Fine words about “inclusion” are meaningless if they are not demonstrated in practice.
Drawing on my experience of exclusion as a lesbian, my approach to my rabbinate since I received semichah in 1989 has been about including everyone, and enabling all individuals to contribute to communal life.
My model has been the opening passage of the parashah Terumah (Exodus 25:1–8), which states that “everyone whose heart makes them willing”, shall bring offerings “from that which is theirs: gold, and silver and brass; / and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, / and rams’ skins dyed red, and sealskins and acacia-wood; / oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense; / onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the cape and for the breastplate. / Then let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”
There are very important messages in these verses. That individuals contribute voluntarily. That each person brings their gifts for the creation of community. That participation involves enhancing the community with our personal contributions. That the Eternal One dwells among the people when every individual offering is included.
I’ve been fortunate to spend the last 20 years of my rabbinate at Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue. Always very welcoming, in the past two decades the congregation has gone on a journey to becoming an inclusive community. This journey began with some significant early steps.
At the AGM in 2001, the congregation decided to vary erev Shabbat services to broaden their appeal: a chavurah supper (shared meal) with blessings and songs on the first Friday; a shortened service and a speaker on the second; a creative service on the third, and a classical Liberal service on the fourth.
In September 2002, we held our first outreach event on a Sunday morning, headlined “Are you Jewish or Jew-ish?” Advertising in the local press and on BBC Radio Sussex, we had no idea how many people would cross the threshold. Thirty bagels with requisite cream cheese and smoked salmon were purchased. Seventy people — Jewish, Jew-ish and non-Jewish — showed up! Fortunately, everyone got at least a quarter of a bagel…
Meanwhile, I introduced Hebrew for adults at all levels twice weekly and a rolling “Exploring Judaism” programme. The idea behind both these initiatives was to give individuals the resources to access Jewish texts and participate in services, and to engage Jewishly in their own lives at home.
Over the years, these programmes have attracted members of the congregation who missed out on a childhood education and individuals on their journeys — Jewish, Jew-ish and non-Jewish. So, the classes have always included a range of people of all ages and backgrounds. Most recently, in a class of 20 regular attendees, the eldest student was a retired university lecturer, aged 79, and the youngest, a 16-year-old, from a previously unaffiliated mixed home, who wants a belated barmitzvah.
Empowerment of individuals has extended to religious services. So, lay readers lead in their own way, determining how much they do in Hebrew/English and read/sing, how many verses of the parashah they read/leyn, the incorporation of poetry, meditative practices, and so on.
The rota of “lay readers” includes our young people, aged eight to 15, whose regular leadership of the congregational Shabbat morning service with their teachers, includes performing a mini-play written by themselves based on a theme from the parashah.
When it comes to bnei/bnot mitzvah, the young person leads the service from the beginning through to the end of the Amidah, before being called up to the Torah. Perhaps the most important step on the path to full inclusion was taken in 2018, when we decided to offer each young person the option of becoming bar, bat, or gender-neutral b’ mitzvah, rather than assume their gender on their journey to adulthood.
Just as services vary according to who is leading, so the congregation are invited to participate in their own way: for example, to sit or stand for the Shema, to stand for the whole of the Amidah, or to sit where they feel comfortable.
Importantly, inclusion has extended to the physical space of the synagogue. When we rebuilt the shul, rededicating it on Shabbat Chanukah 2015, we made it as eco-friendly and accessible as possible — so: level access, a lift, no bimah, an all-gender accessible toilet downstairs and an all-gender toilet upstairs.
The decision regarding the toilets was crucial. The commitment to LGBT+ inclusion that began when the synagogue council adopted Liberal Judaism’s policy on same-sex relationships in 2005 and allowed same-sex weddings to take place in the shul — including mine, to my spouse, Jess Wood, in March 2006 — now extends to the inclusion of trans and non-binary people.
I retired at the end of April, three days before my 66th birthday. Henceforth, I will focus on my writing. Appointed as Rabbi Emeritus, it gives me great joy that in the spirit of Terumah, we have created together an inclusive community that enables everyone to contribute.
Elli Tikvah Sarah is rabbi emeritus of Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue
