Liberal Judaism’s series of Open House Shabbats continues this Friday (16 September) at 8pm with a special Zoom service hosted by East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue (ELELS).

As the Shabbat before Selichot, and with the focus on the start of the High Holy Days, the service will take time to consider Elul, Shabbat and core messages to Judaism, through the lens of evolving thinking about Rigorous Kindness. This is a way of reimagining the ethical monotheism of Liberal Judaism in the context of the 2020s.

The service will also acknowledge the National Period of Mourning for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. There will be time after prayers for those who wish to stay on for a discussion on the themes of the evening.

The service is open to all. For the Zoom link, please email administrator@elels.org.uk.

The Open House Shabbat initiative will see each Liberal Judaism congregation hold at least one Shabbat during the year, for which they will open their doors – whether in-person, online or both – to the rest of the Liberal Jewish world and beyond.

More about East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue:

ELELS is a community, as well as a congregation. We are single, married, widowed and divorced. We are LGBTQ, and we are straight. We are single parents, interfaith families, coupled parents, Jews by birth and Jews by choice. We are people with disabilities and people without. We are locally based in Redbridge, and living further afield throughout North East London, Essex and beyond.

We are proud of this diversity and seek to be responsive to our community to provide a variety of ways for each individual to express their Judaism.

To find out more, please visit elels.org.uk.