The Movement for Reform Judaism

Can one Rabbi remember 2000 congregants’ names?

Written by Andie Newman

Tuesday, 08 August 2006

North Western Reform Synagogue (Alyth) in North London, one of the largest Reform synagogues in the country, has found a new and innovative model for introducing its new principal rabbi to the community, at the same time as bringing congregants closer together.

In a series of evenings entitled ‘Alyth At Home’, a group of around 30 residents in each postcode within the remit of the Alyth Gardens synagogue, are coming together on a Wednesday evening at one of their homes to meet with Rabbi Mark Goldsmith, as well as with a member of the Synagogue Executive and a member of the professional staff.

Each evening begins with a short text study before congregants are invited to discuss why they decided to join the synagogue as well as other aspects of their personal ‘Jewish journey’. The idea and the programme itself have been developed with the support and advice of Julian Resnick, Director of the Reform Movement’s Living Judaism initiative.

According to Rabbi Mark Goldsmith, “in a community of 2,000, connecting names with faces and personal stories makes remembering people a lot easier. It is great to hear from so many different people and begin to build a profile of my new congregation.”

However, Rabbi Goldsmith also emphasises the fact that this is much more than just a ‘meet the Rabbi’ exercise:

This is an unprecedented way of connecting people within the community to others in their local area.

For two widows, this encounter could not have come at a better time. Since their husbands had died, both had sought comfort within community life. But it was not until attending one of the ‘Alyth At Home’ evenings that they found each other and discovered they were living very close to one another. After the evening, they swapped telephone numbers and now plan to go on theatre trips together.

Rabbi Goldsmith commented: “This is an opportunity for people throughout the community to get to know each other, whilst meeting me. For me, it means that I’m able to go out to where the community is. I believe it is very important for a rabbi not to simply stay in the synagogue building and hope that people come to you. This initiative is all about meeting people where they are.”

NWRS plans on continuing the ‘At Home’ evenings for as long as it is necessary so that as many congregants as possible can be involved, and they anticipate running more than twenty evenings in total, scheduled so far weekly until December 2006.

Angela Wilson, the recently elected Chair of NWRS commented: “We have received the most enthusiastic responses from everyone attending the ‘Alyth At Home’ evenings. As Rabbi Goldsmith said, this is not only giving our congregants the opportunity to meet our new Principal Rabbi but also helping people to meet each other in the warmth, comfort and hospitality of our members’ homes.

“This wonderful way of welcoming Rabbi Mark and introducing him to Alyth really typifies what we are about; a welcoming, involved and spiritually generous congregation. We have taken Rabbi Mark into our hearts and we are delighted to welcome him, Nicola and his children into the family of Alyth.”

Lynette Chazen, NWRS’ Community Director added:

Having the opportunity to work with our new Rabbi in this way creates a real team spirit and from the very start we are working together to ensure that the needs of the community are heard and listened to and continue to be met.

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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 August 2006 )

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