tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4041481468884734282012-01-26T22:03:08.808ZA meeting place for tradition and modernity, viewed from a Masorti perspectiveRabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.comBlogger2261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-70125239159632202972012-01-26T22:03:00.001Z2012-01-26T22:03:08.862Z

  Friday is Holocaust Memorial Day – a day, sponsored by Her Majesty’s Government, and a day recognised by 44 other countries across Europe and the Americas. I will be spending time discussing Holocaust Memorial Day, this Friday, at a Catholic prep school. And on Thursday afternoon an e-mail appeared in my in-tray from the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, reflecting on Pastor Niemoller

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-19285368134899543282012-01-20T15:48:00.000Z2012-01-20T15:49:02.054Z

    Starting on Monday 30th January, for the following five weeks, I will be teaching an introduction to the central pillars of Jewish life, beginning with the Year Cycle. In the following weeks we’ll be looking at the lifecycle, Justice and Kindness and matters theological; ‘God’ and ‘Bad Things’ The Year Cycle is at the heart of what it means to be a Jew, it creates rhythms in the year, it

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-85119530023105471412012-01-13T14:19:00.001Z2012-01-13T14:19:45.851Z

This is the link to the Channel 2 film on life in Bet Shemesh. http://www.subber.com/fullTab.php?t=939c3b64adf77d6b544c97d1e885763d&tid=5020&l=1&s=0 Please post comments.   Shabbat shalom,   Rabbi Jeremy  

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-42161300612094867442012-01-13T12:21:00.001Z2012-01-13T12:21:18.944Z

  We are looking for a part time secretary for the Rabbi to start in mid February 2012. The post will be for 8 hours a week, 4 in the office on one morning a week (preferably Tuesdays), and the other 4 to be taken flexibly, with the option of working at home. The rate of pay will be £5,200pa.   The job will need someone with:   Warmth, good judgment and discretion An

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  Shimon Peres spoke, this week, at a gala dinner to celebrate the 35 anniversary of the Masorti Movement in Israel. And it gives me an opportunity to share an answer to an oft asked question. When did this type of Judaism start?   The real answer is, there is no date. As Masorti Jews we would claim that what we are doing is what Jews have always done. There was never a single rigid

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-14424215777437414462011-12-08T17:32:00.001Z2011-12-08T17:32:11.660Z

For the third, and the last (for now), of my weekly words on contemporary art I’m returning to the paper cut. In this case a most cutting cut. Fair disclosure, the artists Jacqueline Nicolls is a good friend.   In the Ladies Guild Collection, viewable at http://www.jacquelinenicholls.com/ladies-guild-collection.html Nicolls uses a most conservative form – a paper doily, perhaps the sort of

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At first glance Nes’s portrait of Joseph (whose birth is recorded in this week’s Torah reading) feels wrong. The child is too young.   You can see it here http://rabbionanarrowbridge.blogspot.com/2011/12/adi-nes-joseph.html Please click through, it’s hard to explain just in words.   As readers of Torah, our collective memories of Joseph properly begin with his dream stories (stories we

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Joseph by Adi Nes. For more http://www.praz-delavallade.com/index.php?site=artists&fromlink=artists&a_id=13&artistname=adi_nes

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-54022590267006755862011-11-28T15:09:00.001Z2011-11-28T15:09:40.805Z

A woman goes to the post office to buy stamps for her Chanukah cards. She says to the clerk "May I have 50 Chanukah stamps please." "What denomination?" says the clerk. The woman says "Oy vey... has it come to this? Okay, give me 32 Masorti, 12 orthodox and 6 Reform."  

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Rabbis specialise in words. And I love words, especially the words of our tradition. But other forms of creativity can sometimes open doors to ideas words alone cannot reach.   Over the next few weeks I want to use this e-mail to look at some contemporary works of art that seem particularly powerful for a Jewish community like ours, or at least for a Rabbi like me beginning with

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Copy to follow For more of Peter Callesen's works go to http://petercallesen.com

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-68120690216033007782011-11-17T22:38:00.001Z2011-11-17T22:38:48.892Z

  You mean you haven’t heard about ‘Old Jews Telling Jokes’ yet? It’s a You Tube hit and BBC4 have begun to serialise half hour programmes.   An Italian, a Frenchman and a Jew are waiting to be killed by a firing squad. They are given the choice of last meal. The Italian asks for a bowl of pasta, he eats the pasta then they shoot him. The Frenchman asks for a fillet steak, he eats the steak

