The Office of the Chief Rabbi

Pesach 5775

April 2015

To my esteemed Congregations, the community of United Synagogues,

my fellow Rabbis across the UK and all who follow the Jewish Faith
Shalom
This year has shown the Almighty, Blessed be He, addressing issues of
modernity never before seen in our lands. We have seen The Hadron
Collider discovering the so called G-d Particle, we have witnessed a
rocket landing on an Asteroid and faster broadband speeds than ever
before. As your religious leader it is incumbent on me to follow suit. We
live in an age where we have to think progressively.
Since the Children of Israel left Egypt over 3,000 years ago The Jewish
people have celebrated 2 Sedarim. This opportunity has provided, and I
speak from personal experience, many happy memories for us all. The
principle of having 2 nights is based on the concept that we were unable
to tell as a matter of certainty, just by looking at the waxing and waning
of the moon, what was the exact date for the beginning of the Festival. It
is for this reason that we have 2 holy days of Pesach, Succoth and
Shavuoth and why once every 45 years Chanukah is a 16 day Festival.

In my capacity as Chief Rabbi I have spent the past 7 months in constant

research with Her Majestys Government appointed Technological Tzar
and she has proven to me that our knowledge on this matter is now so
accurate that we can determine a New Moon to the nearest seven
billionths of a second. I have also spent some time with Professor Brian
Cox, and Professor Stephen Hawking, neither of whom is actually Jewish
but they are, despite that, highly intelligent men.
I have, after much soul searching, come to the conclusion that it is
permissible - for those who choose to do so - to celebrate just one Seder
this year. In order to keep the speed of change to a minimum I have
decided to bring the changes in gradually and have selected the
communities of South Manchester as a trial run for this year only. My
staff will be driving from shul to shul on the first night conducting
research in the Hale and Bowdon communities to establish whether this is
a practice that we will widen out next year, potentially to Leeds,
Birmingham and York before tackling London the year after.
You are of course welcome to celebrate 2 days but should you choose
only to celebrate our passage to Freedom on just one night, please ensure
that your Matzah is either Shmurah, Rakusen or Lidl. Please remember
that children under the age of 18 must drink only Kedem grape juice as
the Police have issued a warning to any parent who provides alcohol to a
minor. Courtesy of Google, you can sell your Chametz on line now
simply by pressing the Chametz button on the left hand side of your
Inbox, pressing Delete and then Empty. Please note that pressing Empty
is crucial, otherwise the Chametz is still Halachically regarded as being in
your house.
Wishing you a Hag Sameach and Shanah Tova
Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
The Chief Rabbi