Kol Nidre 5787

Every morning I daven from this Siddur. It was a gift from my cousin Caroline when I got ordained as a Rabbi. It belonged to her late brother, Michael, who died of cancer when he was just 36. In the front of the Siddur the following words are inscribed: ‘To Master Michael Seidman on the occasion of this Barmitzvah, 15^th January 1955. Wishing you lots of Mazal, Good Health and Happiness’. My cousin Michael had his Bar Mitzvah at Heaton Park shul in Manchester, the shul where my father went to Cheder, and where my sister and her family belong. It’s a close personal connection going back at least 3 generations.

Today is the anniversary of the fatal attacks on Heaton Park shul in Manchester that took place on Yom Kippur, exactly a year ago in the Jewish calendar. Two Heaton Park members lost their lives - Adrian Daulby, who was 53, and Melvin Cravitz, who was 66. At the beginning of September a memorial was held in a packed shul attended by over 850 people and many local and national dignitaries. Heaton Park’s Rabbi Walker, remembered them as ‘very different in character – Mr Cravitz ‘with his trademark wide smile’ and Mr Daulby ‘with his quieter smile.’ They were ‘very different men,’ said Rabbi Walker, ‘but united in their ability to, in their determination to be part of the community and to make this world a better place. Remembering them means emulating them.’

Rabbi Walker recalled returning to shul later on that Yom Kippur morning after he and the congregation had been forced to flee the shul which had become a crime scene. What he saw on entering the main body of the synagogue was ‘a shul frozen in time in the middle of davening,’ with machzorim left open. Adrian Daulby’s machzor was left open on Psalm 33, which includes the words, ‘Sing joyfully to the Lord, O you righteous, for praise from the upright is seemly.’ ‘I looked at these words,’ Rabbi Walker told the congregation at the Memorial, ‘and I looked around this room that felt lonely and desolate and violated, and it strengthened me in ways I’d never give full voice to.’ He continued: ‘This shul wouldn’t remain empty, desolate and violated, but rather it would be filled again with the voices of the righteous lifted in there.’

‘And so it was. Small miracles happened. The foyer was restored to all its glory. One by one, all of us who had been there on Yom Kippur morning came back in here. It wasn’t all of us, but it was those who could come back in here one by one. We returned and the community returned. We davened and we sang, and most importantly, we danced.

And we did that because the only possible response to evil is more goodness, more righteousness, more holiness.’

Rabbi Walker lamented how there should have been many, many more decades of Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz’s love, care and righteousness, and that this was stolen from them and the community on that day.

‘That gives us a sacred charge to light up this world in a very concrete and real way. It can’t just be vague intentions or platitudes, We must truly do.

Whether that is standing proud and loud and uncowed as Jews…..or in a very personal way, by choosing one aspect, one act of holiness, one mitzvah that we can do better in this coming year.’

Heaton Park shul is writing a new Sefer Torah in memory of Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, which will be introduced immediately after Sukkot. ‘On that day…,’ explained Rabbi Walker, ‘once again we will dance, we will celebrate, and we will commit to the holiness and the faith and the commitment to God and God’s Torah these two very, very special men embodied.’

The response of the Heaton Park community, the wider Manchester Jewish community and the Jewish community across the UK has been extraordinary. Speaking at the Heaton Park Memorial, Chairman of the Commemoration, Manchester Rep Council trustee and a member of the shul Raphi Bloom said, ‘The terrorist sought to intimidate us, to make us afraid to be Jewish, and to change the way we live our lives. He failed, because what followed was an extraordinary display of courage, resilience and unity. We saw the Manchester Jewish community stand together.

We saw people determined not to hide, not to retreat, and not to surrender their identity. Today, we stand as proud Jewish Mancunians, proud of our faith and our peoplehood, proud of our city, proud of our country.’

Here at BPS, that same courage, resilience and unity has brought our community together over the past year.

Just days after the Heaton Park attack, our shul was full to overflowing with people across the generations, including families and children, to decorate the Sukkah. West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker came to show solidarity and engaged in meaningful conversations with many of our members, including our Kabbalat Torah young people, over a slice of pizza. It was a joyful day, with everyone there making an active choice to show up and ‘do Jewish’ in defiance of the terror attack. At the Sukkot service we were joined by friends from the CCJ, the Council for Christians and Jews. Their presence and support felt so important, appreciated and valued in the wake of the Heaton Park attack.

On Chanukah, as the tragic news of the Bondi massacre was still breaking, the shul hall was again filled to overflowing, with record numbers of members and friends making the active choice to come together to celebrate our Festival of Lights, asserting the power of joy and light over the darkness of murderous hatred.

At Pesach around hundred people gathered for our Communal Seder, and on Rosh HaShanah, just 10 days ago, 105 people gathered to celebrate the New Year together.

Courage, resilience and unity. Like the Heaton Park congregation, here at BPS we have not allowed the attack on this day a year ago to define us, but rather to strengthen us.

In the coming New Year, may we continue to stand together in joy and strength. One People united in courage and resilience.’

Ken Yehi Ratzon.