Programme of Events

Welcome to Chagigah 2016!

This weekend we hope 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 created a full and varied programme and hope there is something for everyone as we create community together. If you need anything, please look for those of us in teal polo shirts or call by the conference office in the Business Centre. Shabbat shalom from all the planning team

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Friday

16:00 Registration opens Reception 16.00 Getting to know you, enjoy a drink in the bar, a quiz and make Bar onwards new friends.amit 17:00 Early dinner for under fives Restaurant

17:00- Orientation Tours will leave from the bar between 17.00 and 18.00 Bar 18:00 to show you around this year’s venue. 17:30- Kuddle Up Shabbat service for our youngest participants Alfreton 18:15 Music session learn the Chagigah melodies. If you would like the Barber opportunity to get in the mood for Shabbat with a bit of singing come along and learn some of the melodies we will be using this evening. Preparing for Shabbat with arts and crafts Bar Introduction to the Initiatives, framing the weekend Ambergate 18:30 – Kabbalat Shabbat led by Danny Freelander & Cantor Zoe Chatterley 19:40 Jacobs 19:55 – Kiddush and welcome Lawrence 20:00 20:00 – Dinner Lawrence 22:00 22:15 - Oneg celebrating Shabbat with song Chatterley late Torah with Rabbi Benji Long Hall 1 Details to follow Having God conversations – tools and anchors for the spiritually Ambergate 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 ourselves and with others. Does offer us any help? Can we exist as a community together when we hold such a diverse collection of beliefs? With Debbie Young-Somers Saturday

07:00 - Breakfast Restaurant 09:45 07:30 – Jogging minyan with Rabbi Celia Surget Meet at 08:15 Exercise your body as well as your mind. Reception 08:30– Early morning chevrutah (study) Lawrence 1 09:15 Details to follow Mindfulness, Contemplation, Tefillah and Me Danny will guide us Lawrence 1 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 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 Service with Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers Ambergate

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Beit Din Surgery – Do you have any questions about the work of Barber the Beit Din? Maybe about conversion? Or divorce? Or surrogacy? If so, pick a 10 minute time slot from outside the door and grab a chance to talk privately to the convenor, Rabbi . 9:30 – Shabbat morning service We will all join together as one Chatterley 11:30 community and be led in t’fillah by Paul Freedman, Esther Hugenholtz, & Fabian Sborovsky 11:50 – Session 1 12:50 Adult social care Step beyond your own responsibilities or that of Chatterley 1 your community and allow Merav to share her knowledge from the coal face. Understand the realities of adult social care and the 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: 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 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 more closely into our lives? With Rabbi Benji Stanley Leadership: Cultures and Communities Every organisation 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 engage as many members as they hoped to. Why is it the case? What could be changed? Join us to explore how we can create cultures of participation and meaning through building relationships with our members which will leave them wanting to take on leadership roles. Keep calm and study the Zohar, College The Zohar is the cornerstone of Jewish mysticism, and has had remarkable impact on Jewish and non-Jewish culture (even on Madonna!). Yet, how can this obscure, riddling book 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 A text based session bringing in voices and perspectives from Chatterley 2 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. These texts from Islam, Christianity & Judaism all teach on the issue of poverty 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 & 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

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youth club days? Join us as we engage in chinuch (education) in an immersive experiential way. It will be fun and educational all at the same time! With Libby Burkeman & Naomi Raanan 13:00 – Lunch Restaurant 14:00

14:00- Free time 15:00 Craft activities with Kathryn Michael continuing all afternoon Bar Beit Din Surgery – Do you have any questions about the work of Hazelwood the Beit Din? Maybe about conversion? Or divorce? Or surrogacy? If so, pick a 10 minute time slot from outside the door and grab a chance to talk privately to the convenor, Rabbi Jackie Tabick. Open Beit Midrash Barber Walk around the grounds

15:00 – Session 2 16:15 Adult social care The impact of ageing relatives, the increasing pastoral needs of our members, the new challenges the changing demographics present us with, just a few of the headlines this session will allow us to plot across our movement. Come and explore what challenges we share and which we are future proofing ourselves from. Empowering Jewish Practice: The Amidah from a range of angles: Come and experience a close reading of the Amidah and use other texts to get at its range and meaning. Gain the confidence to be creative with it, and look at ways of bringing it into your own daily life. And how can we bring our enhanced understanding of this central prayer back into our communities? With the Jewish Practice team, Sherry Ashworth, and Rabbis Celia Surget, Mark Goldsmith and Benji Stanley Leadership: If only leaders grew on trees (part 1) Many synagogues told us they felt that they rely on the same leaders time and time again, or are worried about who is going to fill the next position on their Council. The Pentecostal leader Bishop Wayne Brown hasn’t quite managed to find seeds to that tree, but he has been able to build thoughtful leadership trajectories for members at his successful Pentecostal black majority church, New Testament Church of God. with Bishop Wayne Brown : Hope and Despair in Times of Crisis Looking through the prism of the biblical book of Lamentations and the later rabbinic midrash Lamentations Rabbah, we will explore our complex reactions to extreme difficulties, allowing our sacred texts to give voice to our darkest fears and our keenest hopes. With Dr. Laliv Clenman and Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris Making change without making any changes! Familiarity is what makes services comforting for many whilst others crave something new. How can we keep the familiar feeling of our t'fillah (services)

