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One of the most fruitful activities of my past year, has been to be part of a think-tank sponsored by the Jewish Policy Research Unit (JPR). A small group of thinkers from my generation were invited to present papers relating to our current situation in Anglo-Jewry. The topics were interesting but the characters were equally so and said as much about our contemporary community as the papers offered.
One such person was Keith Kahn-Harris. He was actually the individual best placed and qualified to take an overview of our surroundings because he was not an editor, rabbi, philanthropist, or professional Jew making sure Shuls, Rabbis, ideologies and theologies showed-up in Shul each week. Keith is a sociologist. At university, the sociology students were the butt of everyone’s jokes. I dabbled with it but thought I better do something that got me a real job! Thank goodness for sociologists like Keith!
His strap-line on his blog characterises the struggles that we face in our lives in a simple sociological manner. He writes: “Semi-ambivalent Jew, ambivalent Metaller. Occassionally ambivalent sociologist, researcher and educator. Non-ambivalent husband and father.” He finds “anything is potentially fascinating. I love anything obscure or quirky. I sometimes love Jews, I sometimes love Metal, I sometimes love sociology. I love languages. I love my family.” A simple honesty. I should explain that Metal refers to a genre of music that most of us have thankfully not heard of, rather than anything ferrous.
Simple statements that sum-up an identity. Products of the blog and social networking world. Yet often helpful in focusing on exactly what it is that we are. The essence. How we self-identify, be it religious or national, our likes, occupations and relationships.
But I have not introduced Keith to our Yom Kippur Morning Service for one line. It is for his and Ben Gidley, his co-researcher and writer’s findings and conclusions from their book-length study of contemporary British Jewry. Turbulent Times: The British Jewish Community Today examines the changing nature of the British Jewish community and its leadership since 1990.
They identify the changes in Anglo-Jewry in response to wider society moving from ‘monoculturalism to multiculturalism.’ They contend that there has been a shift within Jewish communal discourse from a strategy of security, which emphasized Anglo-Jewry’s ‘Britishness:’ belonging and citizenship, to a strategy of insecurity, which emphasizes the dangers and threats Jews face individually and communally. This shift is part of a process of renewal in the community that has led to something of a ‘Jewish renaissance’ in Britain.
This new ‘strategy of insecurity,’ reflects a community that is more mature and self-confident. Their period began with “near-panic at the threat of intermarriage and assimilation, exemplified in the anxious title of Chief Rabbi Sacks’s book ‘Will We Have Jewish Grandchildren?: Jewish Continuity and How to Achieve it .” It included the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000 that brought insistent warnings that the Jewish community is facing a growing threat of a ‘new anti-Semitism’.” We have seen constant bickering over, ‘who is a Jew,’ and had an ongoing fascination with intermarriage and our shrinking numbers, and a divergence of views on Israel that sees Jews increasingly likely to be present at a demonstration and counter-demonstration over Israel.
Yet Keith and Ben argue, that the fears and insecurities faced by Jews over the past 20 years has actually encouraged a period of renewal and re-assessment which has produced a far stronger, more vital community.
“When you compare the Anglo-Jewry today to that of 1990, one thing becomes very clear: it is a much more vibrant community. There are many more Jewish arts, cultural and educational opportunities than there were then; the building of the Jewish Community Centre for London and the spectacular growth of the Limmud…The Jewish community has had the self-confidence to embark on a massive school-building programme, exemplified by the opening of the Jewish Community Secondary School (even if you do not agree with faith schools, you cannot deny the significance of the huge capital investment that has occurred). The major synagogue movements have made a concerted effort to renew themselves and operate more dynamically…The dynamism and the pessimism of the contemporary British Jewish community are interlinked: they are both signs that the community has finally adapted to multiculturalism.”
We are happy to be out and proud as Jews, to stand out and be involved in public discourse with an honesty that identifies our sense of belonging and our feelings of insecurity. “The last couple of decades have been turbulent in the British Jewish community – and indeed in the wider world – but it is a turbulence that has brought about some very positive outcomes.” In other words, lets celebrate the diversity!
At this time last year, I somewhat railed against what I saw as dreadful hypocrisies in Anglo-Jewry and my pride in being a Liberal Jew. I still stand by all that I said…just as – in the light of the conclusions above, I support the right of any counter-argument! Unlike the Pope, I can see the virtues of the multicultural society that we live in. It may be predominantly secular but as a Liberal Jew who has always been a minority, I know the riches that we can bring to our society as a religious community. In reality, what many religious communities bring to the world is not the purity of their faith but the fact that they can create cohesive communities that are motivated and resourced to act, generally for the good of humanity.
