Currently Browsing: Religion 23 articles
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? A Profile of Yehudis Fletcher
Karen Skinazi profiles Yehudis Fletcher, a Haredi political and social activist who helped to found Nahamu, an organisation dedicated to fighting extremism. ‘What would you do if, say, a transwoman who used to be part of the Haredi community lost the right to see her children in the civil courts?’ I asked (admittedly, it was […]
Rosh Hashana 5781
Nigel Grizzard reflects on the new and improved Rosh Hashana services this year. What were my abiding memories of Rosh Hashanah as a child growing up in Woodford Green, Essex? Full shuls and long services that finished around two o’clock in the afternoon. Fifty years on in Leeds, things have not improved much. Schlep it […]
Being Jewish in Aberdeen, Rosh Hashanah 5781
Mark Taylor reflects on a strange year in Britain’s most northerly congregation. Looking back at this year, as you do during Rosh Hashanah, it has been a surreal year. This is Aberdeen Synagogue’s 75th anniversary year, and plans were ongoing to have a celebratory party but all of this has been put on hold. The weather is still beautiful. It has […]
Streaming Rosh Hashanah
Nathan Abrams talks to Dr. Joshua Edelman about his new research project into how best to conduct religion online. As Rosh Hashanah looms, how do we conduct online religious services in the age of Covid? This is an essential question, as we prepare for what is, unquestionably, the most important period in the Jewish calendar. […]
‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’, My Song for Rosh Hashanah
With Rosh Hashanah coming up this weekend, I am often moved and inspired by our liturgy both ancient and new which speaks to me musically (if not the lyrics which I often find hard to connect with). Standing in shul and hearing the nusach (musical modes) for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur always flicks a […]
How Will This Rosh HaShanah Be Different From Every Other? It Won’t
Nathan Abrams reflects on how there will be little change to his Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. There is a great deal of talk about how Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will be different this year for many people but for me it won’t. In fact, it will be better. I live in Bangor, in […]
An Open Letter to Jessica Krug on Rosh Hashanah
The lessons of the festival of Rosh Hashanah offers good news for Jessica Krug.
Watching Unorthodox in Broughton Park
Rachel Harris argues that problem with Orthodox Jewish women in popular cultural representation lies with audience shlock and salvation, not with Charedi society. I am an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor, supporting people who have experienced sexual violence. I am a writer and a campaigner against ideologically motivated harms. I live and work in the heart […]
Covid Confessional: Not going back to Shul
I am in my back garden somehow socially distancing with friends as we play chicken with English Summertime cloud-filled skies. Between the muddled talk of the boss’s children discussing poos loudly during intense Zoom meetings, how fat everyone is now, and people not wearing masks in Waitrose properly, I make a hushed confession: I am […]
Scottish Identity and the G-d of Israel: an orthographic error that speaks louder than words
What does the Scottish Referendum on Independence have to do with Jews and their G-d? Is it about Politics? Or Theology? Or Political Theology? Or Theological Politics? I bet you will never guess. It is about . . . orthography. Yes, you read it correctly! It is about uppercase and lowercase letters that speak louder […]