Maidenhead Synagogue
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Maidenhead Synagogue is a
Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
synagogue based in Maidenhead, Berkshire,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It serves Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and surrounding districts west of
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in the
Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...
area.


History

Maidenhead Synagogue originated during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
when many
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
families were evacuated to the area from London. It was initially a community with no dedicated building, meeting for prayer in private houses and served by a volunteer
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
and lay readers. At the war's end, some of the congregation stayed in the area and established a permanent Jewish community, acquiring a house for use as a dedicated synagogue building in 1953. The synagogue became part of the Reform Movement in 1960, so receiving the services of student rabbis of the
Leo Baeck College Leo Baeck College is a privately funded rabbinical seminary and centre for the training of teachers in Jewish education. Based now at the Sternberg Centre, East End Road, Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet, it was founded by Werner van ...
, among them
Jonathan Romain Jonathan Anidjar Romain (born 24 August 1954) is a writer and broadcaster and director of Maidenhead Synagogue in Berkshire, England. He has a PhD in the history of British Jewry. He writes for ''The Times,'' ''The Independent'', ''The Guardia ...
who was appointed as the synagogue's first full-time rabbi in 1980. The synagogue moved to larger premises in 2001 and the congregation has grown to 1831 members. An extension to the synagogue, including a new community centre, was opened in 2017.


Facilities

In addition to being a centre for worship, the synagogue's facilities include a library, a Judaica and kosher shop, a nursery school, a religion school, youth clubs, adult education classes, conversion classes, social activities for adults and children, a café, and a community care scheme. For members unable to travel to the synagogue, Shabbat evening and Shabbat morning services are streamed live via the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. All members receive by post the synagogue's monthly community magazine, ''Hadashot'' (חדשות).


See also

*
List of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom This is a list of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom, including synagogues, yeshivotA yeshiva (Hebrew: ישיבה) is a centre for the study of Torah and the Talmud in Orthodox Judaism. and Hebrew schools. For a list of buildings which w ...
* List of former synagogues in the United Kingdom *
Movement for Reform Judaism Reform Judaism (formally the Movement for Reform Judaism and known as Reform Synagogues of Great Britain until 2005) is one of the two World Union for Progressive Judaism–affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. Reform is relatively ...


References


External links


Official website
o
''Jewish Communities and Records – UK''
(hosted by
JewishGen JewishGen is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 as an international electronic resource for Jewish genealogy. In 2003, JewishGen became an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York C ...
)
The Movement for Reform Judaism
{{Reform Judaism in the United Kingdom 1953 establishments in England Places of worship in Maidenhead Reform synagogues in the United Kingdom Religion in Berkshire