29 June 2020

Nottingham Liberal Synagogue is hosting a special communal Liberal Judaism Green Shabbat event this Friday night (June 3) – and everyone is welcome!

Liberal congregations from Leicester, Bristol, Brighton, Essex, Birmingham, York and Lincoln will join Nottingham for the online service and discussion, with members and friends of all Liberal communities invited to watch the live streams on Facebook and YouTube.

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The order of the evening will be:

6.30pm – Green Shabbat service
7.30pm – Kiddush, dinner and an informal discussion on green issues
8/8.15pm – Address from Liberal Judaism president Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein, who will give a rabbinic response on eco concerns of our times and why being green is important. This will be followed by a talk from Nottingham member Louise Lipman, who lives in the UK’s only eco village – Hockerton Housing Project.

Nottingham’s Rabbi Tanya Sakhnovich has organised the event. She said: “The subject of the environment and healthy living is so huge that it requires the attention of all of us, not just a few of us. So I am delighted to introduce Green Shabbat into our annual cycle.”

If you wish to find out more about the service and get involved, please email Tanya on rabbi@nottinghamliberalsynagogue.com.

Green Shabbat is being led by Eco Synagogue, in partnership with the Board of Deputies, and is supported by all the major denominations of Judaism in the UK. It encourages congregations and individuals to think about the environmentally friendly changes they can make, especially as part of the green recovery process from the coronavirus.

To precede Green Shabbat, a webinar entitled How Green Can We Make ‘The New Normal’ will take place on Thursday night (June 2). Chaired by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg (Masorti Judaism), it will feature Tamara Finkelstein, Esben Larsen and Josie Cohen. Rabbis Tanya Sakhnovich (Liberal Judaism), Mark Goldsmith (Reform Judaism) and David Mason (United Synagogue) will be adding their religious perspectives as an introduction and before questions.

The full event details are on the left and it can be viewed live Board of Deputies or EcoSynagogue social media channels on Thursday from 8pm.

Liberal Judaism’s interim director, Rabbi Charley Baginsky, has recorded a video message to support Green Shabbat which you can watch below.

Charley said: “The very first commandment we receive as human beings is we are responsible for the birds, the fish and every living thing that creeps on the Earth.

“This Green Shabbat, we should all look at how we can change our lives in some small way that together will make a big impact on the world that we all want to gift to the generations who follow us.”