United Synagogue

I think that would be problematic for lots of reasons.

And what's particularly interesting as a result is that many organizations which claim to be religious, whatever that word means, including famously United Synagogue here in the UK, representing Jews of Britain and the Commonwealth, for most of its history, had rabbis wear the Anglican uniform.

Had rabbis wear a black shirt with a white dog collar and wore canonical clothes in synagogue, which is a very explicit violation of this whole principle.

That only stopped in the 1960s and 70s, by the way.

Some people may remember United Synagogue rabbis who looked like Vickers.

And there's a lot to be said there about kind of assimilation, about what orthodoxy means or doesn't mean.

And we could go all into that.

I am Gelli, Rabbi Harris, President of the United Synagogue, President of the Board of Deputies, beloved friends.

When you see the shul so beautifully restored, you have to admit you missed the dark green paint, the damp box.

Can I say to you how moving it is, how inspiring to see this beautiful synagogue, one of the oldest in London, one of the most beautiful in the whole of British Jewry, so beautifully transformed.

So why should the only thing I...

Either because I have an Arab, because you live in Israel, or where I grew up, because who doesn't carry on Shabbos? What are you talking about? It's the United Synagogue.

What do you mean you don't carry on Shabbos? Um, so the point is in either case, uh, why should the one reason, why should one thing I don't break shabbos for be like the Mitzvah Doraisa? And on top of that, as Josh says, well, why not just leave the sofa in shul? As in, um, why not chain it to the desk? Like it doesn't, and it creates this kind of, I think kind of fries your brain to be taught that kind of thing as a kid that you just, if you learn that kind of mode of thinking about enough mitzvahs, you just kind of, it implants this, either it's kind of like a game, or that like, perhaps it kind of, chazal is sort of above the Torah, that they can just kind of, at whim, really, just take away parts of the Torah.

And, you know, I once asked someone, like, you know, are you sure, like, does it really make sense that they were so, they were so makbid? on the Chash HaKarim.

welcome back to another episode of e pluribus unum today we are joined by rabbi andrew shaw who is the founder and CEO of 250 Days for 250 Years, alongside co-founder Daniel Shikani.

The project is a national initiative celebrating America's Semi-Sexual Centennial, a 250-day journey through American history, offering one day of content for every year since 1776 through daily videos, essays, state spotlights, a nationwide treasure hunt, and a three-volume book series, which I've seen and I think is fabulous.

Andrew previously founded TRIBE, the United Synagogues Youth Division, and created the 60 and 70 Days Holocaust Memorial Projects, reaching hundreds of thousands worldwide.

Andrew, thank you so much for joining us today.

Pleasure to be here.

Hello and welcome to Dayan Zobin On, a new series of podcasts from the United Synagogue.

I'm Rabbi Michael Laettner, our Director of Education, and it's a real pleasure to welcome back Dayan Eliezer Zobin for our discussion today.

Dayan Zobin, well known I hope to many of you, is a Dayan on the London Beth Din, the Rabbi of the Ne'er Yisrael Synagogue in Hendon, former principal of the Emanuel College School, and a mentor and guide to rabbis, congregants, and many others, both in Hendon and more broadly.