Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue

Name

Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue

Former Name

Brighton & Hove New Synagogue, until about 2005.⁽ⁱ⁾

Address:

Palmeira Avenue, Hove BN3 3GE
The synagogue, built in 1966/7 and consecrated on 10 September 1967,⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ was designed by architect Derek J. Sharp, ARIBA,⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾ with stained glass windows and doors to the Ark created by John Petts.

A plaque, laid when the building was constructed, reads: "This synagogue is dedicated to the glory of God and to the memory of the six million Jews who perished in Nazi concentration camps. In honour of the dead and an inspiration to the living."

On 2 April 2025, the synagogue, amidst some controversy, was designated a Grade II Listed Building (number 1491777). View description on Historic England. The designation rescued the synagogue from a development plan, already approved by members of the congregation, which would have involved the demolition of the building and its replacement with a block of flats, including a new, smaller, purpose-built synagogue.^(iv)

Former Addresses:^(v)

65 Holland Road, Hove (from 1958)

Boyle House, 6 Third Avenue, Hove (from 1955 to 1958)

Current Status:

Active

Date Formed:

The congregation was formed in 1955^(vi)

Ritual:

Reform

Affiliation:

A constituent synagogue of the the Movement for Reform Judaism, formerly known as the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain (RSGB), having joined the movement in 1955. However, due to a financial dispute, the congregation's membership of the movement ceased in 1972, the congregation remaining an independent Reform synagogue, until it rejoined the movement in 1984.^(vii)

From about 1963 until the early 1980s, the Tunbridge Wells Jewish Fellowship was affiliated to the congregation.^(viii)

Website:

http://www.bh-rs.org

JSCN Link:

Click on Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue (a member community) on the Jewish Small Communities Network website.

Ministers:

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

Rabbi Erwin S. Rosenblum - the first minister of the congregation, from 1956 until 1984,^(x) and thereafter emeritus rabbi until 1995.

Rabbi Jeremy Collick - from 1984 until 1999.^(xi)

Rabbi Dr. David Meyer - from 2001 until 2006.^(xii)

Rabbi Paul Glantz - in 2007.^(xiii)

Rabbi Charles Wallach - from January 2008 to April 2012.^(xiv)

Rabbi Dr. Andrea Zanardo - from September 2012 until present (April 2025).^(xv)

Congregation's Newsletter:

Sha'are Shalom Newsletter

Membership Data

General

1956 - 80 families^(xviii)

1962 - 300 members^(xviii)

National Reports and Surveys^(xx)

1977 - 600 male (or household) members and 500 female members

1983 - 410 male (or household) members and 625 female members

1990 - 612 members (households)

1996 - 760 members (households)

2010 - listed as having 300 to 399 members (by household)

2016 - 2016 - listed as having 300 to 399 members (by household)

Legal and Charitable Status:

The congregation became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on 13 July 2013 although it did not start to operate as a CIO until 1 April 2014, the congregation's new constitution as a CIO being registered by the Charity Commission on 24 January 2014 (registered charity no. 1155461).^(xxi)

Registration District

Brighton & Hove (since 1 November 1998)^(xxii) - Link to Register Office website.

Cemetery
Information:

The congregation is a member synagogue of the Jewish Joint Burial Society (JJBS), through which the congregation's members participate in a burial scheme. The congregation's members generally use Non-Orthodox Jewish section at the Hove Cemetery. (For further details see Cemetery Information the Brighton and Hove community page)