´óÏó´«Ã½

From Rabbi Pete Tobias of the Liberal Synagogue, Elstree:

Well Richard according to my reckoning, today is the fifth day of Christmas. So unless I’m mistaken (and to be honest, as a rabbi my Christmas expertise may be rather lacking) it’s the day of the ‘five gold rings’, to add to the improbable collection of calling birds, French hens, turtle doves and the partridge that have apparently already been received.

Of course it is the season of giving, or at least it was, though that seems to be at an end. Mind you, according to the song, our true loves have swans, drummers, pipers and a whole host of others lined up to donate in the days to come. But soon the time of giving will be over for another year.

I’ve always found it rather artificial that the season of goodwill is limited to a few days at the end of each year. Of course, there’s more to giving than various collections of birds, leaping lords or whatever other gifts we may have given or received. And I often wonder whether it might be possible to extend that spirit of goodwill into the New Year in more tangible, practical ways…

Holocaust survivor Rabbi Leo Baeck recognised the gap between wanting the world to be a better place and actually doing something about it. He said: ‘One can always find warm hearts who, in a glow of emotion would like to make the whole world happy but who have never attempted the sober experiment of bringing a blessing to a single human being.’

Each of us has the possibility to bring blessing to others. The days that have just passed have hopefully given us a hint of that. The question is how to carry forward the potential we have to make a real difference to the lives of others in our world. Leo Baeck continues: ‘When we are approached by another human being demanding his or her right, we cannot replace deeds of genuine kindness by mere vague goodwill.’ There are so many in our world who could benefit from the generosity of spirit that has prevailed in recent days. Will it fade with the ending of the year or be carried forward into ‘deeds of genuine kindness’?