Oy Vey Goy

A few years ago whilst I was the Rabbi in Newcastle upon Tyne we lived next door a delightful non Jewish couple called Jane and Peter. They were superb neighbours and we were the best of friends. Each year when it came to the December holiday period they would send us a card reading: “Seasons greetings from the Goys next door!”

Chas and me. Photo courtesy of Murray freedman

Last night I attended a superb talk under the auspices of our Adult Education KKW2 programme in my Shul delivered by Chas Newkey-Burden. He is a non Jewish guy who has a blog- you can reach him here at: http://www.oyvagoy.com/2012/01/24/rabbi-yehudah-blacks-blog-2

Yes –you read that right Oy Vay Goy. Chas is an advocate for Israel. He explained to his audience why he exactly came to reaching this path:

“As well as wanting to support Israel I’m also disgusted by antisemitism in general, as I am by all bigotry from sexism to homophobia and Islamophobia. However, of all the bigotries that exist antisemitism seems the most universally held: from the numbskull skinhead to the sophisticated leftie to the aristocratic Brit and nearly everyone in between. I don’t mean to be flippant when I ask surely the bigger mystery is not why I oppose anti semitism but why more other people don’t? My hope is that this blog can help in some small way to work against anti-Israel bigotry and anti semitism in general, and perhaps bring some moments of comfort to those who suffer as a result of them”.

Thank you Chas for a fabulous evening!!

The escalator up

There are three kinds of reaction from people who break the Shabbat, when they happen to run into the local rabbi.

The first kind are sitting in their car they see the rabbi, they  either duck to prevent themselves  being seen or they pretend that they haven’t seen him.

Next there are the types who will stop and say Good Shabbos to the rabbi whilst they’re in the car.

Finally you have the third kind who will actually stop the car, wind down the window and say to the Rabbi.. “Good Shabbos Rabbi- you need a lift?”

One of my previous communities, I’m not saying where; most of the people were not Shomer Shabbat. Indeed most of the membership lived 5-10 miles from Shul, so I would have had to be very naïve indeed to believe that they had walked. Shul on Shabbat morning began late at 10 and went on to well after 12.45 Around 11 in the morning every Shabbat, I noticed a few members went out for a few minutes and then came back, and I wondered why, later I was to find out that it was to feed the meters.

So here I was, one bright Shabbat morning walking to Shul and one particular man who I knew well with his kippah serugah got out of his parked car and noticing me-came running over to me. He said the following:

“What do you think rabbi? Should my wife be lighting Shabbat candles, yet we are not observant?  Isn’t it a bit hypocritical to be driving on Shabbat yet my wife lights up every week?”

I could have said the following: “You know what I think – your Judaism is entirely worthless because how could you be driving to Shul and doing other things on Shabbat which openly profane the Shabbat day? However, you want to be frum in other aspects!? What do you think- that Hashem sees certain things but He doesn’t see others?”

But that’s not what I said.

Instead I told him the following:

“The fact that you are lighting your Shabbat candles is not negated by the fact that you don’t keep Shabbat. In other words: you’ve done something positive by doing one mitzvah- and one mitzvah leads to another….The most important thing is that you are ascending; climbing up your own spiritual ladder.”

This very same man together with his entire family later on became totally observant, they now live in Israel, and I still keep a strong connection with him and his family. The moral is; you cannot write somebody off completely because they are not 100%. At any rate who is 100% any way? I am reminded of the words of King Solomon: There is no man under the sun who has never sinned.

Nobody is perfect

This morning’s Sedrah, is left over from last week on a cliff hanger. Moses had gone to Pharaoh to tell him to let the Jewish people go free. But Pharaoh tells him no way. Instead of making it easier for the Jews he makes it harder.

Moses, having been approached by representatives of the people who come to complain, then goes to G-d and says: “Why have You dealt so wickedly with this people and why have You not delivered them?”

