The first LJ@120 Open House Shabbat will take place this Saturday (19 February) at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue (LJS).

The Open House Shabbat initiative will see each Liberal Judaism congregation hold at least one Shabbat during the year, to celebrate our movement’s 120^th anniversary, for which they will open their doors – whether in-person, online or both – to the rest of the Liberal Jewish world and beyond.

This will allow Liberal Judaism to showcase and amplify the work of our communities, give us all a chance to support each other and, of course, celebrate a wonderful 120 years so far.

It is fitting that the first Open House Shabbat takes place at the LJS, our movement’s founding and largest synagogue.

The morning will start with refreshments at 10.30am, with the service then getting underway at 11am. There will be both an in-person and an online kiddush following the service.

There are a number of ways to be part of the celebrations whether in-person, on Zoom or via the LJS YouTube channel.

To apply to attend in person, please click here.

To receive the Zoom link, please email office@ljs.org.

To follow on the LJS YouTube channel, please click here.

We look forward to welcoming you.

More about the Liberal Jewish Synagogue:

The LJS (pictured), based in St John’s Wood, London, is a vibrant, inclusive, diverse and egalitarian community. We have at our core a belief in social justice for all and applying Jewish values to living ethical lives in the 21st century.

We welcome Jewish and non-Jewish partners, families and individuals – in fact all those who wish to engage with Judaism – to our hybrid and online services and events.

As with so many communities, we have responded to the pandemic with creativity and compassion, leading to the development of a hybrid approach which has allowed us to welcome and support a wide group of people.

As we steadily (and carefully!) open up in-person again, we are applying this to our Education offering from Rimon Religion School through to Kabbalat Torah students and on to The Learning Circle, our extensive range of adult education courses, and throughout our community care groups and social events.

Our most recent exceptional events were the Kristallnacht Commemoration addressed by Sir Anish Kapoor, sculptor of the LJS Shoah Memorial, as he asked ‘How do you portray the unimaginable?’, and our now traditional Multi-Faith Chanukah celebration, this year introduced by Zara Mohammed, the youngest and first female Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain. Both can be viewed on the LJS YouTube channel.

If you would like to read more about the LJS, please visit our website www.ljs.org.