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and yet change the energy, without even changing the melodies? Join us as we investigate a new toolbox for change and go home with a set of new possibilities - all without changing a thing! No musical experience necessary, just enthusiasm to participate. With Rabbi Danny Freelander and Cantor Zoe Jacobs Meaningful engagement with The Alliance for Progressive Judaism is in the midst of establishing an Israel Desk. This is an essential step forward in supporting the Reform and Liberal movements, in collaboration with Leo Baeck College, deepen their Israel engagement. Explore the potential of this project and discuss how it can respond to the current multiple dialogues and needs within our community. Can the Progressive movement be at the forefront of a paradigm shift in Diaspora/Israel relationship? With Rabbi Charley Baginsky (chair), Dr Keith Kahn-Harris (LBC) and Kalela Lancaster (NIF) and UJIA In partnership with UJIA, Leo Baeck College and New Israel Fund UK 16:15 - Seuda Shlishit time for relaxation as we fulfil the Sabbath 17:15 obligation of eating even more food. Eat, relax and enjoy varied discussion topics on each table. 17:30- Session 3 18:45 Adult Social Care: Inspirational practice. Come and hear all about it. We will unpack some great initiatives being used to tackle some of the major issues we highlighted in session two. Your synagogue will be so grateful as this session will give them answers to problems they didn't know they had! There will be plenty of tangible, take home pieces from this session. Empowering Jewish Practice: The Shema from a range of angles: We will return to the shema, using other texts to help us interpret it. We’ll also include the use of tefillin, tallitot and the mezuzah. And again, as with the Amidah, we will consider how we can use our enhanced understanding of this prayer bother personally and in our communities. With the Jewish Practice team, Sherry Ashworth, and Rabbis Celia Surget, Mark Goldsmith and Benji Stanley Leadership: If only leaders (in our shuls) grew on trees (part 2) Join Bishop Wayne Brown again as we unpack with you lessons on building a trajectory of membership for communities and explore with the teams how this might be translated into our communities. with Bishop Wayne Brown Joseph and Asenath: A Story of Love Across Boundaries and Through the Ages Join the faculty of the Leo Baeck College for a unique and dynamic study session exploring the story of Joseph and Asenath through biblical, Hellenistic, Second Temple, targumic (Aramaic), midrashic and talmudic texts. We will explore and study the challenges posed by this famous marriage from the ancient world all the way through to our Jewish communities today. With Rabbi Dr. Deborah Kahn-Harris, Dr. Alinda Damsma, Rabbi Neil Janes, Rabbi Shulamit Ambalu, Dr. Laliv Clenman and Dr. Keith Kahn-Harris A Bedouin Leader Against All Odds, Amal Elsana Alh’jooj

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Amal grew up in and became a leading activist for the Bedouin community in Israel. As a fifth girl in a traditional Bedouin family, Amal has never taken ‘no’ for an answer and became a pioneer in advancing community development and women rights in her Bedouin community. She is the former Executive Co-Director and founder of AJEEC- NISPED (Arab-Jewish Centre for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperative). For her incredible work she has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, together with other social activists. Amal also sits on the International Board of New Israel Fund and was awarded its Human Rights Award in 2013. Amal is briefly in the UK and will discuss the current and historical issues facing the Bedouin communities in Israel as well as Jewish- Arab relations. Amal is an inspiring activist with a remarkable story. In partnership with New Israel Fund UK Music session with Cantor Zoe Jacobs & Judith Silver 19:00 Group photo, meet outside by the bar 19:15- Dinner & Chagfest ending with Havdallah marking the end of Outside 23:00 Shabbat Torah with Rabbi Benji Stanley Make and Take with Libby Burkeman

Sunday

07:30- Breakfast & Check Out (by 10am) 09:00 08.45- AGM 10.00 10:00 – Creative Shacharit with the Students of Leo Baeck College 10:30 10:40- Session 4 12:00 Adult social care: Be part of the next chapter. The MRJ are committed to combating isolation and loneliness but this session is the first step towards how we can we do this as 42 communities effectively and strategically. When we celebrate the impact we have had at Chagigah 2018 you will have wanted to be at this session so you can say you were one of the pioneers. Empowering Jewish Practice: Growing inspiring practice. It doesn’t end here! Come to this session to reflect on the ways your spiritual practice has developed over Chagigah. We will use these reflections to plan how you will take back your gains to your communities. We’ll also set up a network so we can all support each other as we start on our journeys towards more meaningful Jewish practice. With Sherry Ashworth Leadership: Successful leadership and Congregational habits Aristotle taught, “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore is not an act but a habit”. But who is a leader and what does successful leadership look like? We will be looking and this and at 8 congregational habits, reflecting on our own ones and mapping the way forward that the Reform Judaism will be supporting communities this year to embed congregational

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renewal. Leo Baeck College: From Dinah to Tamar: Women’s Voices Reimagined Join us for this hands-on study session of talmudic and midrashic tales connecting Dinah to Tamar and beyond. Through study of these rabbinic texts we will explore how women’s voices may re-emerge and be reimagined for our times. With Rabbi Neil Janes and Dr Laliv Clenman L’Chaim with Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner Refugees; rooted in text, inspired to action Throughout history Jews have taken refuge, how has this past shaped our present and what, if any, is our resulting obligation to refugees? From Kindertransport to private sponsorship and loving thy neighbour to creating and developing community through good coffee, good food and good conversation come along and join the conversation with those who are already doing. With Anna Dyson (ToastLoveCoffee) and Andrew Jacobs (Citizens UK) 12:15 – Closing Tekes (ceremony) 12:50 13:00- Lunch 14:00

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