Newsletter 17 March 2014

Services

The following services have been arranged: Friday 21 March Erev Shabbat Service (Prog) Friday 28 March Erev Shabbat Service (Trad) Saturday 29 March Shabbat Service (Prog) Friday 4 April Erev Shabbat Service (Prog) Saturday 5 April Shabbat Service (Chassidic) Friday 11 April Erev Shabbat Service (Trad) Tuesday 15 April First Day Pesach - Morning service Friday 18 April Erev Shabbat Service (Prog)

Services Services are normally at 10.30am on Saturdays and 6.45pm on Fridays. Some services are labelled Traditional or Progressive to give an indication of the type of service. However, we try to make all services as inclusive as possible, and there will be variations in the way services are conducted. For some, it may not be possible to define which label to give.

DAVAR FILM - Wednesday 26th March 8.00pm - Bristol Israel 2012 90 minutes Hebrew with sub-titles Director Rama Burshtein; starring , Chaim Sharir, Yiftach Klein “The story told by Rama Burshtein in “Fill the Void,” her remarkable debut feature, has an almost classical simplicity. Shira (Hadas Yaron), a young woman living in an ultra-Orthodox enclave in , faces a choice not unlike those faced by the heroines of Jane Austen novels and Hollywood romantic comedies. Which man will she marry? For Shira, this is an especially agonizing question because it forces her to weigh the claims of family loyalty, religious duty and her own desires. Shira is engaged to a soft-spoken, ginger-bearded fellow. Her happiness is quickly overshadowed by the death of her beloved older sister, Esther, who leaves behind a newborn son and a husband, Yochay (Yiftach Klein). As the family struggles with grief, the possibility begins to emerge that Yochay might marry Shira. “Fill the Void” has been described as the first feature film directed by an Orthodox Israeli woman, and it is one of a small handful of modern movies that depict religious devotion from within. The deeper drama of “Fill the Void” has to do with her self-knowledge, and it is this — the sense we have of witnessing a young person figuring herself out in the most challenging circumstances — that makes the film both accessible and thrilling. It is completely unexpected, and entirely believable.” AO Scott – New York Times Wednesday 26th March 2014 8pm at Orpheus Cinema (tel: 0117 962 1644)

Exeter Synagogue Newsletter 17 March 2014 Page 1 Barbara Collier writes: Our daughter Erin is running to raise money for Cancer Research. She plans to take part in 14 runs in 2014 in memory of Barbara’s best friend Sue, Ron’s mother Philippa and Erin’s mother-in-law Jan. Her goal is to raise $14,000. As we can’t all join her in Los Angeles, she has come up with the wonderful idea of a ‘Virtual’ 5K that means we can all run or walk wherever we are. She is organizing this event on the weekend of 28th-30th March. The cost of entry is $22 (approximately £15) or whatever you can afford. Barbara will be WALKING on Saturday, 29th March with John (Sue’s partner), Richard & Maureen Halsey, Ann Paxton and anybody else who wishes to join us. If possible, please let Barbara know if you are taking part so she can print out a Bib for you. Our team is called Team Naches. We are bringing a light lunch to eat upstairs in the Shul after the Service at 12.30pm and leave at 1.30pm to meet at Powderham Church car park (free parking). Our walk will begin at 2pm along the estuary to Turf Locks and back. We will then meet at 3.30pm at the Country Store, Powderham Castle for afternoon tea. Please feel free to contact Barbara on 01398-323050 or [email protected] If you have access to a computer, go to pages.teamintraining.org/los/tnturway14/ebarela to register or donate. If not, it can be done for you. 100% goes to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Please, join in the fun or donate whatever you can afford to support this special event.

Exeter Interfaith Group The next meeting will be on Tuesday 1st April at 4.45pm at the Mint Methodist Church. The meeting will include a discussion on Spring Festivals. All are welcome.

