I have updated the About Us section.

The up and coming Shabbat services are:

• April 24th-10.30-Pat
• May 2nd-Lag Ba’Omer-NO SERVICE
• May 8th-10.30-Iain
• May 19th-Shavuot-NO SERVICE
• May 22nd-10.30-Visiting student Rabbi Andrea Zanardo
• June 5th-10.30-Pat
• June 19th-10.30-Adam
• July 2-4th-Weekend Services/Teach-in with Elkan and Celia Levy and David and Hannah Jacobs (more information will be available closer to the time)
• July 17th-10.30-Pat
• July 20th-Tishah B’Av-NO SERVICE
• July 31th-10.30-Iain
• August 14th-10.30-Louise
• August 28th-10.30-Pat

I’ve added a map and directions for the new location of the Shabbat services on the events page.

This is really rather a late piece of news and I apologise profusely for not having submitted this or indeed, any other recent news!

First, congratulations to Louise Garcia who led the communal seder this year ably supported, I believe, by Julie Stone, Adam Feldman and Iain Brown. I was unable to attend myself as I am still recovering from my recent illness, but I am now well on the mend and hope to be at the next Shabbat service which will be in our new venue in Blackwater. This new venue is very pleasant and provides us with plenty of room as well as plenty of parking.

More congratulations to Louise as she has been selected as one of the teachers accompanying a small group of children making a day visit to Auschwitz. I imagine it will be quite a testing time for all those on the trip. I understand that Donna Birrell of BBC Radio Cornwall will be doing a programme on the visit so listen out for that.

We also have a joint visit from Elkan & Celia Levy together with David & hannah Jacobs early in July and a venue for this has been arranged by our social secretary, Jacquie Ricketts so I hope you will all make every effort to attend this important function.

Good Yomtov to everyone wherever you may be.

Our celebrations for the 2009 European Day of Jewish Culture went really well with many people turning up to enjoy our evening with Levow an Bys and Azoy.

Congratulations to our organisers Jonathan Poznansky and Anne Hearle for this entertaining event.

Levow an Bys, a small choir from Penzance, gave a sparkling and melodic display of songs from around the world, leaving the audience clapping for more – always a good sign.

Azoy – a relatively new klezmer band in Cornwall – was a joy to listen to and many of our guests were compelled by the music to leave their seats and dance! (Azoy can be booked at contact.azoy [at] gmail [dot] com).

Overall, the impression I was left with was one of tremendous satisfaction from both the participants and the audience and I’m sure we’ve made many new friends as a result of this evening’s celebration. Many thanks to the staff  who once again helped to make the evening a great success.

Members : Please note – there is a morning service only for Rosh Hashanna. This will be held, as last year,  as will services for Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur. All members should have received details through the post. Please contact me if you need any more details.

This weekend also saw the visit of Andrea Zanardo, a trainee rabbi at Leo Baeck college, and all were agreed that his warm, friendly personality made our Shabbat service equally agreeable.

We also had an unexpected appearance in the Saturday Times (Sept. 5th 2009) with a piece by Simon Rocker of the Jewish Chronicle which will certainly have helped to maintain our positive profile.