Congregation Data

Menorah Synagogue, Cheshire Reform Congregation

Cheshire Reform Congregation⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

198 Altrincham Road (previously referred to as Sharston Community Centre), Sharston, Manchester M22 4RZ⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

(The congregation is considered part of the "South Manchester" Jewish community.)

Active

Founded in 1963.^(iv)

Reform

A constituent of the Movement for Reform Judaism (formerly known as Reform Synagogues of Great Britain).

https://menorah.org.uk/

Rabbi Jeffrey Newman - from about 1971 until about 1973^(viii)

Rabbi M. Boyden - from about 1973 until about 1985^(ix)

Rabbi Dr. Michael Hilton - from about 1989 until about 1998^(x)

Rabbi B. Fox - from about 2000 until about 2012^(xi)

Rabbi Chaim Shalom - from about 2012 until about 2014^(xii)

Rabbi Fabian Sborovsky - from 2015 until present (June 2021)^(xiii)

National Reports and Surveys^(xvii)

1977 - 245 male (or household) members and 12 female members

1983 - 240 male (or household) members and 20 female members

1990 - 402 members (comprising 250 households, 60 individual male and 92 individual female members)

1996 - 416 members (comprising 273 households, 60 individual male and 83 individual female members)

2010 - listed as having 400 to 499 members (by household)

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

On 27 November 2007, the congregation was incorporated as a registered (non-profit) company, Cheshire Reform Congregation Limited (company no. 06438680), a private company limited by guarantee without a share capital.^(xviii)

It is a also registered charity (registered charity no. 1124560), registered on 18 June 2008.^(xix)

(The congregation had a previous registration as a charity under the name Cheshire Reform Congregation (prior to its incorporation as a company) from 24 July 1964 (registered charity no. 234762) until it was removed from the register on 20 November 2014, as funds transfered to the new entity.^(xx))

The congregation is in the metropolitan borough of the City of Manchester, within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester (which no longer has any administrative powers).

From 1889 to 1974, the locality was in the county borough of Manchester (a unitary authority), geographically (although not administratively) within the county of Lancashire.

However, Altrincham Road is close to, and extends into, Cheadle (now in the metropolitan borough of Stockport), which from 1889 to 1974 was in the urban district of Cheadle and Gateley, in the county of Cheshire. 

Cemetery
Information:

See Manchester Jewish Cemeteries Information on Manchester Jewish Community home page.

Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above)

• (i) Reserved.

• (ii) This was the name under which the congregation was listed in Jewish Year Book until and including 1986 and is also used as an alternative name for the congregation. ↵

• (iii) This has been the address given for the congregation in Jewish Year Books since its first listing in 1965 and is still the address as given on the Congregation's website, last accessed 5 September 2019. Sharston Community Centre appeared as part of the address until Jewish Year Book 1979. ↵

• (iv) Congregation's website, last accessed 5 September 2019, although Jewish Year Books (from 1993 onwards) refer to the congregation as being established in 1964. ↵

• (v) to (vii) Reserved.

• (viii) Based upon Rabbi Newman's listing as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1972 and 1973. ↵

• (ix) Based upon Rabbi Boyden's listing as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 1974 through 1985. There were no ministers listed in the editions for 1986 through 1989. ↵

• (x) Based upon Rabbi Hilton's listing as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 1990 through 1998. There were no ministers listed in the editions for 1999 and 2000. ↵

• (xi) Based upon the listing of Rabbi Fox, AM DD as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 2001 through 2012. ↵

• (xii) Based upon the listing of Rabbi Shalom, MA, as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 2013 and 2014. Rabbi Shalom, born James Taylor in Manchester, received ordination from the Israeli Rabbinical program of HUC-JIR at the Jerusalem Campus. There was no minister listed for the congregation in 2015, the last edition of the year book. ↵

• (xiii) Based upon Rabbi Sborovsky's profile formerly on the congregation's website, last accessed 20 June 2021. Rabbi Sborovsky was born in Paraquay and received ordination from the Abraham Geiger College in Germany. ↵

• (xiv) to (xvi) Reserved.

• (xvii) 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. ↵

• (xviii) Companies House website, accessed 5 September 2019. ↵

• (xix) Charities Commission's website (in beta trial stage) and open charities website, both accessed 5 September 2019. ↵

• (xx) Charities Commission's website (in beta trial stage), accessed 5 September 2019. ↵

Congregational Records

Registration District (BMD):

• Manchester (since founding of congregation)

• Link to Register Office website

At Manchester Register Office:

• Marriage Registers 1971-1998 (MRO Ref: 532). For certain data, including ancillary notes, extracted from the registers and provided to JCR-UK, see the Cheshire Reform Menorah Synagogue Marriage Register Data.

Group for Marriage Certification:

• West London Synagogue.