Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue

Name:

Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue
(Hebrew Name: Etz Chayim - "Tree of Live")

Working Name:

The Ark Synagogue

Former Name:

Pinner Liberal Jewish Congregation (until 1966), also refered to as Pinner & District Liberal Synagogue ⁽ⁱ⁾

Address⁽ⁱⁱ⁾:

Oaklands Gate, Green Lane, Northwood HA6 3AA (from 1980, purpose-built)

Previously:
  Hallowell Road, Northwood, Middx. (1966-1980)
  West House, Pinner, Middx. (1964-1966)

Current Status:

Active

Date Formed:

1964⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

Ritual:

Liberal Progressive

Affiliation:

A constituent synagogue of Liberal Judaism (formerly the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues)

Website:

https://www.arksynagogue.org/

Former Logo:

Ministers^(v):

(To view a short profile of a minister who also served other UK congregations - name in blue - hold the cursor over his or her name.)

Rabbi Charles Familant - rabbi in 1964^(vi)

Rabbi Dr. Andrew Goldstein^(vii) - principal of religious school from 1965, student rabbi and acting minister from 1967, minister and rabbi (later senior rabbi) from 1970 until 2008, emeritus rabbi from 2008

Rabbi Marcia Plumb - associate rabbi from 1990 until 1991^(viii)

Rabbi Frank Dabba Smith - assistant rabbi from 1994 until 1997^(ix)

Rabbi Rachel Benjamin - assistant rabbi (later associate rabbi) from about 1998 until 2004, 2007 until 2008^(x)

Rabbi Aaron Goldstein^(xi) - assistant (part-time) rabbi from 2007, senior rabbi from 2008 to present (August 2022)

Rabbi Hillel Athias-Robles^(xii) - assistant and associate rabbi from 2008 until about 2012

Rabbi Lea Mühlstein^(xiii) - rabbi from 2013 to present (August 2022)

Cantor Tamara Wolfson - cantor from May 2018 to 2020^(xiv)

Officers:

Lists of the present and past Presidents, Vice Presidents and Chairpersons of the congregation can be viewed on the congregation's website, as well as a list of those members honoured as Chataonei Torah and Chataonei Bereishit.

Membership Data:

Congregation's website^(xix)

1964 - 30 families

2018 - about 1,000 adults and 300 young members

National Reports and Surveys^(xx)

1977 - 183 male (or household) members and 27 female members

1983 - 286 male (or household) members and 21 female members

1990 - 503 members (households)

1996 - 691 members (comprising 389 households, 140 individual male and 162 individual female members)

2010 - listed as having 750 to 999 members (by household)

2016 - listed as having 500 to 749 members (by household)

Legal & Charitable Status:

The congregation is a registered company, The Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue (company no. 09349392), a private company limited by guarantee without a share capital, incorporated on 10 December 2014.^(xxi)

It is also a registered charity (no. 1160487), registered February 2015, the governing documents being the company's Memorandum & Articles Association.^(xxii)

The congregation was originally established as an unincorporated association, Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue, registered as a charity (no 243618) on 5 January 1967. With effect from 1 April 2015, the whole of its undertaking was transferred to the company and the charity was removed from the register on 4 July 2016.^(xxiii)

Affiliated Group:

A group, known as the New Bucks Group, based in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, was affiliated with this congregation in the 1970s.

Membership Data:

1977 -  - 20 male (or household) members and estimated 20 female members^(xxiv)

Local Government District:

Northwood, in northwest London suburb, is in the London Borough of Hillingdon, an outer London borough created on 1 April 1965, within the administrative area of Greater London.

The adjoining suburb of Pinner is in the London Borough of Harrow, an outer London borough created on 1 April 1965, coextensive with the former Municipal Borough of Harrow, which was within the former County of Middlesex.

Registration Districts (BMD):

Cemetery
Information: