Sukkat Shalom Reform Synagogue

We would like to invite you to a special meeting with Mrs Paula V. Edelstein that will take place at Sukkat Shalom Synagogue on March 10th 8.00 PM (doors will close at 8:30). During her visit in London next week Paula wished as part of her program to be introduced to the Redbridge community.

Given the current weather it is perhaps not surprising that my thoughts have turned to snow.

As I write this the seasons are changing. Summer (of a sorts) is turning to autumn. Autumn will in turn give way to winter, winter to spring, spring to summer etc. This seems so natural to us that there seems no reason to think about it or reason to question this seemingly universal and unending truth,

Purim is today a time of great celebration and fun but lying below the surface is a story that reflects a deeper reality. This is the reality of bigotry, fanaticism and hatred that infects every people and every land and whose consequences are inevitably death and destruction. Within living memory we have seen the Shoah as well as horrendous massacres in Cambodia and Rwanda.

Yesterday I had the honour of serving on a Beit Din for the first time. As is always the case when I work with Gerim (the Hebrew term for those undergoing conversion) I was moved and humbled by the sincerity of the candidates and was honoured to be able to hear their stories and share in their journeys. As it happened, there was a brief impromptu discussion the same day with a number of my rabbinic colleagues on the same topic.