Pulpit Rabbis - Our Communities' Key Workers

good afternoon um my name is Yehuda neuberger it's my great pleasure this afternoon to uh welcome Rabbi Frye Mervis to address us for a few minutes uh Robin Mervis well known and those who are here for Chavez had a chance to encounter him but uh Robin Mervis is the 11th Chief Rabbi the United Hebrew congregations of the Commonwealth that's quite a mouthful but uh recently took over for Rabbi Sachs who is well known in these circles and Robbie Mervis has had a name that's been growing and truly a pleasure for us to host him here a bit of background Robin Mervis from 1984 to 1992 was actually the chief Rabbi of Ireland so there aren't that many rabbis who could pull off an authentic Irish accent and we'll see if in fact in this case I'm reminded actually of a Funny Story supposedly true I have a friend of mine who her family came from Ireland and when we asked how they ended up in Ireland they said after the war her parents got on a ship to go to America and evidently the ship docked in Ireland they heard English they thought they were there and they got off the ship and in fact so I guess one more one more member there of the Irish Jewish Community but he served served with distinction in that role for quite some time I did a little bit of research as I was going to be introducing uh Robin Mervis and I found out some interesting little tidbits uh one about his wife who uh Valerie who's quite accomplished in her own right as a social worker as an adoption Advocate and author Healthcare specialist but that she comes from Zimbabwe which is uh an interesting fact I also found it interesting according to the BBC that the rabbi is partial to the Tottenham Hotspur football club so we'll see if maybe that's the topic of discussion today but more germane to our topic actually we're going to be speaking a little bit about the uh the role of the of the pulpit Rabbi in communal Outreach and in fact the rabbi is very much eminently qualified for this discussion it came up a little bit in the conversation in the room before about how the role of a synagogue Rabbi has evolved greatly over the last number of decades and in order to be successful today rabbis need to operate on so many levels I think you find rabbi's serving which is a long-standing role hashgraphic guides medical advisors and cases social workers crisis interventions uh Specialists family counselors all sorts of roles and in fact in fact Robin Mervis from looking a bit around has very much a very very broad Broad View and involvement in his pulpit in some in some fashion rabbinix is uh the family business he has the ethos his father was in the rabbit and my understanding is his grandfather as well uh Robin Mervis is a London in his own right he learned in uh Karen biavna he was in the gush he was in macron Ariel he has very broad interests and practices I'm given to understand that he's not only a shekhit that is a mall and that he's very studied in Jewish cantorial music and he's an activist in matters both high and low so uh very involved in Soviet jewelry and some efforts about preventing Nazi war criminals from living in Ireland and then I'm told that making sure that there's even safe pedestrian Crossings near the Finchley synagogue where Robin Mervis was Rabbi for quite some time and while it's cute it's actually very important that a rabbi is involved in the important matters but also making sure all of the issues relating to those in a show he's well known for his Outreach across religious divides interdenominationally and truly someone who's respected on many fronts he's someone who's been at the Forefront of issues about the appropriate roles for Women Within the Orthodox Jewish community and in fact when you think about the expanding role and function of a communal Rabbi and the degree to which Robert Murphys is indeed very practiced in this it makes it very appropriate for our topic today about the increasing role of the pulpit Rabbi in Jewish Outreach and it's my honor and privilege to introduce Robin Mervis to address us there will be hopefully a few a few minutes afterwards for some question and answer as well thank you very much for those lovely warm words of welcome then gives certain signs through which we will be able to identify an era within which the mashiach's footsteps can be seen a Time approaching the ultimate gula and if you have a look at that mishnah you will find that there are many themes raised which match the times in which we are living there is one particular statement there which requires added depth of understanding says the mishnah Pena that generation will have the appearance of a dog what does it mean a generation that looks like a dog so I'd like to share with you two perisim the first is the Paris of rebestral salanta says sometimes you will see a dog walking along a Pavement and then there will be a man or a woman walking behind so who's the leader and who's the follower well the dog is leading and the person is walking behind then the person will turn the corner the dog will then notice ah turn the corner dog will catch up and then go in front again so in actual fact the one who's in front the leader is really following the one who's behind cedra Bistro salanta the time will come when International Leadership will be at such a low ebb that most International leaders will be people who will be called leaders by name but in actual fact they will be following those who have put them into Power because they will be fashioning their policies according to what is popular instead of being conviction leaders stating after me rather all they'll be interested in will be what do the people want and whatever will continue to enable my seat to be kept warm and for me to be in power those will be the policies that I will have Israel that could also happen with regard to our rabbanim where ultimately you don't have a conviction leader saying I believe this is the this is what is correct my community should follow me but rather what's popular today what do the people want what's in fashion and let us take and adapt it in order to fit what the people want so that's rabisrael salanta's Paris a call for conviction leadership very different Parish says the kotzka when a Shepherd goes out to tent the flock he takes a sheepdog with him the role of the shepherd is to look after the Sheep interested in grazing eating drinking water the Sheep which are faithful and loyal to the shepherd the role of the Sheepdog is different the Sheepdog stands on the periphery ensures that all the Sheep stay within the fold and in the event that one very precious chapter Strays the Sheepdog will run after it and try to bring it back historically the traditional role of the rav has been to be a faithful Shepherd to his flock but says the kotzka the time will come when there will be a need for a new type of spiritual leader in the Sheepdog mold somebody whose Prime responsibility will be to keep everybody within the fold and in the event that a precious Jewish soul Strays from the fold that spiritual leader will care about every single nishama and will strive to bring him or her back that isn't that exactly the age in which we are living a time in which we have seen the introduction of a new concept of spiritual leader the outreacher of the Outreach director the Outreach organization the Outreach worker the Baal Chavez Yeshiva the concept of on the mass scale piloted so remarkably by the Lubavitch movement emulated so well by numerous creamer of organizations and I believe that the role of the pulpit Rabbi today must be a fusion of Shepherd and sheepdog to be there for those who are already interested who are already committed to be magazak them to give them the spiritual nourishment that they thirst for and also to take on the role of sheepdog to guarantee that the Wrath is there also for those who don't come to shore also for those whom one hardly sees but they are precious members of our kihilat and to guarantee to the best of our ability that they will remain true to Jewish tradition and through them Yiddish kite will flow into the generations that will follow there is a fascinating said throughout my life I was perturbed I was concerned I was worried because there was one puzzle that I couldn't understand isn't that an amazing statement he was upset because there was one person he couldn't understand I love I we could understand to the extent that he understood it but that must mean that that particular person must have been a really difficult one to understand so what is it it comes from tomorrow and the passage and you shall grope around at noon in the same way as a blind person gropes around in the middle of the night so this is a parcel which relates to a situation of sheer desperation for amisrael when we will lose our way totally what difference does it make to a blind person whether it's daytime or nighttime the puzzle says you will Grove around at noon in the light of day in the same way as the blind man gropes around in the middle of the night but why do we have to say in the middle of the night it's always the middle of the night tragically for a blind person so why does the puzzle say like a blind person in the middle of the night that was his problem that was his dilemma and he had no answer foreign but then he said one night something happened a personal experience through which I understood the shot of this pasok he said one night it was very late at night it was absolutely dark variety and he said I saw there was a light coming towards me the light was becoming larger and larger and when it came right in front of me I saw it was a lantern and the lantern was being held by a blind man walking in the middle of the night holding that Lantern America I said to him what do you need this Lantern for please explain it you're blind why are you holding the lantern the blind man replied to me said rabbi yasi cosmanship as long as I'm holding this Lantern people can see me and save me from falling into birds from tripping over branches from bumping into things the blind man said this Lantern is not for me this Blanton is for others to notice me and to come to my Aid to assist me now Rabbi yossi understood the pasok um Israel will grope around at noon in the same way as a blind man gropes around in the middle of the night that is to say a blind man without avocado without a lantern in his hand meaning he is so lost not only can he not see where he's going but other people can't notice him and therefore cannot come to his Aid that's the extent to which Omni Israel will reach a low ebb so I think that this comma rise of huge relevance to us because Baruch Hashem there are many Jewish people today who are lost but thankfully Adam they're holding out a lantern in their hands we might not see them in shul but maybe they're volunteering to carry out security duties or they're a member of a Jewish Community Center or sports club or maybe they're making a stand Marching for Israel oh they're taking an interest in something Jewish of some sort or other Avoca Bayada spiritually they're lost but at least they're identifying themselves so we can notice who they are they're featuring as Jewish people and as a result we can respond to their call the tragedy comes when there are people who aren't connected at all totally disengaged there on a fast track to assimilation so as a result spiritual leaders today need to not only look at those who are in ourselves we need to look beyond the confines of our community centers to see who is there out there who's holding that Lantern in their hands how can we reach them and hopefully transform their lives explains the opening of the Amita I wonder if this has ever crossed your mind there is a principle in halacha khatima in bracha where you have a long blessing then the conclusion of the blessing which comes at the end of the long blessing that conclusion in terms of theme must match the content of the blessing so what is the content of the opening blessing of the amida elope it is called avat it's all about the Patriarchs so how does the bracha conclude Baruch Hashem again avraham something wrong it really should conclude Hashem avraham yes but it doesn't it's all about and I'm sure you've heard so many lovely Parish human inspirational thoughts about each one had a different way through which to approach and at the commencement of the amida we wish to emulate them this is addresses and It quotes the Passover the beginning of gives four promises to avraham is a great nation and you will be a blessing for others says as follows and I will make you into great Nations that's why we say in armida the god of aframe why because avram is the Father the great nation of hamonkoye foreign no what's the fourth promise will be the blessing you will be in the conclusion with you we will conclude the blessing and not with the authors so that's the Gamora to explain the origin of the opening blessing of the amida what has this got to do with our subject you must be thinking an amazing mind a great talmudic scholar in the period in Eastern Europe leading up to the wall said as follows there are three types of Eden broadly speaking there are the avram types the Yitzhak types and the Yakov types the alvram type 2 is somebody who's a Jose of his or her own volition they come forward in order to join the ranks of those who are committed to Torah and Mitzvah if you look at their parents home and their grandparents home they come from nothing they come from nowhere Hashem they have identified the truth and they are within our ranks that's the avram type the yes type is somebody brought up in a home that's committed to Toran means what the parents are fully committed give him a good the grandparents however no they're not from they're part of a different world and So within a yitzrak type environment you've got the challenges such as how do the children relate to the grandparents the parents expect them to love them to respect them but also to know that they're doing wrong because they drive on Shabbos or work on Shabbat says this is the type of dilemma that you have in the home of the Yitzhak type of Jew and then you've got the Yakov type the Ark of type is brought up in a home of Taran mitzvot the parents of room and the grandparents are from the aikov type knows nothing else so the gemara asks by the way this is total dress you know it's totally out of context but look at the beautiful message comes when the conclusion of all time approaches through who's through whose marriage will Amy Israel be able to enjoy a period of redemption the answer is it's through this of the avram type of Jews that the Redemption will come far more than the Yitzhak type and the Yakov type Hashem today we're living in an era within which the avram type of Jews have become a powerful force within Amy Israel thank God that while at one extreme we are losing so many precious souls to assimilation at the other there is a massive move of people appreciating their roots and coming back in droves and today amongst our greatest rabanim our most wonderful Educators on men and women who are of the avram types giving a contribution of inestimable value but it could only happen if people could care about them in the first place if people could take an interest in them if people could notice their lanterns that they're holding and reach out to them rather than just thinking well let's just close our ranks let's be happy with who we are what we've got and who cares about the others which leads me to my next thought because if the mindset is such that we're here for the sake of the fittest for the sake who are committed and we don't have to worry about the rest that is styled mindset what do I mean by that Mini were given the laws of kashrat when it comes to animals and to fish we've got Simone image when it comes to birds there are no Simone the Torah gives us a list of the traf Birds these are the birds that are the rest are Kosher one bird on that list is called the khasida the stock stock is tref but what an amazing name it's got the pious one the righteous one oh incredible name so the ramban explains very kind it shares its fluid with its young and those around it says as follows doesn't make sense because we know that the birds on that list of trade Birds inherently are birds of prey there is a cruel streak within their nature so how can you say the khasida is pious and it shares its food at the same time it's a bird of prey answers that Rim as follows and he says the stork is kind to only birds of its own feather towards other births towards other creatures it treats them with disdain and cruelty so yes it is a hasita yes it is pious yet it is kind and righteous But ultimately that way of life is strafe because we need to reach out to one and all so therefore where you have a mindset where we're here for the sake of the from you didn't we're here for the sake of those who are already learning and into Tehran mitzvot and we're not here for those who are moving away from our fault that's a Pious form of existence you're committed you're giving your stalker you're giving your time you're investing your energy and your ability but that mindset is a traif mindset because we should be here for one and for all and in terms of the contribution