Parashat Beshallach 5786
Sheffield and District Reform Congregation
January 31, 2026

Bar Mitzvah of David Hayes, David ben Yacob
Student rabbi Richard Allen Greene

Today is a special Shabbat – perhaps a doubly special Shabbat – because this week is one of a handful of Shabbats with special names in the Jewish calendar. The Shabbat between Rosh haShana and Yom Kippur, for example, is called Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Return, as we focus on repentance.

This week is called Shabbat Shirah – the Sabbath of Song. Could there be any more appropriate day for music impresario David Hayes to celebrate his third bar mitzvah?

As many of us know, David is passionate about music – and not simply about enjoying it for himself. David’s passion is about sharing music with others.
As his friend Howard Saffer told me, David is very much into klezmer music and has been instrumental – I don’t know if Howard intended that to be a pun or not – in organizing and promoting klezmer events not only locally, but as far afield as Buenos Aires in and Porto in Portugal – which has granted David citizenship, for David’s heritage is Sefardi and not Ashkenazi… which makes the love of klezmer a little harder to explain, but since we all benefit
from it, I am not going to question it.

And to be fair, klezmer is far from being David’s only musical passion – he also loves Ladino music – David is that just to remind us that you are Sephardi? (For those who don’t know much about the distinction between Sephardi and Ashkenazi, generally speaking it means much about the distinction between Sephardi and Ashkenazi, generally
speaking it means the world their ancestors came from – but what it really means is that David is fancy and the rest of us are peasants. (? David)
But not too fancy to schlep out to concerts he organized in hotels, shuls, halls and once even a broom cupboard in support of the Sheffield Spielers klezmer band, David’s friend Gloria remembers
“We had a loyal band of three supporters, namely Brenda, Richard and David, who followed us everywhere.”

Two of those concerts stand out in Gloria’s memory… one was at a Beer Festival in Sutton in Asfield.

“We don’t quite know how it came about that we were booked to play at this Beer Festival, but we were,” Gloria told me. “We were given a slot between two brass bands and we really just played to ourselves, as the people carried on drinking and merry making, paying no attention to us whatsoever. Needless to say, that was our one and only Beer Festival booking!”
“We played at a number of weddings though,” including one “in a large field and the guests were looking forward to camping there overnight. Our set was in the Marquee.

Our usual accordion player was unavailable so we used a very good player who had played with us previously. However, on this occasion, this accordion player turned up in what looked like his pyjamas and attempted to hijack the planned set by performing what could be described as a one man show. After a quick on-set discussion, we managed to get things back on track and carry on as normal.

Nobody thought to book the fine weather though…It poured with rain all evening, which was not too bad for the performers and the dancing
wedding guests, but not too good for the audience, our 3 loyal supporters, Brenda, Richard and David who were soon cold and damp… Fortunately, the growing puddles and mud on the groundsheet did not stop the musicians from performing nor the guests from dancing and enjoying themselves! A good time was had by (nearly) everyone! Poor Brenda, Richard and David.”

But there is more to David than music – he is, as our community chair Jane Ginsborg put it, “a man with many bees in his bonnet – the environment, sustainability, Portugal and Sephardi Judaism, radio…..”

Although on the subject of radio, Howard says the neighbours are not fans of the huge antenna on David’s roof. But perhaps that antenna pointing up at the sky is just the right image for David.

As Jane says: “Everything David does – and that includes the huge contribution he made for such a long time to Seven Hills Shul as editor of Omer – he does not just with enthusiasm but infectious passion. He gets things done (and he gets other people to get things done for him!),from the legendary first Anne Frank exhibition back in the 1980s to setting up the klezmer scene in Sheffield, producing the Righteous Among the Nations exhibition and concerts for
Holocaust Memorial Day attended by civic dignitaries both pre- and post-COVID. We are really lucky to have him in our community and to have the opportunity to celebrate his 80th birthday with him in this way.”

David is a doting grandfather and great grandfather, a father, a step father. A beloved member of this community. A man who brings music to the masses – and a fitting man for us to honour on this very special Shabbat, Shabbat Shirah, the Sabbath of Song.

Shabbat shalom,

Richard Greene

*Richard Allen Greene is a former prominent journalist and CNN Jerusalem bureau chief who began training as a rabbi at Leo Baeck College in London, starting in 2024. He is a student rabbi known for leading services, such as at Finchley Progressive Synagogue, and is recognized for his background in international journalism.

He led Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Services at Seven Hills Shul in 2025