It's only Monday but we have so many wonderful events to promote that we are sending a Shavuah tov email this week highlighting some very special programmes of interest to New London Members. Please read through the messages, put the relevant dates in your diaries and where appropriate make bookings for the events you wish to attend.

1. No Shul Is an Island

We are delighted to partner with the European Masorti Conference on the weekend of 5th - 7th March. On Shabbat we will be joined by Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, Executive Vice-President of the Rabbinical Assembly and effective head of the Masorti Rabbinic trade union.

In 1966 the leadership of New London produced a memo deploring the ‘narrow and unwontedly strict interpretations of the faith … almost to the point of medievalism’ and sought to initiate a association of likeminded communities to ‘give confidence to those who would like to see a strengthening of the forces of moderation’ in British Jewry. Almost 50 years later New London takes is place at the forefront of an international movement with communities spread around the globe, from Canada and Sweden to Australia and Argentina. 

Over lunch Rabbi Schonfeld will share reflections on the [international] state of ‘our kind’ of Jewish life and look at the successes and challenges that face the force of moderation. Tickets for the lunch  cost £15 per head (children under 16 £10) Please book your places through the office no later than Tuesday 2nd March.

2. Yom Masorti  will be held at New North London Synagogue on Sunday, 7 March 2010, as part of the 2010 European Masorti Conference weekend. The programme for Yom Masorti is wide-ranging - from Israeli dance to text study - and includes sessions with Hagai Segal, Dr David Cesarani and Julie Schonfeld (Executive Vice-President of the Rabbinical Assembly), as well as discussions on volunteering, education and fundraising. The day starts with an 'Ask the Rabbis' session, where our Rabbis will give the Masorti view on some of the more difficult questions that are frequently asked.   
Click here to download the Yom Masorti flyer              
Click here to book online

3. On the Role of Women in Prayer Services - 15th and 22nd March,  8.00 pm at NLS
As part of consultations on the role of women in the prayer services at New London we are making two evenings available to members for study and consultation. Each evening will be split between providing an opportunity to share thoughts and wishes on this issue and a study of some the relevant sources in an attempt to approach this decision in a more religious grounded manner. You only need to attend one of the two evenings.

4. Next Sunday, 21st February,  at 6.00 pm, the New London Film Club (in association with the Friends of the Jewish Museum) will be showing the film Etz Limon (Lemon Tree) as part of our season on 'Conflict'. 'Salma, a Palestinian widow - living there for decades - has to stand up against her new neighbor, the Israeli Defense Minister, when he moves into his new house opposite her lemon grove, on the green line border between Israel and the West Bank.' Admission £6 to include refreshments served from 5.30 pm. All welcome

5. We are looking for volunteers to help decorate the hall for Purim.  Anyone who is good on a ladder or with a staple gun and has time on the 23rd, 24th/ 25th February, should contact Margo Schwartz by clicking  here

6. Monday 8th March, 7.45 pm at New London Synagogue
Friends of ORT presents: The Thom String Quartet.
Programme: Haydn: String Quartet No 27 in D Major, Op.20, No. 4
Bridge: Three Idylls
Debussy: String Quartet in G Minor, Op.10
Tickets £25 (includes light refreshments) only  from ORT (020) 7446 8520 or email: info@britishort.org 

7. Date for your diary
The Quest Committee are  delighted that Rabbi Dr Norman Solomon, a long-term colleague and friend of Rabbi Jacobs has accepted an invitation to give the Louis Jacobs Memorial Lecture on Sunday 20th June.  His topic will be - The Talmud and the Jewish Question -including Louis Jacobs’ contributions to Talmudic scholarship and the relevance of Talmud to the concerns of contemporary Jewry.  Rabbi Solomon is a Fellow in Modern Jewish Thought at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies and a Lecturer at Oxford University.

Shavuah tov - Have a good week...

Stephen Cotsen