LEICESTER PROGRESSIVE JEWISH CONGREGATION

Affiliated to the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues

—————————————————————————————————

NEVE SHALOM—נוה שלום

The Synagogue

24 Avenue Road

Stoneygate

Leicester

LE2 3EA

L’SHANA TOVA

הזמנים

HAZMANIM

November—December 2013

Cheshvan—Kislev—Tevet 5774

HAZMANIM ENTRIES FOR JAN—FEB 2014

TO BE RECEIVED BY DECEMBER 13TH

LPJC

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THE END OF AN ERA

By the time you read this, Abbeyfield will have closed its doors for the

last time.

Many of the congregation will be aware of the Jewish Abbeyfield on

the London Road, which supported independent living for a number

of residents – Jewish and non-jewish. Mike and I have been privileged

to be a part of the lives of those residents over the last 12 years—from

the day of opening until its final day on the 31st October.

Today 23rd October, we spent a wonderful afternoon at a local restau-

rant with the residents and staff, enjoying a leisurely lunch and remem-

bering the many coffee mornings, games evenings, outings and interest-

ing talks that we all attended. There were a few moist eyes as individu-

als gave their thanks for care and friendships made over the years—we

will endeavour to maintain those friendships as three of the residents

will continue to live in Leicester.

As you can imagine it has been a very difficult time for all concerned.

However, Ruth, Mary, Rosemaleen and Derek, have all found suitable

accommodation.

Rosemaleen, the only Jewish resident will continue to join us and other

friends for Erev Shabbat, and as she is going to live next to the muse-

um, I am sure we will be taking advantage of the Coffee Shop there

and finding other tempting places to lunch in the nearby town centre.

We wish them and all the staff a secure and happy future.

Yvonne Gibby

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I want to say a big thank you to everyone for responding to my questions and

offering their opinions, thoughts and energy enabling us all to work together

to develop our community further.

First impressions matter; I hope you are all enjoying the trimmer hedges, the

beginnings of improvements to the swings and of course the impressive suk-

kah.

The new kitchen equipment has done us proud supporting Karyn and Lucy

to set up our first Erev Shabbat community meal of 2013. See details of the

next one on Nov 8th – looking forward to seeing you there!

The HHDs proved to be a welcome opportunity to reflect, share thoughts and

feelings. Services were ably led, as in the last few years, by Rabbi Michael

Standfield with the much appreciated support of Carol.

Next Yom Tov opportunity is Chanukah, I am personally looking forward to

introducing my new dog Bridie to this light filled festival and watching her as

she wonders why I am putting little gifts in my grandchildren’s shoes [Polish

custom via my mother, her mother and ........] I can’t offer the same to every-

one coming to join the community celebrations on Nov 30th I’m afraid.

I am very excited at our future Shabbat service plans with a variety of rabbis

and lay leaders leading us. Not only are we catering for the adults but the chil-

dren too will have their own special services – see details in following pages.

Your council continues to discuss ways of improving the use of our syna-

gogue building, watch out for some subtle changes ahead. Always involved in

social action issues we are aiming to have a stronger overview of what we do

and how we do it as a community.

Lastly I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Dafna who we will sadly be say-

ing goodbye to at our Friday night service Nov 1st. She has done amazing

work on updating our database, setting up the Neve Shalom book club and

just being the warm, friendly person that she is. We wish her well and look

forward to staying in contact.

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“For this year’s Mitzvah Day we would be very happy if you

could let us have dry ingredients for soup making: dried

beans; dried lentils; barley. Also rice and custard will be ex-

tremely welcome. We will be working together with the

charity “The Bridge” which do fabulous work in preparing

food for the homeless people here in Leicester. They can

be found here: http://www.bridgeleicester.org/homelessness

-to-hope/. Any dried food donations will be VERY welcome.

Please drop them in the usual box at the entrance of the

Shul. If you want to give directly – do please contact Em-

manuel Haven at 01536 462018 or e-mail: havenemmanu-

el@googlemail.com. We will collect all the donations to

make soups for distribution at one of the Bridge events.

Thank you!”

ADULT STUDY SESSIONS

To enable you to learn and understand the prayers and songs

recited and sung at services

Check the diary pages for information

To be held every two weeks prior to Friday night services

What will be covered?

Kaddish, Adom Olam, Kiddush, blessings read before and after

the reading of the Torah and anything else you wish to know

Dates: Nov—15th, 29th - Dec 13th

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Derby’s Ockbrook Girl’s School Chamber Choir

are returning to sing for LPJC on

Saturday November 23rd

At 7.30pm

As with the previous occassion there will be vegetarian food

after the concert and we are grateful that the girls are donat-

ing their time free all in support of Shul Funds

Ticket cost £5.00/ £2.50 under 13’s/ under 5’s free

Avaialbe from Ruth Dolby by telephone on 01332 872140 or

e-mail ruth@snpd.co.uk

Please make cheques payable to “LPJC”

Name:

Number of tickets:…………….. Amount enclosed £……..

