Office of the Beit Din of the
Hag Samayach to you all.
Assembly of Reform Rabbis UK
First of all, an abject apology that we are sending details of the Beit Din appointments so late in the day. Negotiating times and places over three different countries has proved to be quite interesting! And then there are the Yamim Tovim, which increase synagogues’ and rabbinic workloads by 100% while cutting actual office time by 50%. I really am sorry about this late notice cut as Rabbi Rothschild put it so tellingly in an email, ‘it is like organising an
international conference - we have rabbis in Warsaw, London and Berlin/Wien trying to arrange a two-day event in Krakow for people from Wien, Warsaw, Gdansk, Liberec etc...... and all on a very low budget. This is alas symbolic of the problems facing Progressive Jews in Europe, where we do not have all our own infrastructure and enough personnel’.
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What has emerged over the last week are the following criteria around which we have tried to book set times so everyone can make suitable travel arrangements.
www.reformjudaism.org.uk
Convenor Rabbi Jacqueline Tabick
We have 13 candidates in total, which is wonderful news. One from the Czech Republic, three from Austria and nine from Poland. But this does mean we will have to see some candidates on the Sunday evening in order to make sufficient time for all of you to get through the court and visit the Mikveh on the Monday before sunset. The Eden Hotel have requested that all the women candidates should go to the Mikveh first on Monday morning. This of course means that we must interview the women first, Sunday evening and Monday morning. Then we can interview the men. There is a halachic rule that rabbis who know you well cannot sit on a Beit Din acting as judge over you, so we have placed two of the female Austrian candidates first as Rabbi Rothschild might be delayed in arriving in Krakow. The Jewish Community Centre has kindly allowed us to use their premises 13.30 to 20.30 on Sunday evening as well as during the day on Monday. This will be a far more comfortable venue than the Eden hotel, so we have accepted their kind offer.
Chair, Assembly of Reform Rabbis UK Rabbi Sybil Sheridan
It would of course be wonderful if the times sent in the accompanying email are indeed suitable for you…but keeping in mind the above criteria (especially noting the Mikveh times for males and females, and that we have to interview some women candidates Sunday evening) if you really cannot be available at the time we have suggested, please do let us know as soon as possible, so we can try and meet your needs. I am looking forward to meeting you all. Have a wonderful Simchat Torah and Shabbat before the Beit Din. Yours sincerely The Movement for Reform Judaism Company Limited by Guarantee Company Number: 07431950
Rabbi Jackie Convenor Beit Din
Registered Charity No: 1139806
Chair of the Movement Robert Weiner
