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