Special Dietary requirements:

If you can help with making some of the planned menu

please ring or e-mail, all help gratefully received

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THE READING GROUP

WE WILL BE READING

THE RED TENT

BY

ANITA DIAMANT

WE WILL MEET AT THE SHUL AFTER THE SERVICE

ON SATURDAY 7TH DECEMBER

TO REVIEW THE BOOK OVER CHAVURAH LUNCH

PLEASE BRING NON-MEAT FOOD TO SHARE

THE INTERFAITH WEEK EXHIBITION

HIGHCROSS 17TH—23RD NOVEMBER

The exhibition showcases 8 communities—Bahai’s, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians,

Jains, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs. Volunteers from all groups who want to express their

support for community cohesion and harmony in diversity, are present to talk to and

answer questions from the public.

If you wish to volunteer your help the website is: doo-

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YAHRZEITS

NOVEMBER Died Yahrzeit

Phyllis Redman—The community 24th Cheshvan 2nd

Michael Solomon—Husband of Joy Solomon 3rd Kislev 9th

Rachel Charikar—Mother of Leon Charikar 4th Kislev 9th

John Stuart Watt—Phillip & Elizabeth Watt 11th Kislev 16th

Brenda Barnett—Wife of Gerry Barnett 11th Kislev 16th

Sadie Harris—Aunt of Cynthia Illsley 14th Kislev 23rd

Leslie A. Souter—Neil Souter 15th Kislev 23rd

Mark H. Hyman—Son of Raymond Hyman 26th Kislev 30th

DECEMBER

Richard Cole—Father of Josh Cohen 1st Dec 7th

Joseph Ben Shmool—Father of Raphael Brown 1st Tevet 7th

Hyman Ben David—Father of Gloria Brown 1st Tevet 7th

Lucy Ravel—Mother of Nigel Ravel 11th Tevet 14th

Shmuel Ben Reuben—Father of Beverley Bowman 11th Tevet 14th

Ralph Winter—The Community 16th Tevet 21st

Hyman Schaverein—Father of Joy Schaverein 17th Tevet 21st

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DIARY—NOVEMBER

Evening services start at 8pm and morning services at 11am

1 FRI Adult Education session 7.15 – 7.45 pm and Erev Shabbat Service Leon Charikar

2 SAT Study session with community education team 10.00

Shabbat Morning Service—Toledot Alex keller

8 FRI Erev Shabbat Community Supper 6 –7.30 pm NO SERVICE

Karyn Aviani / Lucy Michaels—see p10

9 SAT Study session with community education team 10.00

Shabbat Morning Shiur—Va-yeitze—led by (no service) Mike Gibby

15 FRI Adult Education Session 7.15—7.45pm Leon Charikar

Erev Shabbat Service Rabbi Mark Solomon

16 SAT Study session with community education team 10.00

Shabbat Morning Service—Va-yishlach Rabbi Mark Solomon

18 MON Scout visit 7.15pm Naomi Diamond

19 TUE Shemesh meets at the Yews, Great Glen at noon

22 FRI Erev Shabbat Service Reni Chapman

23 SAT Study session with community education team 10.00

Shabbat children’s Morning Service 10.15 am—Va-yeishev Ruth Dolby

Music Concert / Ruth & Emma Dolby - see article p5

27 WED 1st night Chanukkah

28 THU 1st Day Chanukkah

29 FRI Erev Shabbat Adult Education Session 7.15—7.45pm Leon Charikar

Erev Shabbat Service St Rabbi C Casas

30 SAT Study session with community education team 10.00

Shabbat Morning Service—Mikketz St Rabbi C. Casas

CHANUKAH CELEBRATION 2—4PM

Lighting Candles Victoria Park 4.45 pm

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DECEMBER

6 FRI Erev Shabbat Service Emmanuel Haven

7 SAT Study session with community education team 10.00

Shabbat Morning Service—Va-yiggash Cantor G Silins

READING GROUP MEETS AFTER SERVICE SEE PAGE 6

10 TUE Shemesh meets at the Horse and Hounds, Glen Rise, noon

13 FRI Erev Shabbat Adult education Session 7.15 – 7.45 pm Leon Charikar

Erev Shabbat Service Rabbi M Solomon

14 SAT Study session with community education team 10.00

Shabbat Morning Service—Va-y’chi Rabbi M Solomon

20 FRI Erev Shabbat Service Reni Chapman

21 SAT Study session with community education team 10.00

Shabbat Morning Shiur—Sh’mot led by (no service) Mike Gibby

27 FRI Erev Shabbat Service Member of community

28 SAT Study session with community education team 10.00

CHILDRENS MORNING SERVICE 10.15AM Ruth Dolby

Va-eira

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Chanukah fun – please come

Place to be -24 Avenue Road When?– Nov 30th Time? – 2-4:30pm

What are we doing? –

eating doughnuts,

running themed activities for all,

lighting candles [it will be night 3]

chatting,

enjoying the beautiful havdalah ceremony closing Shabbat led by Student Rabbi Chaim Cassas

Then what is happening? – going over to Victoria Park to ‘light’ the Big Menorah.