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-15267519436139852262011-10-28T14:29:00.001+01:002011-10-28T14:29:52.398+01:00

I have an article on some of the issues surrounding homosexuality and morality in this week’s Jewish Chronicle.   http://www.thejc.com/comment-and-debate/comment/57301/why-gay-sex-not-immoral   Shabbat shalom  

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-80403293925720354782011-10-24T16:33:00.001+01:002011-10-24T16:33:17.210+01:00

                                        The Aleph Course @ New London Synagogue      The Aleph Course is a ten part look at the heart of what being Jewish can and should mean to us. Each week we look at one of ten building blocks of Jewish life and thought. We will study some ancient primary sources and hear more contemporary voices – including our own.   “I believe a Jew has to have

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Impressed at Bibi knowing his way around the Haftorah portion. This comes from his remarks following the release of Gilad Shalit. This coming Sabbath, we will read in synagogues, as the weekly portion from the prophets, the words of the prophet Isaiah (42:7): 'To bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.' http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/

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We would like to start podcasting some of the terrific educational and other events at New London. Getting MP3 material is easy. Getting that material into the cloud and set up as a podcasting channel for itunes or other downloading formats is beyond our technological capacity. If you, or anyone you know, would be able to help set up a system and/or process the occasional MP3 we would be

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It’s night-time. This is the sort of story you can only tell once the kids are in bed.   The Talmud[1] tells of a Yeshivah student who particularly loved the Mitzvah of tzitzit – the command that a person should wear a four cornered garment with fringes. And he becomes fascinated with a prostitute who charges 400 gold coins for her services. He hands over the money and the woman invites him

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Following the appalling burning of a Mosque in Israel it’s warming to see quite so many Rabbis sign up to this   http://action.nif.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8193    

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There are, according to greatest codifier of Jewish law, Maimonides, four stages in Teshuvah; each requiring work.   Firstly comes Viddui – confession. In Jewish law a sin cannot be cleansed unless it is verbally articulated. It cannot be liberated from the soul if it can’t get passed the lips. And generalities don’t count. Mass e-mails requesting forgiveness, ‘For anything and everything

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Did you look in the mirror this morning? What did you see? Are you, in real life, a little greyer than in your mind’s eye. A little chubbier, perhaps, or maybe there is a newly appeared wrinkle creeping across your brow? I suspect many of us have a mental picture of our physical appearance that is a little smarter, a little more attractive, a little more polished than an external

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Apres-Vous   Many of my favourite Jewish folk tales feature a Yetzer Ra and a Yetzer Tov. A good inclination and an evil inclination. These two inclinations perch, one on each shoulder whispering, cajoling, encouraging and dissuading their minions – us. They are the externalised voices of our soul. But what is so remarkable – we don’t realise the Yetzer Ra is there. The Yetzer Hara has

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    It began with a conversation about mobile phones. Really there is no need for mobile phones in Shul. For those of us umbilically attached to these miraculous communications devices, Rosh Hashanah is a wonderful way to experience what happens when we limit our inter-personal conversations to those present before us. It’s also a good deal easier to guarantee your phone won’t go off in the

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For those who would like a little podcasting interest, I’ve contributed to the Guardian Sounds Jewish podcast on Rosh Hashanah, available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/audio/2011/sep/27/sounds-jewish-podcast-september-2011 You may also hear the voices of Chazan Jackie Chernett, Jonathan Freedland and the music of Lemez Lovas among others.  

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-44714252340705975392011-09-23T12:40:00.001+01:002011-10-11T12:34:23.636+01:00

I contributed this week’s Masorti Reflection on the Parasha. Cross posted from http://www.masorti.org.uk/reflections.htm   Shabbat Nitzavim - Vayelekh   If you are reading this, in Shul or on-line, congratulations. You are one of the elite; preparing for the major celebrations of the coming days by engaging in Jewish life and study. In less than a week’s time we will be joined by a

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I wanted, on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah to write on matters affecting New London; our wonderful Slichot evening – scheduled for Sunday evening – and the Rosh Hashanah festivities of the coming week. But Israel has broken in, as it has a habit of doing. Today there will, or won’t be, a vote at the UN on recognising a Palestinian State and diplomatic tanks are being lined up less, it

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A response to the JTS Chancellor, Arnie Eisen’s very good question – Why do we need denominations. His essay is at http://www.jtsa.edu/prebuilt/blog/denominations.html   I wonder if there is an analogy around questions of state versus private funding.   I want there to be safe roads to be everywhere for when I travel anywhere. But I don't want have to pay per mile every time I get in the

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  I am in the midst of a short adult education series on the relationship of memory and these upcoming days. Rosh Hashanah is less than two weeks away.   ‘When we say that a people remembers,’ wrote the great Jewish historian Yosef Yerushalmi in 1974, ‘we are really saying that a past has been actively transmitted to the present generation and that this past has been accepted as meaningful.

