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Lifelong learning in synagogues: The forgotten communities

Author(s): Goulden, Simon

Date: 2021

Topics: Jewish Education, Main Topic: Education, Denominations: United Synagogue (UK), Synagogues, Education: Adult Education

Abstract: Though the development of Jewish schools in the United Kingdom has increased enormously in the past 50 years, the planning of adult Jewish education in the UK has been almost entirely ignored. This article explores the purpose and provision of adult education in three communities in the United Synagogue, the largest synagogal body in the UK. Synagogue-based adult education is apparently provided with little planning or measurement of outcomes. Community leaders and members take differing approaches to its aims and success measurement, with socialization being vital for participants, most of whom are in their senior years.

Minhag Anglia: The Transition of Modern Orthodox Judaism in Britain

Author(s): Freud-Kandel, Miri

Date: 2012

Topics: Main Topic: Other, Denominations: Orthodox, Religious Observance and Practice, Denominations: United Synagogue (UK), Law: Jewish Law / Halacha

Abstract: In certain respects the mainstream Orthodox Jewish community in Britain, fully engaged and integrated into British life, appears to offer an exemplar of a Modern Orthodox Judaism. However the term minhag Anglia may be used to capture the nature of the often unsystematic blending of Jewishness and Britishness that can characterise Anglo-Jewish practice. This paper considers whether the broadly unthinking nature of minhag Anglia precludes its ability to function as a strategy for Modern Orthodox Judaism.

Drivers of Engagement: A United Synagogue Board of Management members’ attitude survey, 2015

Author(s): Goulden, Simon

Date: 2015

Topics: Synagogues, Volunteering and Voluntary Sector Organisations, Jewish Organisations, Main Topic: Other, Denominations: United Synagogue (UK)

Synagogal Organization in Anglo-Jewry

Author(s): Lipman, V. D.

Date: 1959

Topics: Synagogues, Denominations: United Synagogue (UK), Jewish Organisations: Representative and Umbrella Bodies

The United Synagogue Strategic Review: Building vibrant, engaged communities at the forefront of British Jewry

Author(s): Myer, Marc

Date: 2015

Topics: Denominations: Orthodox, Strategic Planning, Denominations: United Synagogue (UK), Jewish Community, Synagogues, Jewish Organisations: Representative and Umbrella Bodies, Main Topic: Identity and Community

Abstract: It is no exaggeration to say that the United Synagogue is one of the Jewish community’s most
important institutions. I firmly believe the United Synagogue is essential to the future of the UK
Jewish community and I was privileged that the President and Trustees asked me to help them
conduct a strategic review of this august institution.
The decision to initiate a strategic review comes ten years on from the publication of Rabbi Saul
Zneimer’s report, “Transformation & Action”, and almost 20 years after Sir Stanley Kalms
conducted his review. It recognised that whilst the United Synagogue is, now, financially stable (a
very different situation to the one Sir Stanley looked at), it must look ahead to address the
challenges it faces and to meet the needs and challenges of future generations. The US must
clearly articulate its vision and align itsstrategy with corresponding delivery mechanisms. In doing
so, The US must clearly communicate what it stands for and what it provides to members.
This review also comes at an opportune moment, following Chief Rabbi Mirvis’ installation into
office and looking ahead to 2020, the 150th anniversary of the Act of Parliament that created the
United Synagogue.
The report that follows summarises and elucidates the conclusions of over nine months’ work by
a large team of talented volunteers and professionals.
Its principal finding is that the United Synagogue needs to redefine its synagogues as vibrant
homes of community that enrich our members’ lives. No longer can shuls solely be houses of
prayer. This is not a new idea but it has taken on a new importance as we seek to meet the spectre
of disaffiliation that haunts our community.

Transformation and Action: The Strategic Review of the United Synagogue

Date: 2003

Topics: Denominations: Orthodox, Strategic Planning, Jewish Organisations: Representative and Umbrella Bodies, Denominations: United Synagogue (UK), Synagogues, Main Topic: Identity and Community

Abstract: This paper is the result of an intensive review of all
aspects of the United Synagogue. It was conducted
over a number of months and has involved many of
our Rabbis, members of staff and volunteers. It lays
out a new "Vision Mission and Values" statement for
the United Synagogue and sets out a plan of action for
the future. The plan is based on a series of strategic
imperatives –broad aims- that, in the short term, will
take us toward our Vision. The full document sets this
out in detail.

A Time for Change: United Synagogue Review

Author(s): Kalms, Stanley

Date: 1992

Topics: Denominations: Orthodox, Strategic Planning, Denominations: United Synagogue (UK), Jewish Organisations: Representative and Umbrella Bodies, Synagogues, Main Topic: Identity and Community

Orthodox Judaism in Britain Since 1913: An Ideology Forsaken.

Author(s): Freud-Kandel, Miri

Date: 2006

Topics: Denominations: Orthodox, Rabbis: Chief Rabbinates, Main Topic: Other, Denominations: United Synagogue (UK), Theology

Abstract: In 1991, just as Jonathan Sacks was acceding to the post of Chief Rabbi, the United Synagogue, the largest synagogal institution in British Jewry, commissioned a report entitled "A Time for Change". This report identified the significant difficulties in which many of the Orthodox institutions of British Jewry found themselves: the United Synagogue itself, the Chief Rabbinate, and the Bet Din - its religious court. It suggested that the root cause of the problems was a shift away from 'minhag Anglia, a celebration of the twofold blessing of being Jewish and British'. This work examines the thought and influence of the three Chief Rabbis whose terms in office have begun and ended during the twentieth century. It follows the theological shifts that have occurred amongst the religious leadership of Orthodox Judaism in Britain and assesses the influence of factors such as immigration and the so-called 'Jacobs Affair' in effecting these changes. The Jewish community in Britain provides a model of a religious minority group's attempt to secure its survival in the midst of a host society that espouses alternative values derived either from secularism or an alternative religious system.
Through an in-depth analysis of the theology of Chief Rabbi Joseph Herman Hertz, this work identifies a paradigm that was established for Jews in Britain of a strong and confident Orthodoxy that champions interaction in the host society. The Chief Rabbinates of Israel Brodie and Immanuel Jakobovits were each influenced in different ways by the burgeoning influence of alternative models for Orthodox Judaism. This work considers how this facilitated the displacement of the community's fervour for unity with religious polarisation; and analyses how its religious leadership adopted a theology which seemed to call on Anglo-Jewry to forsake its ideology of meaningful interaction to secure its religious identity.

Is the United Synagogue a Microcosm of the UK's Jewish Community? Demographic Research Using Available Data

Author(s): Graham, David

Date: 2001

Topics: Denominations: Orthodox, Denominations: United Synagogue (UK), Synagogue Membership, Synagogues, Demography, Main Topic: Demography and Migration

Abstract: The United Synagogue is the UK's largest and oldest religious institution. This report sets out to analyse raw membership data of that organisation. Descriptive statistics suggest that the United Synagogue membership has fallen absolutely by over 22% in less than one generation and twice as many synagogues experienced a contraction rather than an expansion in membership from 1981 to 1999.

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