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Welcome to the website of the Newcastle Reform Synagogue (NRS), a community of about 200 adults and children living in the North East and Cumbria
Our rabbi
Our part-time rabbi, Barbara Borts, began work with us in August 2008.
After studying in her native California, Rabbi Borts moved to Europe and
was ordained in 1981 from Leo Baeck College (becoming the joint 3rd woman
rabbi in the UK). She worked as a congregational rabbi at Radlett and
Bushey Reform Synagogue, and then she took a break to run the Homeless
Volunteer Scheme of CSV (Community Service Volunteers.) She founded and
ran the Social Issues Group of the RSGB and was involved in interfaith
and women's dialogue groups. Rabbi Borts then worked as an adult Jewish
studies educator in North America, leading to her M.A. from McGill University
in Culture and Values in Education. Since her return to the UK, she has
worked as a rabbinical consultant and an educator. Rabbi Borts is pursuing
doctoral studies at the University of Durham, and travels once a month
to Basel, Switzerland, to work with a small community there, with whom
we are twinned (see their website).
She loves music, and is often to be found walking her dogs.
You can contact Rabbi Borts at therabab@hotmail.com or by telephone on 07889 206327
Services
Shabbat morning services begin at 10.30am and last up to 2 hours.
We also have services for all major and most minor Festivals
[see Calendar page].
We are a member of the Movement for Reform Judaism.
To contact us
Telephone: 0191 284 8621
(24 hr answerphone)
Registered charity No: 246816
Rabbi's website
The rabbi has provided the synagogue with a file on her
homeserver, with various pieces of music for us to use. She will be adding
things, and is also happy to try to accomodate special requests. You can
access the site here
Sign in using EXACTLY the details given below.
Username: therabab
Password: Therabab!
General
Do let the rabbi know of any personal or health issues where her support would be appreciated (remembering that as a part-time rabbi, she'll prioritise the most urgent).
Help with financial difficult
Turn2us helps people to access money available to them - through welfare benefits, grants and other financial help. You can reach their website by clicking here.
And what's happening soon?
The March/April Focus is available here, and the calendar for these months is here. And don't forget to book for our Seder - form here!
Very important: there are (rare) occasions when events have to
be cancelled. Please check with other members, if possible. We will
try to keep information updated here, but can't guarantee this at all
times.
Sunday 28 February [No Basic Judaism class] 10.30 Purim celebration
- come in fancy dress for reading of the megillah, singing and eating
hamentaschen!
6 March, 10.30 Kindershabbos and March birthdays kiddush
Tuesday 9 March, 19.30 Jewish Book Group discussing "A Tale
of Love and Darkness" by Amos Oz. Please book with Gabrielle Mandel
Thursday 11 March, 19.30 Great and Small Issues: Did the Exodus
really happen? Does it matter?
12 March, 18.45 Erev Shabbat service followed by Chavurah dinner
Thursday 18 March, 19.30 Great and Small Issues: The boundaries
of shabbat at NRS
20 March, 09.30 Pirkei Avot study session
Thursday 25 March, 19.30 Guest lecturer, Professor Robert Hayward,
Durham University – “The Last Supper was not a Seder!”
Friday 26 March, 18.45 Erev Shabbat service followed by catered
dinner - please book with Brenda
Monday 29 March, 19.00 Communal Seder - please book. See link
to form at top of page.
Tuesday 30 March, 10.30 First Day Pesach service
3 April, 10.30 Kindershabbos and April birthdays kiddush
Monday 5 April, 10.30 7th Day Pesach service
Thursday 15 April, 19.30 Great and Small Issues: Forms of service
at NRS - meditation, Carlebach, chanting - come and contribute
Thursday 22 April, 19.30 Great and Small Issues: Buck Rogers
and the 21st century Jew - research into future beliefs, identities
and practices
Thursday 29 April, 19.30 Great and Small Issues: War and Peace
22 May Special kiddush to welcome new members. following the
morning service
Sunday 23 May 16.00 Strawberry Tea, to be followed by the AGM
at about 17.00. Everyone welcome - come and vote for your new council.
General information
There are many ways to study and learn at NRS: the GCSE/Basic Judaism
class on Sundays at 10.30, the Great Issues sessions on Thursday evenings
and the Pirkei Avot Study Sessions before one shabbat morning service
each month at 09.30 are just three. If you'd like more information,
contact the rabbi.
