While the last year has seen many setbacks for those with Progressive values, Liberal Judaism as a movement has enjoyed another 12 months of growth – with strengthening communities, enhanced social action work and a louder voice in Anglo-Jewry, Britain generally and, indeed, the rest of the world. Below we … Read More
Chanukkah at Christmas time in 2016
23 December 2016 While much of the country is preparing for Christmas this Saturday evening, Jews will be declaring ‘Goodbye to Shabbat –the Sabbath- and Welcome Chanukkah!’ Chanukkah is an eight day Jewish festival which falls somewhere between mid-November and late December – and this year its beginning coincides with … Read More
Focus on migrants in new LGBTQI+ project
18 December 2016 Following the success of Rainbow Jews and Twilight People, Liberal Judaism will host a new project – Rainbow Pilgrims: The Rites and Passages of LGBTQI+ Migrants in Britain. This landmark undertaking, supported by the National Lottery through the Lottery Heritage Fund, will discover and celebrate the hidden history … Read More
Interfaith guests help celebrate 25 years of Peterborough
13 December 2016 Guests from all of the region’s faith groups helped Peterborough Liberal Jewish Community (PLJC) celebrate its 25th anniversary on Saturday. Liberal Judaism’s senior rabbi, Rabbi Danny Rich, led a specially tailored service – explaining the origin and significance of the various aspects of Shabbat. It was followed … Read More
Liberal Jews win major volunteering awards
6 December 2016 Liberal Judaism communities and members have won a series of volunteering awards. Simon Cooper and Rebecca Woolfe were named The Jewish News and Mitzvah Day’s Community Heroes for 2016, in a moving ceremony. Simon, who suffered from cystic fibrosis, was an ambassador for NHS Blood & Transplant, … Read More
Luciana Berger MP joins Mitzvah Day at the LJS
29 November 2016 Luciana Berger MP joined Rabbis Danny Rich, Alex Wright and René Pfertzel – as well as Reform and Orthodox Jews, and members of three other faiths – to wrap festive presents for refugees at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue (LJS) on Mitzvah Day. Hundreds of books were brought … Read More
Faith leaders unite in passionate call for UK Government to get aid into East Aleppo
28 November 2016 A broad group of 15 UK faith leaders have come together to urge the UK government to take immediate action to deliver aid to civilians in besieged Aleppo. The plea—from Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh faith leaders—comes as humanitarian organisations warn that supplies of food … Read More
Liberal Judaism team kick off Mitzvah Day with care home visit
22 November 2016 Rabbis Danny Rich and Leah Jordan led a staff team from Liberal Judaism’s head office, the Montagu Centre, in our movement’s first Mitzvah Day of 2016. The team baked cakes and served tea to the older people, spending a lovely afternoon swapping stories at the Norton House … Read More
Civic leaders to attend York interfaith event
5 November 2016 York Liberal Jewish Community (YLJC) will hold an interfaith service on Saturday November 19, as part of National Interfaith Week. The service will be led by Student Rabbi Deborah Blausten and include a Torah reading from an ‘orphan scroll’, which was rescued from the Holocaust by Prague’s … Read More
Liberal rabbi leads Orlando memorial at PinkNews Awards
30 October 2016 Liberal Judaism’s Rabbi Dr René Pfertzel joined with a Bishop and an Imam at The PinkNews Awards to lead a memorial to those killed in the Orlando massacre. At the start of the Awards Dinner, a vigil was held in remembrance of the victims of the terrorist … Read More