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Liberal Judaism

Liberal Judaism, a grouping of liberal and progressive congregations, is the most radical of the various synagogue movements in the United Kingdom. Membership of Liberal congregations in 2016 (including the unaffiliated Belsize Square Synagogue) constituted some 8.2% of synagogue membership in the United Kingdom.⁽¹⁾

In April 2023, Liberal Judaism together with the larger Movement for Reform Judaism announced their intentions to merge into one Progressive Jewish movement.

Basic Data
Name:	Liberal Judaism
Former Names:	Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues (ULPS) (1944 to 2002) Jewish Religious Union for the Advancement of Liberal Judaism (until 1958), which evolved from..... Jewish Religious Union (1902 to 1911)
Head Office:	The Montagu Centre, 21 Maple Street, London W1T 4BE
Date Formed:	1902
Ritual:	Liberal and Progressive Judaism
Affiliation:	Member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism
Website:	https://www.liberaljudaism.org/
Burial Society:	Jewish Joint Burial Board of 1 Victory Road, Wanstead E11 1UL (serving several Reform, Masorti, Liberal and Independent Communities in England), established 1968.
Legal and Charitable Status:	On 5 November 2012, 'Liberal Judaism (ULPS)" was incorporated as a registered company (company no: 08281223), a private company limited by guarantee without a share capital (and with an exemption from use of the word 'Limited'). It is also a registered charity (No: 1151090), registered on 5 March 2013

History⁽²⁾

The founding father of British Liberal Judaism was Claude Montifiore, who at a meeting held on 19 February 1902 was instrumental in founding the Jewish Religious Union (JRU), a society that grew as a result of an article, entitled "Spiritual Possibilities in Judaism To-day", by Lily Montagu which appeared in the Jewish Quarterly Review in January 1899.

The society, which was not a synagogue, held its first prayer service on 18 October 1902 in the Wharncliffe Rooms at the Great Central Hotel, Marylebone Road, London in 1902. Services were held on Saturday afternoons so as not to conflict with regular Shabbat morning services in synagogues. At the time, these services were not seen as the prelude to the setting up of a separate denomination within Anglo-Jewry.

Following the first service, the JRU accepted an invitation from London's then only Reform synagogue, the West London Synagogue, to discuss the possibility of services being held there, but the stipulation made by the synagogue, such as the right to veto the content of the services and the refusal to allow men and women to sit together were unacceptable to the JRU.

By 1909, the JRU decided that the time had come to set up its own synagogue and this was achieved in 1911 with the opening of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London. By 1928, two other Liberal congregations had been founded in London and one in Liverpool. In 1944, the JRU (which had added the words "for the Advancement of Liberal Judaism" to its name in 1911) was reorganised as the "Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues", changing its name to "Liberal Judaism" in 2002.

Congregations

In 1949 there were 11 member congregation. Today, Liberal Judaism now has 36 communities (formerly referred to as constituent synagogues, as well as two developing/affiliated congregations, throughout Britain and Ireland.⁽³⁾ Also affiliated is a community in Denmark and a developing/affiliated congregation the Netherlands. At one time, the organisation included the Bene Israel Rodef Shalom congregation of Bombay (now Mumbai), India (which is now affiliated directly with the WUPJ).

Greater London and Vicinity:

Beit Klal Yisrael*^Φ - North Kensington Liberal Synagogue (formerly North Kensington Reform Synagogue)
Bet Tikvah Synagogue (formerly Barkingside Progressive Synagogue, now merged into East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue)
Crouch End Chavurah*
Ealing Liberal Synagogue*
East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue*
(Elstree) Liberal Synagogue* (formerly Hertsmere Progressive Synagogue; Stanmore Liberal Jewish Congregation)
Finchley Progressive Synagogue*
Golders Green & District JRU
Kehillah North London* (successor to North London Progressive Jewish Community)
Kingston Liberal Synagogue*
Liberal Jewish Synagogue* (The) - St. John's Wood
Mosaic Liberal Synagogue* - Harrow (formerly Harrow and Wembley Progressive Synagogue; Wembley & District Liberal Synagogue)
North London Progressive Synagogue (succeded by Kehillah North London)
Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue* (formerly Pinner Liberal Jewish Congregation)
Settlement Synagogue^◊ (formerly St George's Settlement Synagogue, now merged into South West Reform & Settlement Synagogue)
Southgate Progressive Synagogue* (formerly
Southgate & District Liberal Synagogue; Southgate & Enfield Progressive Synagogue)
South London Liberal Synagogue* - Streatham
West Central Liberal Jewish Synagogue
Woodford Liberal Synagogue (formerly Woodford Progressive Synagogue, now merged into East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue)

Unaffiliated Congregations, with Liberal / Progressive or Egalitarian Tradition:

Belsize Square Synagogue^◊ (formerly New Liberal Jewish Congregation)
Cambridge Progressive Jewish Society
Congregation Beyt Elohim^(P) - Leytonstone
Irn-Ju# - Glasgow
Lincoln Independent Minyan#
Welshpool Jewish Group^◊ (a former associate community)
West Central Liberal Synagogue - Chavurah Group*
Wolverhampton Liberal Jewish Circle

Provincial and Outer London:

Amersham - South Bucks Jewish Community*
Birmingham Progressive Synagogue*
Blackpool Progressive Jewish Congregation^◊(now Blackpool Reform Jewish Congregation)
Bournemouth & Poole - Wessex Liberal Jewish Community*
Brentwood - Tikva Chadasha^◊ (a.k.a. Shenfield & Brentwood Synagogue (formerly Rosh Tikvah)
Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue*
Bristol & West Progressive Jewish Congregation*
Crawley Progressive Jewish Community*
Dublin Jewish Progressive Congregation*
Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community*
Edinburgh Liberal Community Synagogue - Sukkat Shalom, Edinburgh*^Φ (formerly Edinburgh Reform Hebrew Community)
Herefordshire Jewish Community# (members absorbed into Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community)
Lancashire & Cumbria Liberal Jewish Community* (a developing/affiliated congregation)
Leamington & District Progressive Jewish Group
Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation*
Lincolnshire Jewish Community*
Little Chalfont - New Bucks Group
Liverpool Progressive Synagogue^◊ (now Liverpool Reform Synagogue)
Luton - Bedfordshire Progressive Synagogue* (formerly Chiltern Progressive Synagogue, Beds-Herts Liberal Jewish Synagogue, Luton Liberal Jewish Congregation and a.k.a Rodef Shalom Progressive Synagogue)
Manchester Liberal Jewish Community*
Norwich Liberal Jewish Community*(formerly Progressive Jewish Community of East Anglia)
Nottingham Liberal Synagogue* (formerly Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation)
Oxford Progressive Group* (a developing/affiliated congregation)
Peterborough Liberal Jewish Community*
Reading Liberal Jewish Community* (formerly Thames Valley Progressive Jewish Community)
Southend Progressive Synagogue^◊ (formerly Leigh-on-Sea Liberal Jewish Synagogue, now Southend & District Reform Synagogue)
Stevenage Liberal Synagogue*
Suffolk Liberal Jewish Community* (formerly Ipswich Liberal Jewish Group)
Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community* (formerly Gloucestershire Liberal Jewish Community)
Weymouth & Portland Jewish Community (a former assisted community)
York Liberal Synagogue*
also:

* An active congregation or group currently affiliated to Liberal Judaism

^Φ congregation previously affiliated to Reform Judaism

^◊ An active congregation or group, formerly affiliated to Liberal Judaism, now unaffiliated but following Liberal tradition.

^◊ An active congregation, formerly affiliated to Liberal Judaism, but now affiliated to Reform Judaism.

^◊ A congregation formerly affiliated to both Liberal Judaism and Reform Judaism, but that has now merged into an active congregation solely affiliated to Reform Judaism.

# A congregation that merged with another congregation.

# An active congregation, unaffiliated to any organisation, following a liberal or egalitarian tradition.

^(P) A former independent congregation believed to have followed a Progressive / Liberal tradition.

Bibliography, On-line Articles and Other Material
relating to the Liberal Judaism Movement

on JCR-UK

Annual Reports filed with Companies House and the Charities Commission (pdf):⁽⁴⁾
- For years ended 31 December 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Selected Bibliography:
- The Synagogues of London by Paul Lindsay, 1993 (Valentine Mitchell, London)
- Israel Isidor Mattuck: Architect of Liberal Judaism by Pam Fox, 2016 (Vallentine Mitchell)

Cemeteries of Liberal Judaism in the Greater London Area

Willesden (Liberal) Cemetery, Pound Lane, Willesden, London NW10
This is the primary cemetery of the The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St. John's Wood.
The War Memorial at the cemetery is a Grade II Listed Building (number 1461873). designated on 7 February 2019. (View description on Historic England website.)
(See also IAJGS Cemetery Project - Willesden Liberal)
Edgwarebury Cemetery (active), Edgwarebury Lane, Edgware HA8 8QP
This cemetery, opened in 1973, comprises four sections belonging, respectively, to Liberal Judaism (used by members of most of its London synagogues other than The Liberal Synagogue (St John's Wood), the West London Synagogue, Belsize Square Synagogue and the S&P Sephardi Community (formerly the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation). (See also IAJGS Cemetery Project - Edgwarebury.)
Burials through the Jewish Joint Burial Society (JJBS), which serves three member synagogues of the Liberal Judaism (including one London Synagogue, Beit Klal Yisrael, North Kensington) in addition to a large number of Reform and Masorti synagogues and some Independent congregations. JJBS principal cemetery is:
- Bulls Cross Ride Cemeteries (active), Cheshunt, Herts. EN7 5HT
  The cemetery comprising the original Western Cemetery as well as the newer Woodland Cemetery. JJBS acquired its section of the Western Cemetery from the Western (now Western Marble Arch) Synagogue (which still retains its own section). (See also IAJGS Cemetery Project - Cheshunt)

In addition, many municipal cemeteries throughout Britain have sections
reserved for non-Orthdox Jewish burials.

References and Notes (↵ returns to main text)

"Jewish News", Issue No. 1010, 6 July 2017, pp. 1, 4, quoting report by Board of Deputies Policy Reseach, carried out between April and September 2016. ↵

Primary source: A place to Call My Jewish Home - Memories of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue 1911-2011 by Pam Fox, pp 1-5. ↵

Listed on Liberal Judaism website, last accessed 23 July 2019. ↵

From the websites of Companies House and the Charities Commission. ↵

Synagogal Organisation in the United Kingdom

London Jewish Community home page

Page created: 27 June 2017
Page most recently amended: 20 December 2023

Research and formatting by David Shulman

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