that we make and by the way I'm not here only speaking about Pulpit rabbis I'm speaking about all Educators I'm speaking about all parents and grandparents I'm speaking about all Yeadon because all of us should care about every single other Jew in fact we should care about every single human being as well in terms of the impact we can make sometimes we think of our Legacy in terms of our family but interestingly the term tuldot Generations can mean two things it can mean physical generations and can mean something else let's have a look at the beginning of parashat is these are the generations of Noah Noah was a righteous man he walked with God but where are the generations these are the generations of knock and what are we told about the generations he was righteous perfect in his Generations he walked with God where are the generations sirashi explains and he says as follows mikanchi culture himself from here we learn that the essential told what we give birth to in this world What flows from us that's our good deeds in addition to having physical Generations we can make an everlasting impact on civilization through the good deeds we perform because when I practice a good deed and somebody's touched by it and influenced by it and inspired by that person internalizes those values ideas lives according to them and then passes it on to others and therefore I am in a position to influence and to shed light for all generations to come as a result when we influence other people and ennoble their lives the impact is never ending till the end of all time now when it comes to spiritual leaders the greatest of them all was Moshe rabena and there's so much that we can learn from The Life and Times of Moshe and for me as we're speaking about this particular subject there is one passage which I believe is most opposite it's when yedra comes along and there's a reunion it's at the beginning of and what type of leadership does yitra witness with regard to his son-in-law means era from morning till night time he is the sole judge of an entire nation and everybody comes to him they stand in long queues to have their turn and hitra says to his son-in-law Allah this matter that you're doing it's not good you're going to wither away and the people with you this is crazy and of course yetro has a vested interest because if Moshe is under such pressure from early in the morning till late at night and what about his mishbacha yeto's daughter says by the way there are two occasions in the whole of Tanakh when the phrase lottov is mentioned it's not good the first is a connector not good for a man to be by himself I'll make a help me for him and the second here it's not good for you to do this alone both statements of lots of relate to being alone there's one thing which is totally not good that's when we live alone when we are alone when we exist to learn we need to be part of a community part of society and when we function we need to function with partners and that was the point that yeto was making to Moshe now there is a sequel to it it's very empiric alephyrhenu is just about to pass away during the last days of his life he shares Thoughts with the nation and he starts off by giving them words of reproof and he records for them all that which transpired originally when yitra came along and Moshe suggested to the nation a new systems offices of thousands of hundreds of 50s of tens and then Moshe says vatanu Ary says to the people and you responded to me and you said yes this idea is a good one and it fits beautifully yitra said lots of and the people are saying Tov you're going to share the leadership it's good all sounds fine but my question is well I did not shirabenu say this to the people as part of reproof what was wrong with their response he must have been indicating to them that at least they should have complained Moshe we want you we don't want anyone else isn't this amazing he was more humble than any other person but still he intuitively knew the role that he was playing as a guide to each and every individual so Moshe was saying to them you shouldn't have just accepted this you should have put up a fight an argument you should have said well share we want you let us have more of you can you imagine what it would be like us if today we were given a chance to stand in front of Moshe rabena for one minute wouldn't that be the most incredible minute of Our Lives to be in front of him to be blessed through the aura of his presence to be able to ask him a Shiloh or share some thought with him that was the script that the nation had and they said okay so it'll be plenty of money it'll be somebody else that's okay for us this is good we'll settle for it Moshe realized more than they did what they would be missing at the beginning of safer bar midbar we're told about a census and there an interesting phrase is used count the people according to the number of their names the ramban gives two parashim here says the ramban to arrange a census of the nation to show how great Hashem was after all bearing in mind what the nation had been through through our slavery in Egypt and then with the Egyptians pursuing us and various tragedies in the wilderness now the nation would be counted and the total figure of the sum of our national number would reflect on the greatness of our creator that's the First Parish of the ramban the second parish is the reason for the census was the methodology involved you must count them according to their numbers sorry according to their names says the ramban what happened with the census was that each tribe stood next to the national leader of each tribal leader the Nazis stood next to Moshe the national leader and each member of the tribe filed past and the person came and he said his name or