THE THOUGHTS OF CHAIRMAN LUX

By Melvyn Lux

As you all know we at the New West End suffered a terrible loss with the passing of our Beadle, Arnold Chazen. His constant smile, unassuming manner, willingness to always be available when needed, his total dedication to the shul and all of us he called his friends will not be forgotten. On behalf of all of us, may I wish his daughters a long and happy life, and when the immediate pain of his passing has subsided, may they be left with wonderful memories of a fine and gentle man.

To date, we have not yet been able to replace him as Beadle. We know we have a mammoth task.

Since Pesach the wonderfully vibrant and active religious services of the New West End, with their caring Rabbi Geoffrey Shisler, Chazan Jeremy Lawson, the choir under the direction of Elliot Burman and our Ba’al Shacharit Professor Lester Kershenbaum continues to grow from strength to strength.

On the educational side, the Rabbi continues with his Lilmud after the Shabbat morning service, which is lively with interactive participation. He continues to run the adult education class on Wednesday evenings, which extends our knowledge of Judaism. On the same evening the Rebbetzn holds a Hebrew reading class for beginners and upwards. All are welcome to attend/.

Prof. Kershenbaum has continued his successful Torah reading class. His pupils prove their ability continually by being able to read the Torah at various Shabbat services. Shacharit services continue on a daily basis, and we would appreciate as many of you as possible joining in at least once a week to make up the numbers.

We have a number of social and religious events since Pesach. A communal Seder was held on the first night and this was a complete sell out and a great success.

As you are aware we work closely with the Holland Park Sephardi Synagogue. We had a question and answer session at their shul called "Ask the Rabbis" which was lively and successful. Rabbi Shisler visited their Shul on a Shabbat morning and Rabbi Labi joined us in return on another Shabbat.

Rebbetzin Anne Shisler continues to keep the Guild active with a full diary of events. Some of these are exclusively for ladies, but others are for us all. Some of the latter events were a Communal Shabbat lunch in April with Tim Marshall, Sky TV correspondent and an evening with Marcia Goodman relating her life as a diplomat’s wife in Paris.

Under the great organisational skills of our new Senior Warden, Alan Meltzer, and FR Martin Lewis we ran a very successful Supper Quiz. It was a sell out and most enjoyable. The quiz was run by Charles Landau, which severely tested our knowledge. The wonderful meal was organised by Anne and her team of volunteers – too numerous to mention.

The AGM on 12^th May was very well attended and went without hitch. It showed that our finances are in good shape under the guiding hands of Martin Lewin, who was immediately re-elected. We were sorry to lose both Henry Magrill and David Meyersmith who stood down as wardens, but were delighted to welcome Alan Meltzer and Simon Tarsh to replace them. Both Henry and David have served for many years and have been dedicated to their positions. Nevertheless, Henry continues to produce the weekly newssheet. Both Patricia Fisher, the Vice-Chairman and I were re-elected. There were some changes on the Board of Management, as more long serving members wanted to make room for others. On behalf of all those elected – thank you. We hope to do a good job.

The last weekend of April saw the Bar Mitzvah of Joshua Lawton. The Lawton family has been long established members of the shul and Joshua followed his father, who had also been Bar Mitzvah here.

We had a "Letterthon" which enabled a large number of you to write letters to the media to try and get some less biased reporting against Israel. A number of you had positive responses and for your efforts, thank you.

The following weekend we supported the rally in Trafalgar Square in support of Israel. The numbers were enormous – thank you for that as well.

The London Freemasons of the Jewish faith held a service in our shul. It was well attended and substantial funds were raised for charity.

We do not have vast numbers of cheder-aged children, nevertheless, we have a well-run educational establishment under Estelle Salomon. We would love to have more children even if their parents are not members. To this end we held an open day and hope that we have enrolled a few more children. Please help if you know of any youngsters and encourage them to come.

Our mid teen/20’s/30’s groups are growing and I’ll report on their activities next time.

Both Shavuot and Tisha B’Av services were well attended.

In July Michael Cutler celebrated his diamond anniversary of his Bar Mitzvah and in August, Stuart and Jacquie Katz celebrated the wedding of their daughter Hayley – Mazaltov. During the year the Chief Rabbi’s award for voluntary work in the community went to Natalie Cutler, Joe Miller and Samantha Fogelman. To them not only Mazaltov, but thank you.

Incidentally, Paul and Samantha Fogelman and their family have now moved to Edgware. Our loss, but Edgware’s gain. Two more devoted people serving the synagogue cannot be found. Thank you again and good fortune to the Fogelman clan.

The most important thank you and congratulations go to John Bodie, who received the OBE from HM The Queen. I cannot tell you how much he has done for this shul. Not only 25 tears as a Warden to aid the smooth running of our services, but also using his professional skills to maintain the fabric of the building and most especially as an amazing fund raiser. With all those attributes he remains a kind and modest man. John, thank you for being you.

On behalf of my wife, Denise and myself may I wish you and your families a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year and well over the Fast.