Chanukah, the festival of lights, a time for celebration, dreidles and doughnuts. Clearly, this was a good opportunity for a party and for the community to come together socially after many long months of Covid isolation.

The shul hall was bustling with children and their families along with members who had not seen each other for what seemed like an age. The police were invited and attended in some numbers and the speaker of Lewisham Council, Councillor Tauseef Anwar, joined us too.

Food was plentiful, doughnuts were edible, the tea flowed and the atmosphere was relaxed. Our Chairman, Joe Burchell, called the children to gather around the chanukiah. We said the blessings and sang along while the candles were lit.

To cap it all, we were entertained by the Carole and Neil Abrahams Ukulele Duet. They led a sing-a-long including Hava Nagila, Tzena Tzena, Chanukah in Santa Monica, and Just a Nice Jewish Mum.

In fact, it felt like everything was as it should be, a return to normality – almost.