Neil Janes, at The Blogs

Neil Janes

Coach, Researcher & Community Leader | Helping people find meaning, connection and belonging. MSc Coaching Psychology | PhD Jewish studies | Rabbi

Dec 19, 2022, 5:30 PM

The Chanukah Miracle of Affirmation and Visibility

Rabbi Neil Janes of SBJC - South Bucks Jewish Community - switches on the Chanukiyah at Waddesdon Manor on 18 December 2022. (Photograph by Adam Hollier Photography)

As I stood checking the set up for our Chanukiyah at Waddesdon Manor, the full impact of what we were doing as SBJC (the Jewish community in Buckinghamshire and Herts) became clear. The 2021 census in England shows that...

Aug 11, 2022, 3:05 PM

The Cost of Living Crisis and Liberal Judaism

This week, the CEO of Liberal Judaism, Rabbi Charley Baginsky, was the only rabbinic signatory to a bold report on responding to the cost of living crisis facing the UK. Not only the only rabbinic signatory, but the only...

Dec 1, 2021, 8:51 PM

Antarctica Day – 2021 and Chanukah

A virtual visit to the British Antarctic Survey allowed me to complete a journey of reflection on Climate Change and our responsibility to the environment that began at Rosh Hashanah. My community (South Bucks Jewish Community, SBJC) was joined...

Nov 11, 2021, 4:45 AM

Public Office and Money: Lessons from the Bible and the Rabbis

In II Kings 12, we read of King Jehoash in the 9th century BCE who requires the monies brought into the Temple to be spent on the upkeep of the Temple and overseen by the priests. The problem this...

Nov 2, 2021, 5:10 AM

The Unicorn, Humanity and Climate Change

Over the last few weeks with my community, South Bucks Jewish Community, we have been outside a lot. What started as a way to cope with predicted rising cases of COVID-19 to bring us back together 'in person', turned...

Jun 20, 2020, 10:23 PM

Korach’s Rebellion: Firepans, Statues, Racism and Culture

We tell stories of iconoclasm to our children all the time. Remember Abraham’s father – Terach? The sages of antiquity teach a well known and remarkable midrash about his imagined idol business. Abraham, left in charge, smashes up the...

Jun 7, 2020, 5:52 AM

Black Lives Matter – Taking Steps to Respond

I was on a webinar on Thursday night with the Central Conference of American Rabbis. 200 Rabbis learning about the American Reform movement’s response to #BlackLivesMatter and how their rabbis and congregations could respond. We heard from two Jews,...

Apr 11, 2018, 1:02 PM

For Israel, mourning and celebration are intertwined

Emotional Acrobatics is what actor and writer Niv Petel calls the juggling act of remembrance and celebration that takes place in Israel, in his video reflection on his latest play ‘Knock, Knock’. A play about the knock on the...

Feb 12, 2018, 1:53 PM

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Celebrating love means accepting change

A couple poses for photographs after their same-sex wedding in north London on March 29, 2014 (photo creit: AFP/Carl Court)

Judaism is about justice and must not remain ossified in a distant past

About Me

Neil holds a PhD in Jewish Studies from King's College London and was ordained by the Leo Baeck College. He also has an MSc in Coaching Psychology from the University of Chichester and a BA in Education and Psychology from Cardiff University. He has studied at Haifa University and the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 2022, he was an M² Jewish Pedagogies of Wellbeing Research Fellow and participated in the Pardes Machloket Matters programme in 2024. He is the rabbi of South Bucks Jewish Community, enriching Jewish life in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. He is a faculty member at the Leo Baeck College teaching Talmud and Midrash. He is also a coach using psychologically informed approaches and organisational development specialist.

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