{"id":102103,"date":"2023-02-18T17:05:45","date_gmt":"2023-02-18T15:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=102103"},"modified":"2023-02-12T10:43:41","modified_gmt":"2023-02-12T08:43:41","slug":"18-00-77","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=102103","title":{"rendered":"We Must Always \u2018Remember\u2019 the Transformative Power of Shabbat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>We Must Always \u2018Remember\u2019 the Transformative Power of Shabbat<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Pini Dunner<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law (1659), by Rembrandt. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, I flew to London for a very special reunion. The genesis of this event began in 1998, when I was approached by my friend Michael Sinclair, a mover-and-shaker in London\u2019s Jewish community.<\/span><\/p>\n

We first met during my stint as rabbi of\u00a0Notting Hill Synagogue<\/a>. I knew Michael as an innovative, original thinker who was ahead of the curve on every issue and challenge facing Jewish continuity.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1993 Michael had partnered with\u00a0Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks<\/a>\u00a0to create an organization called \u201cJewish Continuity,\u201d with the aim of transforming Jewish life in the UK and halting the slow but seemingly inexorable decline into oblivion.<\/span><\/p>\n

By 1998, Jewish Continuity had merged with another major Jewish organization, and Michael was looking to initiate new projects \u2014 in particular a project that would address the growing problem of Jews marrying out of the faith, or not marrying at all.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Concerned by the escalating disaffiliation of British Jews in their 20s and 30s from organized Jewish life \u2014 which Michael felt was to blame for this phenomenon \u2014 he proposed launching a \u201chip\u201d shul that would specifically target this demographic.<\/span><\/p>\n

The location we chose was the \u201cSaatchi Synagogue\u201d \u2014 recently dedicated by the celebrated\u00a0Saatchi advertising brothers<\/a>\u00a0in honor of their elderly parents, Nathan and Daisy. This newly built sanctuary wasn\u2019t actually a synagogue; it was part of a Jewish day school complex, used by the school for prayers and assemblies on weekdays, but conveniently empty on weekends.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Saatchi name was a perfect brand, particularly as the synagogue was a five-minute walk from the\u00a0Saatchi Gallery<\/a>, a hub of modern art that was then located in the trendy St. John\u2019s Wood area.<\/span><\/p>\n

The period before we opened was a frenzy of activity. Night after night I met with a range of potential members and participants \u2014 some enthusiastic, others lukewarm. We launched an eye-grabbing advertising campaign that included billboards in\u00a0London Underground<\/a>\u00a0stations. It was picked up by the national media for positive coverage, but derided by Jewish critics as offensive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome to the unorthodox synagogue\u201d read one advert, with the blurb asking: \u201cWhere does it say that an Orthodox service has to be boring, formal and uninspiring?\u201d Another advert had a speed sign with the number \u201c45\u201d. The blurb was blunt: \u201cThe Saatchi Synagogue will have tremendous energy, dynamism and vitality. One reason is that people who go there will be under 45.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The main program feature was weekly Friday night dinners with celebrity speakers. The first dinner, and at least a dozen after that, was sold out in less than three days. Speakers included actor\/playwright\u00a0Steven Berkoff<\/a>, celebrity chef\u00a0Claudia Roden<\/a>, as well as\u00a0Bibi Netanyahu<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Shimon Peres<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first London mayoral campaign debate between\u00a0Jeffrey Archer<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Ken Livingstone<\/a>\u00a0was at the Saatchi Synagogue, moderated by\u00a0BBC<\/em>\u00a0news presenter\u00a0Martyn Lewis<\/a>\u00a0(Archer later withdrew his candidacy after he was\u00a0charged with perjury<\/a>, and Livingstone won the election).<\/span><\/p>\n

Within a matter of weeks, the synagogue\u2019s social events were resulting in engagements and weddings, and so it went on for several years.<\/span><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s reunion was at the home of a couple who met at the Saatchi Synagogue. We had not kept in touch over the years, but it was heartwarming for me and Sabine to reconnect with them, and to realize how we had positively impacted their lives, and the lives of so many others.<\/span><\/p>\n

