The Shul Times THE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OF WANSTEAD & WOODFORD SYNAGOGUE Shabbat Lech Lecha - 8 Cheshvan 5775 · I November 2014 Welcome to Wanstead & Woodford Synagogue! Whether a member or visitor, we hope you enjoy your time in our warm and welcoming community. Mazal tov to… Dates & Times Shabbat begins and Kabbalat Shabbat service: 16.21 Raphael Amselli on his birthday Amanda & Stephen Marcovitch on Talia's Batmitzvah; mazal tov also to Joshua and Noah, and to grandparents Linda & Anthony and Diane & David and both their families. The Chief Rabbi’s Shabbat UK - We enjoyed a most wonderful Shabbat last week from the Carlebach service on Friday night, through Shabbat and seudah shlishit to the viodka burning at our musical havdalah and a concert by the three and a half fivers. Kol hakavod to the Rabbi who organized everything and everyone who helped aming it such a nice day. Succah evenings – Kol hakavod to the community who generously gave over £2,500 at Rob Itzcovitz’s men’s succah evening (fantastic) and £400 at Pam Rainsbury’s succah evening (great, as the suggested donation was £5 each). Your unwanted gifts looking for a new home? Call Audrey on 8504 1825 and she will recycle them into tombola prizes. Ron Kemp would like to thank everyone for their good wishes while he has been unwell. Shabbat Shacharit 09.20 Parasha & Haftarah: Artscroll: 54 & 1133 Hertz: 45 & 60 Haftorah by Robert Itzcovitz Kiddush by the Marcovitch family in celebration of Talia's Batmitzvah Mincha 12.07 (after Kiddush) Maariv and Shabbat ends 17.22 Sunday Shacharit 08.00 Monday-Friday Shacharit 06.40 Monday, Tuesday Maariv 20.00 If you would like to receive the Shul Times by e-mail each week or have any news or articles contact shultimes@wwshul.org To contact the Shul office, e-mail Lynn at office@wwshul.org or phone 8504 1990 www.wwshul.org Wanstead & Woodford Synagogue Diary events for 2014. Wednesday 26th November: Fun and Games. Bridge, kalooki and games brunch at the shul - £8.50 incl refreshments – book Audrey 85041825 or Bernice 8550 8410 Monday 1st December : A talk to remember Harold Weinberg's yarzheit. 'The second Exodus from Egypt". 19.30 for 20.00 Refreshments, no charge. Sunday 21st December: Chanukah. Keep this date free for an exciting event. In its third year, Woodford Juniors is now the largest junior company in JLGB and welcomes new members, Jewish boys & girls aged 8- 11 - to make new friends and to have lots of fun! Please contact JLGB Head Office on 8989 8990 to find out more. Belinda says that the Norwood charity shop would really appreciate your help – check your clothes and anything else, and bring them round to the shop. Profits all go to a good cause. Neros Our synagogue has an active link to Neros which was founded as a means of bringing together the Orthodox Shuls in the area, in order to discuss and hopefully solve common problems and also organise joint events . Details of local events organised by Neros can be found on its website www.neros.org and by contacting WWS’ Neros representative - nicholas.levin@btinternet.com or 0208-989-0413 The Talmud shiur continues on Monday nights in the Beit Hamidrash. Strictly Come Learning continues on Tuesday night following Ma’ariv. The Rabbi’s shiur, entitled ‘Ethics and Perspectives from the Weekly Parasha’ takes place in members’ houses on alternate Wednesday nights. Community Cares If you can offer help or know of anyone requiring help, please contact Coral Miller via the Shul Office. JACS Thursdays between 1pm-3pm for music and guest speakers. Admission £2.50 Stone settings Marion Gendler Ruth Lewis 16 November 11.30 Waltham Abbey 16 November 12.00 Waltham Abbey Yahrzeits We wish a long life to the following members on the Yahrzeit of their... Father: Danielle Kaye, Elliot Morris, Sid Cohen, Anita Frankle, Harry Myers, sonia Stone Mother: Joe Patchick, Stanley Barron, Bernice Monty, Leslie Gold, Stanle Ritter, Avril Besser, Rita Goldbart Sister: Julius Hambling We are unlike any other youth group in the borough! We are a Jewish youth group (for ages 1722) looking for people from all over Essex and east London who wish to meet new people for social meetings and outings once a month. We are looking for young Jewish people who simply wish to make new friends, catch up with old ones or who are just looking for people with a Jewish connection. And most of all just have a great time. Please phone Ben on 07949 070332 or text Josh on 07552 236996. Please do feel free to Like us on Facebook at Essex Jewish Youth'. Exhibition open to the public in Sandys Row Synagogue E1 12.00-15.00 every Sunday in November. Janice Jackson has been one of the volunteers putting this exciting project together. After the Shabbat Project by Sara Debbie Gutfreund Three ways to transform inspiration into action. “I sat at their table, and it changed my life,” I told the woman sitting next to me on the plane. I was flying back from a summer spent in Israel, and I was overflowing with inspiration. You should have seen the beauty of the candles reflected on the Jerusalem stone wall. You should have seen the warmth between the husband and wife. The beautiful, pure faces of all those children. The aroma of fresh challah. The songs that danced and wove their way into the starlit night. My seat-mate looked unimpressed. She gave me a half smile and downed the rest of her red wine. So I began to tell her about the mountains I had climbed in the Golan. The scuba diving I had done in Eilat. The classes that I attended, and the sunrises that I had spent at the Kotel. You should have seen the Wall at dawn. The silence as the sun flooded over the plaza with its first rays of light. The peace that you can’t find anywhere else in the world. That sudden peace inside. Like you have finally found what you were looking for, and you’re holding it right in your hands. Like a key. “So what are you going to do now?” the woman asked me. I looked at her. Then I stared down at my own untouched drink. What did she mean? “I told you, I’m going into my senior year at the University of Pennsylvania. I’m starting next week,” I answered. She shook her head. “No, I mean what are you going to do with all of that inspiration? How is it really going to change your life?” I felt the images simmering inside of me begin to fade. She was right. “I really don’t know.” I drank my wine. Looked out the window at the darkening sky and heard an echo of one of my professor’s favourite lines: Nothing changes if nothing changes. Two weeks later I was walking down Locust Walk, with the autumn leaves swirling furiously around me. I walked by the statue of Ben Franklin that I had passed so many times before. He was sitting there on that bench with his tiny glasses and mysterious smile. I thought about his inventions. How he figured out how to transform the power of light. How to use energy. How to catch the lightning from the sky. How he turned his ideas into actions. I thought about one of his quotes: “Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.” And another one: “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.” I sat down on the bench. What am I going to do now? The question followed me to class. It followed me to parties. It wove its way around me in the library. What are you going to do with all that inspiration you got in Jerusalem? A few days later, one of the Hillel members asked me to speak the following Shabbos. I hated speaking. I didn’t know what I would say. I didn’t want to do it. But I said yes anyway because I sat at their table, and it changed my life, and I needed to figure out how I would make that real. Could I hold onto that meaning in the whirl of everyday life? Could I find a way to pass it on? I didn’t know. But I knew I had to try. This past Shabbat, thousands of people experienced the beauty of Shabbat for their first time. I’m sure many were touched, perhaps transformed by the experience. But it will fade unless we transform the inspiration into action. Here are three possible ways (and they apply to every inspirational experience). 1. Teach it to someone else. Even if you only know a few ideas, share them. Even if you have only been to one Shabbos table, describe it to a friend who hasn’t had the chance to experience it. If you know aleph, teach aleph. When you learn bet, teach bet. Every time you are given the gift of wisdom, pass it on to at least one person that you know. 2. Make it into a five minute change. Take any five minutes of your day and decide that you will use those five minutes to do something about what you experienced. It doesn’t matter what you do. Learn something new. Pray. Think. Do an act of kindness. Write down the lessons you have gleaned. But do it consistently so that the burst of inspiration can be a daily source of light. 3. Break it down and do what you can. You may have loved experiencing Shabbos but can’t see yourself keeping all of Shabbos, every week, just yet. So create a list of small, specific goals that you can do. Like light candles. Or make Kiddush. Or go to synagogue on Saturday morning. Begin your list with the easiest goal and have it end with your ultimate goal. This way you can take the inspiration and make it into a concrete plan before it begins to fade. It’s not all or nothing. Nothing changes unless something changes. This article can also be read at: http://www.aish.com/sp/pg/After-the-Shabbat-Project.html