The new prayer book, Seder Ha-T'fillot, is available through the synagogue at £19.95 for Members and Friends and £24.95 for non-members.
NRS News - what's been happening?
21 February 2010
A group from the synagogue went to the Sage on 11 February to see
Yasmin Levy, the great Sephardi singer. While there was a range of response
among the group, the enthusiasts were enchanted by her.
The Great Issues series continues, with the most recent concerning the Goldstone Report on the war in Gaza. When given his remit, Goldstone insisted that he include war crimes committed by Hamas. The group debated his reaction and that of the Israeli government, who rejected the report.
Our rabbi is part-time and not always available to take services. A few members - with support and encouragement from others - take services, and Gaby Mandell was entertaining, warm, welcoming and thoughtful when she took the Friday night service. Thanks, Gaby.
Synagogue council meeting
There was a lively and interesting council meeting on 17 February
2010. Some of the key items concerned communication - both with
the existing community and with others. Among the decisions were:
* to raise our profile in the local community, via the website and Recorder
* to hold a monthly kiddush to celebrate the month's birthdays - so
if your birthday is in March, be sure to come along on 6 March!
You can read a fuller report, with photographs, here.
The rabbi's website
The rabbi has provided the synagogue with a file on her homeserver,
with various pieces of music for us to use. She will be adding things,
and is also happy to try to accomodate special requests. Please
see below in the left-hand column for details of the site and how
to access it.
4 February 2010
On Tu B'shvat, over a meal of mainly locally sourced and sustainable
organic food, some of us looked at texts to do with the environment
and took home an environmental audit to do. This was from material
compiled by Rabbi Neil Amyswich and endorsed by the MRJ. We invite
you to take the audit for
yourselves
10 December 2009
Our Kindershabbos on Saturday 5 December marked a special
occasion as we celebrated a baby blessing for Gabrielle. The synagogue
was packed with friends and relatives of the family, including the
baby's mother's parents who travelled all the way from North America.
A good spread was laid on for kiddush in true NRS style and everyone
enjoyed the chance to celebrate the latest in a spate of new arrivals,
which once again have filled NRS with the sound of young voices.
A very different occasion was marked on Thursday 9 December. Ron
Lahav, whose big presence in a small person many NRS regulars will
know, died recently after a short illness which he bore with great
courage. Ron chose to be cremated, and planned his memorial service
with the rabbi in the weeks before his death. This unusual event marked
six aspects of Ron's life, introduced by songs, and was attended by
many members, his widow Kathleen and his brother and sister-in-law
from the USA. Ron's idiosyncratic personality shone through and was
celebrated with great warmth.
3 December 2009
Not directly NRS news, but you may want to support The Women of the
Wall. Following the arrest of Nofrat Frenkel for being a woman wearing
a tallit and attempting to read from a Torah scroll at the Kotel,
we are asked to contact the Israeli ambassador to express our dismay.
The information I have comes from a US group and refers to the ambassador
to the US; responding to the UK ambassador is probably a better route.
The rabbi has more information (including a suggested wording for
a letter or e-mail), if you would like it, or take a look at their
website and follow the news link.
Want to learn more about Chanukah? Make haste to join the Skype class starting on 8 December - more info here. This is a new venture for Leo Baeck College and promises to be very interesting.
25 October 2009
Once again, technology has beaten your web editor - hence the
lack of updating for nearly two months. Things are not yet 100% sorted,
but hopefully there will now be more regular updates.
Following our High Holy Days (which once again included tashlich - see picture above - after the Rosh Hashanah service and, for many of us, Brenda Dinsdale's always-wonderful open house lunch), we are now into the swing of the year. Our series of 'Great Debates' (to be renamed 'Great Issues' to more accurately reflect these sessions) began with a wonderful overview from our rabbi of the different conceptualisations of God from key Jewish thinkers through the ages. Those who attended were fascinated and have requested a return to the subject later on. The second session, on Tikkun Olam, launched our very own Tikkun Olam committee.
Our Pirkei Avot study sessions have also recommenced - the Rabbi
having rashly promised to manage an introduction to the gigantic subject
of Talmud for the first one. She did it! - though we had to tune in
carefully for the speed of the presentation….. Come and join
us as we continue our study - it's engaging and gets everyone involved.