Our Sedra opens with the response to Moshe from Hashem with the promise of freedom and redemption. Moses is now instructed by G-d to go back to the people and tell them everything that he has been told and that indeed the children of Israel will go free.

So Moses does as he has been ordered by Hashem. He tells them that it will be G-d who will take them out of Egypt.

The reaction of the Israelites was as follows:

“They did not listen to Moses because of [mi-kotzer ruach]-shortness of breath and [avodah kashah]- hard work.”

It’s easy to understand the avodah kashah, the hard work. Here are the Israelites and they’re suffering on a bad scale. So Moses is coming with this message of freedom. And their reaction is: Moses- you’ve got to be kidding!-We’re living a life of hard labour and you, Moshe are telling us that we’re going to go free?!!

But what is meant here by mi-kotzer ruach-shortness of breath?  On a simple level you could explain it that their spirit had almost completely been crushed by the servitude of the Egyptians.

But I would like to suggest a novel explanation from the Yalkut Reuveni,  a Kabbalistic work from the 17^th century. He says that Kotzer Ruach means lacking in ruach- which means spirit or religiosity. They are saying: you know we just don’t have what it takes, we’re not good enough, we do not deserve redemption because we’re not on the level to deserve redemption.

I think there is a very profound message that each and every one of us can take out on our own level. There are people who reject a deeper or a greater involvement in Judaism because they have what I call the ALL OR NOTHING syndrome.

If I am not keeping Shabbat, How can I keep Kosher? Or, if I am not keeping Kosher, how can I have the chutzpah to walk into Shul. They fail to understand that sometimes I can excel in one aspect of Judaism but there are other aspects on which I need to work.

So does that make me a hypocrite if I am good at one mitzvah and not good in another?

I suppose there are Jews out there who would judge me unfavourably. They would say it’s an all or nothing approach, and if you’re not doing it all then you’re a nothing. But I don’t ascribe to that view.

First, there is no aspect of my life to which I apply the all or nothing approach. If I cannot make a million pounds it doesn’t mean that I give up and go on welfare. If I have a row with my wife, it doesn’t mean I give up and get divorced, because I know that life has its ups and downs and there’s a lot of grey in the middle.

Remember Yaakov’s dream. He has a vision of a ladder which is firmly planted in the ground and its top is reaching up to the heavens. The ladder represents our spiritual life. Each wrung of the ladder is another step up.

It’s not important to know which wrung of the ladder I am on at the moment because ultimately we do not know where we are. But it’s important to know that we’re on our way up.

Mitzvah goreret mitzvah- each mitzvah leads to another

Who will be the next Chief Rabbi?

Last Sunday my wife and I went to see IRON LADY, the film about Margaret Thatcher. We went together with a Kenton contingent to Borehamwood. We thought to go there because there would be nobody else we knew, and we could go incognito. However, when we arrived, just about everybody in the cinema was Jewish, many whom we knew.

So what did I think of the film?

I question the morality of showing a film and depicting somebody in the throes of dementia whilst still alive. It would have been more correct to have shown this movie after her demise.

However, Meryl Streep plays the part brilliantly.

Everybody has different opinions of Maggie; my dad Z’L couldn’t stand her. He had a good reason; he was a socialist through and through. But there was more than that; he didn’t like how she had to commandeer everything herself. When it came to a photo shoot, she had to be the one to place everybody in the right position, as if it could not be done without her being there.

But many people will remember her for standing up for what she thought was right. I think particularly of her famous statement,

“This lady’s not for turning.”

I don’t know how far you can take that. She stood up on issues like the Falklands War, the miners strike, the Euro and the infamous poll tax. But sometimes she could be wrong, and I think a leader has to face up to and admit that fact. That was her downfall, in the end she became autocratic and overbearing and unable to lead properly having lost the support from her inner circle.

This week’s Sedra speaks about the life and times of our greatest leader; Moses.

