Liberal leader advocates 'Federation' with Reform

Liberal Judaism chair Lucian Hudson has called for a closer alliance with the Reform movement, suggesting they combine forces in a joint federation.

Writing in the latest issue of the Liberal newsletter, LJ Today, Mr Hudson said he wanted to go beyond the old question of "merger" - the subject of failed talks between the movements.

Instead, they should "focus on what it would take to create

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Manchester Big Tent flap may be over

Two senior Northern Reform figures have been named in a committee set up to defuse controversy over the Big Tent for Israel conference in Manchester at the end of the month.

The event, set for November 27, had been hit by an escalating row after organiser Rabbi Jonathan Guttentag said he would not consider inviting non-Orthodox rabbis to speak.

But last week Rabbi Guttentag reached a comprom

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'Remarkable' Prof Ludwik Finkelstein mourned

Professor Ludwik Finkelstein, the distinguished scientist and accomplished Reform educator, died in London on Saturday aged 81.

Hendon Reform Synagogue's Rabbi Steven Katz paid tribute to a "remarkable man whose three passions in life were family, Judaism in all its facets and his academic expertise.

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Reform shuls welcome virtual congregants

Congregants unable to get to synagogue are singing the praises of the Reform communities which are streaming Shabbat and High Holy-Day services online.

Finchley, Glasgow, Alyth in Golders Green and Sha'arei Tsedek in Whetstone are the Reform congregations leading the way and West London Synagogue plans to join them.

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Reform mapping out future

The Movement for Reform Judaism has launched a strategic review to set its priorities over the next five-to-10 years.

An 18-page "green paper" published this week is being circulated to its synagogues, inviting members' views on where the central movement should put its annual £3 million budget.

Centred on a set of questions for discussion, the document is "not the way Jewish organisations

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Bayfield brought to book

Reform rabbis have honoured the movement's president Rabbi Tony Bayfield by producing a festschrift, a collection of essays, dedicated to him.

A Passion for Judaism, edited by Rabbi Jonathan Romain, contains contributions from 29 Reform rabbis, including Rabbi Bayfield's daughter, Rabbi Miriam Berger of Finchley Reform Synagogue.

Rabbi Bayfield, who retired as the professional head of the mo

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Why I am a Reformed man

On leaving university, I dabbled in politics, until a headhunter suggested public relations as "more of a real job". So I spent the next 13 years helping an eclectic selection of clients such as McDonald's tell their customers what they were about. My father has never really understood this. "It's communications, Dad. Helping organisations explain what they do."

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Seder joy in Wimbledon

Wimbledon (Reform) Synagogue will for the first time have communal Seders on both nights of Pesach rather than just one.

Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild said: "We have a huge number of kids in the community. So second night Seder is going to be more geared to the family."

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Leadership posts filled for RSY

The three Manchester area Reform communities now have youth leaders following two recent appointments of Manchester University students.

Michael Garsin is in situ at Jackson's Row (Manchester Reform Synagogue). It was heartening, he said, to be "surrounded by such an enthusiastic and dedicated group of people".

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New chapter for up and coming leaders

Ten up and coming Manchester Jewish community leaders were given a reading list by the Chief Rabbi during a weekend in London when they met top communal personalities.

Manchester UJIA United Jewish Leadership Group members spent Shabbat with Rafi Zarum, head of the London School of Jewish Studies, hearing how he had helped to turn around the former Jews' College.

The group then split between Masorti's New North London Synagogue, Finchley Synagogue and the North Western Reform Synagogue in Golders Green.

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Reform chief to leave for social action job

The Reform movement’s leadership succession plans have been derailed by the decision of Rabbi Shoshaha Boyd Gelfand, the designated chief executive, to leave for a new job outside the organisation.

Rabbi Boyd Gelfand, the current executive director, was due to take over the professional reins of the organisation from Rabbi Tony Bayfield, who retires as head of movement at the end of the year.

But she has instead chosen to become the new director of JHub, the centre for Jewish social action enterprise and innovation.

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Tour teens' Reform voucher aid

Every teenager who has had a bar- or batmitzvah in a Reform synagogue is to be given a £100 voucher towards the cost of an Israel summer tour.

Recipients will be able to redeem their voucher if they opt to go on tour with RSY-Netzer. The new scheme has been sponsored in memory of Tilda Warshaw, a prominent Emunah member who died last year.

RSY worker Alma Smith said: "A bar or batmitzvah is an important step along a young person's Jewish journey and we are delighted that we can be a part of such a special occasion."

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Reform revises cash plan

The Reform movement has had to revise hopes of recording a small surplus this year - and is instead forecasting a deficit of £32,600.

Reform spends around £3,150,000 and had budgeted at the year's start for a profit of £28,600. Treasurer Hugh Lask told Reform council members at Sunday's quarterly meeting in London: "The forecast reflects the tough conditions in which we find ourselves."

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Friday night not valid for school admissions

A Reform rabbi has challenged the entry rules used by some Orthodox schools because they take into account synagogue attendance only on Saturday mornings and not Friday nights.

Rabbi Mark Goldsmith, of London's North-Western Reform Synagogue, said that the entry policy used by JFS was "galling".

But the school said that its entry criteria had been devised simply for administrative ease and not for any religious reasons.

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