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-52644221522477600152011-09-10T23:15:00.001+01:002011-10-11T12:35:53.505+01:00

Nine years ago I was asked by the UJIA to speak at the one year anniversary of 9/11. Re-reading this talk, given to end precisely as the minute's silence in NY commemorated the fallen, I'm struck by its heat and some of the turns of phrase I no longer stand by. But I'm also how my own sense of un-ease around 9/11 has changed little this past decade. May the memory of those killed be a blessing

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    As many members will know I spent the night of 9/11 2001 at Ground Zero as a Chaplain. I have written up some of my memories of that night for the Jewish Chronicle this week.   For those of you who don’t receive the printed edition, you will be able to read the article on-line at www.thejc.com from Thursday evening. I will also be sharing some of what I consider to be the important

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Mai Ikah bein Tzedek v’Avodah Zara   The great professions have not had a good few years.   Politicians – I’m not sure they were ever so reputable – but last year virtually the entire political class of this country were exposed. Venally submitting expenses for – at worst - duck houses and double counting rents and mortgages – the sort of thing that made ‘ordinary’ people –tax payers who

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  It’s the month of Ellul, already. Rosh Hashanah is less than a month away (tickets for non-members can be ordered from the Synagogue web site). My mind is turning to the work of the season.   One remarkable feature of the long list of sins we recite on Yom Kippur is quite how many refer to things that we say. Lashon HaRa – evil language is both so easy and so pernicious, but that is only

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Dear All, New London are looking for Cheder teachers, specifically early years teachers. If you are interested please do be in touch with Jo Velleman on director@newlondon.org.uk. If you know someone who might be, please do pass this on. Thanks, Rabbi Jeremy CHEDER TEACHERS   We are re-launching our Cheder under the expert eye of Angela Gluck, one of the country’s leading Jewish

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  On the 3rd we will be doing something new. There will be an egalitarian full service in the Synagogue and a non-egalitarian full service in the Kiddush Hall as we celebrate a Bar Mitzvah. It’s something we are doing, as many members will know, as a result of extensive discussions and an EGM. More information is on the website at www.newlondon.org.uk/egm   I’ve been watching a video report

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-42632715110620210752011-08-10T15:41:00.001+01:002011-08-10T15:41:33.146+01:00

    Next Shabbat will mark the first time we will have held an egalitarian Shabbat morning service in the Synagogue at New London. A parallel non-egalitarian service will be taking place in the Kiddush Hall.   I feel it is important to understand the Halachic underpinnings of the decision to allow men and women, equally, to have aliyot, be it at New London or anywhere else in the

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We are in the midst of the ‘Three Weeks’ commemorating the destruction of both first and second Temples. All are welcome to the commemoration service and study session on the eve of Monday 8th August.   The Talmud, Yoma 9b, is quite clear as to the cause of the destruction of the First Temple. ‘idolatry, sexual impropriety and bloodshed’  are blamed and indeed such gross disregard of

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Sermon about two things, Even though it’s dangerous to try. Firstly – I’m interested in what it means to be Masorti – Secondly – I’m interested in our relationship with Israel.   This week 17th Tammuz Midst of Three Weeks Destruction of Ancient State of Israel Breach in the wall. Important to realise the incredible miracle we are living through. Remind ourselves that a once mighty

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    Tuesday was one of the Rabbinically mandated fast days – the 17th of Tammuz; anniversary of the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem. We mark the destruction of Jerusalem in three weeks’ time (all welcome 8th August 8pm).   I was hungry and found myself thinking about the famine in Sudan. I listened out for coverage on the radio and the following day’s papers. There wasn’t much. The

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I came across the story of Joanna Southcott and her box in a biography of Mabel Balthorp, founder of the Panacea Society. At the age of 64 Southcott proclaimed she was pregnant and would give birth (she was a devout Christian) to the ‘returned’ Messiah on 19th October 1814. That didn’t happen. But she did, on her death, leave behind a sealed box which contained, she claimed, great prophecies

