Leo Baeck College

21/08/2026

“On 5 July 2026, I received Torah from Rabbi Kath Vardi, who had received Torah from Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris, who had received Torah from Rabbi Sheila Shulman. An unbroken chain of tradition - four generations of female rabbis. The service was co-led by Cantor Zoe Jacobs, Rabbi Robyn Ashworth-Steen and Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers; the address from the College was delivered by Rabbi Dr Tali Artman - all of them powerful, talented, inspiring and soulful female clergy who I am honoured to call my colleagues.”

The most recently ordained rabbi, Rabbi Yael Tischler, reflects on her journey to the rabbinate in her blog for Women of Reform Judaism. Read it on WRJ's website here: https://wrj.org/blog/claiming-our-lineage-my-journey-rabbinate

Shabbat shalom, WRJ 💜🩷💛 In this week’s blog, newly-ordained Rabbi Yael Tischler reflects on her journey to the rabbinate, and what she hopes to accomplish as a feminist rabbi in the United Kingdom. WRJ had the opportunity to meet with Rabbi Tischler when select leaders were visiting Leo Baeck College in London earlier this summer. She writes:

“At my final KHPI retreat, at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, as I stood by the aptly named Lake Miriam, I realized that what I wanted to do was to enable others to discover that sense of belonging. Many Jewish women, as well as members of other marginalized groups, even those of us in the Progressive world, still grow up with the sense - even if we can’t articulate it - that Judaism doesn’t belong to us. But Judaism does belong to us. It always has.”

Read the full reflection: https://wrj.org/blog/claiming-our-lineage-my-journey-rabbinate

21/08/2026

“Ki Teitzei isn’t a pretty platitude to make us feel smug, and it isn’t a bad opinion to throw away because we’re too modern for it. It’s an invitation to go ever deeper, with the text as a thread to guide us as we navigate the complexities of our society and how we express Torah values in our diverse contexts.”

Read this week's d'var Torah on Parashat Ki Teitzei by Rachel Berkson, LBC rabbinical student, on our website: https://lbc.ac.uk/parashat-ki-teitzei/

14/08/2026

“Parashat Shoftim begins, shoftim v’shotrim titen lecha b’chol sh’arecha, “You will appoint judges and officers in all of your gates.” The verse begins with judges but also includes officers; what is the role of an officer to a judge?”

Read this week's d'var Torah on Parashat Shoftim by Marques Hollie, a Reconstructionist Rabbinical College who spent the last semester of academic year 2025/2026 at LBC, on our website: https://lbc.ac.uk/parashat-shoftim-2/

13/08/2026

Yiddish Coffee Houses Around The World - A Place To Read Your Favourite Yiddish Journals – Yidishe Kave Hayzer Iber Der Velt – An Ort Vu Tsu Leyenen Ayer Balibste Dzshurnaln

Join us between 10am-1pm on Friday 28th August at the Leo Baeck College Library as we transform the Lily Montagu Reading Room into that stalwart of Jewish life, the coffee house.

Explore a century of Yiddish culture through international journals, books and sheet music. Featuring a “world tour” of Yiddish periodicals, live music and readings, this a unique opportunity to read rare historic materials, enjoy refreshments, and shmooze.

No Yiddish required but for those proficient there will be time and space to enjoy publications in the mameloshn.

For more information and to sign up today, visit our website: https://lbc.ac.uk/library-resources/visit/events/yiddish-coffee-house-experience-at-the-lily-montagu-reading-room/

07/08/2026

“This week our Torah opens with two oppositional poles of thinking, “blessing and curse” (Deut. 11:27). I have learnt at my time in Osnabrück to read our texts not simply as abstract theology or the historiography of ancestry. We are taught to remember what it is to be powerless, to be refugees without land or safety.”

Read this week's d'var Torah on Parashat R’eih by Shamaya Mirviss-Carvajal, LBC rabbinical student, on our website: https://lbc.ac.uk/parashat-reih/

03/08/2026

Leo Baeck College Student Rabbi, Emily Carp, was featured in Manchester Jewish Museum’s exhibition titled ‘Through a Qu**rs Lens: Stories of LGBTQ+ Jews’.

This powerful display of photographic portraits and personal stories was originally developed by Jewish Museum London. It’s building on the landmark Rainbow Jews project, which documented LGBTQ+ Jewish history across the UK. The exhibition celebrates the richness, diversity and resilience of q***r Jewish life.

You can see a copy of Emily’s display on our website: https://lbc.ac.uk/student-rabbi-featured-in-a-manchester-jewish-museum-exhibition/

31/07/2026

“Perhaps the key word is darling. A term of endearment. And that this is the challenge, to see difference with endearment. To look at others who see a different answer in the diversity written into our Jewish texts and look upon them lovingly as witnesses who are also co creating the divine.”

Read this week's d'var Torah on Parashat Eikev by Dr Jennifer Verson, LBC rabbinical student, on our website: https://lbc.ac.uk/parashat-eikev/

30/07/2026

Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris, LBC Principal, and Rabbi Gary Somers, Head of Academic Services at LBC, co-authored an Independent Higher Education [IHE] blog on Union of Jewish Students’ [UJS] Best Practice Guidance.

IHE, a representative body for higher education in the UK and the champion of new providers and specialist institutions, has released a blog, suggesting how its members should engage with UJS' Best Practice Guidance. UJS’ guidance sets out a framework to support Jewish students and tackle antisemitism.

Rabbi Professor Kahn-Harris reflected: “Both Rabbi Somers and I were delighted to contribute to the development of this blog. Creating an environment where every student feels safe, respected and able to flourish is at the heart of LBC’s mission. It was our privilege to be involved in writing this blog and helping with practical suggestions that support UJS’ Best Practice Guidance. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of both the blog and the Best Practice Guidance and to continuing the vital work in partnership with other members of IHE.”

For more information and to read the blog, visit our website: https://lbc.ac.uk/lbc-senior-staff-co-author-ihe-blog/

26/07/2026

LBC rabbinic students, Emily Carp and Dr Stacy Hackner receive the inaugural Lord Etherton Award.

The Lord Etherton Award was established in 2026 by a legacy from The Rt Hon. The Lord Etherton GBE KC, a distinguished British judge and member of the House of Lords. Lord Etherton was a trailblazer in breaking down barriers for the LGBTQ+ community within the legal profession.

Join us in wishing mazel tov to student rabbis Emily and Stacy.

For more information about the award and to read the student rabbis’ reflection on receiving the first-ever Lord Etherton Award, head over to our website: https://lbc.ac.uk/student-rabbis-awarded-the-first-ever-lord-etherton-prize/

24/07/2026

“Journeys end and that’s hard. Sometimes the destinations we so earnestly sought to reach turned out to be the journeys themselves, that’s not any easier. Yet no matter which details we change or which parts we omit when telling the story of a journey, the sequence of events doesn’t change, but it informs.”

Read this week's d'var Torah on Parashat Va’etchannan by Marques Hollie, a Reconstructionist Rabbinical College who spent the last semester of the previous academic year at LBC, on our website: https://lbc.ac.uk/parashat-va-etchannan/