We read in the Torah:  “There will never arise in Israel a prophet of the stature of Moses”.

He is known as Moshe Rabbeinu- Moses our Rabbi, our teacher par excellence.

Moses would be the one to take the Israelites out of Egypt, to receive the Torah at Sinai. He would lead the Israelites through the Wilderness for forty years. Moses fought against the Amalekites, Sichon and Og and defeated them, and he stopped short of leading them into Israel.

He was the greatest leader who ever lived.

Anglo Jewry is in the throes of choosing a leader, a Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth.

Who will it be?

Here’s a few of the front line names for the position:

The acerbic Rabbi Schochet from Mill Hill and Jewish News’ Ask the Rabbi fame.

The highly creative Rabbi Belovski from Golders Green United.

The very wise Rabbi Mirvis from Finchley United.

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein from South Africa who inspired all the Rabbis at the recent conference of the Chief Rabbi.

Or maybe we should go for Shmuli Boteach, the intergalactic Rabbi or Chief Rabbi Yoni Metzger from Israel who seems to want the job?

So what ingredients do you need to have to be a leader? What qualities do you need to be Chief Rabbi?

Look at the sedra and the formative years of Moses to see the aspects of leadership for which we should be looking.

·        Look at his birth. “A man from the house of Levy went and took a daughter of Levy.” We know from later on that the parents of Moses were Amram and Yocheved, so why the cover up at this stage? Why just tell us that his parents were from the Tribe of Levy? The message is that it doesn’t go according to yichus (pedigree). When looking for a leader it doesn’t matter from whence you come. Another aspect is that when we’re looking for a leader in Israel he has to be someone born of flesh and blood- none of the Immaculate Conception nonsense. Moses had a mother and father.

·        “And the woman became pregnant and she gave birth to a son, and she saw him for he was good, and she hid him for three months.” What is meant by the words, “for he was good” every Jewish mother looks at her child as good? One interpretation brought from Rashi is that he was born in a state of perfection. He was already circumcised. Another explanation is that this goodness is connected to the very first time “it was good” was used in the Torah, at the creation of light. When Moses was born, the whole house was full of light. It was obvious that here was a special and unique person who would eventually become a leader in Israel.

·        “And it was in those days that Moses grew and he went out to his brothers and saw their travails.” He was a member of Pharaoh’s household and had reached a status of royalty, yet he wasn’t too big a person to go out to his brothers and see their afflictions. A true leader has to relate and empathize with the troubles of his fellow Jews.

·        “And he saw an Egyptian man smiting a Hebrew man from his brothers. And he turned this way and that way and he saw there was no man and he smote the Egyptian man and he hid him in the sand.” What is meant by these words; he saw there was no man. Three interpretations: First, the simple explanation, he saw there was nobody around who would witness what was about to happen. Second, he saw in the future that nobody of any goodness or substance would come from this Egyptian. Third, he saw there was no man means; he saw nobody man enough to do something about an injustice which was perpetrated against one of his people. What would you do- just stand around or are you man enough to be the man? True leadership means standing up in the pursuit of justice. Moses had the courage and the fearlessness to do something when everybody around him did nothing. Shortly after as well, he stood up for the injustices taking place against the daughters of Jethro at the well. Later on in life, Moses was to exhort the people: “justice, justice shall you pursue!”

·        “And he led the flock into the wilderness, and he came to the Mountain of G-d at Choreb.” The Medrash rabbah notes that the incident of the Burning Bush occurred after the leading of the flock in the wilderness. The story is related that Moses ran after a lamb that had strayed. He followed it and saw that the lamb just needed some water to drink and with kindness, after allowing the lamb to drink, he carried him back to the flock. It was that caring nature of a shepherd with his flock that merited Moses to lead the Children of Israel.