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My current assistant is leaving to take up a full time job. I'm looking for a part time assistant, if you are interested ... Please pass it on, if you can think of anyone who might be. 8 hours a week, part in the office, part flexibly. Full info below. SECRETARY FOR THE RABBI   We are looking for a part time secretary for the Rabbi to start in September 2011.  The post will be for 8

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My current assistant is leaving to take up a full time job. I'm looking for a part time assistant, if you are interested ... Please pass it on, if you can think of anyone who might be. 8 hours a week, part in the office, part flexibly. Full info below. SECRETARY FOR THE RABBI   We are looking for a part time secretary for the Rabbi to start in September 2011.  The post will be for 8

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The opening words of the Jewish prayer service are taken from this week’s parasha. Bilaam looks over the encampment of the Israelites and says Mah Tovu Ohelecha Yirsael – How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob (sometimes the King James translation is the only one that conveys suffienient pomp). Rashi wants to know what he saw that was so good. Bilaam, says Rashi, saw that the opening of the

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Rabbi David Wolpe of Temple Sinai, Los Angeles is giving the Louis Jacobs Memorial Lecture at New London Synagogue, 33 Abbey Rd, London NW8 0AT.   All welcome.   The following is from the opening of his new bestselling book, The Case for Faith   I stood by the hospital bed of a friend who was dying of cancer.  Isaac wanted to know why he was sick, why he must die, why he must leave his

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There aren’t many times when you will hear a Rabbi say, ‘I’ve spent much of the past two weeks thinking about little girls.’ But these past two weeks I have. And though, I know, Dr Anne Lerner shared a sermon on gender last week, I’m going to my take on some of the challenges of gender I believe are facing us, both as adults in our own right, and, for those of us engaged, one way or another in

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I’m back at work. Paternity leave has been wonderful and I am grateful to all who sent warm messages of support to our newborn daughter. She is doing well, while the rest of us are still working out how our newly enlarged family fits together.   But on the subject of generations, let me share this observation.   The map of lay involvement at New London is changing. Last Shabbat we had seven

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  I’m not really on paternity leave but, it should be admitted, I’ve not been at my most productive these past couple of days. My wife calls, I’m ready to leap into action, but it’s just a call about a piece of shopping. Twiddle, twiddle, twiddle. Sort out the filing, clear out the piles of papers that have been accumulating in the corners of my office for really far too long…   Children

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New London Synagogue has one of the largest conversion programmes in Anglo-Jewry. In this pre-Shavuot posting I want to share the bedrock of what I understand conversion to entail. Chag Sameach Dear Friends,   It’s Shavuot time, I thought it might be helpful to share a thought or two. Ruth, of course, is the ultimate conversion candidate and the core verse of the book is the ultimate

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  Under the inflammatory headline ‘Sup With the Devil,’ this week’s Jewish Chronicle leader article accuses the Masorti movement of ‘consorting’ with certain individuals (links are below). New London Synagogue, the Assembly of Masorti Synagogues and a group associated with New North London Synagogue are members of London Citizens, the charity which works for local organising on issues such as

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  I love Midrash more than any other Rabbinic endeavour. Of course I love Halachah, theology and Biblical commentary, but if I were to be stranded on a desert island with only one book for company I would take my giant collection of Midrash – Torah Shleimah (all twelve volumes of it, I’m not going to run out of reading matter).   Midrash is the way the greatest Rabbis of our tradition mined

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On this 63rd Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the Jewish State I offer these extracts from the original Declaration, and some comments. Readers can also find my sermon from Shabbat, which addressed these issues, on my blog at http://tinyurl.com/3h2xan3. ‘The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was

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Identification by disassociation is the process by which we define ourselves, or those things around us, by what we, or they are not. I think we, as the New London Synagogue community, as members of Anglo-Jewy and as residents and even citizens of this Great British nation do a lot of identification by disassociation. We are very good at identification by disassociation. We do it quickly and,

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As many will know I spent the night of 9/11 2001 at Ground Zero working with the emergency services, inhaling the dust, smelling the scent of hell. As the news came through of the assassination of Osama Bin Laden this week my memories filled up, again, with the horror of that dark time when it felt as if the world was coming to an end. I remember seeing Rudy Giuliani, then mayor of New York,

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I am sorry not to able to attend your wedding this weekend. I know you will have, among the assembled dignitaries, my colleagues Rabbis Lord Sacks and Bayfield and I know also that they have given you a pair of Sabbath candlesticks – to bring light into your married life together, and a donation to your Charitable Fund – to allow you to begin your married life by bettering the lot of others.

