Latest News
Supporting Refugees
- By Pippa Brook
Sinai has been supporting the refugee organisations in Leeds for a long time.
We have a collection point in the foyer for toiletries to be donated to destitute asylum seekers via PAFRAS.
Shabbat Mishpatim
- By Tony Bryant
Eleanor Davies, Rabbinic student at Leo Baeck College, will be taking the Friday evening service and the Shabbat morning service on 28 & 29 January – both online via the usual links. She will also offer a study session as part of the Zoom kiddush. She has sent the following introduction to what she plans to do.
Join our Rabbinic recruitment team
- By Tony Bryant
If you weren't able to attend the recent Sinai SGM, you may not have heard that we've voted to begin the process of rabbinic recruitment and are bringing together a small working group to guide the congregation through this process.
Together in Spirit
- By Thea Jacob
When we pray together in-person we are naturally aware of each other. We notice who looks well, happy, sad or ill, even while we are saying the same words of our communal prayers. How can we restore something of that personal empathy in our online services where we are mostly invisible to each other? I am leading the on-line Friday night services this week and next (24 & 31 Dec).
Sinai Shabbat Services
- By Tony Bryant
For the time being we will continue to hold FRIDAY evening services online – via Zoom only.
Normal Shabbat morning services will be hybrid; you may attend in person or via the Sinai streaming link. There is no need to book, but we will ask you to sign in on the day.
There are however a number of Shabbat services where special arrangements will be in place – the first of these will be SATURDAY 18 DECEMBER – details will be posted on the website.
We have in place a host of measures to ensure the safety and protection of all those involved, some of which may seem excessive and cumbersome. In line with Pikuach Nefesh these remain in force and need to be followed by all those attending services.
Do not attend services if you have any new cough or fever or have been notified via UK track and trace that you have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. If you appear ill in any way when you arrive, security has the right to deny entry. If you have any doubts or questions, please stay safe at home.
Masks are to be worn beginning before entry into the Sinai building and remain on for the entire time.
If you have an exemption from mask wearing you need to bring notification of this when you attend the service. We also ask that you strictly limit your movement within Sinai and remain highly conscientious of others.
Hand sanitizing stations are placed at entry points and throughout the building. Please be overly cautious and sanitize whenever passing a station. We also recommend you bring your own hand sanitizer so you do not have to move around in order to find a station if you are in need.
Please follow any additional instruction or direction given at any time by security, or those on duty in any capacity. We never wish to shame anyone in public, but if there is something happening that jeopardizes any of our safety measures, we will need to ask you to comply with out verbal requests.
Please read and follow all signs pertaining to COVID safety within the building.
Entry will be through the main Sinai entrance into the lobby. If you are in the car park or pedestrian entry and see another group getting ready to enter, please wait until that group has been checked in and then directed to their seats.
You will be asked to provide track and trace information (name and phone contact.)
There are arrows on the floor that direct you in and out of the Beit Knesset should you need to use the restrooms.
Please re-open all cubicle or room doors in the restrooms when you are finished so that the HEPA filters can filter the air and keep the environment safe.
Please return via the arrow path to your assigned seats in the Beit Knesset.
Singing and replying are normal and expected parts of Jewish services. Some responses such as “Yehei shemei Rabbah” in the Kaddish are traditionally even shouted. Because of how COVID is transmitted, however, we ask that all singing and replying be done no louder than normal conversational speaking in order to limit aerosolization.
Do not congregate in the foyer either before, during, or after the service.
Kiddush will be made by the service taker, there will not be any kiddush other than that. We had planned to have more communal forms of kiddush beginning this month, but this is now in abeyance given the emergence of the new variant.
At the conclusion of the service please remain in your seats until instructed to leave by the person on duty.
The exit back to the car park will be via the double-doors to the wheelchair ramp, please maintain social distancing when leaving.
Please note that in choosing to attend a service at Sinai, you are agreeing to comply with current government regulations and taking all possible precautions. We are in the midst of a global pandemic that is spread via asymptomatic carriers. If you choose to attend, you do so at your own risk understanding that there will be some level of COVID risk for the foreseeable future.
Volunteer for CST and help to protect our community
- By Community Security Trust (CST)
Around Chanukah, when we celebrate the spirit of Jewish resistance, it seems appropriate to remind you of the protection that CST provides to our congregation. CST strives to protect us from those that wish to cause us harm, so that we can all live our Jewish lives free from fear.
Read more: Volunteer for CST and help to protect our community
This Shabbat
- By Tony Bryant
Friday 26th November 6.30pm
Kabbalat Shabbat led from Sinai by Rabbi Deborah Blausten.
Attendance at this service is restricted to the Dyson family and their invitees.
This service will also be streamed live on the Sinai website.
Saturday 27th November 10:30
Shabbat Shacharit will be led by our Bnei Mitzvot Sam and Adam Dyson, supported by Rabbi Deborah Blausten, from the Dyson's home.
Attendance at this service is restricted to the Dyson family and their invitees.
This service will be streamed live on the Sinai website.
Mitzvah Day
- By Becky Teiger
Mitzvah Day is on November 21st and Sinai are joining with other faith communities to support women's refuges in Leeds and Bradford. Please consider what items you might be able to contribute and bring them to Sinai Monday - Thursdays 8am - 12pm or Fridays 9:30am to 12pm.
Jnetics Launches New Expanded Testing Panel
From Early October, Jnetics, a charity dedicated to the management and prevention of Jewish Genetic Disorders, will increase its testing panel from nine to 47 conditions.
AJEX Shabbat
Please join us in 10 days time for the AJEX Shabbat, where we will pay our respects and honour those who served during the two world wars and later conflicts.
Please help us to gather together safely, by continuing to wear masks and not attending if you are at all unwell
Followed by a chance to fress and share time together in community with Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner. Booking for this informal 'study lunch of sorts' is not necessary, we look forward to seeing you there!