Reform Set for Biggest Fundraiser Ever
Friday, 09 September 2011
The Movement for Reform Judaism’s annual fundraising dinner is set to be its largest ever and is completely sold out the Movement announced this week. Numbers are up from last year for the event which will take place at RIBA, the Royal Institute of British Architects, in central London on Thursday 15th September.The dinner is the first for the Movement’s new leadership team. Amongst those attending will be new Chief Executive, Ben Rich and incoming Director of Community Development, Pam Goldsmith. Also expected is Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner of Alyth (North Western Reform Synagogue) and Movement Rabbi-designate. Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger DBE will also be attending her first dinner in her capacity as Senior Rabbi of West London Synagogue, the Movement’s oldest community.
It is an opportunity for Ben Rich to set out his vision for the Movement which is currently undergoing a nine month strategic review. In his speech, Ben will note the challenges faced by the Jewish community as a whole and argue that the Reform Movement, in particular, is uniquely placed to meet those challenges.
He will ask how the Movement can support its communities, offering ‘values for money’, arguing that - were the Movement not to exist - its member synagogues would soon invent it. He will also note that, in a changing Jewish landscape, the Movement must meet the needs of those for whom our current institutions do not cater, for those who find that the ‘institution and the formality of synagogue services are not their cup of Palwin’s’.
The dinner will also see the premier of the Movement’s new film and will hear from guest speaker Robert Pigott, BBC Religious Affairs Correspondent. Over the last ten years Robert has covered every major religious story for the BBC and has monitored how all religious denominations have struggled to adapt to changing societies.
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