Category: Rabbis blog

Communal Seder 2022 - 5782 Dear friends Anna and I are delighted to be hosting a communal Seder on second night Pesach (Shabbat Night April 16) at our home 32 Bromley Road. Please note we are limited by space so please book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. The price for the Seder is £30 per head which is payable in cash. To book your place please either email me rabbi@shulbythesea.co.uk or call my mobile 07917 548 386. The deadline for booking is Thursday 7 April. We will let you know the start time of the Seder in due course. We look forward to sharing an engaging and uplifting Seder with you. Wishing you and your families Kosher Chag Pesach Sameach Rabbi Bergson Sale of Chametz Form Please see this link for the Sale of Chametz Form for Pesach 2022. Different options below for filling in the form to suit different people. 1) Please print the form and fill out and leave at the Shul marked for Rabbi Bergson. Or Scan the form and email rabbi@shulbythesea.co.uk 2) Alternatively the forms are at...

Haftorah Initiative The Haftorah workshop is taking place Monday April 4th after the service (7:00PM), so please let the Rabbi know if you are interested. Thank you. Purim - "How can we celebrate this year?" and "Underlying theme of Purim"   Dear Friends, This year as we celebrate Purim millions of people still remain in war-torn Ukraine including tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters of Ukrainian Jewry. Last Shabbat I posed the question that is plaguing many of us at this challenging time: How can we celebrate fully Purim when so many people are suffering? Is it not callous for us to drink red wine in fulfilment of the Mitzva whilst blood is being spilt some two thousand miles away? I believe the answer lies in understanding the distinction between what western-secular culture terms fun or entertainment and what our Jewish heritage terms Simcha/Joy. Entertainment is primarily about distracting us from the stresses of life. Entertainment provides people with relief from the vicissitudes of life. Used properly,...

Purim Explanation-Half Shekel  There is a custom to give three Half Shekel pieces on the fast of Esther prior to Megillah reading (Wednesday Evening 7PM @ Shul) This is to commemorate the half shekel given each year by individuals in Temple times for the purchase of the communal sacrifices.  We read about this on the Shabbat prior to Rosh Chodesh Adar known as Parshat Shekalim. The reason for three half Shekel's is because this text mentions the word Terumah meaning an offering/contribution three times. In the times of the Temple the announcement was made in Adar so that contributions were collected and ready for the month of Nissan which was itself a new year for Communal sacrifices. Nowadays we fulfil this by giving half of the value of countries currency. So here in the UK we give 3 times 50 pence. This money in practice is given to the poor and needy and added to the gifts to the poor we given on Purim. It is interesting to note...

Matonas Laevyonim- IMPORTANT UPDATE Please note in addition to raising money for Ukraine Jews (see below) we are continuing to raise money for poor people in the Manchester-wide community as per every Purim in fulfilment of the Mitvza Matonas Laevyonim (Gifts to the poor) The Rabbi will be collecting Cash or Cheques (payable to "The Purim Fund") on Wednesday evening as well as Thursday Morning (latest 11AM) The Rabbi ensures the money reaches Manchester on the day so as to fulfil the Mitzva properly. As we know the cost of living crises has hit us all but those already in dire need are even worse affected and so all donations are extremely appreciated. Thank you. Rabbi Haftorah Initiative We would like more men to be able to read a Haftorah in Shul on Shabbat. It has been noted for a while that we do not have enough volunteers to join in this special Mitzva and honour. If you are interested in learning to read a Haftorah. Please email rabbi@shulbythesea.co.uk to...

Haftorah Initiative We would like more men to be able to read a Haftorah in Shul on Shabbat. It has been noted for a while that we do not have enough volunteers to join in this special Mitzva and honour. If you are interested in learning to read a Haftorah. Please email rabbi@shulbythesea.co.uk to register your interest ASAP. The plan is to have one special primer group session to help you build your confidence around the reading and the tune exploring different ways of learning. Following this the Rabbi will help members by providing them bespoke audio recordings of the Haftorah they choose to read and also someone to one support. Thank you Choir initiative  If you are interested in singing together with more passion and gusto and helping create a more lively service then please register your interest with the Rabbi (rabbi@shulbythesea.co.uk) Initially we will be looking at creating a group of men to sing periodically on Shabbat mornings a number of the traditional tunes. This will require...

Ki Tissa "Shabbat Time Zone (STZ)" We are all familiar with time zones and how they can affect our  daily lives. A person flying back from abroad -crossing over a large time zone- can experience “jet lag” which temporarily disturbs their circadian rhythms. This effect is usually shaken off in a day or so. Then there is daylight saving time where we put our clocks back and then forward to take advantage of the light during normal waking hours. These changes in how we measure and calibrate time are purely utilitarian in nature. But does time have a deeper meaning beyond just a measure of day and night? Is time just a tool to help us know where we are up to so that we can schedule our lives and function as a society? Let us explore this further: In Parshat Ki Tissa we encounter the commandment to keep Shabbat. “Therefore, keep the Sabbath, for it is a sacred thing for you. Those who desecrate...

Tetzaveh- “Pulver Purim” - The Purim of the Gunpowder (a Jewish approach to Guy Fawkes !) This Tuesday is Purim Katan literally the small Purim, thus called because we are in ADAR Rishon due to the leap year. which we require primarily to keep Pesach aligned with Spring (The Torah describes Pesach as Chodesh HaAviv the festival of the spring). Although we celebrate Purim "proper" in the month of Adar Sheni we still mark Purim Katan (the 14th of Adar Rishon) as a day of Simcha/Joy. There are no eulogies and we do not recite Tachanun after the the Amidah (these are special supplicatory prayers associated with repentance from sin and are only appropriate when in a solemn state of self reflection as opposed to a day of Joy)*. The custom has spread to make a special feast known as a Seudat Mitvza (A Mitvza meal) to celebrate what happened. The question though is obvious. Surely we are going to celebrate Purim in style...

Mishpatim The name of this weeks Parshah translates as "ordinances" or "laws" or " judgements". Have you switched off already!? Yep so many of us do when we get to this weeks Parsha which deals with the nitty gritty details of life: An ox or other animal gores and kills another person or another animal- what is the law?  A paid custodian looking after an article claims it was stolen. Is he liable? It depends whether he was a paid or unpaid custodian. Reuven is fighting violently with Shimon (yes Jews fight too) and accidently strikes a pregnant women causing her to miscarry or even kills her. what is the law? I borrow an article from a friend and look after it carefully and an unavoidable unforeseen accident occurs and the object is destroyed or broken. Am I liable? My ox enters another persons field and eats the produce am I liable? and what if this occurred in the public domain? All these questions are about real...