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Programme of Events Welcome to Chagigah 2016! This weekend we hope that you will relax, be spiritually uplifted, learn something new, meet new friends and be inspired to take lots of ideas back home with you. We encourage you to participate in as much of the weekend as you wish. We have produced a full and varied programme and hope there is something for everyone as we create a community together. Please feel free to go to any session that appeals to you but remember you can dip in and out of sessions as you feel fit and if you want a break, take one! If you need anything, please look for those of us in teal polo shirts. Shabbat shalom from all of us on the planning team. 2 Friday Registration Opens 16:00 Reception Reception 16.00 Getting to Know You; Enjoy a drink in the bar, a quiz and make new friends. Long Hall 1 Bar Early Dinner; For under-fives (pre-booked) 17:00 Restaurant 17:00 – Orientation Tours; Will leave from the bar between 17.00 and 18.00 to show you Bar 18:00 around this year’s venue 17:30 – Kuddle-Up Shabbat Service; For our youngest participants, with Student Rabbi Alfreton 18:15 Robyn Ashworth-Steen Learn the Chagigah melodies If you would like the opportunity to get in the mood for Shabbat with a bit of singing come along and learn some of the melodies we Barber will be using this evening grow With Cantor Zöe Jacobs Navigating Chagigah whether it’s your first time or your umpteenth conference this session aims to help you get the most from your weekend. With Rabbi Mark Ambergate Goldsmith and Irit Burkeman Introduction to the Initiatives You’re here, you’re enthusiastic and you’re ready to MacGregor make change. Meet the initiative teams and each other. 18:30 – Kabbalat Shabbat; Led by Rabbi Danny Freelander (WUPJ) & Cantor Zöe Jacobs Chatterley 19:40 19:55 – Kiddush and welcome Lawrence 20:00 20:00 – Dinner Lawrence 22:00 22:15 – Oneg; Celebrating Shabbat with song Chatterley late Late Night Study with Rabbi Jackie Tabick; So the spies came back and chaos set in...Were Moses and Aaron right to at least 'seem' to abdicate responsibility? Was Moses actually such a good leader? Should he be our role model? Was it a clever Long Hall 2 ploy to let Joshua and Caleb take control? Would you have followed the Ten or the Two, are fear tactics useful? And what would have happened if The Boss had not intervened? Come and discuss our sedra for the week Having God Conversations – Tools and Anchors for the Spiritually Curious and Educators; God talk can be daunting, and hard to find the words for, especially if we are being asked difficult questions! This session won't promise any answers but together we will explore ways we can begin to have conversations about God with Long Hall 1 ourselves and with others. Does Judaism offer us any help? Can we exist as a community together when we hold such a diverse collection of beliefs? With Debbie Young-Somers 3 Saturday 07:00 – Breakfast Restaurant 09:45 07:30 – Jogging Minyan with Rabbi Celia Surget; Exercise your body as well as your mind Bar 08:15 08:30 – 09:15 David, Bathsheba and Uriah: Babies, Baths and Corrupt Kings; We will explore the afterlife of one of the most iconic stories in the life of King David. We will begin by studying a variety of rabbinic responses to the text of 2 Samuel 11-12, and end by Chatterley 1 exploring some reactions to the story in the context of the English Civil War (including Thomas Hobbes and John Milton), and see how they might affect modern political thinking. With Student Rabbi Elliott Kardstadt Mindfulness, Contemplation, Tefillah and Me; Danny will guide us through a contemplative and reflective experience where we will take some time for ourselves before the day begins. This session is designed to model that which we Lawrence 2 can repeat ourselves at home and help us begin to think about how we might develop our own personal spiritual practices. With Student Rabbi Danny Newman Torah Tots; Who is your favourite Superhero? We would like to invite you to come and celebrate Shabbat dressed as your favourite superhero! We won’t leave you out if you haven’t got a costume with you, but we will be thinking about what Linby makes a superhero, as well as singing and dancing our way through some fun Shabbat songs! All welcome but ideal for 5’s and under! Babies welcome too! With Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers Beit Din Surgery; Do you have any questions about the work of the Beit Din? Maybe about conversion? Or divorce? Or surrogacy? If so, pick a 10 minute time Barber slot from outside the door and grab a chance to talk privately to the Convenor, Rabbi Jackie Tabick Shabbat Morning Service; We will all join together as one community and be led in 9:30 – t’fillah by Rabbis Paul Freedman, Esther Hugenholtz, Miriam Berger and Fabian Lawrence 11:30 Sborovsky Session 1 Session 1 Tackling Adult Social Care Initiative: The Big Picture – It isn’t Pretty; Step