EREV SHABBAT MEAL

Please come and join us for Friday night Shabbat food, sing-

ing and warm atmosphere

Nov 8th, 6 -7.30 ish.

Vegetarian menu plus possibility of catering for non veggy meal.

Booking essential, please contact Lucy or Miriam

Emails:miriam- mirilev52@googlemail.com

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People

THANKS TO THE COMMUNITY CARE COMMITTEE FROM:

Gerry Barnett sends his thanks for the lovely plant he received at

Rosh Hashana. He is finding difficulty in walking and is quite

house-bound, but tries to keep positive. We wish him all the best

and he wishes to be remembered to all the many friends at the

Synagogue.

Reni Chapman also received a beautiful plant for the festivals

and thanks Andrew for sparing the time to bring it and have a

cuppa with her.

Ben and Gill Ivell also received a very pretty plant to celebrate

Rosh Hashana.

SINCERE condolences to Bob KIng and family on the death of his

beloved cousin stuart.

Get better soon to all who are unwell , now that winter is looming

please let Reni know if you need a visit or help in other ways,

perhaps even just someone to talk with. Phone 0116 2832927

On a happier note we congratulate Bob and Elspeth who cele-

brated their golden wedding on the 29th October, by revisiting

the place where they spent their honeymoon. Mazal tov

Tamy Matanky is going on a rather long and arduous bike ride to

India in November to raise much needed money for LEPRA. a

medical charity to help fight poverty and illnesses in India. There

is still time to sponsor her. Good luck Tamy, your muscles will

ache for a while, but it will all be worthwhile .

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Mazal Tov to Daniel Watts on his forthcoming Bar Mitzvah on the

4th of January 2014. More details in next copy of Hazmanim.

JUDAICA SHOP

Get your Channuka cards, candles, dreidels and even a Chan-

nukia from your Synagogue Judaica facility. Proceeds help to-

wards our Shul running costs.

Challah cloths, new Jewish calendars, mezzuzim, jahrzeit and

havdalla candles etc. etc are also available. Ask Reni if you wish

to order any special item and she will try to obtain it for you.

Please leave the cash in the plastic " honesty " box and enter the

purchases in the book. Thank you.

Dear members of LPJC

As most of you may know I will be leaving the UK in a week, I wanted to

say a big, THANKYOU to everyone in the community for making me feel so

welcome. I have loved being a part of it. Hope to see you soon

Best wishes

Dafna

FAREWELL to Dafna Samuel who returned home to India at the

end of October. We will miss her cheerful personality and her

willingness to help in so many ways, especially stepping in to

act as our Secretary . Best wishes for the future, Dafna.

BON VOYAGE! Have a wonderful time back home with your fami-

ly and we hope we will see you again soon. In the meantime,

there is always facebook! Yvonne and Mike

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We hope to identify a selection of names from the memorial stones representing a cross-section of society and find out all we can about them. Who were they? What were they doing in Leicester? How far back can their family be traced? Can links be traced to the present community? What contributions did they make to the City? What job did they do? Did they take an active role in the Jewish Community? The questions are endless. Some of the names may lead us nowhere, others hopefully will provide a rich history. All will be revealed when we start the research process. It is hoped that all those who take part in the two mornings' training will also take an active part in re-searching names for the project. The findings will be presented on the Website and may also find their way into booklets/leaflets about the project.

Below are the dates for two morning training sessions booked at the Records Office in Wigston. The Heritage Lottery are kindly funding the training and have provided mon-

Please note that the research training mornings are:

Friday 22nd November and Thursday 12th December

Please contact Ros Adam on rosalind.kathryn@gmail.com or 07890 959 648 to book your place on one or both of the sessions.

The Heritage Lottery have provided funding for an exciting project involving the Jewish section of Gilroes Cemetery. This includes cataloguing all the memorial stones, setting up a genealogical website, fixing stone plaques to unmarked plots and erecting Inter-pretation Boards at the entrance showing plot locations. We will also have the oppor-tunity to research some of the names on the stones in the Cemetery and we're inviting anyone who is interested to join us in this research process. This will include training given by the specialist team at the Leicestershire and Rutland Records Office in Wig-ston.

