Thanks to Eric and the Trekkies
I’m constantly grateful on this walk to Eric Weigert and the Trekkies. Eric prepared the maps for me, provided me with a pedestrian sat nav for emergencies (which mercifully I haven’t had to use) and was incredibly kind. But in a deeper sense, the Trekkies set the tone for the importance of walking and the love of nature in our community. May they have many many more miles beneath their boots.
Thursday, 13 March 2008
Walking With Nicky
It’s wonderful to walk a stretch with Nicky. She notices the thick hedgerows and how carefully they’ve been maintained. A little further on I see 2 men creating an entire new hedge, so I stop to ask them about it. They explain that there’s been a lot of dead ash and trees which have fallen over so they are re-planting. It’s good to see that they’re putting in what will be, when it is grown, a proper thick hedge of trees. The young trees they’ve planted are protected with plastic against the rabbits and the deer. I hope to come this way in a few years time and see the saplings flowering in the spring.
It’s wonderful to walk a stretch with Nicky. She notices the thick hedgerows and how carefully they’ve been maintained. A little further on I see 2 men creating an entire new hedge, so I stop to ask them about it. They explain that there’s been a lot of dead ash and trees which have fallen over so they are re-planting. It’s good to see that they’re putting in what will be, when it is grown, a proper thick hedge of trees. The young trees they’ve planted are protected with plastic against the rabbits and the deer. I hope to come this way in a few years time and see the saplings flowering in the spring.
My Faithful Talmud Class
Members of my Talmud class join me at the Guess’ home to study. There can be no Jewish walk without serious talmud torah and we learn a short passage from Tractate Brachot about moral responsibility and mitigating factors. Is it always our fault or is God to blame for anything?
This Talmud class has been running for 21 years and one person, Linda Samuels, has been attending for the whole of that period. But every participant has been faithful to it over long stretches of time. I’m really grateful for this. Thursday mornings at 9.30am are one of my highlights of the week.
Members of my Talmud class join me at the Guess’ home to study. There can be no Jewish walk without serious talmud torah and we learn a short passage from Tractate Brachot about moral responsibility and mitigating factors. Is it always our fault or is God to blame for anything?
This Talmud class has been running for 21 years and one person, Linda Samuels, has been attending for the whole of that period. But every participant has been faithful to it over long stretches of time. I’m really grateful for this. Thursday mornings at 9.30am are one of my highlights of the week.
Assembly at Bernards Heath Junior School, St Albans
The school have had a terrible loss at the weekend. A teacher called Jacquie Hannah, much loved by the children and staff, died suddenly without warning. She was only 46. She was the art coordinator and the children’s work is beautifully presented around the school. The Head Teacher, Mrs Kilpatrick speaks about what the school is doing to support the children, the parents and the staff. They have created a board where children can leave messages and letters. They have had a special assembly. They have made plans for the staff to have time together. The atmosphere of the school is lovely, full of a sense of caring. The Head Teacher and I have a few minutes to talk. I appreciate what it can be like to be responsible for an institution in a time of tragedy. Mrs Kilpatrick is doing everything right.
At the Assembly Mitzpah is on good form. He sits up, gives his paw for ‘Shalom’ and takes his biscuits. The children sing a song ‘Shalom My Friends, Shalom’. Two of the children are members of the St Albans Masorti congregation and the school expresses its wish to make even stronger links. There is something very special about a place which cares sensitively and well for young children. I feel moved by having had the opportunity of being there.
The school have had a terrible loss at the weekend. A teacher called Jacquie Hannah, much loved by the children and staff, died suddenly without warning. She was only 46. She was the art coordinator and the children’s work is beautifully presented around the school. The Head Teacher, Mrs Kilpatrick speaks about what the school is doing to support the children, the parents and the staff. They have created a board where children can leave messages and letters. They have had a special assembly. They have made plans for the staff to have time together. The atmosphere of the school is lovely, full of a sense of caring. The Head Teacher and I have a few minutes to talk. I appreciate what it can be like to be responsible for an institution in a time of tragedy. Mrs Kilpatrick is doing everything right.
At the Assembly Mitzpah is on good form. He sits up, gives his paw for ‘Shalom’ and takes his biscuits. The children sing a song ‘Shalom My Friends, Shalom’. Two of the children are members of the St Albans Masorti congregation and the school expresses its wish to make even stronger links. There is something very special about a place which cares sensitively and well for young children. I feel moved by having had the opportunity of being there.