The friendships and connections between the people who met at Saatchi have persisted throughout, and seeing them again brought back floods of wonderful memories.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we chatted and reminisced, I recalled my first address at a Saatchi Synagogue gathering, during the\u00a0initial Friday night dinner 25 years ago<\/a>. I had begun by asking where everyone had been for dinner the previous Friday night. Some said they had been with parents and family, but others admitted they were out with friends, or at home not having Shabbat dinner.<\/span><\/p>\n

I smiled. In December 1894, I continued, the Italian inventor\u00a0Guglielmo Marconi<\/a>\u00a0demonstrated for the first time how radio waves could be used to transmit signals \u2014 \u201ctelegraphy without wires,\u201d as he called it. One thing led to another, and eventually, radio waves became the medium for the transmission of talk shows and music. Today there are thousands of radio stations that use \u201ctelegraphy without wires\u201d so that we can tune in and hear news broadcasts and our favorite songs.<\/span><\/p>\n

But radio waves were there long before Marconi revealed their existence \u2014 it\u2019s just that no one had ever utilized them. And even after Marconi\u2019s innovation and the subsequent creation of ubiquitous radio programming, unless you tune in to a program, you\u2019d never know it was there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shabbat is no different, I explained. There it is, every Friday night, since the beginning of time \u2014 but unless you know it\u2019s there, and you tune in, you could go through your entire life and never experience its sublime beauty or its incredible power to spiritually rejuvenate the soul.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judaism, our ancient faith, is just the same. It is a gift from God, but it is all too easy to go through life without it, never tuning in, or trying to find the particular program to give you what you need so that you can connect with God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remarkably, this idea is embedded at the heart of the Ten Commandments in\u00a0Parshat Yitro<\/a>. The Jews who gathered at Mount Sinai were told (Ex. 20:8<\/a>) \u05d6\u05b8\u05db\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea \u05d9\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b7\u05c1\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05ea \u05dc\u05b0\u05e7\u05b7\u05d3\u05b0\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05b9 \u2014 \u201cRemember the Sabbath day to sanctify it.\u201d The commentaries puzzle over the fact that when the decalogue was repeated in Parshat\u00a0Va\u2019etchanan<\/a>\u00a0(Deut. 5:12<\/a>), the wording was changed: \u05e9\u05b8\u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8 \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea \u05d9\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b7\u05c1\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05ea \u05dc\u05b0\u05e7\u05b7\u05d3\u05b0\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05b9 \u2014 \u201cObserve the Sabbath day to sanctify it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are countless explanations \u2014 some practical, others metaphorical. But the simplest explanation is this one: unless you \u201cremember\u201d it is Shabbat, you\u2019ll never tune in to sanctify it, and you will certainly never observe its precepts. Jewish identity is no different \u2014 unless you belong to a community, and connect to your Jewish heritage, simply being born Jewish is never going to be enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

This past Sunday, as I looked around the room at the reunion, I was moved by the continued dedication of my Saatchi Synagogue friends to their Jewish identity a quarter of a century after they \u201ctuned in.\u201d And there are many others who didn\u2019t make it to the reunion, but for whom making the step to \u201cremember\u201d 25 years ago made all the difference to their lives, and to the life of the UK\u2019s Jewish community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Very occasionally, you encounter a Divine presence in a seemingly mundane gathering. That was my experience this week. I came face to face with the crystallization of one of the Ten Commandments, and it was an experience I will never forget.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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We Must Always \u2018Remember\u2019 the Transformative Power of Shabbat Pini Dunner Moses Breaking the Tables of the Law (1659), by Rembrandt. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. Earlier this week, I flew to London for a very special reunion. The genesis of this event began in 1998, when I was approached by my friend Michael Sinclair, a mover-and-shaker […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102103"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102103"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102121,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102103\/revisions\/102121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}