March 2019 Newsletter
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European Union for Progressive Judaism March 2019 Newsletter © European Union for Progressive Judaism Twinning success creates opportunity Twinning can provide very important exchanges between communities. It also helps younger communities to grow through mentoring by and support from more established communities. he connection between long-established of the two congregations in which Beth Hillel Rome GIL Geneva and the relatively new Beth illustrated its five-year strategic plan. During the Hillel Rome is a clear example of active meeting, GIL members presented the main highlights T twinning, where both parties are truly able about their congregation. to gain something from each other and where the In the evening, the Kabbalat Shabbat was led by relationship is flourishing. Rabbi Joel Oseran and Rabbi Garaï gave a very This was successfully demonstrated when meaningful drasha (sermon). The service was members of the GIL community visited Beth Hillel followed by a lovely community dinner during which in Rome in February – members of GIL met and the first step in affirming socialised with their a new twinning Beth Hillel counterparts. relationship between On Shabbat morning, the two Progressive Rabbi Oseran led the congregations. The Shacharit service. At visit took place from the end, the traditional February 8 to 10. It was Roman Birkat HaCohanim a great opportunity for (Priestly Blessing) was members of different given to all participants in communities to be able celebration of the special to exchange ideas and occasion. get to know one another. A Shabbat lunch gave The delegation from the opportunity for board Geneva was headed by members and leaders of President Alexander Dembitz and included Rabbi both communities to get to know each other better François Garaï and members of their board. On and discuss their common areas of responsibilities. the Beth Hillel side, the board was present with These included culture, education, finance, religious President Stefano Ridolfi and Rabbi Joel Oseran. affairs and administrative matters. On February 8, there was a joint board meeting Continued on page 2 EUPJ Newsletter March 2019 1 Community Connections Twinning success cont... L-R: Stefano Ridolfi and Alexander Dembitz A special Havdalah ceremony and dinner were co-operation with practical proposals for joint held in a restaurant in the Trastevere neighbourhood projects. In appreciation for and in recognition of of Rome at premises that were once occupied by an the visit, congregation Beth Hillel presented a plaque ancient synagogue dating back to the ninth century to the GIL congregation, thanking them for their visit CE. The evening was an additional occasion for and commending them on undertaking this important the GIL delegation to get to know more members twinning relationship. of Beth Hillel. A special thank you goes to Michael Reik of the On Sunday morning, the GIL delegation enjoyed EUPJ and Community Connections, who helped the a guided tour (in French) of the Jewish Ghetto, two congregations to team up and start the journey Museum and Synagogue. towards a stronger future together. – Mario Lunch took place in a kosher restaurant and Castelnuovo and Fabio Benjamin Fantini, Co-ordinators was dedicated to identifying the objectives of the of Twinning Geneva GIL and Rome BHR Reflections of a past Chairman t’s nearly a year since I stepped down and The European Rabbinic Association (ERA) goes passed the baton to Sonja Guentner. So from strength to strength. Although it is a relatively much has happened in those 12 months, most young organisation, it is already playing an important I of it very positive. Below are a few highlights: role giving religious guidance as well as supporting In November, we had the official launch of the our rabbis and communities. Rabbi Dr René Pfertzel EUPJ’s European Union Office in Brussels. Led reflects on his rabbinic career, which has culminated by Bill Echikson, an experienced lobbyist, we in his leadership of the ERA, in Rabbinic are gaining higher visibility and Ruminations. credibility in the corridors of We have also updated the European power. EUPJ website, which will now In Italy, a national federation include a news feed and a few of the four Progressive other exciting new features, congregations has been formed and are reassessing our and is already making an Facebook page to make it impact both within these four more active and inclusive. and also in the wider Italian This is just the tip of the Jewish community. The benefits iceberg. There will be much include raising awareness as to discuss when we close the well as gathering respect. circle that started in Prague, Twinning arrangements took us to a ground-breaking among European communities launch in Brussels and sees have mushroomed. Under the us together again in Rome leadership of EUPJ Vice- this May. Chairman Michael Reik, this Looking forward