On Saturday 24th January 2026, Brentwood Reform (A.K.A Tikvah Chadasha)came together with Christian Friends of Israel, to  hold a service commemorating the WW2 Holocaust.  Six million Jews, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, were murdered by the Nazis. Prior to WW2, the world Jewish population was around 16.6 million people.  Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany & its collaborators murdered a little over a third of the world’s Jews.  Sadly, today the Jewish population has not yet recovered from this devastating loss, 80 years on and the world Jewish population is around 15.7 million, we still have some way to go to reach pre WW2 numbers. Yet what a miracle that having lost a…

Around 18  months ago, we were contacted by George who had been thinking about conversion to Judaism for some time. George has family living in Israel and has visited Israel many times. George’s wife though not Jewish both she and George are strong supporters of Israel, Kate was for a number of years a teacher at a Sunday Cheder class. Thus she is familiar both with Hebrew, Jewish traditions and of course the food and songs that partner Judaism. Kate has fully supported George in his journey and is very proud of the move he has made. So after around 18 months of study, which included learning about Judaism and learning Hebrew, George appeared at the…

We Jews have just come to the end of an extended sequence of religious festivals following upon our New Year. But, as you can imagine, this year’s celebrations have been very muted. A deep, dark shadow has fallen across our lives. Two weeks ago was Yom Kippur, when our synagogues are packed full for the annual fast, when we pray to God to forgive us for our sins. But this year, we were sinned against, as a knife-wielding fanatic tried to gain entrance to a packed synagogue in north Manchester. Two ordinary worshippers were murdered. It could have been many more. Then, on 7th October, we again gathered in our synagogues for the late harvest festival of Sukkot and also commemorated the second…

Brentwood Reform is delighted that the 20 remaining living hostages:- Omri Miran, Matan Angrest, Ziv Berman, Gali Berman, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Alon Ohel, Eitan Mor, Elkana Bohbot, Avinatan Or, Yosef-Chaim Ohana, Evyatar David, Rom Braslabski, Segev Kalfon, Maxim Herkin, Bar Kupershtein, Eitan Horn, Ariel Cunio, David Cunio, Matan Zangauker, Nimrod Cohen. have now been safely returned to Israel. We pray for the peace of Israel and her people, never forgetting the almost 1000 IDF soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their fellow citizens. May their memory and the memories of those brutally murdered both on 7th October 2023 and those murdered in Hamas captivity over the last 2 years be a blessing.…

In our tradition, any excuse for a full kiddish is a good one. Soon Shabbat 14th June, we got together to socialize. Around a table of food we chatted and met the Rabbi who will be leading our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services.  Delicious food as always supplied by Debra Kaye, a lovely time was had by all.