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
A Thoughtful Evening of Discussion with SAMS
I’ve always appreciated the St Albans Masorti community. They are invariably welcoming, kind, thoughtful and engaged in their Judaism. The community is also strategically acute and I’m glad that this walk will also make a small contribution to their building. And they have a great Rabbi, now three-quarters moved to the New London, in Jeremy Gordon.
They asked me to speak about how the Masorti Movement is different from Orthodoxy on the one hand and Reform on the other. I base my response on the teachings of Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs, but the conversation soon turns to the key priorities for the St Albans community and the Masorti Movement as a whole: serious learning engaged both in traditional text and modern critical thought; observance encouraged by a sense of obligation and community example without being judgmental about every individual; education from birth onwards so that every community has a pre-school, we develop a Masorti primary school and play our part in JCOSS; passion and depth of prayer fostered by knowledge and music (with great appreciation for the work of Jaclyn Chernett and her founding of the European Academy for Jewish Liturgy); and participation in the important agenda of young people in social action and commitment to social justice. It’s great to see the Movement thriving in so many places.
I’ve always appreciated the St Albans Masorti community. They are invariably welcoming, kind, thoughtful and engaged in their Judaism. The community is also strategically acute and I’m glad that this walk will also make a small contribution to their building. And they have a great Rabbi, now three-quarters moved to the New London, in Jeremy Gordon.
They asked me to speak about how the Masorti Movement is different from Orthodoxy on the one hand and Reform on the other. I base my response on the teachings of Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs, but the conversation soon turns to the key priorities for the St Albans community and the Masorti Movement as a whole: serious learning engaged both in traditional text and modern critical thought; observance encouraged by a sense of obligation and community example without being judgmental about every individual; education from birth onwards so that every community has a pre-school, we develop a Masorti primary school and play our part in JCOSS; passion and depth of prayer fostered by knowledge and music (with great appreciation for the work of Jaclyn Chernett and her founding of the European Academy for Jewish Liturgy); and participation in the important agenda of young people in social action and commitment to social justice. It’s great to see the Movement thriving in so many places.
Signs of Spring
Brian draws my attention to hundreds of tiny purple violets in the grass. I see on the other side of the stream the buttercups beginning to flower. The alders and willows have their catkins, wild cherry is flowering in woodlands and hedgerows. Not far from the cemetery at Cheshunt, on the other side of a waterway there glows an array of orange and bright red twigs.
I’ve seen a lot of rabbits which Mitzi strangely seems to have missed. He did, however, notice a small flock of sheep who’d wandered from their field onto the path and I quickly put him on his lead.
A horse chases him all the way up a field towards the looming M25. Fortunately there is a fence between them.
Brian draws my attention to hundreds of tiny purple violets in the grass. I see on the other side of the stream the buttercups beginning to flower. The alders and willows have their catkins, wild cherry is flowering in woodlands and hedgerows. Not far from the cemetery at Cheshunt, on the other side of a waterway there glows an array of orange and bright red twigs.
I’ve seen a lot of rabbits which Mitzi strangely seems to have missed. He did, however, notice a small flock of sheep who’d wandered from their field onto the path and I quickly put him on his lead.
A horse chases him all the way up a field towards the looming M25. Fortunately there is a fence between them.
Crossing the M25 and the A1M
Brian Berelowitz walks this stretch with me. We pause on the footbridge over the M25 and listen to the roar beneath. Mitzpah is not too anxious because he has been able to run up to the bridge across (well fenced) fields and there are no cars on the bridge itself. Brian and I note that this is what we do every other day - race by in our cars at that appalling pace making this terrible noise. Thank goodness for Shabbat, at least one day of peace. But somewhere inside we both feel ashamed of how we as humans behave. Much later in the day, as the sun is beginning to set, we cross the A1M. We miss the footbridge and walk along the side of a busy road. The noise terrifies him and poor Mitzpah has to be carried; he puts his paw round the back of my neck and settles down comfortably like a child who just won an argument.
Brian Berelowitz walks this stretch with me. We pause on the footbridge over the M25 and listen to the roar beneath. Mitzpah is not too anxious because he has been able to run up to the bridge across (well fenced) fields and there are no cars on the bridge itself. Brian and I note that this is what we do every other day - race by in our cars at that appalling pace making this terrible noise. Thank goodness for Shabbat, at least one day of peace. But somewhere inside we both feel ashamed of how we as humans behave. Much later in the day, as the sun is beginning to set, we cross the A1M. We miss the footbridge and walk along the side of a busy road. The noise terrifies him and poor Mitzpah has to be carried; he puts his paw round the back of my neck and settles down comfortably like a child who just won an argument.
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