Potters Bar and Brookmans Park United Synagogue

Potters Bar, Hertsmere, Hertfordshire

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Town of Potters Bar

The suburban town of Potters Bar lies immediately to the north of the administrative boundary of Greater London. It is in the borough of Hertsmere, a local government district of the county of Hertfordshire, formed in 1974 and granted borough status in 1977. Prior to 1974, Potters Bar had been an urban district since 1934, originally in the former county of Middlesex, but transferred to Hertfordshire in 1965.

Potters Bar Jewish Community

Congregation Data
Name:	Potters Bar and Brookmans Park United Synagogue
Alternative and Former Names:⁽ⁱ⁾	Potters Bar Synagogue Potters Bar and Brookmans Park District Affiliated Synagogue Potters Bar and District Affiliated Synagogue Potters Bar and Brookmans Park Affiliated Synagogue
Address:	78 Sunnybank Road, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 2NF (from December 2009)⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ Formerly at Meadowcroft, Great North Road, Bell Bar (near Potters Bar), Herts AL9 6DB (from at least 1990)⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾
Current Status:	Active
Date Founded:	The congregation was established in 1968^(iv), evolving from the Potters Bar Jewish Centre, formed some years earlier.^(v)
Ritual:	Orthodox - Ashkenazi
Affiliation:	A full (constituent) member of the United Synagogue since about 2010, having previously been an affiliated synagogue from 1968.^(vi) The Congregation is part of the 5+1 group, consisting of six small United Synagogue communities, five in Hertfordshire and one in Bedfordshire.^(vii) The 5+1 has a intercommunal social programme intended to match those provided by large synagogues, whilst retaining the closeness of smaller communities.
Website:	http://pottersbarshul.org.uk
Ministers & Rabbinical Teams: (To view a short profile of a minister - hold the cursor over his name.)	Rabbi Leonard Book - from August 1987 until 1988^(viii) Rev. Stanley Coten - from October 1988 until August 1990^(ix) Rev. Gabriel Burns - from September 1990 until about 1996^(x) Rev. Dan Levy (Fleishman) - from about 1996 until about 2000^(xi) Rabbi Zvi Solomons (& Rebbetzen Shira Solomons) - from about 2000 until about 2005^(xiii) Rabbi Adam S. Hill (& Rebbetzen Shoshana Hill) - from May 2005 until present (December 2018)^(xiv)
Membership Data:	United Synagogue^(xvii) 1968 and 1970 - 20 male seatholders National Reports & Surveys^(xviii) 1977 - 45 male (or household) members 1983 - 46 male (or household) members and 6 female members 1990 - 79 members (households) 1996 - 82 members (comprising 79 households, 2 individual male and 1 individual female member) 2010 and 2016 - listed as having 50 to 99 members (by household)
Charitable Status:	As a constituent of the United Synagogue, the congregation now operates within that organisation's registered charity status (registered charity no. 242552). (Previously, the congregation itself was a registered charity, under the name Potters Bar And Brookmans Park Synagogue (no. 1126837), registered on 21 November 2008 and removed on 1 August 2011.^(xix))
Registration District:	Hertfordshire^(xx) - Register Office website.
Cemetery Information:	For cemeteries used by the congregation, see Cemeteries of the United Synagogue, of which Waltham Abbey Cemetery and Bushey Cemetery are both about 10 miles away..
Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above) (i) The congregation is listed under its current name on its website. In the last two editions of the Jewish Year Book (JYB) (2014 and 2015), it appears simply as Potters Bar Synagogue. In the JYBs 2006 through 2013, it appears as Potters Bar and Brookman Park District Affiliated Synagogue, even though it is listed as a constituent (not an affiliated) synagogue from 2012. In JYBs 1977 through 2005, the name is shown as Potters Bar and District Affiliated Synagogue and in JYBs 1970 through 1976, Potters Bar and Brookman Park Affiliated Synagogue. ↵ (ii) Jewish Chronicle press reports of 17 December 2009 - "Potters Bar synagogue relocates to town centre". ↵ (iii) This is the addresss that appears in Jewish Year Books from 1991. ↵ (iv) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), page 222, although the congregation's first appearance was in Jewish Year Books 1970. ↵ (v) The "Jewish Center" is listed in the Jewish Year Books 1952 through 1969, which it states was established in 1940. In the Jewish Chronicle press reports of 17 December 2009 it states that the congregation "was established in the 1920s as an unofficial off-shoot of the local Jewish golf club". ↵ (vi) The congregation was first listed as a full member in the Jewish Year Book 2011. The source of the date of affiliation is The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), page 222. ↵ (vii) The other five congregations are: St Albans United Synagaogue, Shenley United Jewish Community, Watford and District Synagogue and Welwyn Garden City Synagogue in Hertfordshire; and Luton United Synagogue in Bedfordshire. ↵ (viii) Congregation's newsletter for Rosh Hashana 2018, which includes a list of ministers of the congregation. ↵ (ix) Congregation's newsletter for Rosh Hashana 2018. Rev. (later Rabbi) Coten was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1989 through 1991. ↵ (x) Based upon Rev. Burn being listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1993 through 1996 and congregation's newsletter for Rosh Hashana 2018. ↵ (xi) In the congregation's newsletter for Rosh Hashana 2018, D. Fleishman and Rev. D. Levy are the same person. In Jewish Year Books, the 1997 edition shows Mr. D. Fleishman as minister of the congregation and the 1998 and 1999 editions show the minister as Rev. D. Levy. ↵ (xii) Reserved. (xiii) Based upon Rabbi Solomons being listed as minister of the congregation in the Jewish Year Books 2001 through 2007 and the appointment of his successor in 2005. ↵ (xiv) Based upon Rabbi Hill being listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 2008 through 2015 (the final edition) and his still being referred to as minister in the congregation's Pesach 2020 newsletter, appearing on the congregation's website, accessed 14 July 2020. ↵ (xv) and (xvi) Reserved. (xvii) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), page 220. ↵ (xviii) Reports on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by or on behalf of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and which can be viewed on the website of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research. Click HERE for links to the various reports. ↵ (xix) Charity Commission website (in beta development), accessed 7 August 2018. ↵ (xx) The former Registration Districts were Watford, from 1 March 1996 until 1 April 2008, and Elstree & Potters Bar, from the formation of Congregation until 1 April 2008. All registers would now be held by current register office. ↵

Potters Bar Jewish Population Data

1951

39 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1952)

1953

32 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1954)

1955

28 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1956)

1958

30 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1959)

1959

40 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1960)

1969

50 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1970)

1972

60 families

(The Jewish Year Book 1973)

1984

170

(The Jewish Year Book 1985)

1986

250

(The Jewish Year Book 1987)

1990

205

(The Jewish Year Book 1991)

2002

250

(The Jewish Year Book 2003)

Hertsmere Jewish Communities home page

List of United Synagogue Congregations

Jewish Congregations in Hertfordshire

Jewish Congregations in Greater London and its Outskirts

Jewish Communities of England home page

Page created: 17 August 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes added: 7 August 2018
Latest revision or update: 14 July 2020

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