he wrote his name in a paper and gave it to the tribal leader he said and the leader said hello yes come to everybody all right yes thank you and then only went so each individual had his precious moment with the leader says as follows the two perushim of the rambana very different from each other the First Parish speaks about the sahakal the totality of all the people there the second Parish addresses each individual ingredient of that totality gives an example let's take 27 dollars you come into a store you ask what does this cost you're told twenty seven dollars and you take out various bills which add up to 27 when you walk out of the store will you remember which bills you gave ten a five or this or that not at all because that's not important the important thing is you know you gave the twenty seven dollars it's the soccer call it's the total amount that counts let's say you're a teacher of a class you have 27 pupils you're taking the kids on an outing off the bus on the bus in the museum in the hall out of it you'll be paranoid about that number 27 all the time you'll be counting 27. why is there something trust special about 27 no there's something about everything special about every single child it's not the sahakal that counts it's every ingredient that's important as far as the spiritual leader is concerned we need to combine the two parashim of the ramban to be concerned with the total number our entire community and also to be concerned about every single member within that Community to give each person that person's chance and you know who got it down to a fine art because that was the background to the filing passed at 770 everybody would have those few precious seconds where the rebel would look at him and that would be a very special moment plus a dollar bill and that was the system that was adopted in the midber because every single person counts and that's what every single rub of every Community needs to bear in mind every person counts those we see in shul and those we don't see in shall those who are from those who are not from um must exist in abundance it's not for us to judge people on Friday night in artsvilla we say Hashem sinura those who love the Lord hate evil we don't say Hashem those who love the Lord hate the wicked because we don't know who's a Russia it is quite possible that people are not from their far-graded sadikim then those who are from uh who are we to judge we say we need to identify what is bad and to eradicate that which is bad but not to Target the individuals let's leave it up to academ to decide who is at Sadiq and who is a Russia at the center of Passage that arrives given to four types of Jewish children so why all the echards we should just saying the answer must be equals one in our eyes the loyal child the one who is dedicated and committed and who's smart the Russia is also the one who lets us down the one who turns his or her back on our faith the one who gives us such Sorrows that child is also the term the simple child with learning challenges we should never dismiss such an individual they've got a preciousnessoma that child equals the one who is so distant from Our Roots who doesn't even know how to ask because they're so ignorant that person too as a yetisama that person equals the prophet or share empiric aleph says um Israel and the number of the children of Israel will be like sand of the sea this is the beginning of which talks about the senses so we're compared to sand but it's not just sand it's sand of the sea sand of the Sea of SMUD so what's the message of the prophet my wife gave me a gift a few years ago of a book called sand a most remarkable book I learned something I didn't know before I think it's common knowledge that every snowflake is unique I don't think it's common knowledge as well that every single grain of sand in the world is unique under a powerful microscope no two grains of sand that exist in the world of millions trillions zillions of them no two are quite alike however when you've got mud it all appears to be one entity so the prophet says we're like sea sand every single Yiddish a person is unique is somebody of great importance to us and together we must combine to produce one single powerful United Nation and we must never forget the precious identity of every individual at a practical level about 15 years ago in the eventually Community I introduced a Yom Kippur question and answer session between musaf and Minka there was an hour's break so instead of an hour's break I said I'll stand on the Bimmer and whoever wants to ask questions can ask this became a major event as the years went by because in our community we had over 2 000 people governing in various minions and they all filled the huge synagogue and for an entire hour I was under the pressure of all the questions coming my way and people would speak about these questions and ask further questions and I suddenly realized I hadn't thought of it before this was so popular because it was part of the day's proceedings that everybody could understand even regular worshipers in shul if we're going to be honest with ourselves do not understand many of them every single word that we're toughening so what I did was I asked myself the question how can I get all these people to come into our soul on other times during the year so that psychologically there wouldn't be a barrier for them to cross the threshold how can I popularize what we're doing and I spoke to various people and I dreamed of an idea the show I was the rabbi was popularly known as kinlas because it was on kinlas Gardens the name of the street we started KLC The kinlos Learning Center and week after week over 400 people would come in because we would run popular sessions Jewish cooking Jewish history