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  It’s getting late on Thursday evening. The choice is more work in the kitchen or these weekly words. A slave to the kitchen or a slave to the word processor.   I’m reminded of a line in the Haftorah read on this Shabbat before Pesach – a Haftorah traditionally read by a congregation’s Rabbi (another piece of preparation) - ‘I shall see what there is between they who serve God and they

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Pesach is just over two weeks away. First night seder 18th April. Let me share this extract from the New London Pesach Guide.   The Rabbis offer a three stage way of ensuring that a home is free of Chametz for the Festival.   First you should remove any Chametz. A good spring clean is a lovely thing to do, but the standard of the Rabbis is not Chametz – Armageddon, but rather removal of

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Last summer I spoke at the first Gefiltefest. It was fabulous.   For anyone interested in Jews, Food and intersection ‘twixt one and ‘tother I can’t recommend it highly enough.   Info including booking info below,     Hi everyone,   Tickets for Gefiltefest: The London Jewish Food Festival are now on sale!  If you buy soon you'll save £5 per ticket.  The line-up of more than 40 speakers

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Ask a child what the Zeroa, or shankbone, on the Seder Plate is supposed to represent and they should say something about the lamb whose blood was daubed on the doorposts of the Children of Israel. If they were particularly impressive they might say something about the command that the Pascal sacrifice be roasted, hence the roasting of our Seder Plate Zeroa. That’s entirely correct, but there

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Purim is But Days Away (Maariv 7pm Saturday evening, Shacharit 10:15am)   I’m returning, in this week’s Weekly Words to Elliot Horowitz’s work on Purim, Reckless Rites.   Horowitz charts how Christian scholars would decry the Book of Ester, particularly the violence committed by Jews in the latter chapters. The American Christian scholar Lewis Paton suggested that the book shows, ‘a

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    I’ve been reading Elliot Horowitz’s excellent ‘Reckless Rites: Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence.’[1] It’s inspired this analysis.   The very last verse of the Book of Ester reads ‘[Mordechai] ratzui lerov achav.’ While the sense of the verse is surely captured by the acceptable translation ‘Mordechai was accepted by the multitude of his brothers,’ a hyper-literal translation

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  The University of Chicago is the sort of place to make academics go a little weak at the knees. It’s a very serious University. The Doctoral Programme in Jewish Studies at the University of Chicago is renowned for its quality and, frankly, the vast amount of work a candidate has to put in before they get the letters ‘PhD’ after their name. It is the toughest of the toughest place to excel as

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    At the age of fourteen I was taken on my first trip to Israel. I remember coming up to the Wailing Wall and I remember feeling the same chain of emotions I have felt on every visit since. As I look over the plaza from distance I feel bemused by ‘all the fuss’ paid to a bunch of bricks. As I get closer the wall remains unmoving and I feel equally unmoved; the Haredim in their piety and the

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Our Torah reading opens with the words ‘vayakhel moshe.’ The Hertz suggests ‘Moses assembled,’ but that isn’t quite right. There is no English verb ‘to community-ise,’ but if there was, that would be a much better translation. The people are not coming together as an assemblage of people clumped together, it’s a coming together in community. And then Moses says, ‘These are the things which God

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I’m delighted we have not one, but two of the most important scholars in world Jewry coming to New London in the coming weeks. For me this is part of how I see New London as a centre for scholarship and excellence of the very highest order. I also hope that those of us able to make either or both of these events are in for a real treat. For those of you who are able to spread the word,

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    I love Yom Masorti. I mean I love being part of New London, but there is something very special about these occasional opportunities to come together across the Movement, especially as the Movement is growing so rapidly. Since the last Yom Masorti Glasgow, Stoke Newington and Bournemouth have all formally joined the team. St Albans and Hatch End have appointed new Rabbis and the British

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      The Jewish New Year for Trees began its life as a marker for taxation. In Kabbalistic thought the date became a moment for reflecting on the relationship between the emanation of fruit, and the creation of a soul. In early Zionist times Tu B’shvat became a celebration of the return to working the land – the Jew as agriculturist. And I wonder if we need to celebrate and encourage a new

