Newcastle Reform Synagogue, also known by its Hebrew name Ner Tamid ("Everlasting Light"), is a member of the

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 ...

. It is located in

Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of New ...

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

. The community was founded in 1963 by children of European-Jewish refugees. After about 20 families had showed interest the previous year in forming a Reform congregation, assistance was sought from the nearest Reform synagogue, Sinai Synagogue, Leeds, who lent a

Torah scroll A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tora ...

and some prayer books. Services were held in homes, school rooms and church halls. In 1963 the newly formed congregation bought a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

chapel in Derby Street, off Barrack Road, in Newcastle. This was converted into a synagogue, function hall, school rooms and a caretaker's flat, and the congregation grew. However, eleven years later, the congregation was served with a

Compulsory Purchase Order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...

and had to abandon the building. For the next ten years the community held regular services as before, in homes, school halls and church halls. On

High Holy Days The High Holidays also known as the High Holy Days, or Days of Awe in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim ( he, יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm''; "Days of Awe") #strictly, the holidays of Rosh HaShanah ("Jew ...

it used the

Newcastle City Council Newcastle City Council is the local government authority for the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. The council consists of 78 councillors, three for each of the 26 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by the Labou ...

Chambers. The present purpose-built synagogue was completed in 1982. A dedicated cemetery in

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

has a prayer house, complete with facilities for '' tahara'' (ritual cleansing of the deceased).

References

External links

Official website

* ttp://jscn.org.uk/small-communities/newcastle-reform-synagogue/ Jewish Small Communities: Newcastle Reform Synagogue 1963 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne Reform synagogues in the United Kingdom Synagogues completed in 1982 {{UK-synagogue-stub

See also

References

External links