A big thank you and sh' coyach to Rabbi Laura, who has sent us the script for her wonderful Pause for Thought aired this morning on Radio 4 Breakfast. Read and be inspired ....

Good morning!

I’ve just returned from Belfast, visiting the Shades Programme which is training Israeli and Palestinian civil servants and NGO employees in conflict resolution and negotiation skills.

We were at Stormont, now the seat of the Northern Irish Assembly. Politicians from across the political spectrum, many of them once sworn enemies who had been at the crucible of the conflict, shared their experiences of the Troubles. They told us that they had all believed they had God on their side and their side only.

It was fascinating watching Palestinians and Israelis listening to parliamentarians who included ex-prisoners. They heard stories of transformation from terrorist activity to accountable parliamentary roles.

I was particularly affected by hearing Monica McWilliams, from the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition. Every evening during the Good Friday talks, the participants were set homework by the leading negotiators. Monica explained that she would gather colleagues around her kitchen table to deliberate over potential clauses of the suggested agreement. The next morning, the women explained their deliberations. It was this willingness to share ideas that brought others along with them and modelled new ways of collaboration and power sharing.

This was a timely visit for me as next week Jews will revisit our own history, celebrating the festival of Purim, when the risk-taking negotiation by another woman leader, the Biblical Queen Esther, paid off. Esther invited the King of Persia to her banquet table and persuaded him to reverse a plot to kill all Jews in his Empire.

It’s surprising that the name of God doesn’t appear anywhere in the Book of Esther. Sometimes it’s better not to invoke God’s name or wait for God to intervene, to be delicate with the use of the divine.

In Belfast, the politicians talked about a watershed moment when a delegation visited South Africa to hear about the negotiations that ended apartheid.  Nelson Mandela told them: “You, and no one else, have got to change this situation.” By revisiting someone else’s history, they saw a possibility for accommodation in their own struggle. They knew they couldn’t leave the work to anyone else.

Dehumanisation of the other side means negotiation often appears impossible. Self-perpetuating and self-destructive narratives on either side means it takes fierce courage to get round the negotiating table. It takes a Queen Esther or a Monica McWilliams to help change the narrative and challenge situations that seem as bleak, as they do unique.

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And here's an appropriate tipple for Purim!

Hello and Shalom!  Welcome to Jackson’s Row’s first blog entry.  We’re glad you’re here.

The JR blog is a channel of communication between the synagogue and its members.  Expect to read messages from Rabbi Silverman, news of forthcoming events, thoughts from synagogue members, calls to action and much more. Please email srahampd@gmail.com if you would like to contribute an article or photos.  And keep coming back – we will be posting here very regularly indeed.

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The Rabbi had these words to say on the topic of mitochondrial donation in a recent sermon ..

 “Honour your father and your mother” is the pivotal point of the Ten Commandments. This week, the House of Lords will vote on a bill, which if passed, will make Britain the first country in which it is possible for a person to be born of 3 parents.

The aim is to legalise mitochondrial replacement techniques to be used in women who carry mitochondrial disease. Mitochondria are components of the cells that make up every part of our bodies.  The mitochondrial DNA is inherited solely from one’s mother - the father does not contribute any. They are often referred to as the powerhouses of the cells. They generate the energy that our cells need to do their jobs, like the energy in a battery. If they are defective you are in trouble, although I believe you can be a carrier without suffering the effects of the defective DNA yourself.

1 in 200 babies are born with mitochondrial disease and their lives can be tragically cut short.  Faulty mitochondria have been linked to a number of common diseases: Diabetes, Alzheimers, liver disease, heart disease, cancer, epilepsy, brain disorders, autism….  There is no cure available.

But thanks to research done in Newcastle it is now possible for a woman with mitochondrial disease to produce children free of it by having her diseased cell-components replaced with healthy ones from a donor, creating a healthy embryo.

If given the go-ahead, the procedure would avoid children being born with serious diseases due to mutations in mitochondrial DNA.

What are the Jewish responses?  The answer to that question could be crucial, given the strong influence of the Jewish voice now in the House of Lords.      People like Lord Winston, Lord Sacks, Baroness Ruth Deech and  Baroness Rabbi Julia Neuberger.

First and foremost we have the principle of pikkuach nefesh, saving life.

This overrides any religious prohibition, except for three, two of them in the 10 Commandments -idolatry and murder and the third is sexual immorality. Given the choice: give up your life rather than break any of those three.

Otherwise you must set aside Jewish law to save life. It is based on a verse in the Torah : These are the commandments; a person shall live by them -Chai bahem, it says, and the Talmud comments – live by them, and not die through keeping them.   The aim of the new bill is saving life, therefore Jews should be in favour.

Jewish theology does not share the Christian concept of the soul entering the ovum at conception. Any alteration of the embryo, or even destruction of embryos would not be an issue for us.

What we don’t have is opposition to it on grounds of playing God. Dangers, unforeseen consequences, are another matter and the jury is still out on that. This side of the ethical debate is part of a much wider discussion involving genetic modification, GM foods, and wider still, interfering with nature in general.

The overarching concept  here is that we are co-partners with God in the  work of creation.  When any child is born, say our sages, 3 are involved: mother, father and God. And in the Talmud we have the boldest statement of all:

“Greater are the works of the righteous than the creation of the world. –  Rashi’s comment  is  that the works of the righteous are the hands of God in this world.  

Every kind of life –saving and life-enhancing  activity, from  the breathtaking advances in medical science, to  our ordinary everyday acts of help and tzedakah,  giving, especially for medical research, can  serve the highest sacred purposes.

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PURIM – what not to wear

Anything sensible, really.

And yet we put a lot of thought into our fancy dress, especially if we have to kit out kids.  The shortest lasting fancy dress outfit I even devised was the lollipop lady, when I stuck lollipops to a yellow raincoat and sent my daughter to Habo nursery... You can guess the rest.  My finest moment was dressing up my other daughter as Blackadder – in black from head to toe, holding a calculator.  Result!

This year, princesses are back in vogue, thanks to Frozen and the general Disneyfication of children’s culture.  Children seem to want to live the dream when they dress up – as princesses, superheroes and the like.  Grown-ups use fancy dress to just look silly and be kids again – one wonders what the Rabbi’s get-up will be this year?  Purim 2015 is very close to Comic Relief, when we’re all being encouraged to paint our faces, so perhaps you can try out a design at synagogue (just don’t travel here by tram!)

We have one Purim service – at 6.30pm on Wednesday March 4^th. You'll be able to hear the Megillah and dress up however you like.

Question for the Rabbi – is Peppa Pig kosher?

SA