THE HERITAGE LOTTERY

WIZO

Sunday 24th November

Come up trumps for Leicester WIZO

by making up a table to play bridge, kalooki, or any board game.

We will provide a delicious afternoon tea at

Brookfield Bowls Club, Kimberley Road. 2:00 pm Donation £7.50

MAKING A TABLE - Please call Beverley (2701218) .

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Memories of Sue Kohn Speyer

I first met Sue in 2002 when I was giving a talk to Rugby’s U3A about Neve Shalom Wahat al Salaam, the peace village in Israel. Sue and her friend, Monica, had visit-ed Israel the year before. As Sue’s father had been Jewish, she had begun her con-version to Liberal Judaism. That meeting was the beginning of our friendship.

What struck me first about Sue was that she was the only person I had ever come across who spoke in a posh voice but yet was utterly humble. It was one of the many unusual things about Sue. You don’t often come across a well-spoken, unpre-tentious person of the female gender who is an expert on cars. When I say ‘expert’ I mean in the practical sense too; pieces of engines graced her living room.

Before I knew this I was simply pleased to have someone from Rugby to travel to shul with. One evening her ancient Citroen 2CV was sounding even more rough than usual. ‘I expect you’ll be getting a new exhaust fitted next week’ I said by way of conversation. ‘Oh no’ she said in her usual dignified way, ‘I’ve got a baked bean tin round it at the moment’. I was so in awe of a woman who could fashion car parts out of a baked bean tin.

That cars featured greatly in Sue’s life was evidenced one Shabbat morning at a study group. Rabbi Standfield quoted a proverb ‘There is nothing new under the sun’. ‘Yes’ ventured Sue. ‘My father told me the syncromesh gear box was invented back in the 1920’s.’ There was a pause – a slight tumbleweed moment – before a bemused Rabbi Standfield said ‘Well I wasn’t thinking of the syncromesh gear box’. Sue’s many friends in the Alvis Society (she had a lovingly restored vintage Alvis) would have been on her wavelength.

Besides being in Rugby U3A, Sue had for many years been on the committee of Rugby’s Save the Children charity. Every year she would round up as many people as she could for the great fish and chip supper and quiz night. ‘Sue’s Team’ took the event very seriously as we fully racked our brains. We never intended to win. No, that went each year to the Swinford Swankers. We were struggling not to come bot-tom. We just escaped this for several years until finally we did come bottom and I had to do the walk of shame to fetch the lemons.

Sue probably used her lemon wisely as she practiced self-sufficiency. Those parts of her garden not covered by vintage cars were given over to soft fruits and vegeta-bles. I was often presented with a little crop of something or other during the sum-mer months.

Having become Jewish, Sue continued to research her extensive family tree, often going off to the Jewish Genealogy Society in London. Journeys didn’t daunt her. She would set her Sat-nav and go chugging along in one of her cars with her dog, Kim. An elderly aunt in her nineties was regularly visited too. Coming from a long-lived family I fully expected to have Sue’s friendship for many years to come. How-ever, the death of her daughter, Tessa, last year was a severe blow to both Sue and her son, Patrick. I will miss my very special friend, but Sue’s journey is complete.

Anne Burge

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WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN THE LEAGUE OF JEWISH WOMEN?

NOT JUST FOR WOMEN, BUT MEN TOO

THE COST PER YEAR

£9 FOR MEMBERS—£7 FOR LADS

It enables a variety of voluntary work to be carried out as ambassadors of the

Jewish people

The treasurer, Sheila Markham, would like to hear from you if you are

interested in joining

COPIES OF THE SUBSCRIPTION FORM CAN BE FOUND IN THE SHUL

75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST KINDERTRANSPORT

WILL BE MARKED BY THREE PERFORMANCES AT DIFFERENT

TRAIN STATIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY. UNFORTUNATELY

NONE IN LEICESTER OR ANY OF THE LOCAL STATIONS.

PLEASE SEE THE INFORMATION ON THE NOTICEBOARD IN

THE SHUL, FOR LOCATION, DATES AND TIMES

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

NOVEMBER

Max Wolfe 11th

Ben Atar-Roberts 18th

Seth Joseph Cohen 21st

Noah Hallam Prydal 28th

DECEMBER

Harrison Leigh 2nd

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NEXT HAZMANIM

Information for the next bulletin

Email to: yvonne.gibby@btinternet.com

Or post to

The Editor

The Synagogue 24 Avenue Road

Leicester LE2 3EA

BY 13TH DECEMBER

EMERGENCY CONTACT NUMBERS

JEFF KAUFMAN

TEL: 0116 2715584

MOB: 07976 364282

EMAIL: legal@kaufmans.co.uk

MIRIAM LEVENE

TEL: 07947602574