·        When G-d revealed himself to Moses at the Burning Bush, Moses says: “who am I that I should go to Pharaoh to take out the Children of Israel from his land?” Moses, despite the fact that he was the leader par excellence of the Jewish people, nevertheless he knew his own limitations. He knew that ultimately everything comes from G-d and all his talents of leadership were G-d given. This was something that he took with him throughout his life. Indeed when his sister Miriam criticised him for marrying a Cushite woman, he held his peace and said nothing.  The Torah says: “Moses was the most humble of men who lived on the earth.” If you are humble you can also admit to your own limitations and recognise ones own faults.

·        Finally, Moses was the one who stood up and challenged G-d in face of the suffering of his brethren. At the conclusion of the Sedra Moses  asks Hashem; “Why have you dealt so badly with this people? Why have you not delivered your people?” A true leader will pray and act as an intercessor on behalf of the Jewish people.

So again, in no particular order here are the qualities for which we need to be looking in the search for a leader of the Jewish people:

1.     Somebody unique and special who lifts the people around him.

2.     He has empathy. He sees the travails of his fellow Jews and is prepared to do something about it.

3.     Pursuit of justice. He has to be fearless and courageous, to speak out on issues that matter.

4.     Caring for every single one of his flock. Like a true shepherd.

5.     Humility. Doesn’t let the position go to his head, at the same time he has the maturity to accept constructive criticism and realises that he is only human.

6.     Standing up on behalf of his people Israel.

Do you have what it takes?

The commission for assisted dying is wrong

Rabbi Akiva Tatz's book dealing with end of life issues

There are some values that we must not compromise.

A theoretical case:

Imagine a man jumps off from the top of the Empire State Building to his almost inevitable death. On the way down a person standing on the eightieth floor, who is an expert marksman sees him and shoots. He kills him, and by the time he hits the ground he is already dead. So there were only seconds from the time he has shot him till the time that he would have hit the ground. Is the person guilty of murder?

In Jewish law the gunman would be found guilty of murder (as long as it could be proven according to Halacha)

It sounds a bit strange. The person was going to die anyway. Why should the gunman be guilty of something that would have happened seconds later in any case?

The reason is that notwithstanding that this man had only seconds to live, nevertheless the short life that he has left to live is of infinite value, to take the few seconds of life left away from that person is, according to all opinions deemed murder.

It’s got nothing to do with the length of time that a person has left in this world or even the quality of that life, actively assisting a person in taking his/ her life is tantamount to murder.

This law is encapsulated in the laws of the Goses; a dying person who has only a very short time to live.

 Maimonides in the Laws of Aveilut says: A Goses is considered to be alive in every respect. Whoever touches him is considered to be a murderer… whoever closes his eyes as he dies is a murderer-one should wait a short while as perhaps he is in a swoon.

If, in the case of a Goses whose life is very limited (in most cases a person remains a Goses for only 72 hours) one is not allowed to actively assist the dying, how much more so in a case when a person has some time to go, that we not assist in a persons demise.

Last Thursday the Commission on assisted Dying came out with the following declaration: “The current legal status of assisted dying is inadequate and incoherent”

This commission was set up by the government in November 2010.  It does not mean that any of its findings will become law. What it does promote is a change in the law that on the advice of two physicians a lethal dose of medication should be prescribed to somebody who has found his/her life too difficult to bear because of the terminal and agonising nature of his/her condition.

It was interesting to hear the arguments pro and con. Very damning was the fact that there was no declaration from the BMA- the British Medical Association. One would immediately have thought that if it were doctors who were asked to administer/prescribe the lethal drug that at least they would be in agreement with this. In discussion with a few doctors from my community, I learned that doctors in general feel very unhappy about this proposal. Doctors are there to heal, not to help people to die. Writing a prescription for death goes against the Hippocratic oath which binds a doctor to help heal and alleviate the suffering of his patients.

There is of course the slippery slope argument: which is, if you allow cases of assisted suicide that are justified who is there to protect those who are vulnerable who cannot make the decision, could we be going down the root of Nazi eugenics?