beyond your own responsibilities or that of your community and allow Merav to share her knowledge from the coalface. Understand the realities of adult social care and the 11:50 – Holroyd 12:50 repercussions of loneliness and isolation on the NHS and on local authorities. If that doesn't alarm you let's take a look at the future if we do nothing. With Merav Dover Empowering Jewish Practice Initiative: My Jewish Practice; Let’s dig deeper into our Jewish practice by looking at why we care about it and the different ways in which we experience it. In this session we’ll explore, through some inspiring texts, the ways that we can engage with Torah, Tefillah and mitzvot in our lives. We’ll Barber also be listening carefully to what participants want from this process. And we will attempt to answer the big question – what is Jewish spirituality and how can we bring it closer into our lives? With Rabbi Benji Stanley 4 Session 1 Re-Imagining Leadership Initiative: Cultures and Communities; Every organisation (contd) has a culture but have we become prisoners of our own? Communities have all invested time and money in events and programming yet still haven’t managed to 11:50 – engage as many members as they hoped to. Why is it case? What could be Chatterley 2 12:50 changed? Join us to explore how we can create cultures of participation and meaning through building relationships with our members which will leave them eager to pursue leadership roles with Charlotte Fischer Leo Baeck College @ 60: Keep calm and Study the Zohar; The Zohar is the cornerstone of Jewish mysticism and has had a remarkable impact on Jewish and non-Jewish culture (even on Madonna!). Yet, how can this obscure, riddling book Alfreton be relevant to Reform Judaism? To get the answer, be prepared to embark on an inspiring journey which will lead you to the depths of the Zohar, and unravel its hidden layers. With Dr Alinda Damsma Scriptural Reasoning: A Text Based Session Bringing in Voices and Perspectives from Three Faiths; Based on a Scriptural Reasoning model, this session will see three faith leaders bring their Scriptures to life, spoken or chanted in their original languages. Texts from Islam, Christianity and Judaism teach on the issue of poverty MacGregor and we will have the chance to discuss and question how we make our sacred texts relevant in the UK at a time of increasing need. With Reverend Anna Alls, Sajid Mohammed and Student Rabbi Robyn Ashworth-Steen. Chaired by Rabbi Sybil Sheridan Step Back in Time; People look back on their youth movement days with such joy, but how many of us get a chance to step back in time and experience a peula (session) from our summer camp or youth club days? Join us as we engage in Ambergate chinuch (education) in an immersive experiential way. It will be fun and educational all at the same time! With Libby Burkeman and Camille Grahame Reform Judaism in Israel - Is there a future? Current events in Israel, following the historical decision on opening the Egalitarian Western Wall and Mikveh for Reform converts, have raised political disputes that quickly became very violent and loud. Can we live in a reality where Israel, the world's only Jewish and Democratic state, Scargill is also the only state where women can't doven with a tallis, lead services or use (or even touch) a Torah Scroll? We will discuss these current happenings, as well as the development of a unique new Reform community that is growing rapidly in Israel's periphery- in Be'er Sheva With Naomi Efrat Zen and the Pen Spend some relaxing time exploring the freedom of your mind and losing yourself in this perfect Shabbat morning activity. No artistic skills Bar area needed with Kathryn Michaels 13:00 – Restaurant 14:00 Lunch 14:00 – Free time 15:00 Colouring is not just for kids What is all the fuss about? Crafting with Kathryn Bar area Michaels Beit Din Surgery; Do you have any questions about the work of the Beit Din? Maybe about conversion? Or divorce? Or surrogacy? If so, pick a 10 minute time Hazelwood slot from outside the door and grab a chance to talk privately to the Convenor, Rabbi Jackie Tabick 5 Meet the Team If you would like any help, advice or ideas from the MRJ team here is an opportunity to get to know who is who: Yon Borthwick – RSY-Netzer Libby Burkeman – Informal Education Director Martin Dix – Communications Manager Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner – Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism Bar Geoffrey Marx – MRJ Vice-Chair Daniel Raphael – Head of Fundraising Gilly Shulman - Head of Community Partnership and HR Rabbi Benji Stanley – Rabbi for Young Adults Robert Weiner – MRJ Chair Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers – Community Educator Open Beit Midrash Bring a question, follow an issue - a bunch of Reform Rabbis will be on hand to help you to find an answer through classical and contemporary Barber sources.
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