I think that we, both as individuals and as a community need to hearken to voices of wisdom that come both from the secular and religious world. From the secular, we might consider how the findings of this book will affect us. As Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue, I think that we have huge amounts to be proud of, not least the Queen’s Award that is sitting in the Osorio Hall, recognition of the exemplary work of our Bereavement Support Group. That reward was granted 17 years after the group’s initiation. Whilst we do not chase awards, we must note that there is a time lag in honing our skills. We must look long-term at the needs of our congregants and members.
In the running of this Shul, we talk about the Synagogue and the Community. The Synagogue is the stuff I had nightmares about when I became Senior Rabbi: would I turn into Oaklands Gate one morning and the building would have fallen down. I interpreted that literally, that the building had actually fallen down and metaphorically, that the moral fibre of the community had dissipated. I know that neither will be the case of course. We are blessed with Lay Leaders who are insuring the long-term stability of the Synagogue by constantly identifying areas that we need to invest in. You, all of you sat here are our lay leaders, you may have been in the past, are now, or will be in the future. That is the nature of our Synagogue, it is run mainly by volunteers who bring their skills from the secular world so that we can be a non-profit making but solvent enterprise.
As long as this is so, it allows Rabbi Hillel and myself to create Community with you. We have had some great successes this past year. We now have over 100 children below the age of 6 in the Community. Some say it is what we put in the Kiddush wine but I prefer to think that it is because of our excellent services for young families. More people took a Jewish learning programme last year than ever before and if you want to know why, please make sure you come to this afternoon’s adult study session with Rabbi Hillel. Some Senior Rabbis would be concerned about his cult following!
We are the lead Community in Anglo-Jewry seeking to heal wounds created by the Methodist Church statement on Israel and Palestine. Our work in Israel enabled our young people on Kadimah to spend time with two young Israelis. They call themselves Israeli and they are. And they are Muslims, Palestinian citizens of Israel. We are part of the Home Office consultations regarding Civil Partnerships and the potential to bring relationship equality for all Jews, regardless of their sexuality. Our Community is lauded, quite rightly and yet there is more to do.
Our activities for young people need to be developed and I am grateful that two of LJY-NETZER’s Youth Movement workers are our members, Adam Francies and Robin Moss. My generation that were called the ‘missing generation,’ are back here in our Community. We need to support Adam and Robin and our own madrichim to insure that future generations see NPLS as a good Community base for their lives.
We are known for being a Caring Community, and we are, although the burden of being so rests on far too few people. This year I hope that you will join me in becoming a Caring Community of Members, not just a Community that has a great Care Coordinator and Team.
Why is this relevant to Keith and Ben’s book? It is so because we will only achieve our progression by combining what some see as opposing tendencies. We need to be both conservative and progressive at the same time. We need to be daring and dynamic and concerned for security and safety. We need to play some things safe and in others we need to take a higher risk. Balancing those tensions, we will emerge with a strong, safe and secure Synagogue, in which we will continue to develop a thriving, cutting-edge Community.
Not much of a religious sermon for Yom Kippur but then I have to take my opportunity to speak to you in such number, it does not happen too often!
What of the religious voice?
Rabbi Baer of Radoshitz once said to his teacher, the rabbi of Lublin: “Show me one general way to the service of God.” The tzaddik replied: “It is impossible to tell men what way they should take. For one way to serve God is through the teachings, another through prayer, another through fasting, and still another through eating. Everyone should carefully observe what way his heart draws him to, and then choose this way with all his strength.” (qu. in Tales of the Hasidim: Early Masters, Martin Buber, p. 313).
On this Day of Atonement we will all use it differently. The strength of our Community is that we do our differently together. Every one of you is as valued a member of this Community as the one sat next to you. Your opinion is as valuable as the next. The strength of our decision-making on a practical level and a spiritual level is because we do not all agree.
Knowing this to be true, may we all contribute as we know we can this year. For some it is by devoting time and energy on a regular basis, for others it is philanthropically. Some will focus on the old and some the young. Some will cook and some will eat! Some will teach and some will learn. Some are in need of care and the other will give care. As a Liberal Rabbi, I am not here to tell you which way to serve God and your Community but I am asking you to serve in your way. Let us strive to strengthen our sense of community, with our own people, the House of Israel.
Eternal God, renew our vision; give meaning to our lives and substance to our hopes; help us understand those about us and fill us with the desire to serve them. Let us remember that we depend on them as they depend on us; quicken our heart and hand to lift them up, and teach us to make our words of prayer fruitful by deeds of lovingkindness.
Keyn Y’hi l’ratzon,
Amen. |
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