to seeing project has really taken wings – you all at the next EUPJ as you can see in our cover Shabbaton in May. – Miriam stories. Kramer EUPJ Newsletter March 2019 2 Community Connections East meets West: Bringing Europe closer together Over the past few months, Community Connections has been very busy in helping to maintain the valuable and worthwhile twinning arrangements it has helped set in motion. e can already confidently say that over the past year, we have helped to maintain and support W congregations in Progressive communities in the Ukraine, where congregations may have previously felt isolated and somewhat alone. One such example can be seen with the twinning of Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue (NPLS) with Teiva, the Liberal Jewish community of Lviv, who also connected with LJG Amsterdam on a recent trip to the city. Nataliya Tolok gave us an overview: Nataliya Tolok and Katerina Stepanyuk with members of Di “In February, with the assistance of LJG Gojim, Sjaak van der Reijden, Eric Roelofsen, Alysia van Horik, Amsterdam, a few people from the Lviv Jaap Mulder and Tseard Nauta community visited Holland and got to experience us to meet them. We do hope for further the activities of other Jewish communities in Europe. co-operation in the future. And you are all always “We attended a terrific concert in the synagogue/ welcome to Lviv,” said Nataliya. museum in Coevorden and another one in Odoorn. Staying in the Ukraine, we have also twinned the Part of the first concert included an amazing Haver Synagogue in Cherkassy with the Sukkat performance by the wonderful and well-known Shalom Synagogue in Wanstead. Sukkat Shalom Klezmer group, Di Gojim. We performed some produces a monthly magazine and sends it to Israeli dancing while they played,” she said. congregants of the Haver Synagogue, which helps to connect the two communities and aids in building a meaningful and special relationship. We also hope to have a new relationship up and running soon between Shirat HaYam in Odessa and a British community, with the possibility of a French one as well. Community Connections is now focusing on twinning between Western European Communities and building meaningful and long-lasting relationships. One such example is the above-mentioned twinning between GIL Geneva and Beth Hillel Rome. In addition, there has been a recent visit by members of the Stockholm Jewish Progressive “We were so excited with the conversation during Community to the Finchley Progressive Synagogue our meeting with the rabbis in Amsterdam that we in London. – Michael Reik forgot to take photos. It was a very fruitful meeting. We discussed the opportunities to run projects for Odessa: L-R: Rabbi Julia Gris and Rita Fruman (Shirat our youth, who have already been invited to HaYam) with Galina Polskaya (Cherkassy Reform ) Amsterdam for a Shabbaton with the Dutch youth, which will include a trip through all the historical Jewish places in the city. “We discussed participation in our international volunteer summer camp for Dutch and Ukrainian youth, as well as family root trips for people from the Dutch community whose origins are in our region. And all these options are open to anybody who would like to connect with us from all countries! “We are so grateful to you, Community Connections, for connecting us with the Amsterdam community. It was a real pleasure and inspiration for EUPJ Newsletter March 2019 3 Community Connections Connecting Europe with Israel nder Domim, relationships between Israeli about their families, presented this information to and European Progressive Communities their peers with pride and emotion, and then started have also progressed, with Keren Or in tracing their family trees. Some exchanged the U Lyon now twinned with Or Chadash in information with their partners in Haifa. Haifa. Celia Naval provided an update: “Hebrew classes on related vocabulary, texts and “So far, it has been confined to a first project poems are planned in Lyon, which will culminate in a concerning the youth who are preparing for their display of the family trees and other texts on boards B’nei/B’not Mitzvah. The very different structures for the rest of the community to share,” she said. in the two synagogues have made this quite a “We are also encouraging the youngest members, challenge. who are not yet directly involved in the project, to “In Haifa, they have several three-month think about their families, drawing all family intakes per year with a very quick preparation members into the fun. period, whereas our youth spend at least two years “In addition, a WhatsApp group is planned in our classes, and often, several years from pre- between the two groups of youngsters in Lyon and school upwards,” she said. Haifa who are involved in this year's project. “However, events like the Chanukah project, which “The Chanukah link-up worked well despite last- involves performances through a video link, are minute technical hitches.