Jewish art Israeli dancing Gomorrah parashata shavua Kabbalah with different sessions and great food and entertainment and Baruch Hashem we were able to relate to the people that we didn't usually see in shul through this program and then I got a new idea what happens on Yom Kippur in our United synagogue schools in the United Kingdom by the way our United synagogue is different from United synagogue in the states um so our United synagogue which is mainstream Orthodoxy people are members of our Orthodox communities even if they're not from because they're nominally Orthodox they identify with what is right I often say that Orthodox comes from the Greek orthodoxos which is to think correctly it's not Ortho Praxis to do correctly so in Great Britain we have genuine Orthodox communities the people think correctly what they do how they practice that's a different story and Barack Hashem for that as a result 53 percent of Jewish people in the United Kingdom who are members of souls are members of Orthodox Jews the Orthodox Community is in the ascendancy as is the case in South African Australia New Zealand and other similar communities which anglo-jury has influenced so we're in a privileged position because what it means is that when it comes to Yom Kippur we've got all types of Eden who come to identify so what I decided to do was on Yom Kippur to run a parallel program throughout the entire day in our various classrooms in our various Halls you could either be in shul or you could attend a session on education or whatever it might be and it became so popular and it continues in many Souls within the United Kingdom today because once they come through the door you've got them let's use them let's reach out to them let's acknowledge the fact that they're not necessarily going to understand the service so let's Inspire them while they are with us and similarly we need to think creatively of ways through which we can reach out to every single Jewish person and when it comes to synagogue services when we think about the style of Outfield should we have a khazan or about Villa a choir or congregational singing long trilogyot happy tree lot of serious philot we shouldn't only consider those who are there we should also consider those who are not coming why aren't they coming how can we make our Lord more appealing to those who are voting with their feet by not actually attending let's never forget that members of our communities include people who don't Peter pitch up let's also remember that members of our communities might not actually take out membership of our communities might not be paying the bills but they are you then they're living in our areas I genuinely believe that when the time comes admir stream that we'll stand before the question that will be posed to us will not be were you a good member of your shul were you a good member of the OU were you a good member of the United synagogue it'll be were you a good Jew were you a human good human being how have we related to one and all to what degree are we making an impact on the world within which we live so before I give you some time for some questions let me conclude the formal part of my presentation valve present an anecdote to us it's that which inspired Akiva to become rabi Akiva so everybody's familiar with the way in which at the age of 40 Rachel put to him the fact yes you can marry me if you go off to yavne in order to study there's a less well-known passage in Avatar abhinatan I want to think about this this is a big issue you're asking me yeah I want to marry you but you know to go after Yeshiva that's a lot after all I don't even know my aleph bet so we're told that he went to a quiet place to sit down and to ponder it was near the water of the brook and he noticed that as he was sitting next to a certain large Stone and where he was sitting there was water dripping on the stone and he noticed that where the water was Dripping there was actually a hole in the Stone so he thought to himself gosh one drop of water can do nothing but look at what's happened over the years all these drops have accumulated in order to penetrate the surface of the Stone therefore he said at the age of 40 it's going to be very difficult for any to penetrate my mind but if I really apply myself and I study hard again and again eventually it will get through and it will make its Mark so that image of the water dripping on the stone that was a life-changing moment for him I believe then in previous generations the pulpit rabbis Prime influence has been this model of the water dropping on the stone after a car we're going to adhere sermon after sermon after sermon and get to know the Ralph and his wife and their family and be part of services it would grow on him and her and over the years you would start to see a change it's not something instant it's something which happens slowly but surely it's been the Akiva approach to strengthening yiddishka but today I believe that's not good enough because we don't have the luxury of time on our hands because those who are disaffiliated those who are disengaged they are slipping from our midst as we speak it is estimated in the United States that on every single day there are 100 Jewish people whom we are losing to assimilation so we can't allow ourselves the luxury of just waiting for these drops to eventually penetrate we need to become proactive not in an aggressive way not to impose ourselves other rubber to present a smorgasbord of opportunity let the Jewish people know taste in you will see see what you're missing out on come and avail of the opportunities that we're presenting to you come forward you know the very last Mitzvah of the Torah and when you have a concluding statement the untest Assurance it must be of enormous