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My Talmud Class is kicking off again this coming Monday, 24th January, 8pm at New London Synagogue. Over the next five weeks I’ll be looking at some key texts, well known and less well known, from the Babylonian Talmud.   All texts will be shared in English and Hebrew, the class is open to those both with and without previous Talmud experience and each session is self-contained.   This

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  There is a fascinating reference to a death long since past in this week’s parasha. The book of Genesis ends with Joseph extracting a promise from his people that they will ‘carry [his] bones up from here’ (Genesis 49) when they are eventually redeemed from Egypt. Fast forward through all the oppression and plagues to a time the Israelites are ready to leave their place of confinement and

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Going back to last week   Moses goes to the children of Israel with the good news – God is coming, God’s going to come and take you out of Egypt, rid you of this slavery, redeem you and take you as God’s people ..   And nothing. Vlo shamu el moshe mipnei kotzer ruach v’avodah kashah.   They can’t hear Moses because of shortness of spirit and hard work. They can’t see the light even

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Our sons are sent home from school, every once in a while, with a packet of seeds, some instruction and the request that we bring any plants back to the school on a specified date to get a certificate attesting to our (or our sons’) horticultural prowess. Invariably we find ourselves with a droopy stalk and no foliage and little or no prowess worthy of certification. But this time we’re doing

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  I always get a thrill from the list of names of the Children of Israel who go down to Egypt – a list at the heart of this week’s parasha The list contains the first mention in the Bible of Carmi – the name Josephine and I gave our firstborn son. But I realise that for most it’s a dull passage. But there is always plenty to teach.   Two observations about the counting of names.   Last

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Vegetarians need not read this. Queasy meat eaters absolutely should.   Rabbinic tradition dictates that until God tells Noah, ‘Every moving thing that lives, shall be food for you' (Gen 9:4) humanity was vegetarian.   The truth is that eating meat requires animals die. As neat and tidy as some butchers make chicken escalope appear, they once came from a live, feathered chicken. Judaism, I

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  Opens with Joseph spreading bad reports on his brothers.   What did he say? Rabbinic invention[1] two guess Sons of Leah insult the sons of Bilha and Zilpah and call them slaves. And because of his tale-telling, the Rabbis say, so Joseph was sold as a slave to the Midianites. Ort alternatively His half-brothers were accused of eyeing up the local ladies. And because of his

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  In preparation for the Masorti End of Life Seminar, coming this Sunday at the LJCC, details below, I’ve been reading an extraordinary article by the American surgeon, Atul Gawande. Writing in the New Yorker, Gawande talks about how uncomfortable he feels attempting to explain to a woman he has just met the exact nature of the tumour inside her. ‘Am I going to die?’ the woman asks, ‘No, no,’

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Good evening Citizens.   I’m Rabbi Jeremy Gordon, I represent New London Synagogue, a Synagogue of 700 members in Westminster.   I’m proud to be a member of West London Citizens. And I’m particularly proud to represent the first Synagogue to officially come into membership of London Citizens, proud that my Synagogue takes its place alongside the Churches and Mosques, schools, trade union

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If you are interested in coming to join the team at a fast growing, buzzing, dynamic Synagogue office, please consider applying. Any questions, please be in touch.   As part of the restructuring of its administration the New London Synagogue   is looking for an Executive Director and a Financial Administrator   The New London Synagogue, a member of the Masorti movement, is a

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  So opens the promotional literature of the Bereaved Families Forum, who have just been awarded the Ghandi Peace Prize, and whose representatives will be speaking at New London this Shabbat.   They are a network of over 500 Israeli and Palestinian families united by having lost a loved one in decades of conflict. Their courage and their commitment to respond to acts of personal tragedy by

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  I’m usually wary of speaking on behalf of other denominations, but I’ll venture an attempt on this occasion with apologies for the inevitable infelicity of generality.   Genesis 18:8 presents a classic Rabbinical problem. Abraham is entertaining the angels who come to visit him after his circumcision and he serves them ‘butter, milk and the calf he had prepared.’ To a Rabbinic mind this

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  Monday 25th October 8pm at New London Synagogue   Forget about being ranked in the ‘Ten Commandments’ – the Rabbis consider the honouring of parents the single ‘heaviest’ of all the Mitzvot. All the examples in the Talmudic passage we will consider on Monday evening concern aged parents, perhaps losing mental and or physical ability. It’s an incredible series of observations, clashing

