Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú

From Julia Neuberger Senior Rabbi at the west London Synagogue:

It’s news overload- some of it joyful, such as the Royal Wedding, some of it gloomy, such as the deaths on the Gaza border, and some of it complicated, such as President Trump pulling out of the Iran deal. To add to that, there’s the Cup Final. And to add to that, it’s Shavuot, Pentecost, starting on Saturday night!!!! It’s a joyful festival celebrating the giving of the 10 Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai whilst the Israelites were wandering in the desert. We mark it with services, of course, but also with an all-night study session, and, in our case, because it’s Ramadan, an iftar, a fast breaking with our Muslim friends and neighbours. And our all-nighter will look at weddings and kings and queens, to keep in the mood….. happy and sad, celebratory and reflective.

We often have to change mood quickly in Judaism. Four days after the Day of Atonement, repenting of our sins in the autumn, we’re into the mother of all harvest festivals for a whole week!!!! Our joyful festival services often conclude with a memorial service, remembering those who once shared these days with us. My mother, a very grateful refugee from Nazi Germany was a passionate royalist! There were photographs of the royal family everywhere in our house. The Royal Wedding would have been perfection for her- she would have loved it. And Prince Harry will no doubt be thinking of his mother, who died so tragically young. Bittersweet. Pain and sorrow, joy and celebration. They go side by side. The author of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible got it spot on when he wrote: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…..We need all of these, side by side, joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure, to be fully human.Ìý

Ìý