But Judaism takes it one step more. The value of Life is inestimable. You cannot actively shorten life. You cannot justify suicide.

So what can we do?

I believe that to alleviate suffering in end of life cases, we need to focus our attention on palliative care. 

Shame on them!

Sometimes you have to think very carefully whether or not to react.

The picture above is one such instance. At a Hafganah (demonstration) last week in Jerusalem to which over 1500 persons attended, Chareidi children were seen dressed up in concentration camp uniforms wearing the yellow star.

The charge was against the Israeli State. It was if to suggest that the Israeli State acts and mistreats elements of Chareidi society in some type of oppressive way comparable to Nazism.

I have to say it. This accusation by sectors of the Chareidim, of victimisation by the Israeli State brings the memory of the six million into shame.

Orthodox Jews have never had it so easy. Look at the faces in the pictures of the Chareidi men and you see everybody looks happy and well, and they are supported by the State. The ones who should be accused of intolerance are the Chareidim from Ramat Bet Shemesh who spit and abuse young girls on their way to school and harass women on the buses, readily supported by their champions in Jerusalem.

Shame on them.

It's also up to the police and authorities to bring down the full weight of the law to bear on these criminals.

Instead of placing a ban on the innocuous Mishpacha magazine, perhaps the Rabbanim ought to have banned this mad group of Sikrikim and its bunch of thugs. 

The Orthodox world needs proper leadership.  

Madness in Ramat Beth Shemesh

 The story is well known.

A prospective Ger came to Hillel and asked him to teach him the entire Torah whilst standing on one foot. Hillel took him aside and told him:

“Don’t do unto others that which you would not want to be done to yourself.. the rest is commentary .. now go and learn”.

To me, as a religious Jew these words are the quintessence of Judaism. If you want to be a frum Jew- it’s not just about keeping the laws between yourself and G-d but it’s the laws between yourself and your fellow man that have to count as well.

As Rabbi Akiva put it “the Mitzvah of loving your fellow as yourself –zeh klal gadol batOrah- is an important principle of the Torah”.

All this is simple- I don’t need to say this. We all know that there are  mitzvoth that are between ourselves and G-d and ourselves and man. And my mission as a Jew is to work on both of these aspects to the best of my ability.

That’s how I serve Hashem!

However, I want to suggest that there are Jews out there who might call themselves frum or even Chareidi yet they do not understand, they are completely misguided and  give the impression that they are frum because they wear the garb the full regalia; the hat, the long jacket , the long peyote and the works, yet they are not frum at all.

Years ago, when I was in Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Yerushalayim- 1981, There was the famed road to Ramot about ¼ mile from the Yeshiva. Every Shabbat afternoon without fail there would be Chareidim who would dutifully go from their vantage point overlooking the road, and throw stones at the Shabbat desecrators who were driving cars on that road on Shabbat.

We Yeshiva Bachurim, would go there to watch and get our Shabbat afternoon entertainment, and  witness the scuttles taking place between the police and the so called “chareidim”.

Incidentally- my Rosh Yeshiva if he would have found out about our attendance there he would not have been pleased, he didn’t approve of watching the goings on because he felt it added fuel to these extremists.

However I never really understood; notwithstanding the fact that one could cause criminal damage, and one certainly could be hurting somebody by throwing a stone. You are not allowed to even pick up a stone on Shabbat let alone to throw it, so I never understood how these Chareidi thugs ever did what they did.

But fast forward the clock to Ramat Bet Shemesh Bet and the events of the past week. The international media have really picked up on this one and it has become a major Chilul Hashem.

A Dati Leumi girls school is next to a Chareidi neighbourhood. There are members of the Chareidi community who disapprove because the girls are not dressed according to the standard of the Chareidi community.

Yet we have to understand the school is Dati Leumi, which means it is a frum school and the children are dressed in a modern but  tzniut way-  it’s just not Chareidi.

