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
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
Rabbi Danny Rich becomes first Liberal Judaism leader to address the UK Board of Deputies
22 November 2016 On the 20 November, Rabbi Danny Rich became the first leader of Liberal Judaism (Chair, Senior Rabbi and/or Chief Executive) to address the UK Board of Deputies. In the meeting he highlighted the historical relationship between Liberal Judaism and the Board – key moments including the 1949 … Read More
A response to the election of Donald Trump
By Rabbi Alexandra Wright Co-Chair of Liberal Judaism’s Rabbinic Conference This week is a week of sombre anniversaries: Kristallnacht – the Pogrom of 9 November 1938 when Nazi hoards across cities and towns in Germany and Austria desecrated, looted and burned over 1,200 synagogues, Jewish shops, businesses and homes, when … Read More
Leo Baeck College celebrates 60 years of training Europe’s rabbis
8 November 2016 More than 200 people, including 43 rabbis and student rabbis spanning six decades, attended the 60th Anniversary Service of Celebration for the Leo Baeck College this weekend. Leo Baeck College is a preeminent institution of Jewish scholarship and learning, based in Finchley, Barnet, that is the heart … Read More
Rabbis welcomed at South Bucks and York
20 September 2016 Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Student Rabbi Deborah Blausten have been welcomed at South Bucks Jewish Community (SBJC) and York Liberal Jewish Community (YLC). South Bucks inducted Charley in a moving Shabbat service on Saturday, which was attended by dignitaries including Cheryl Gillan, MP for Chesham and Amersham, and … Read More
Rabbi Rebecca Birk ‘one of London’s most influential’
19 September 2016 Finchley Progressive Synagogue’s Rabbi Rebecca Birk has been named as one of London’s most influential people. Rebecca was featured in The London Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 list, praised by the newspaper for leading a campaign to persuade Barnet Council to take in refugees. Rebecca said: “I am … Read More
Rabbi Charley Baginsky to lead global Shabbat
16 September 2016 Rabbi Charley Baginsky – Liberal Judaism’s director of strategy and partnerships – will lead the Shabbat service at next year’s World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) conference. Held in Jerusalem from May 17-20, the Connections 2017 event promises to be an exciting and inspiring gathering of the … Read More
“Whoever saves a single human life, it is as if they have saved a whole world”
Rabbi Richard Jacobi, Co-Chair of Rabbinic Conference of Liberal Judaism 9 September 2016 This famous statement, from the second century Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5) occurs in the context of ensuring witnesses in the trial of someone accused of a capital crime. There its purpose is to demand that any such witnesses … Read More