Our hearts and souls, our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by Monday night’s attack in Manchester. Together we mourn the innocent people, so many of them children, who have died. We send prayers of healing and consolation to those injured. Manchester is a vibrant, creative, diverse and resilient city. […]
North West Surrey Synagogue held its annual Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sunday 23rd April. The theme this year was ‘Recalling the Journey through Folk Art’, focusing on the Kindertransport. The Traveling Exhibition of Memory Quilts, created by the Kindertransport Association was on display, visiting the UK for the first time ever from the Holocaust Memorial […]
Please visit us with your family! Sunday 30th April 2017 1:30 pm – 4:00 pm North West Surrey Synagogue, Horvath Close, Rosslyn Park, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 9QZ The Kindertransport Memorial Quilts Travelling Exhibition will be on display for the first time in the UK on loan from the ‘on loan from the Kindertransport Association through […]
by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller Aish.com David Rubinger, Israel’s famed photographer, died last week at the age of 92. Born in Vienna, Rubinger’s life mirrored that of the Jewish state he helped found and whose history he so memorably documented. Saved from the Holocaust when he secured a place in 1939 on a Zionist youth […]
We are delighted that rabbi-to-be Kathryn (Kath) Vardi will join us as our next permanent rabbi in July 2017. Kath is in her final year at Leo Baeck College and will take Semicha (become ordained as a rabbi) in July 2017. She came to the rabbinate after a successful career in mental health, first as […]
Last year North West Surrey Synagogue inaugurated a programme to educate secondary school students about the Holocaust, replicating the annual Holocaust Memorial Day project model run by Kingston Liberal Synagogue and Kingston & Surbiton District Synagogue . Held on Holocaust Memorial Day and two additional days, the innovative sessions featured a film, a survivor testimony […]
Sermon by Amit Handelsman – delivered on 17th December 2016 Amit works in partnership with the Movement of Reform Judaism southern communities on strategic planning, visioning and leadership, looking into new models of communities and the establishment of new communities. He runs workshops and training sessions tailored to the need of each community on change, […]
NWSS was delighted to welcome Rabbi Dr Jonathan Magonet to Shul on Sunday 15th January 2017 for our annual Foundation Lecture. The topic was ‘Leo Baeck: The Man and the College’. The text of Rabbi Dr Magonet’s talk can be read by clicking here.
The NWSS Foundation Lecture in January 2017 will be given by Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet and focus on Leo Baeck: the man and the College. Ahead of the lecture, NWSS’ Press Officer Jean Cohen interviewed Rabbi Magonet looking at his writings and topical Jewish issues. Q: Your name appears as a contributor to the current Reform […]
Mitzvah Day was on the same day as our NWSS AGM, 27th November, which meant a lot of to-ing and fro-ing this year. Starting at the end, our intrepid food collecting teams scored an incredible amount of donations for the Hersham & Walton Food Bank at Tesco’s Brooklands. Val & David, who collected last, […]
Approximately 200 people attended the Thanksgiving Service for Gloria, Lady Lawrence, the wife of Sir Ivan Lawrence QC, held at North West Surrey Synagogue on 14 November. Lady Lawrence died on October 4 after a long illness. Sir Ivan and Lady Lawrence were long-standing members of North West Surrey Synagogue and Sir Ivan represents the […]
Rabbi Zucker’s Sermon on 2nd Day Rosh Hashanah Morning 2016 The High Holy Days are both an exciting and an emotionally draining time. We are asked to look inwards and to evaluate where we are, and where we would like to be. So many of the prayers and the familiar sounds of the High Holydays […]
Rabbi Zucker’s Sermon on Rosh Hashanah Morning 2016 Leshanah tova tikatevu ve’techatemu, May you and yours be inscribed and sealed for goodness in the year ahead. Here we are again, at the beginning of the yamim norayim, the Days of Awe, the annual time which invites us to engage in self-reflection and self-judgment. We […]
Rabbi Zucker’s Sermon on Erev Rosh Hashanah 2016 Not so long ago I was chatting with some of members of our congregation. We were sitting and schmoozing. We got onto the subject of the coming High Holy Days. We agreed that they were both a challenging and an exciting time. They were also filled […]
FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON . . . (TURN! TURN! TURN! . . .) It is now just over five decades since the folk rock band The Byrds released the Pete Seeger adaptation of verses from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet): ‘For everything there is a season under heaven’ (Eccl. 3:1). As they […]