significance so what's the concluding mitzvah the target is so we're told to write the Torah place it in their mouths why is that the instruction to us surely we should put Torah in people's hearts in people's minds why place it in their minds explains as follows he says when a parent is feeding an infant so the parent needs to get the food into their mouth so you multiplay various games you know helicopter and this and that and make it exciting and appealing the baby will open his or her mouth and you'll get the food inside once the food is inside the mouth Seema perfume the parent has achieved his or her goal what a parent mustn't do is to try to force that food down the throat because if you try to excuse me the child will reject it and so too with Torah with him especially today at the time when we are competing with the most sophisticated advance and creative opportunities that people have at the Press of a button we need to make Torah education in a Torah way of life something which is hugely appealing and we need to get it into people's mouths but they must be the ones to digest it we should never force it upon them no aggressive style to care of is the right way rather let's reach out with love with genuine Israel to let people know what they're missing out on let our rabbanim lead us so that all of us as communities together those who are committed like the shepherd and also like the Sheepdog to reach out to be makariv those who are not yet committed that I believe is it's a duty that we all have and I as Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom continuously call on my rabbis to respond to this call we have to be the rubber name the spiritual leaders of absolutely every single Jew thank you very much we have time for about two or three questions good having classes while the services going on to their opposition for some people that says or something so what's the opposition from people saying it's also you will always get people to say it's Usher and this and that and if we worry about all the people who will all the time say it's us sir we'll never get anything off the ground but of course Sometimes some things aren't actually awesome you know so we have to be aware of halacha um I know that in Britain uh usually the best reason that people give why not to do something is because it's never been done before um and and we need to show with courage that we need to break the mold of practice so uh sometimes people do resist but I'll tell you that when I found out to my amazement some of the leading individuals who have participated in the parallel program on Yom Kippur are people I see in Seoul every single Shabbos you know if we would take a vote how many we'd never take the vote because the results would be too embarrassing on the Shabbos morning how many of you ensure understand every single word that you're saying from the sitter you know it it would be an embarrassment we don't bring our tradition down to the lowest common nominator we always try to raise the standards of individuals to reach the highest common denominator in order that people will appreciate the beauty and relevance and magical qualities of genuine feline lakshan hakodesh that's why we maintain our standards but at the same time there are people who are coming along because they want to be loyal because they want to do what their parents and grandparents did or out of habit or for social reasons it's amazing how much ignorance there actually is and when you provide good solid programs for people they respond well when you're professional when you invest money into it when you have Top Class People to lead it and by the way the programs have to be for men and for women as well and one of the uh the most successful programs I've run have been for example on Torah while the men are receiving the aliyotin shul instead of being a spectator sport for women we run high quality educational programs for women and having run those programs the men went then saying to me Rabbi can we go along as well we're missing out on those programs so uh and I know that Yeshiva University runs the Torah tours initiative which is fantastic and uh we actually brought out to London uh groups of Terror tourist participants from why you and that's what originally gave me this idea within our communities so we have to be imaginative and you'll be surprised how positively people respond so the point that was made here is that it's not just Pulpit rabbis you've got Hospital chaplains uh people in the army people in all walks of life and that's exactly the point that I've been making this is something that the entire Jewish Community needs to be supportive of and sometimes I've been disappointed when I have found a hasida styled mindset within certain kihilat we need to break that down and we need to reach out common in addition to referred to as well said further notice in that question he says it says when we know we are where they grew up then you want to be motion of energy you want to teach I teach each individual okay knows how much grounding you had some yes or not come eventually emotionally thank you very much thank you for that I remember it was a rabbi in Queens open Shore to collect a teenager who was always in this University destroys ladies so our question is we teach commissioner not the way around I would like that they traveled why don't we concentrate until so much change the text of the Thriller and our conservative president here in America because there's so much has suffered in Thriller why don't we stressing to people okay I agree with the importance of I'm don't totally agree about the hive Mister um at a practical level and I know that's not what you meant but in terms of the emphasis you're placing totally agree with you