Enriching our Jewish Lives

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In the months since a merger between The Liberal Synagogue Elstree and Radlett Reform Synagogue was first suggested, we have been exploring together the opportunities that this would offer. The potential is to enrich Jewish life not only for the present membership, but also more widely and for future generations. In the process, we have inevitably been collaborating more closely already, and gaining some sense of the exciting potential of together creating a larger Progressive Jewish congregation with all our combined resources.

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It has been a real delight to begin to work as part of a bigger, combined rabbinic team, sharing the bimah or leading different services in both synagogues, and as a result we have started to make connections across both communities. Between us we have a diversity of interests, experience… and personalities! We believe that this will have real positive impact on range (and continuity) of pastoral support that can be offered, as well as opportunities for diverse Jewish learning.

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Our two Ritual/Rites and Practices committees have already started meeting jointly, coordinating all our services together. From the outset the intention has been that as a combined community we should ‘add, not take away’. That means sharing and honouring a variety of traditions, siddurim, customs and prayers, in many ways preserving both as well as having the opportunity to develop and innovate together. Merger is not about Reform becoming more Liberal or Liberal becoming more Reform. It is not about losing all the rituals and traditions with which we are familiar, though inevitably over time new joint rituals and traditions will be found. That of course is the essence of Progressive Judaism and we look forward to progressing together!

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Liberal Judaism and Reform Judaism have both always been forms of progressive Judaism, and as five progressive rabbis it is exciting to be at the forefront of what the future of Progressive Judaism is likely to look like in the UK. As neighbouring congregations, we have already found that we have much in common. But there are still many differences, whether large or small, in the way it feels to come to a Reform service as at Radlett, or a Liberal service as at TLSE. All of the rabbis of our two communities have experience in both approaches (and not just these two) and we enjoy the opportunity to experience them together. As we’ve stepped into each other’s spaces, to colead or lead services on our own, we’ve found that the occasional moments of uncertainty can lead us all, rabbis and congregants alike, to notice elements of the service that we had stopped being aware of over many years. And we have also each developed different musical traditions, and each of our rabbis brings “old” tunes to services that become “new” tunes in a new location. And we all like to sing!

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People often ask which siddur we will use, given that we have two different principal prayerbooks. There is every reason for that to continue, with both books being used in both locations at various times (though probably not both in the same service!) along with various other liturgies we’ve created over the years. The vision is that we will have multiple offerings for both Reform and Liberal services, to balance what we treasure most as familiar and our own traditions, with the capacity also to innovate and provide access to different ways of praying and engaging with Judaism.

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There is going to be an increasing excitement over the coming years; no one can predict exactly how it will all develop, but the goodwill and respect each community has for the other is what will lead us. We intend to be a centre of Progressive Jewish life for Hertfordshire and beyond, providing a vibrant, varied and exciting Jewish life for everyone who comes through our doors (and we have a lot of doors!) There is an opportunity for everyone who wants to contribute to this adventure, so do come and talk to us. Tell us, the rabbis and leaders of this new community in the making, what your vision is, and then help make it happen.

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In the Talmud, Rabbi Eleazar suggests an illuminating pun on a biblical verse: The peace of your children shall be great (Isaiah 54:13). “Don’t read banayich [your children]” he says “but rather bonayich [your builders]” (B’rachot 64a). Together, we can be both, building this new community together, for our children and generations to come.