The Wimbledon Synagogue: Difference between revisions
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The Synagogue now has more than 900 members. |
The Synagogue now has more than 900 members. |
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==Services== |
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Services are held every [[Shabbat]] on Friday evening and Saturday morning as well as for all Jewish festivals. Services are egalitarian; men and women sit together and take an equal role in the religious life of the community. |
Services are held every [[Shabbat]] on Friday evening and Saturday morning as well as for all Jewish festivals. Services are egalitarian; men and women sit together and take an equal role in the religious life of the community. |
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==Libraries== |
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The Synagogue houses three book collections. The David Nathan Library has nearly 2000 books covering Judaism, Israel, history, biography, fiction etc. The Harry Urban Holocaust Library concentrates on the personal stories of survivors of [[the Shoah]]. There is also a children’s book collection. The collections are catalogued using the Classification System for Libraries of Judaica employed by [[Leo Baeck College]]. |
The Synagogue houses three book collections. The David Nathan Library has nearly 2000 books covering Judaism, Israel, history, biography, fiction etc. The Harry Urban Holocaust Library concentrates on the personal stories of survivors of [[the Shoah]]. There is also a children’s book collection. The collections are catalogued using the Classification System for Libraries of Judaica employed by [[Leo Baeck College]]. |
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==Education== |
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As well as a cheder and an educational programme for children for young people, the Synagogue runs a programme of adult education courses, workshops and lectures.<ref name="Lifelong learning">{{cite web | url=http://www.wimshul.org/node/185 | title=Lifelong learning | publisher=Wimbledon and District Synagogue website | accessdate=5 January 2013}}</ref> |
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The community has a monthly membership newsletter, ''Kehillah''. |
The community has a monthly membership newsletter, ''Kehillah''. |
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Revision as of 15:30, 5 January 2013
| Wimbledon and District Synagogue | |
|---|---|
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Reform Judaism |
| Leadership | Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild and Rabbi Sybil Sheridan |
| Status | Active |
| Location | |
| Location | 1 Queensmere Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 5QD United Kingdom |
| Website | |
| www | |
| Part of a series on |
| Jews and Judaism |
|---|
Wimbledon and District Synagogue is a synagogue in the London Borough of Wandsworth at Queensmere Road, Wimbledon Park, on the boundary with the London Borough of Merton.
The community was established in 1949[1] and was based at Worple Road, Wimbledon from 1952 to 1997. It moved to its present premises in 1997.
Wimbledon and District Synagogue is a member of the Movement for Reform Judaism. The current rabbis are Rabbi Sylvia Rothschild[2] and Rabbi Sybil Sheridan,[3] who have job shared in the post since 2001.[4]
History
Wimbledon and District Synagogue came into being at a meeting of the local Jewish community at the Wimbledon Hill Hotel in February 1949. In its first year the membership, of 60 families, was little more than one tenth of what it is today. Services were held on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings in temporary accommodation.
The community looked for permanent accommodation and decided to build a synagogue from scratch on a site at 44 Worple Road in Wimbledon. The foundation stone was laid on 8 April 1951 by Ernest Abelson and Leonard Montefiore (of the West London Synagogue) and the Synagogue was formally opened and dedicated on 25 May 1952 by Rabbi Dr Leo Baeck.
In 1953 the Synagogue appointed its first Minister, Rabbi Charles Berg. By the time of his retirement in 1974 the community had grown to 750 members. Rabbi Berg was succeeded by Rabbi Hillel Avidan (1974–80), Rabbi Daniel Smith [1] (1982–93), Rabbi Robert Shafritz (1993–96), who died suddenly in office,[5] and Rabbi William Woolf (1997-2002).
In September 1997 the Synagogue moved to its present site, adapting the former Athlone Hall (dating from 1953)[6] at Southlands College, Wimbledon Parkside. For the first time in a generation, the Synagogue's Religion School and High Holy Days services can be permanently accommodated under one roof.
The Synagogue now has more than 900 members.
Services
Services are held every Shabbat on Friday evening and Saturday morning as well as for all Jewish festivals. Services are egalitarian; men and women sit together and take an equal role in the religious life of the community.
Libraries
The Synagogue houses three book collections. The David Nathan Library has nearly 2000 books covering Judaism, Israel, history, biography, fiction etc. The Harry Urban Holocaust Library concentrates on the personal stories of survivors of the Shoah. There is also a children’s book collection. The collections are catalogued using the Classification System for Libraries of Judaica employed by Leo Baeck College.
Education
As well as a cheder and an educational programme for children for young people, the Synagogue runs a programme of adult education courses, workshops and lectures.[7]
Communications
The community has a monthly membership newsletter, Kehillah.
Social action
Wimbledon and District Synagogue is a Fairtrade synagogue[8] and has been involved for many years with the Faith In Action Homeless Project, a charity which works with a range of agencies to support homeless, precariously housed and other marginalised people within the London Borough of Merton.[9] It has also accommodated local homeless people overnight as part of the Merton Night Shelter initiative.[10]
Members of the Synagogue sponsor an Ethiopian student at the Leo Baeck College in Haifa, Israel.[11][12]
Twinning
The Synagogue is twinned with Emet v'Shalom, now the only non-Orthodox synagogue in Nahariya, Israel.[13]
References
- ^ "Wimbledon and District Synagogue". JCR-UK. 29 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ^ Rothschild, Sylvia (5 November 2012). "Sweet voices and sour fanatics". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ^ Sheridan, Sybil (10 June 2009). "What future for the Jews left in Ethiopia?". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ^ "Sylvia Rothschild". Zoominfo.com. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ^ "Jewish American Yearbook" (PDF). American Jewish Committee. 1998. p. 247. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ^ "1930 - 1997: Wimbledon". History: Southlands. University of Roehampton. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- ^ "Lifelong learning". Wimbledon and District Synagogue website. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "Reform Movement backs Fairtrade Fortnight: 23 Feb - 8 March 2009". Movement for Reform Judaism. 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ "Wimbledon: Working with other Faith Groups". Movement for Reform Judaism. 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ "Night Shelter Now Open". Room in this community… reflecting on homelessness in and around Merton. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ "Thanks From Leo Baeck College For Sponsoring Ethiopian Scholoship Student". Wimbledon and District Synagogue. 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ "News: Our Sponsorship of Ethiopian Scholarship Student At The Leo Baeck College Haifa". Wimbledon and District Synagogue. 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ "W & DS Twinned Community In Israel". Wimbledon and District Synagogue. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
See also
- List of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom
- List of synagogues in the United Kingdom
- Movement for Reform Judaism
External links