REUNION IN YESHURUN
By R. Deutsch
Yeshurun shul in Cheadle once again enjoyed a beautiful Shabbos together
with the Travelling Chassidim from North Manchester. The TCUK had been
there the previous year and were as excited as the shul congregants to see each
other again and spend a Shabbos together.
The men, some with their wives and children, totalling 25 people, went South
and were hosted by the community members. Rabbi Greg Bank, the devoted Rabbi of
Yeshurun, was extremely helpful in making all the guests feel comfortable and
providing for their needs, dropping off essentials such as Shabbos tissues and airbeds
by each of the host families.
The Shabbos was a celebration of song, dance and beautiful unity between
the two groups, but it really didn’t feel like two groups at all. Everyone got
on so well with each other, with the Yeshurun members going out of their way to
make their guests feel at home. The TCUK members all commented on how welcoming
and friendly the Cheadle community was, and in return, they appreciated how
accepting the Chassidim were, which to some was unexpected. As with each TCUK
Shabbos, many myths were dispelled and barriers lifted when the two groups
realised that, as Jewish people, our similarities are far greater than our
differences. Whilst our looks are external, inside we are all brothers and
sisters and can all get along together.
Shabbos started with Kabbalas Shabbos led by R’ M. S. Ostreicher,
in his melodious voice, with the other TCUK men joining him on the bimah
and singing together. After Kabbalas Shabbos the men led the others in a
lebedig dance around the shul, coaxing as many as they could to join in.
Shtreimels were put on the heads of the Cheadle men, to their great
delight, creating a beautiful atmosphere of camaraderie and a spirit of unity.
Approximately 120 shul members stayed for the communal Shabbos meal
afterwards, which was set up on long tables in the shul’s social events hall.
Once again, there was a lot of singing and dancing, with the ladies adjourning
to a side room so that they too could enjoy the TCUK Shabbos atmosphere. During
the Shabbos seuda, Rabbi Moshe Deutsch spoke passionately about Matan Torah,
and how the Torah is as relevant to our lives today as it was then.
Shabbos morning followed in a similar fashion, with R’ Shlomo Eckstein at
the omud for shacharis and R’ Yissocher Merlin taking over for mussaf.
Once more, the davening was interspersed with singing, much of which was
deliberately in tunes which the community were familiar with. After Krias
HaTorah, Rabbi Bank warmly welcomed everyone and expressed his joy at the
way the two communities were enjoying each other’s company. He pointed out that
the TCUK is a completely not-for-profit organisation, with the members coming
purely because they want to share the warmth and beauty of Shabbos with the
wider community. Rabbi Bank then invited Rabbi Shlomo Stark, Director of TCUK
in Manchester, to speak. Rabbi Stark spoke about Matan Torah
being the start of a relationship with Hashem, with the Torah as a guidebook
for how to make the relationship work, as opposed to a merely a book of rules.
He explained that the word spiritual is made up of spirit and ritual, and in yiddishkeit
both components are equally important.
Mussaf was followed by ‘kiddunch’ where cholent and kugel were served buffet
style. A lively Q & A session followed where the community members had the
opportunity to ask whatever they wanted to know about the Chassidish or Ultra-Orthodox
way of life. The questions, as well as the answers were really interesting and
stimulating, and gave both groups plenty to think about. People commented on
how they had been sure that Chassidim look down on them for not being as
religious, but were happily surprised to have been proven wrong.
Shabbos ended with an inspirational musical havdolo led by Rabbi Stark, which was followed by yet more dancing, and a group photo. Friendships had been formed and a wonderful atmosphere of the Travelling Chassidim’s ethos – Love, Joy and Classic Jewish Spirit – was so clearly evidenced at the beautiful Shabbos in Cheadle.
No comments:
Post a Comment