We have had a busy year, with many activities and events, participation in the local community and developing our membership of the Board of Deputies. We sadly lost several members of our community this year, including Wendy Bellany, Ruth Henig, and of course Malcolm Weisman.
Last year’s AGM was on 21st September, between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. We held services for the High Holy Days as usual, led by Naomi Tadmor, and also had tea in Ben Soffa’s Succah.
However, many of our plans had to change rapidly with the terrible events of 7th October. At the end of October we held a candlelight vigil, which was beautiful and moving and brought people from the community together.
In December we held our annual Hannukah party, which was great a success with 30-40 people attending. We also had a presence at the student candle lighting event held at the Jewish rooms, which was also very well attended with over 30 students there as well as representatives of the University including the Deputy Vice Chancellor.
Holocaust memorial day was commemorated as usual in January. There were a range of events at Lancaster Town Hall, the Priory and in the city, and members of our community attended and contributed. We also arranged to meet at the Dukes Cinema for a screening of the moving film One Life, about Sir Nicholas Winton, and discussion following the film.
For Purim we had more events, a hamantaschen baking activity and a megillah reading. We also celebrated Pesach, holding a communal seder which was well attended and a lovely event. We also held a cheesecake picnic on Shavuot.
Members of our committee have been regularly attending Communities Together meetings, linking with other local organisations and communities. Events related to this including giving consultation to a local hospice on a new multifaith space, and contributing to a multifaith film ‘Me and My Beliefs’ created by students at Lancaster and Morecambe college, which should be released shortly.