Channel 2 Israeli TV follows an eight year old girl (photo above) on her way to school and you see how this girl is literally too scared to go to school. Why? Because protesters from the Chareidi community are there outside the school gates in force every day  hurling abuse and spitting at the kids and calling them all types of names.

In my opinion:  To chant, to spit, to use the violence of words against children goes against the dictum of Hillel. It’s not Chareidi- it’s not frum.

And then there’s the mishugas with the busses. I don’t think there is any serious Rabbinic authority who would hold that you need to separate the men and women in busses.

The secular press are having a field day with this one. Just cast your eyes on the JC,  and they devote two double pages to this story. They even insert a little article about the threat of the Ultra orthodox community-that by 2059 there will be 30% Chareidi Jews in Israel. It’s almost as if the main threat to Israel comes from within.

But I want to tell you something it’s a complete distortion of the facts. Already the mainstream Chareidi organisations have spoken out in unison against this behaviour. A very sharp statement was issued by Agudat Yisrael of America condemning this and calling these people not representative of the Chareidi community.

The RCA Rabbinical Council of America- the largest body of Orthodox Rabbis in the world has also said that the police in Israel need to be supported to do everything they can to stop this intimidation perpetrated by members of that community.

But this doesn’t get reported in the press- instead all Chareidim become tarnished with this brush of extremism.

 Hence the mixing in, and the fomenting of hatred by the secular press to create a schism in Israeli society.

What’s my take on all of this?

In this morning’s Sedra, Yosef reveals his identity to the brothers.

In the words of Rabbi Norman Lamm, Dean of Yeshiva University: Yosef is the quintessential Modern Orthodox Jew- he is straddling two worlds. Brought up in Canaan in a sheltered environment, he now has become the top man in Egypt. He has reached the pinnacle of success- yet throughout he doesn’t forget his identity; he never forgets that it is Hashem who has caused all of this to happen.

So how far does this straddling of both worlds go?  How Modern can you become before you lose your identity and the modern takes over the orthodox- and you become assimilated into the dominant culture?

Yosef sends his brothers back to Canaan to bring the news to his father Yaakov and to bring him back to Egypt to ride out the famine.

To each of the brothers he gives a change of clothes, but to Binyamin his full brother he gives Chamesh chalifot semalot- five changes of clothes.

So the question is: we know why Yosef came down to Egypt in the first place.. because his father showed a preference to him by giving him a ketonet passim a coat of many colours which enflamed the jealousy of the brothers. Yet now Yosef is doing the same thing, he’s showing a preference to his beloved brother Binyamin by giving him 5 changes of clothing. Is it possible that Yosef has not learnt anything from this experience and is going back to where they started?

Now listen to this cryptic statement of the Gemara in Megillah. He says that the 5 changes of clothing that Yosef gave to Binyamin correspond and are reminiscent of the five garments worn by Mordechai a descendant of Binyamin when he rode in front of the king at the end of the Purim story.

Mordechai had risen to prominence in the court of Achashveirosh. He had foiled the plot of Bigtan and Teresh to assassinate the king. He now receives all the kavod for his goodness. Mordechai is a story of success. A Jew has risen to prominence. He even wears the special clothes to show how high up he has climbed on the social ladder. But with all that he remained throughout first and foremost an Ish Yehudi- a Jewish man- that is how he is described.

So Yosef is giving these five changes of Egyptian clothing to his brother Binyamin with the message. You can live in Egypt and you can wear even the clothing. But throughout, like Mordechai your descendant, you remain a Jew. It’s not the black hat or the long coat that makes you who you are- it’s what’s going on in your heart and in your mind!!

     

Kenton Shul -Ask the Rabbi session

Here is a quick synopsis of some of the questions from our Ask the Rabbi session at Kenton Shul on Sunday to which sixty people turned up. We had four eminent Rabbis in attendance. Rabbi Zvi Cohen from Kingsbury; Rabbi Danny Bergson from Pinner; Rabbi Efraim Levine from Watford and LBD Kashrut; Rabbi Anthony Knopf from Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Rabbi Yehudah Black was in the chair.