Family History Next meeting on 3 April at the Synagogue. We will be looking at ways we can pool our experience and help others with researching their family histories. So if you are an 'expert' or a beginner, consider coming along. - details from Sue Wright [email protected]

Communal Seder - Tuesday 15 April at The Guildhall, Exeter This year we are holding the Communal Seder in the Guildhall. We will start at 6.30 pm (sharp) The service will be led by Martin Singer. Tickets are the same price as last year - £13 per adult (children under 13 free) and are available from Susan Foot, 22 Rowan Way, Exeter EX4 2DR. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope for your tickets, and details of how many children, and any dietary requirements (we expect to serve salmon as in previous years). Cheques shopuld be made payable to 'Exeter Hebrew Congregation'. We must know numbers for catering and there will be limited space – please apply for tickets by 31 March at the latest. Entry will be by ticket only and we will NOT be able to take money on the door.

Cheder Nitzanim/Dreidl Dribblers April 26th - Dreidl Dribblers get together (place TBC - usually 11-1pm) May 24th - Dreidl Dribblers get together (place TBC) Sat/Sun 12/13 July - summer camp (£74 per couple) For details of classes and meetings for children, please contact Emma and Gaby at [email protected]

Exeter Synagogue Newsletter 17 March 2014 Page 2 Jewish Social and Cultural Group The next events will be on April 28th and Sunday 8th June. Details to follow, or from Jane Warner [email protected]

Limmud.de - a Limmud near Berlin 29 May to 1 June We have been invited to join with Limmud.de, and Stella will be representing Exeter. If anyone would like to join her, please contact her or check the website www.limmud.de Our president, Stella Tripp is going, and she writes: I am putting together a talk about Exeter Hebrew Congregation (in the context of the future of small Jewish communities) for a presentation at Limmud near Berlin in May. I would like to include short quotes from members about the community along the lines of: how or why is it important to you to be able to be part of a Jewish community? What do you contribute to/get from the community? What does the community mean to you? any thoughts about the future of the community - are there changes you would or wouldn’t like to see? Don’t have to answer all (or even any) of those! Responses may be edited; names will not be included. Please send brief thoughts to [email protected], with subject: limmud. Thanks and best wishes, Stella EAJL - European Academy of Jewish Learning Retreat EAJL are holding a Service Leaders' Retreat at Yarnton, near Oxford from 3 - 6 July. A number of us are planning to go, and we hope that this will improve our services, and encourage others to help lead them. The cost is £345 (if you book before Pesach). Subsidies are available from EAJL. More details from the EAJL website eajl.org or from either of the Tonys (Tony Reese, Tony Thompson) David Cohen, Robin Kanarek, or Stella

BBC BROADCASTS ONLINE This information came from Jewish Renaissance - we are not sure how long these will be available: Two very good BBC radio programmes that you can listen to on iPlayer: in One to One Emma Barnett runs a series on Orthodox and Feminism where she asks whether the two can be reconciled. In the latest episode she talks to Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild - click here to listen - but you can also listen to the first episode by clicking here (15 min each). And a new music programme by Norman Lebrecht on Radio 3 called Music and the Jews (45 min): click here to listen.

The Jews of Hazlegrove's next book is about the Jews of Cornwall - to be published in May. In this substantial and meticulously researched book, the author applies a critical and penetrating analysis to the place of Jews in Cornish folklore, and also distinguishes the Cornish Jews from the indigenous Cornish Gentiles who adopted Hebrew names, but who are not known to have been of Jewish descent. In the main body of the text, the identities, occupations and commercial contribution of those Jews who lived in Cornwall in the 18th and 19th centuries and who settled in Cornwall’s southern ports of Falmouth, Penzance and Truro, as well as in Redruth and St. Austell, are presented in remarkable detail. There are comprehensive family trees, biographies, information from public records, membership of civic organisations, such as Freemasonry, and complete translations of Hebrew headstones, which should be of great value to those tracing their own family history. All of the Rabbis known to have served in Falmouth and Penzance have also been identified, some, like Rabbi B. A. Simmons, living in the County for fifty years, and the religious life of the congregations and their struggle to survive is also given extensive coverage. With many original illustrations, this book represents a major contribution by the author to Cornish and Anglo- Jewish history, representing some thirty years of study and research. £29.99 ISBN 978 0 85704 222 4, hardback, 234x156mmis

This newsletter is produced by Tony Reese for members and friends of Exeter Hebrew Congregation, Exeter Synagogue, Mary Arches Street Exeter EX4 3BA 01392 251529eith Pearce

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