Blogs
Rabbi Mason’s Sermon on Kol Nidrei
Posted Oct 11th, 2019I would like to share with you two of my ancestors, both Rabbis, who greatly inspired me.
Read moreCCJ Student Leader Reflects on The Dialogue Perspectives Scholarship Programme
Posted Oct 11th, 2019I recently attended the Autumn Seminar of the Dialogue Perspectives scholarship programme in Brandenburg (Havel), Germany, organised by the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Studienwerk (ELES). The programme was mainly for scholarship students at German universities, but for the first time they opened up the programme for participants from the UK, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary and Sweden. Read more
CCJ Deputy Director Reflects on the 2019 Yad Vashem Seminar
Posted Oct 11th, 2019Since returning from CCJ’s Yad Vashem study trip, I have often thought of a particular monument there: the Valley of the Communities, a 2.5 acre memorial dug out of the hillside, featuring the names of Jewish communities lost in the Holocaust. Warsaw, Lodz, Berlin, Kiev…the names of more than 500 communities are carved into the walls of the labyrinth-like site. Read more
Sukkot
Posted Oct 11th, 2019This Sunday evening marks the start of the seven-day Jewish festival Sukkot. The Hebrew word Sukkot translates as ‘tabernacles’ or ‘booths’ and commemorates the 40-year period during which the Jewish people were wandering in the desert, living nomadically in frail huts[1]. Read more
A reflection on Yom Kippur
Posted Oct 2nd, 2019The High Holy Days and its process of teshuvah: returning or atonement is, of course, first and foremost relevant to the individual as (s)he reflects on the vagaries of the past year. It is true there is much good in each one of us but we become poignantly aware of time and talent wasted, of being so much less than we know we might have been.
Read moreYom Kippur and the Importance of Unity
Posted Oct 2nd, 2019Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), for many Jews, is the most important day in the Jewish calendar. It is embodied by prayer and fasting with the ultimate aim of repentance. Read more
Reflecting on the 2019 Yad Vashem Seminar
Posted Oct 1st, 2019The 2019 Yad Vashem Holocaust educational seminar personified participative intercultural transformation. What does that mean? Well: jump-in and be part of the discussion, enjoy the fun and laughter, and the sheer gentle kindness of each other, whilst pausing in awed surprise at our genuine differences from each other. Read more
Rosh Hashanah
Posted Sep 26th, 2019This Sunday evening marks the start of the two day Jewish New Year festival Rosh Hashanah. The Hebrew word Rosh Hashanah translates as “the head of the year” and commemorates the anniversary of the world’s creation and the beginning of humanity[1]. Read more
Tisha B’av
Posted Aug 8th, 2019This Sunday marks one of the saddest days on the Jewish calendar Tisha B’av. The Hebrew word Tisha B’av translates as the 9th day of the Hebrew month Av, a date which throughout Jewish history has come to manifest tragedy and disaster[1]. Read more