am for registration.

Then stay for the day, which will culminate in a panel discussion with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg (Senior Rabbi Masorti Judaism UK), Rabbi Danny Rich (Chief Executive, Liberal Judaism), Rabbi Stuart Altshuler (Belsize Square Synagogue) and Deputy Ambassador Eitan Naeh of the Israel Embassy. Our topic: What is the future of Judaism and of the Jewish people?

The Frieda Graumann Scholarship

Another area receiving renewed energy and commitment is the subject of Israel. What we need to do for Israel is to energise our youth and there is a great opportunity for all of our youngsters. The Frieda Graumann Scholarship is designed to subsidise a young person’s trip to Israel to experience its unique atmosphere.

Prize Essay

Applicants must write an essay on a topic related to Jewish life and/or Israel, that demonstrates the applicant’s commitment to Israel and the Jewish people. Essays should be between 800 and 1,000 words long and submitted to Rabbi Altshuler no later than Sunday 1 March 2015.

Our Scholarship Committee will decide on a winner who demonstrates that he or she is deserving of such a financial award. Following selection of the recipient, there will be an appropriate honour at a synagogue service for that particular individual.

It’s the month after the holidays. Time to do the work that has to be done to raise our knowledge and commitment to our people and religious values, our Judaism! Let us all make this time a bridge to the fulfilment of our goals and dreams.

Hazak Hazak V’nithazek. Let us bring strength to each other each day, for the sake of our children, our children’s children, our beloved community and congregation, to the Jewish people everywhere and to God Almighty

Rabbi Stuart Altshuler

LOOKING AHEAD TO OUR “HOUSE OF LEARNING” – OUR LEHRHAUS DAY

The new year has begun and we were again blessed with the beautiful voices of choir and Cantor Heller and, hopefully, some uplift from the words shared from the bimah. The challenges before us are many. The time to do teshuvah (repentance), to change for the better, to enhance Jewish life, to enrich our souls, to commit ourselves to our congregation and synagogue still further and to renew the loving bonds we have with family, friends and everyone, is more imperative than ever. I hope that the upcoming Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur will be a time of uplift and reconnection with ourselves, our community, and God.

Unique History: As you all know, this year has marked Belsize Square’s 75th anniversary. Founded in 1939, with the first service held on Friday evening, 24 March, we have become a congregation recognised here and abroad. Our history is unique but we are also known for our warmth, broad embrace and contribution of talent in major fields of endeavour. Where we are “coming of age” and beginning to make our mark is in Jewish education, learning and scholarship.

We have, within our community, scholars of Jewish history, ancient and modern, as well as specialists in other fields and a bustling weekly Jewish study group. We especially appreciated the contributions of our guest speaker, Rabbi Dr Ismar Schorsch, former Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, at our celebration in March.

To highlight our commitment to higher Jewish education under the guidance of our Adult Education Chairperson, Dr Claire W alford, Belsize Square Synagogue is hosting its first Lehrhaus (House of Learning) Day on Sunday 9

November. I hope you will all take advantage of this incredible offering of  Jewish learning, discussion and study. Registration is from 9.30am, and the day will be split into four periods, starting at 10.00am. The full programme is:

•  Professor Tessa Rajak: Why do we read the Torah in Hebrew?
•  Dr Annette Boeckler: One prayer book, four continents.
•  Glenda Abramson (mother of our Co- Chair, John Abramson): Great Works in Holocaust Representation: Todesfuge (Death Fugue by Paul Celan) and Maus (graphic novel by Art Spiegelman).
•  Rabbi Danny Rich (Chief Executive of the Liberal Movement): Israel Mattuck: The Inspirational Voice of Liberal Judaism.
•  Rabbi Markus Lange: Dramatic Dialogue in Jewish Prayer.
•  Rabbi Stuart Altshuler: Kashrut: Biblical and Ethical Basis for the Dietary Laws, and The Question of Theodicy (Why do bad things happen to good people?)
•  Cantor Paul Heller: The God Particle, and the Siddur’s Geography.
•  Dr Bea Lewkowicz: Our Heart Belongs to Belsize Square: Belonging, Community and Religion among German Jewish refugees.
•  Hilary Curtis: Jubilee: Anniversaries and Jewish Values.
•  Neil Nerva: German Jewry.
•  Michael Horowitz: Spinoza: Still a Heretic?
•  Dr Ben Barkow (Director of the Wiener Library): Kristallnacht and the Holocaust.
• Other sessions will be led by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg (Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK), Larry Miller and Andrew Levy.

The day will culminate in a panel discussion, What is the future of Judaism and of the Jewish people? led by three rabbis – Danny Rich, Jonathan Wittenberg and myself – and Israel’s Deputy Ambassador, Eitan Naeh.

Lunch, all-day coffee and cake and a full children’s programme will be provided. The day will end at 5.15pm.

There will be further information nearer the time but you have a good picture now of its seriousness and fullness. This will be another event to make our community shine and bask in the glow of yet another tremendous achievement, this time in the area of Jewish learning.

The time to register is now! Advance booking is £10 for members and non-members alike. Booking on the day will be £15. Bring your friends and associates from around the community. Children are free. Please register online via our website or call the Synagogue Office.

An Educated Community:  The reason the rabbis taught us that Talmud Torah k’neged kulam (the study of Torah is equal to all of them – the other Mitzvot) is that they knew that an educated community would last forever. That is the secret of our Jewish survival. So come and join us on Sunday 9 November!

Until then, my best wishes for a G’mar Hatimah Tovah, (a good seal or verdict) as a fitting and uplifting end to Yom Kippur, and for Mo’adim l’Simchah, a joyous and wonderful Succot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah for you and your loved ones.

Bivrachah (with blessing)

Rabbi Altshuler