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I’m a wandering Jew. I’m still wandering some four thousand years after God told Abraham to ‘go,’ to leave the comfort of his land, the place of his birth, the home of his father. I’m an outsider here, in England, I’m an outsider.   And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions and they went forth to go to the land of Canaan. And Abram passed through

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We have two exceptional events on Shabbat 22nd / 23rd October and I want to take this opportunity to place the marker in your diaries. It’s only a week away.   A Friday Night Dinner with Dr David Ariel – Lecha Dodi, Friday 22nd October. Dr Ariel is President of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, otherwise known as Yarnton Manor. Yarnton is the home of Rabbi Jacobs’ personal

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You can’t use a stolen Lulav on Succot. A whole chapter of the Talmudic Tractate goes by the name ‘Lulav HaGazul’ – the Stolen Lulav. It raises an interesting metaphysical idea. The Lulav looks the same as your neighbour’s. You shake it the same way your neighbour shakes it. It just doesn’t fulfil the obligation of Lulav because it’s not yours. You have to own your own Lulav.   For

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  I woke up this morning in a reasonable mood. One of our kids wanted me to get him up. I rolled over and reasoned whether to wake up my wife and tell her I loved her before I got out of bed. After thinking about it for a few moments I decided not to, she had been up late the night before and I reasoned she would rather sleep.   I went in to see my son. He said, ‘good morning daddy, I

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    I read this year the story of Invisible Stanley. I read it to my four year old and he loved it, but it’s been haunting me. Poor Stanley wakes up one morning invisible. His kid brother calls his parents into the bedroom to witness a bulging shape in the bed; there is the clear outline of a child, but no visible child. I want, this Yizkor morning to talk about this outline. This

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Writing In Next Year at New London   To those of you who have been moved not one bit by all this. To those of you who Have been bored by the Rabbi Or you can’t stand the Chazan & choir If you are unmoved by all this tradition and after nine days and 22 hours of involvement with Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur remain resolutely nonplussed by having to have spent as

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We live in an age where medical science allows our hearts to beat longer than the rest of our body can cope with. It is a mixed blessing. The obligation of honouring parents, deemed by the Rabbis of the Talmud as the heaviest of all the Mitzvot, has never been more challenging. Aged grandparents, great-grandparents even, have expectations of being cared for by their adult children that the

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It’s been a tough year for lovers of Israel. Again. This year it was the Gaza Flotilla, last year it was Operation Cast Lead. Admittedly, for the first time in 2 years there are direct peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. But I detect no change in the mood in Anglo-Jewry when it comes to Israel. The mood is still pretty dismal.   I rang up a friend, who lives in Jerusalem

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Yesterday I spoke about Israel and relationships. Today I want to talk about this country, this community and Tzedakah The good news is I’m not after your money. Giving away money is tremendously important but Tzedakah is mistranslated as charitable financial giving. It means more than that. Nor is Tzedakah to be equated with acts of loving kindness - doing nice things for people who need

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My latest Radio 2 offering. At 43:50 in - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00tmg9f/Sarah_Kennedy_08_09_2010 or, for good old fashioned readers … Today from Rabbi Jeremy Gordon of New London Masorti Synagogue "This is the Jewish season for atonement. Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year – begins this evening and is followed by ten days leading up to Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement.

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-14130900193327543672010-09-06T19:57:00.001+01:002010-09-06T19:57:49.749+01:00

My most recent God Slot is on the BBC iplayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00tlcx1/Sarah_Kennedy_01_09_2010 44:10 in.   Shannah Tovah and best wishes to all.

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-56830852161099854882010-08-26T13:02:00.001+01:002010-08-26T13:02:47.374+01:00

The second of my six contributions to BBC Radio 2’s Pause for Thought can be found on the BBC iplayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00tjs4x 44:30 minutes in. I’ll also be speaking on the eve of Rosh Hashanah at around 5:40am or you should be able to listen next week’s contribution on iplayer by Googling ‘Sarah Kennedy Radio 2’ and clicking through.  

