5784/2023
Each year, Kol Nefesh Masorti Synagogue offers a unique programme of learning and reflection during the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. As a community we take a pertinent theme and explore it in depth from a variety of perspectives. Through this process we allow ourselves to stop, think and re-order our priorities; to reconnect to our deepest understandings of reality. We aim to arrive at Yom Kippur having done the inner work necessary to prepare for that great day of reckoning.
This Year's Theme:
Humility - Anavah
Please join us for all or some of the shiurim this year! All sessions are stand-alone, requiring no background knowledge. We have an amazing programme which includes teachers from within our community as well as guest teachers. In addition, Rabbi Joel will be at all of the sessions, in person and on-line, ensuring that there is a constant conceptual ‘shape’ to our ten days of learning.
Schedule of Events
Sunday 25th September
6.30pm
Erev Rosh Hashanah
Join us for our service and communal meal. Rabbi Joel will kick off our programme with a drasha, 'The Joy of Forgiveness'.
Monday 26th September
Service starts 9:00am
1st Day Rosh Hashanah
Rabbi Joel will speak on the theme in his drasha, 'The Story of the Ugly Man', around 11:15am.
After the drasha (approx. 11:45am) Nahum Gordon will lead an alternative session,
Fraternal Forgiveness, focussing on the episode when Jacob and Esau meet again for the first time in 20 years. Is this forgiveness? This is an alternative to the Musaph service.
5.00pm
Tashlich
Join us for Tashlich, followed by tea and a light study session with Rabbi Joel.
Tuesday 27th September
Service starts 9:00am
2nd Day Rosh Hashanah
Rabbi Joel will speak on the theme in his drasha, ‘In Praise of Shame: The Beginning of Forgiveness’, around 11:15am.
Wednesday 28th September
8:00pm
Study Session (on Zoom)
Fraternal Forgiveness, Part 2 – Joseph and his brothers
The brothers send a message to Joseph that their late father, Jacob, wanted him to forgive them for nearly killing him when he was just 17. How does Joseph respond? Is this forgiveness? Led by Nahum and Rabbi Joel for two completely different perspectives.
Thursday 9th September
7.30–8.00pm: Selichot
8.00–9.00pm: Session
9.00–9.30pm: Discussion
Study Session (in person)
Prof. Brian Littlechild will speak on “Conflict resolution and restorative justice within communities, and health and social care settings: To what extent can it lead to reduction of and repair of harm, and promote forgiveness and empathic relationships?”
Brian Littlechild is Professor of Social Work in the School of Health and Social Work at the University of Hertfordshire, where he is Research Lead for Social Work. He is Vice President, European Research Institute for Social Work, and Visiting Professor, University of Ostrava, Czech Republic. He teaches, leads research projects and carries out doctoral supervision in the areas of ethics, youth justice, violence and aggression, conflict resolution, children and families work, and mental health. A qualified and registered social worker, he worked with children and their families, young offenders, and people with particular mental health needs before working in universities. He has published and presented widely on violence and conflict resolution issues, and presented papers at many local, national and international conferences. He has been a panel member and chair for Hertfordshire County Council youth offender referral panels since 2002
Shabbat 1st October
Service starts 9:45am
Shabbat Shuva
In the morning at the Shabbat service, hear Rabbi Joel’s drasha on ‘Piyus: Seeking Forgiveness in the Human Realm’.
8:00pm
Film Night
After Shabbat join us to view and discuss the movie ‘Invictus’ at Mike and Aviva’s home. This movie tells the inspiring real-life story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the Captain of South Africa’s rugby team to help unite their country. Stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Rated: PG-13.
Sunday 2nd October
7.30–8.00pm: Selichot
8.00–9.00pm: Session
9.00–9.30pm: Discussion
Study Session (in person)
Naomi Magnus will teach on the topic “Turning our attention inward – forgiving ourselves”. With the conversation focussed on forgiveness at this time of year, we will spend some time thinking about the things we need to forgive in ourselves
Naomi Magnus is an experienced psychotherapist. She has worked in a variety of settings, including the NHS and a women's domestic abuse counselling service. She currently runs her own private psychotherapy practice in North and Central London.
Monday 3rd October
7.30–8.00pm: Selichot
8.00–9.00pm: Session
9.00–9.30pm: Discussion
Study Session (on Zoom)
Rabbi Joel and the Rev. Dr William Russell will discuss 'Forgiveness in Judaism and Catholicism'.
Father Bill Russell is a Catholic priest from Scotland, and a member of a community of priests known as the 'White Fathers' because of the colour of their habit (though they no longer wear it all the time any more), which works mainly in Africa. He spent twenty years there, 8 in Tanzania and 12 in Zambia, before being appointed 17 years ago to the one and only community in the Middle East, at St. Anne's Church in the Old City of Jerusalem, near Lion's Gate. His main job here has been teaching theology, most - but not all - of whom have been candidates for the Catholic priesthood. These students come from all over the world, most of them belong to a teaching Order called the Salesians, but there are also some from other communities or congregations. He became Emeritus in July 2021, and is in charge of a Diploma programme in Interreligious Dialogue and History based at Ratisbonne, the Jerusalem Campus of the Faculty of Theology of the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome
Tuesday 4th October
Service starts 5:45pm
Kol Nidrei
Rabbi Joel will continue his teaching on the theme of Forgiveness in his drasha, 'Stories from the Eve of Yom Kippur', around 6:30pm."
Wednesday 5th October
Service starts 9.30am
Yom Kippur
Rabbi Joel will complete his teaching on the theme in his drasha, 'Forgiveness as Grace', around 12:30pm.
In the Alternative Session during Musaph on Yom Kippur (around 1:00pm), Brian Chernett will lead a discussion on 'Finding and Fulfilling our Dreams'.