Speech given by Rabbi Brian "We know that Joseph was a very likeable young man, and handsome enough to attract the attention of the...

On the Thursday between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, in the middle of the ten Days of Awe, we traveled as a family to Soest in Germany...

While the coming High Holidays 5785 are late compared to 5784 – we celebrate Rosh Hashanah on October 2/3 and Yom Kippur ten days later...

Let’s read a little Talmud together… Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When Moses ascended on High to receive the Torah, the angels said...

These are complicated times. There can be little doubt that antisemitism in all its forms has surged significantly in recent months and...

IJC can be rightly proud of its inclusivity and welcoming ‘open tent’ approach to membership. The membership committee – Maria, Golan,...

Shabbat Yitro on February 3rd was a special day for IJC in several ways. Our community joined many other communities across the globe to...

IJC meets the Neighbours Coalition On December 9th, record numbers of IJC members and friends assembled in the synagogue to celebrate the...

Karen Engel is a final year rabbinical student at Zacharias Frankel College in Potsdam. She studied with Rabbi Brian, and they remain...

On October 8th I headed to Berlin to participate in the opening in-person seminar of a certificate programme entitled ‘Current Forms of...

Since last Saturday, I have been experiencing a nagging sense of unease, a feeling that I’m not myself, that everything is different,...

I’ve had several in-person, online and email conversations during the summer with people who want to embrace Judaism. Most of the time...

A few weeks ago, I was invited to participate in a programme on BRUZZ TV, Brussels Flemish network. I was there as a book, a living book,...

The month of April (Nisan and Iyyar) is a month of remembering with Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzma’ut, all three relatively...

IJC’s Pesach Seder 5783 started with a quiet moment of reflection. Our Seder is full of ancient and more recent rituals, but this year we...

What is a Gabbai? In former times, a gabbai was the person in charge of collecting and distributing the community’s tzedakah, helping...

I was ordained rabbi on December 1st 2022 in the Rykestrasse Synagogue in Berlin. We tried in vain to have the ordination relocated to...

Remembering my Mother This week is my mother’s yahrzeit. She passed away fifteen years ago at the age of 94, and our extended family all...

After a long and sometimes difficult wait, resulting in part from the Covid pandemic, December 1st finally arrived, the day of my...

Did you ever give a gift in whatever form, and think the receiver was ungrateful? Did you expect gratitude? Maybe just a little – after...