Shavuot is a much-loved festival at Westminster and we cannot wait to celebrate this year with you, learning and dairy delights! The evening begins with annual Shavuot Service and Supper, followed by learning until dawn.

We’re delighted to be joined by guest speaker Dr Isabelle Seddon, who will share about her book “Intrepid Pioneers: Jewish Women in the Public Arena” during the Supper.

Timings:
5:30pm - Tour of Museum
6:30pm - Erev Shavuot Service
7:15pm - Supper with Keynote speaker Dr Isabelle Seddon
9:30pm - Tikkun Leil
00:00am - Departure for North London 

Tickets:
£30 - Service, Dinner & Tikkun Leil
£10 - Tikkun Leil only

Please note that we would never exclude anyone for financial reasons, please do get in touch if you have any concerns.

About Dr Isabelle Seddon
Dr Isabelle Seddon trained as a journalist and counsellor/dramatherapist and is currently a blue badge tourist guide of London. She received a PhD from the University of Southampton where she is a Parkes Institute Visiting Scholar. Her publications include East End Jews and Left Wing Theatre (Vallentine Mitchell, 2020).

Isabelle is a historian, author, theatre-lover, intrepid traveller, counsellor and volunteer. She is a remarkable woman who is driven by her desire to help people living on the edge of society. Isabelle was initially interested in exploring significant British-born Jewish women as part of her doctorate, but there weren't enough available resources, almost as if they had been written out of history.  So, she vowed to bring these women’s stories to life at some point, which led her to undertake extensive research over two years and compile it into a voluminous book. 

“Intrepid Pioneers: Jewish Women in the Public Arena” highlights the achievements of these female trailblazers, looks at how their Jewish history and background impacted and contributed to their success and exposes the intersections of gender, religion and ethnicity/race in British history.  Often battling antisemitism in British society, and gender prejudice within and outside the Jewish world, what they achieved was remarkable. 

Interested in buying a book? Isabelle will have books with her on the night, and you can either pre-pay below to avoid taking payments on the festival, or we will invoice you afterwards. 

Tikkun Leil

It's tradition to stay up all night for the Tikkun Leil, or night of study, which parallels what the Jewish people should have been doing as they waited for Moses to finally come down the mountain with the tablets in hand. In staying up all night, it guarantees that we’ll be ready to receive Torah when the moment comes.

We will have sessions running between 9:30pm and midnight on the theme of Acceptance, see schedule on the next page, and whether you join us for one or all of them, we look forward to learning with you!

We will continue our learning by travelling to New London Synagogue and joining their Tikkun Leil, creating opportunities to learn from and with new people.

Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

9:30pm
Choose between:

Hearing the Commanding Voice: When Avram Said Yes - with Joe Crossley

Before Sinai, before the rabbis, before the giving of the Torah, God told a seventy-five-year-old man to pack his things and leave his homeland behind for a new country he had never seen - and, incredibly, he did. In this session, we will ask who he was, why he accepted, and what happened next. 

Mind the gap! - with Rabbi Kamila  

Shavuot is all about accepting the Torah and making it tangible in our everyday lives. So is the 16th century tractate Tiferet Yisra’el (The Splendor of Israel) authored by the famous Maharal of Prague. Through engaging with part of this intriguing text we will explore what does it mean to accept the Torah in a conscientious way.

10:45pm
Choose between:

Accepting, and even centering, those you disagree with - with Rabbi Benji

On Shavuot we receive Torah, we will closely read a Talmudic/ Rabbinic story which suggests the radical acceptance required to grow and continue Torah. In the story (in Tractate Brachot 27b-28a) the ancient House of Study is controversially enlarged and there are contested assertions about who and what is in and out. So come to explore some broigus and hopefully some inspiring routes beyond.

Accepting the Torah: What does it take? - with Yael Roberts

Shavuot marks our accepting of the Torah as a Jewish people. The Talmud teaches us that this acceptance was coercive - God suspended Sinai over our heads. Later, the Jewish people willingly accept the Torah during the time of Purim. Is accepting the Torah coercive or voluntary? And what does it take for us to accept the Torah today?

Midnight 
Departure to New London Synagogue to continue learning with their community. 

Please note that we are currently full for dinner. To be added to the waitlist, or to just join for Tikkun Leil, please click here.