On 27th June the shul was full as Kol Echad Jewish Choir and guest professional cantors from the USA entertained us to a evening of rarely performed Jewish music. The repertoire included music from the Cambridge University archives, choral works and the first modern revival of Hebrew Psalms that were composed for Queen Victoria’s jubilee … Read more
On 12 June the Cambridge Jewish community was invited to the Wren Library at Trinity College to view a number of ancient Jewish manuscripts including a torah scroll estimated to be from the 14th century, several ketubahs, Scrolls of Esther and some books such as a chumash with Latin translation. The librarian was very informative … Read more
My sermon today comes with a health warning. Be wary of pledges. Shock, horror! Pledges can be broken and for us Jews, this can have consequences. Of course, we are now in a time of pledge-flation. Harold Wilson, former prime minister, once famously remarked ‘A week is a long time in politics’ How true. It … Read more
Scapegoats, purification offerings, animal welfare, and forbidden relationships – hard to see at first, but the central theme of this parasha is holiness. Holiness in Judaism has a distinct meaning. Although its equivalent in latin – sacer – has a meaning of “restriction through pertaining to the gods”, in hebrew holiness – kadosh – refers … Read more
Beth Shalom welcomed over 100 guest for this year’s second night communal Seder. Mike and Sheila, who have led Beth Shalom’s communal seders for nearly 30 years, treated the community to a wonderful Haggadah reading, full of joy, singing and warmth. This year was particularly poignant as we remembered the victims of the 7 October … Read more
A huge thank you to our amazing team of volunteers who devised menus, shopped, baked, cooked, welcomed and looked after guests, set up the room, washed, cleaned and tidied everything until the early hours of the morning. Our thanks go to this year’s chefs: Portia for the 110 boiled (and peeled) eggs, Shally for her … Read more
Today is Shabbat HaGadol, the great Sabbath, the Sabbath preceding the festival of Passover which starts on Monday evening with the home celebration of the Seder, the service retelling the Exodus of the Israelites from their servitude in Egypt. This year it will be a difficult time for celebration on a number of levels. The … Read more
Our member Jen Taylor-Friedman, a fully trained Soferet (Sefer Torah writer) asked for help from volunteers at Beth shalom to complete the Torah scroll she has just finished writing for a client in America. The beautifully written individual sheets of parchment were sown together by an enthusiastic group of volunteers on Sunday morning, April 7th … Read more
My sermon today has two strands, because, as well as starting to read the Book of Leviticus, it is also Shabbat Zachor and this I have found to be very challenging. Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of Remembrance, occurs today because tomorrow is Purim and it has its own special Torah reading from Deuteronomy Chapter 25. … Read more
Beth Shalom celebrated Purim with a short shacharit followed by a juggling Megillah spiel and the Megillah reading. The Cheder team organised lots of activities for the children including a hamantaschen baking session, a Purim mask making workshop and a costume competition with prizes. The Cheder children treated the community to a fantastic Megillah drama, … Read more