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-77188356949369925062010-08-19T17:01:00.001+01:002010-08-19T17:02:06.168+01:00

Radio 2’s God slot is at the most ungodly hour of 5:45am. This past Wednesday and the following five Wednesdays you can hear me sharing a Pause for Thought at this time. For those of you interested but unable to make the 5:45am listening time, the programme is available on-line. I thought only for those logging on with a British IP address, but I was able to get this from Spain.. http://

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-73224618499367361442010-08-19T17:01:00.000+01:002010-08-19T17:02:01.211+01:00

Prepent One of my favourite contemporary teachers of Judaism is Amichai Lau-Levine. He’s taken on a challenge of blogging a series of reflections on Rosh Hashnah called ‘Prepent.’ With his permission I’m sharing today’s reflection and the warm encouragement that we all take his invitation to ‘pay it forward.’ Or subscribe to his future blogs at http://groups.google.com/group/PREPENT5771/

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-40961001633207412592010-08-05T23:45:00.002+01:002010-09-13T15:04:14.694+01:00

I want to talk, this week, about food. What could be more Jewish a subject? In my sermon I'll be trying to translate the sense of a holy relationship with our food into an approach to the myriad of decisions a careful consumer faces every time they walk an aisle or line their stomach.   In this note I want to relay information provided by Henry Grunwald, past-President of the Board of

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-48445927524848798802010-07-18T10:06:00.002+01:002010-09-13T15:05:48.816+01:00

  I spent Shavuot, 9 years ago, in Jerusalem. Having stayed up studying all night I wandered down to the Kottel to daven shacharit at dawn. It’s a well known tradition in Jerusalem. The whole area was packed. There must have been 8-10,000 people who had been up all night and were now getting ready to daven as the sun rose, a recreation of the moment of revelation.   I was planning on

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-299479742940400172010-07-02T17:09:00.002+01:002010-09-13T15:06:15.436+01:00

It's a week when we read of Pinhas' great blessing for what amounts to a bloody act of violence. In this article, published recently, I try and set out a Jewish attitude towards violence, war and peace. Shabbat shalom Jewish Reflections on War and Peace[1] Jeremy Gordon   Judaism believes in peace, loves peace and prays and works towards peace. The greatest visions of the Bible are of

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-57740081625659994302010-06-18T18:13:00.001+01:002010-06-18T18:13:23.714+01:00

Mekorot for my sermon on Shabbat, pre a big shul lecture on the Talmud. Interesting to see how the Rabbis 'placed' the Synagogue, as a meeting place for people, for people and God and in the context of it's place compared to the Temple and a person's home. Shabbat shalom. Talmud and the Synagogue   Brachot 5b-6b Abba Benjamin says, When two people enter [a Bet HaCeneset] to pray, and

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-41968593961891010532010-06-10T23:33:00.001+01:002010-06-10T23:33:34.671+01:00

  Here is an interesting Biblical story for anyone who wants to start a breakaway minyan. Korach wants to know who put Moses in charge when he thinks he has every right to do it his way. I won’t spoil the ending – it doesn’t go well.   I was invited, this week, to speak on a panel about independent minyanim – prayer communities defined, among other things, by being outside the centralised

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-65033635631916283412010-06-04T09:27:00.002+01:002010-09-13T15:07:29.122+01:00

I have never, before this year, read this week’s ‘portion of the spies’ as a political text. Numbers 13:43, in which ten of the spies first deem themselves ‘grasshoppers’ and then become convinced that their enemies must see them as grasshoppers also, has only struck me as offering psychological insight. The way we see ourselves becomes the way others see us.   This year, with the waves of

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-2731972287739486752010-05-26T17:45:00.001+01:002010-05-26T17:45:15.466+01:00

  The sunny weather of the beginning of the week has passed speedily, but I’m not giving up on Summer quite yet.   I want to mention three outdoor events in the coming months and urge as many members as possible to consider coming to one or more.   The first and most important to me is the New London Synagogue Garden Party on 27th June. The venue is a school, but it’s not an event aimed

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-54305567347413332612010-05-25T11:18:00.002+01:002010-05-25T13:12:16.413+01:00

  These are the sources from my Tikkun Leyl Shavuot shiur. The idea was to look at the relationship between what the Mesorah says about Judaism and the kinds of langauge that polemically engaged Rabbis use to describe Judaism. You'll miss the white fire between the black fire, but I hope the sources will be of interest. The first part of the shiur addresses revelation. I suggest the kinds

Rabbi Jeremy Gordonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02566221408060070063noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-404148146888473428.post-56490808052680290942010-05-25T11:05:00.002+01:002010-05-25T13:12:41.678+01:00

A moment to look back – a lifetime to look forward   This has been a wonderful week to be part of the community. The tremendous success of our Torah Hadashah celebration on Sunday was a highlight of my time at New London. Two hundred members, from tots to nonagenarians shared in the completion of the sefer torah, there was infectious klezmer music, a flawless and beautiful first reading, in

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