It was a very successful morning programme.

Question 1: Malcolm Cash from Kenton Shul. Why are there so many different kinds of Kashrut authorities?

Answer from Rabbi Levine: We now have the London Board of shechita which bringsRa the separate strands of United, Sefardi and Federation communities together under one umbrella Shechita organisation, and one standard. If however one wanted to have glatt standard that would be dependant on the individual Kashrut authority concerned.

Question 2: David Hoffman from Kenton Shul: There is a proposal from the Government to go to European time which could be havoc for the Jewish community. It would affect adversely the times of the end of Shabbat in the summer and the start times of davening in the winter. We would be unable to put on Tallit and Tefillin until 7.30 in the morning. What is being done about this?

Rabbi Cohen: Discussions are being held between certain Jewish interest groups and MP’s.  

Rabbi Levine: We won’t switch to this time because of Scotland.

Rabbi Black; I attended a TV programme in Newcastle called Look North about ten years ago when this proposal was postulated– there was a lot of discussion against this proposal years ago.

Esther Gershuny from Wembley United announced that a study had been written about this entitled Gershuny + Hillman, concluding that if we were to go to European time it would reduce the number of children’s fatalities in the winter which would override all other concerns.

David Hoffman concluded that years ago in 1970 when this timing was last employed, the community davened and put on Tefillin before the zeman.

Question 3: Jeff Bennett from Kenton. IDF officers have been disciplined for not attending and walking out at concerts where women have sung. Should we be returning to the Anglo Jewish tradition of mixed choirs?

Rabbi Levine said that we should not return to that era because the law is Kol isha ervah- the voice is seen as immodest.

Rabbi Bergson agreed with that but said kol isha ervah has to be contextually based and perhaps today that does not apply as did all those years ago.

Rabbi Knopf said it was interesting to note how these choirs used to work. Is there perhaps room for leniency in the fact that the individual voices are not heard?

Question 4: Brenda Symes from Kenton (46 yrs a member!): Why don’t Orthodox Rabbis join with reform or progressives on the same panel?

Rabbi Knopf expounded that when in came to issues like security, anti semitism or welfare issues there wasn’t such an issue to join and speak with Reform + progressive Rabbis.

However, the main concern is when it comes to issues of Halachah. For example; all orthodox Rabbis agree that one should not drive on Shabbat. If you have a non orthodox Rabbi sitting at the same panel then by default that gives that viewpoint validity together with the Orthodox Rabbis.

Rabbi Bergson postulated that it was very strange that some Rabbis will sit on an inter faith panel but they will not sit with reform Rabbis. Indeed there are historical precedents that the Rabbis sat on panels with deviating ele,ments from Orthodox tradition, for example the Sadducees.

Question 5: Aubrey Kutner. Kenton Synagogue: Why is it wrong to drive on Shabbat?

Rabbi Cohen said that in order to answer this question one would need to step back. The Torah says that one is prohibited from doing any melacha on Shabbat as distinct from avodah (manual labour). Melacha means any creative work. Our Sages included in that 39 different categories of work. In driving a car there is the internal combustion engine which continually causes a spark to be produced as well as the lights and other aspects of a car which are all creative.

Rabbi Bergson emphasised the importance of unchanging principles applying to changing circumstances.

Sally Del Monte mentioned that in Israel there are new technologies that employ the gramma method that reduce the direct breaking of Shabbat for the disabled etc.

Rabbi Black accentuated that of course in a case of danger or just doubt of danger to life it goes without saying that one breaks Shabbat.

Question 6: Daniel Cash, Year 8 JFS: Why is it that when you go to different rabbis there are sometimes different answers to the same question?

