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Forty Years of History
North West Surrey Synagogue 1968-2008
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In 2008 we celebrated the fortieth anniversary of North West Surrey Synagogue.
In the beginning there was Finnart House
Our community originated in a school for delinquent Jewish boys!
Surrey is not a traditional Jewish area. In the 1920's and 30's there were just a few Jewish
families - others came as evacuees during World War II.
In 1937 an approved school for 'problem' Jewish boys moved to Finnart House in Weybridge,
and a beautiful little synagogue was consecrated there. The charismatic Harry Cohen was
Headmaster and his wife, Myra, was Matron.
The Cohens invited local Jewish families to share Shabbat services at Finnart.
In 1968 these families decided to form a Synagogue. Living far from mainstream Jewry,
people felt drawn toward the Reform Movement, even some whose tradition was Orthodox.
Twenty families grew to over 100 people in five years.
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Searching for Cohens and Levys
Imre Horvath, a Hungarian refugee, combed through all the local phone directories,
and rang every Jewish-sounding name he found, urging them to join the community.
The congregation worshipped on Friday evenings at Finnart, bonding afterwards over coffee
afterwards with the Cohens. Shabbat mornings and Festivals were celebrated in
local Methodist and Quaker churches, schools and halls. The community saw rabbinic
leadership as more important than an imposing building.
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1969 - 1982 Rabbi Tony Bayfield
This fortunate congregation has had just three rabbis in its forty years, all of them outstanding.
Rabbi Tony Bayfield came to us as a student, and was inducted as our rabbi in 1972. Tony and his
very special wife Linda set the congregation on the lines it has followed ever since - welcoming
to all, informal, unpretentious and egalitarian, open-minded and willing to learn,
involved with the wider community and helping people to find unsuspected talents
and use them for the common good.
Tony introduced such Weybridge customs as Summer Week (fun and learning for children)
and the Sukkah-Crawl to visit (and eat in) far-flung sukkot. Initially we celebrated bar/bat
mitzvah in the 15th year - extending our children's Jewish education beyond the normal
stopping-point.
The Bayfield family stayed with us for thirteen years until Tony was chosen as Director
of the Reform Movement's new Sternberg Centre. He now heads the UK Movement for Reform
Judaism, and remains a close friend of many members.
For nearly two years the congregation had no rabbi, and its strong tradition of
self-leadership dates from that time. Men and women alike led services and study groups,
and ran the educational and social activities.
Finnart House had been sold in 1981 and the congregation of 'wandering Jews' moved into its
first 'real' home - a pre-fab in Princes Road, Weybridge. This site was on a short lease from
the adjacent garage and was quickly outgrown.
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1983 - 1997 Rabbi Fred Morgan
In 1983 a final-year student rabbi from Leo Baeck College, New Yorker Fred Morgan, joined us
and in September 1984 was inducted as our rabbi. Again, Fred and his wife Sue were a team,
whose three small children grew up in NWSS.
The search for permanent premises continued and in 1985 we moved to our present home
in Rosslyn Park, originally a school gymnasium. It is about three hundred yards from where
Finnart House once stood.
Rabbi Morgan's rabbinate saw the inauguration of our Annual Foundation Lectures and the
launch of our newsletter "Haderech"; he introduced our unique tradition of
unwinding and re-winding the Sefer Torah all around the synagogue on Simchat Torah; and in
1997 our first Festival of Judaism. The Monday Evening Institute was launched to foster
adult education.
After fourteen years Fred was head-hunted to become Senior Rabbi at the St.Kilda
congregation in Melbourne, Australia.
Once again, the community drew on its own resources, supported by visiting rabbis and
Reform leaders, especially Rabbi Peter Knobel, a senior rabbi on sabbatical from Illinois.
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1998 - Rabbi Jackie Tabick
From mid-1998 Rabbi Jackie Tabick worked with NWSS for two days each week during
her sabbatical from West London Synagogue, and early in 1999 she was appointed our third Rabbi.
She brought us her tremendous knowledge, warmth and enthusiasm, and a wealth of experience.
Under her leadership, and with enormous help and support from her family, the congregation has
grown ever-stronger, more musical and more outward-looking.
We look forward with confidence to the next forty years.
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(Written by Ena Black, June 2008)
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