Dear Friends,
The candles (seen in pic below) were sent from Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) members and friends: flames lit on Holocaust Memorial Day and placed in windows around the country. Wednesday was also the day when deaths due to Covid-19 passed the 100,000 mark in the UK. The candles lit that day are symbols of the human spirit, of life, and of hope for the future -- and, in our case, of Jews and Christians standing together in remembrance and solidarity.
In his comments at the national HMD ceremony, Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, spoke powerfully on being the light in the darkness, the theme of this year's commemoration. 'Today we recall how the light of humanity, decency, and compassion was extinguished, when darkness descended on the earth,' he said. 'But darkness can only endure where we fail to shine a light. Let us never forget that even a tiny flame can banish darkness. If each one of us can become that flame, this will be a different world, a world in which light will prevail'. The service was also notable for the images it conveyed of Judaism in all its diversity -- indeed of the diversity of all the victims of the Holocaust and other genocides, whether gay, straight, disabled, Black, Muslim, Christian, Asian, African, or any number of identities and ethnicities.
If you missed the HMD ceremony click here to watch it.
This was a Holocaust Memorial Day with a special relevance, and not only because of the grim Covid-19 milestone. CCJ was one of several signatories to a letter which appeared in The Times on 27 January, connecting the horrible events of the Holocaust with recent atrocities committed against Christians in Nigeria, Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and Uyghur Muslims in China. The letter called on the UK government to take decisive action in accordance with the UN Genocide Convention, concluding, 'The time for excuses and delay is over, the time for action is now'. Wednesday was a sobering day to remember, to grieve, and to commit ourselves to action.
Yet the day was not without hope. That morning, BBC Radio 4 LW used CCJ resources in their short act of Christian worship marking HMD. 'Jesus calls us to be a light shining in the darkness', the worship leader said, quoting a litany prayer prepared for the CCJ resource by Fr Jan Nowotnik, National Ecumenical Officer for the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. The candles we lit were signs of our personal commitment in CCJ to be the light in our communities: signs of resolve and action.
Psalm 112, an acrostic psalm beginning with different letters of the Hebrew alphabet, has a curious half-verse for zayin, the seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In that verse, the one who fears the Lord will shine like the sun -- 'rise (zarach) in the darkness as a light for the upright; this one is gracious, merciful, and righteous' (NRSV, verse 4). Its twin Psalm 111, also an acrostic, uses similar adjectives in its zayin verse, but referring to God: there, the Lord is 'gracious and merciful'. The God-fearing individual shines in the darkness and exemplifies, you could say, God's own graciousness and mercy. That light was shining on Wednesday: by Jews, Christians and others remembering in their own ways and also standing together.
Below please find a blog from Rabbi Anna Posner for Tu B'Shevat, in which Rabbi Anna notes how the holiday celebrates trees, creation, and the replenishing of the Earth. Please also find information about a new Programme Manager and a Poet-in-Residence for CCJ. Please share these latter two widely! As always there events and media which may be of interest and the final notice of the CCJ Leeds Branch event One Rabbi’s Musical Journey (3rd of February).
Wishing you a safe, restful, and healthy weekend,
Nathan
Interim Director , Council of Christians & Jews (CCJ)