Rabbi Levine quoted the dictum from Pirkei Avot; Asei Lecha Rav which means make a Rav for yourself. It is very important that you choose one particular Rabbi and you do not shop around like a supermarket. Then again you should be aware that there are Rabbis who specialise in specific types of questions like Kashrut etc.

Question 7: Marlene Knepler from Kenton: Marlene has been attending the Limmud conference for the early years of its inception. At the beginning a number of Orthodox Rabbis attended. However, it was decided that Limmud is not a suitable forum for US Rabbis to attend. How suitable is that? Are we losing out the opportunity to reach out to people by not attending?

 Rabbi Levine said that at the beginning Rabbis attended and it gave legitimacy to Reform etc views. The Enlightenment movement in the 19^th Century is an example where Rabbis fought against it. He questioned those rabbis who do attend. Are they ignorant of the facts?

Rabbi Bergson announced that he will be going to Limmud this year with Rabbi Dov Caplan from HGS, to perform a musical Hallel service. You cannot compare todays situation with the early 19^th Century enlightenment movement. In addition between 1990- 2010 the Orthodox middle of the road has dropped in numbers by 10%. He accentuated that when you attend Limmud you are not sharing a platform or a forum but you are sharing specific space- which is different.

Rabbi Knopf said that whatever a person does he should seek Halachic guidance on such a matter.

Marlen Knepler expressed that she thought it was very sad that the Rabbis do not attend and Irene Leeman said that there was never a panel of Rabbis at Limmud.

Question 8: Yosef Black from Kenton- attends Hasmonean Year 8: What happens if after Shabbat in England you travel West towards America where it is still Shabbat?

Rabbi cohen told the story of Dayan Abrahams who travelled after Yom Kippur  back into the fast and whether or not he should take his shoes off again? The truth is that we go according to where a person is when Shabbat came out.

Question 9: Freddie Segal from Wembley Sefardi. He is a solicitor who does a lot of wills and he must attend the funerals for clients. He has spoken to rabbis who have said that one should not go into a church. Yet he sees Chief Rabbis and representatives attending Church for funerals and weddings. Is there one rule for people and another for Chief rabbis?

Rabbi Bergson quoted from Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef who said that it is completely forbidden to go into Church for any occasion. Christianity is for a Jew deemed idol worship and for a non Jew it is considered Shituf. Rabbi Bergson also quoted Rabbi J B Soloveitchik who said that it was even forbidden to view a televised church service.

Rabbi Levine suggested that if the Chief Rabbi were not to go it could be deemed as being morid bemalchut- rebelling against the king/queen or the government. Rabbi Black also stated that when he was a Rabbi in Newcastle he had been invited to a church service in St Martins in the centre of the Newcastle. When he had asked Dayan Gelley whether or not to go he was told not to go because of the above reasoning. The Chief rabbi or his representative must go because he is acting as an ambassador for the Jewish community in the presence of the Queen.

Question 10: Derek Lipton from Kenton: what about a mosque is it permitted to enter therein?

Rabbi Knopf suggested that the consensus of opinion was that it is a monotheistic religion however tyhere have been concerns in relation to their adoration of Mohammed. Rabbi black also added about the concern for the Kabbah in Mecca which was a leftover of idolatrous practices.

Question 11: Carmel Stockman: those Lubavitcher Chassidim who have a picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in their homes, is this permitted?

Rabbi Cohen emphasised that Lubavitchers do not actually use the picture of the Rebbe to pray towards. Rabbi Bergson said that it is important in a shiva house to remove photos and pictures so that it would not appear that one were praying towards them. Rabbi Levine said that Lubavitcher Chassidim have pictures of their rebbe to give them inspiration.

Question 12: Coming on from that, what is the status of the Kotel –is that also deemed as idolatry?

Rabbi Knopf explained that it is important to understand thar we pray at the Kotel not to the Kotel and the practice of putting kvitlach in the wall is mentioned by the Orach Hachaim- a famous 17^th Century Rabbi.