As mentioned elsewhere on this blog the Master Cutler normally attends the Hospital Sunday Service. This year the current Master Professor William Spiers was unable to do so. But as he also happens to be a close friend and colleague of Steven Mendelssohn the latter was not about to let an opportunity slip through his fingers. So about a month later at Steven’s invitation the Master and Mistress Cutler were treated to a private showing of the synagogue and a light tea together with Hilary and myself. It proved to be a very nice afternoon and in fact they were able to see and have a lo
t more explained to them than most as there was no service to otherwise occupy us. I presented the Master Cutler with a book by the Chief Rabbi and both he and the Mistress were suitably impressed. They were pleasant and intelligent company and showed genuine interest. I believe that it is our responsibility to pay courtesy and respect to local civic dignitaries and this occasion was such an 
example.
Sunday 8 May 2011
Saturday 7 May 2011
Tahlia Rubenstein
Bat Mitzvah Sheffield started off the new civil calendar wi
th a lovely Ney Year's weekend celebrating Tahlia Rubenstein’s Bat Mitzvah. Clearly a girl who has no qualms about being in the limelight she performed with aplomb and was credit to her parents and teachers. Sheffield may be a small community but we can still produce the goods when the opportunity arises. Mazel Tov to Chelle and Adrian and all the family.
Miriam Margoles
Fund raising is not an easy task at the best of times so when Radio and Television personality Miriam Margoles contacted Frada to say she was going to be in Sheffield over the winter and would we like her to do a function Frada didn’t take long to say yes. A lovely afternoon was enjoyed by a large crowd at the Kingfield Hall the proceeds of which went to the Shul. Miriam entertained us all with 
stories from her upbringing and subsequent life in showbiz including one or two brushes with the law. Her ability to effortlessly adopt a variety of accents endeared her to all and made the afternoon a resounding entertainment. A big thank you to Miriam and an even bigger one to Frada for arranging it all and of course for providing her usual excellent cuisine.
Hospital Sunday
A regular feature of the Shul’s calendar is the annual Hospital Sunday service. Held on the last Sunday in January we are now the only community to still hold a service although there are other religious establishments that make a donation to the fund. This year was the 115th service the focus of which is to raise money for the Hospital Sunday Fund to provide for local grass roots needs of patients or their families whose requirements are not covered by the NHS.
It is also an opportunity for the Sheffield Jewish Community to invite the civic dignitaries, communal and religious leaders into our scared synagogue to pray as one in a manner which I sincerely hope is acceptable to all faiths and those with as yet undiscovered faith. It is an act of unity focused around the deed of charity because we all understand the need to help the sick. Present were the Lord Mayor Councillor Alan Law JP accompanied by the Lady Mayoress Nicola Ashton, Guests of Honour immediate past Master Cutler Mr James Newman and the past Mistress Cutler Mrs Leslie Newman, Assistant Chief Constable Mr Andy Holt, Dr and Mrs Shaikh and Mr and Mrs Rizvi of
the Abmadiya Muslim Association, Bishop of Sheffield The Right Reverend Dr Stephen Croft, Bishop of Hallam The Right Reverend John Rawsthorne, Chair of the Hospital Sunday Fund Mrs Dianne Malaure and Mr Mohamed Jamil Deputy Chairman of Sheffield Magistrates who is also a trustee of the HS fund. The Master Cutler was unable to be there but paid a personal visit at the invitation of Steve Mendelsohn about a month later.
The service was followed by a tea catered by the Guild at which we heard addresses from the Lord Mayor, Past Master Cutler and The Bishop of Sheffield. Proceedings were chaired by Past President Mr Selwyn Burchhardt at which he announced that the sum of £1650 had been raised. An excellent result for the afternoon and to a worthy cause. Thank you to all contributors.
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Evangelical Minister turned Rabbi
Well here I am again with apologies for not posting. My excuse is that I have had a minor operation and since then I have not got back into it so I’m going to try and do Teshuvah by posting some of the past events which should have made it to the blog quite a while ago.
First item was an interesting speaker whom I managed to get at very late notice for Sat night 16th October. Rabbi Ya’akov Efrayim Parisi (pictured here) is a convert and proud of it. After many years as a evangelical minister during which he incurred the wrath of his community and colleagues by constantly gravitating towards traditional Judaism he finally took the plunge (literally) and together with his wife Sarah they became fully fledged Jews. He travels around telling his inspiring story and we were privileged to hear him. I was impressed that the entire audience who turned up that night waited so long and stayed so late to listen to him. He stayed overnight with us and on Sunday I drove him to Nottingham where he was due to speak that evening. I had time to talk to him and all I can say is he is clearly a special soul and very sincere. May the Almighty give him continued strength to continue uplifting his audiences.
