Yom Masorti 2026
This year’s Yom Masorti explored the theme of Jewish Joy in a World of Oy. It was a day filled with learning, music, debate, creativity and community, bringing together hundreds of people from across the Masorti movement.
As one participant reflected afterwards:
“It was quite exhausting and far from joyous at times, but there were really interesting and moving sessions.”
That comment captured the spirit of the day perfectly. Jewish joy is not about ignoring difficulty. It is about finding meaning, connection and hope amidst it.
Martha Limburg opened the day with a reflection on why joy matters in challenging times. Jewish history, she reminded us, is not only a story of hardship. Alongside struggle, there have always been moments of creativity, learning, resilience and communal flourishing. By coming together to learn, sing, debate and celebrate, participants were helping to write the next chapter of that story.
‘And one gives thanks for what is in the past and screams for the future to come’
Mishnah Berakhot, 9
Rabbi Joel Levy explored some of the earliest foundations of Jewish liturgy through Chapter 9 of Mishnah Berachot. These texts emerged during a period of great upheaval and uncertainty in Jewish history, yet they offer a framework for responding to both joy and suffering.
The discussion focused on two complementary models. The first was that of bracha (blessing). Blessing evokes a capacity for gratitude and joy even in the hardest of times. Against this comes tefilla or tsa’aka, a resolute insistence that the future is radically open and must be prayed for and fought for. Our acceptance and passivity vis a vis the past must not encroach on our activity concerning the future.
Rabbi Lara introduced an exciting new Masorti project, the Louis Jacobs Beit Midrash.
From there, participants faced an almost impossible choice between sixteen sessions led by Masorti rabbis, chazanim, academics and educators.
Some began with Professor Michael Ben-Gad’s wide-ranging exploration of global economics and geopolitics. Others joined Chazan Bex Blumenfeld’s uplifting session on music, prayer and finding the sparks of goodness in ourselves and others. Rabbi Jeremy Gordon’s exploration of Shir HaShirim invited participants to encounter the text afresh, while Rabbi Joel Levy and Dan Kyle examined the challenges and opportunities facing Masorti Judaism and religious pluralism in Israel today.
Elsewhere, Professor Colin Shindler and Rabbi Jeremy Gordon modelled thoughtful disagreement in a discussion about the responsibilities of Jewish leaders in responding to political events in Israel and in the UK. Dr Eva Frojmovic introduced participants to the joyful tradition of Jewish paper-cutting, while Rabbi Roderick Young explored the troubling history of the Norwich blood libel and the ongoing work of confronting its legacy. Rabbi Adam Zagoria Moffet held the day together with easy gravitas.
The day concluded with two memorable sessions. Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg challenged participants to think about the Judaism we need today. Then came a moving conversation with some of the pioneers who helped establish Masorti Judaism in the UK. Hearing Chazan Jaclyn Chernett, Ivor Jacobs, Dinah Rose and Susan Rose reflect on ideas first discussed around a kitchen table decades ago brought home how far the movement has come. Looking around a room filled with thriving Masorti communities, that felt like a moment of genuine Jewish joy.
The founders were not simply looking backwards. Chazan Jaclyn (who in herself epitomises Jewish joy) ended by challenging us to imagine the next chapter: perhaps even a Masorti rabbinical school in the UK.
Im tirtzu…
Yom Masorti 2026 was a day of learning, inspiration and connection. Conversations continued over lunch, speakers stayed to answer questions, and friends found time to connect.
Special thanks go to Martha Limburg, Director of Communities, whose vision and leadership helped bring the day together.
If you were there, thank you for being part of it. If you missed it this year, we hope to see you at Yom Masorti 2027.
Rabbi Joel Levy introduces the day with Mishnah
