Who are we?
We are a small Congregation based in Sheffield, in the North of England, UK. We formed in 1989 from a nucleus of members of Sinai Synagogue in Leeds living in the Sheffield area – assisted by Rabbi Walter Rothschild (then the Rabbi at Sinai Synagogue, Leeds). We are affiliated to MRJ (the Movement for Reform Judaism - previously RSGB - Reform Synagogues of Great Britain) - and generally follow their pattern of services.
Committees
Our Management Committee is elected annually at our AGM – which is held in June or July. There are currently 7 members on our Committee. Our current Chair is John Speyer. We have recently created a sub-group to look into finances and investments.
Services
We currently hold synagogue services three weeks out of every four – on a four weekly cycle. Friday night services are held every other week. A Shabbat morning service is held every four weeks (between two of the Friday night services). For dates of future services check the ‘Service’ list in our ‘Diary’.
Rabbi? – what Rabbi?
As a small Congregation we don’t have a Rabbi. Services are lead by lay-leaders – although we do invite Rabbinic Students to run some services and to help us at High Holy Days. Most other facilities and ‘services’ are run and managed by our Management Committee.
Meeting Places
We don’t have a synagogue building. However we meet regularly at a local community centre – and occasionally in member’s houses. Please make contact using our contact page or through a committee member for more information if you want to come along to a service or other activity.
Adult Education
In recent years we have run various adult learning initiatives including - “Community of Learners”, “Textual Journey” - and “Torah L’Am’ . We are currently looking for new courses to run.
Book Club
We have been running a small Jewish Book Club for several years. Participants read a book and then discuss it together. We would welcome others joining this group - or maybe helping to form a second Book Club group? In any case, we would welcome other people reading the books – and commenting or reviewing them.
Cheder (Religious Education classes)
We run a small Cheder for children from around 7 upwards. This has been running for several years, and a number of children have progressed on to Bar and Bat Mitzvah – and even to leading services or teaching at the Cheder. We have also recently started a pre-Cheder group for younger children - with or without their parents. Check out the Cheder and Pre-cheder dates for this term in the Diary.
High Holy Days and Festivals
We normally run our HHD services ourselves – often with the assistance of Rabbinic Students studying at Leo Baeck College (in London). We also organise celebrations or parties at Sukkot, Chunukah, Purim and some other occasions. Our Communal Seder on the 2nd night of Pesach is very well supported - by members and non-members alike. The 2008 Communal Seder attracted more than 80 persons - more than our total membership!
Omer – our Newsletter
We have a Newsletter that is called ‘Omer’. (this a Hebrew word with two meanings – Omer with an ayin – meaning ‘sheaf’ – as in corn – which is a symbol of Sheffield; Omer with an aleph means ‘ to say’ – which is what our newsletter is for of course). It now comes out approximately bi-monthly – and is well read by our members and across the Jewish Community in Sheffield. Non-members may subscribe for a small annual donation. Current and back copies (in .pdf format – which can be read in Acrobat reader) are also available in a slightly revised format if you Contact Us directly.
Library without Shelves
As we don’t have a synagogue building, we also don’t have a physical library. However our members have many books and magazines of Jewish interest – and some are available for loan. More details will be available on this later.
Cemetery and Burial
Through an arrangement with Sheffield City Council we administer our own Jewish Cemetery – in a section of a City Council cemetery. We also participate in a Reform movement burial insurance scheme that is available to all our members. We have recently introduced a separate mixed-faith area in our cemetery (to allow members to be laid to rest with their non-Jewish partner - in some specific circumstances). Please go to the Contact Us page for any enquiries concerning this.
Constitution
We have recently amended our Constitution (July 2006). Please Contact Us if you would like to see a copy.
Conversion
Although we don’t have our own conversion course, we can make arrangements with our nearest Reform Rabbi, at Sinai Synagogue in Leeds. If you might be interested, Contact Us for more details.
Circumcision
People, including non-members, often contact us about the Circumcision of their new (or soon to arrive) baby boy. We don’t have a ‘Moyel’ (someone who carries out circumcisions) in Sheffield - but we can put you in touch with a Moyel In Leeds or Manchester. Reform ‘Moyelim’ are generally Jewish doctors who have had special training to carry out this special ritual, rather than Rabbis. Please Contact Us if you require more details.
SDRJC Blog Site
We have recently gone interactive - as we now have our own SDRJC Blog site! Guests are welcome to leave comments - but it is also an area where you can comment on current activities, films, books, etc.
MRJ - (formerly RSGB)
The Congregation is affiliated to the Movement for Reform Judaism (MRJ) - formerly called RSGB (the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain). MRJ provide us with assistance and support in many areas of synagogue activity. For more information on MRJ - check out the Reform Judaism web site - which also includes an on-line forum where ‘visitors’ can ask questions - or ‘post’ information for other members to see.
RSY-Netzer
This is the youth movement wing of MRJ. We run an RSY-Netzer group in Sheffield (called the ‘Jammie Dodgers’) for our teenagers - but we are hoping to develop this further in the near future. For more information about RSY-Netzer activities nationally - including their extremely popular Summer programmes (Shemesh) - check out the RSY-Netzer web site.
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