Congregation Data |
Name: |
The Wimbledon Synagogue
(used since at least 2016(i))
|
Former Names: |
Wimbledon & District Synagogue
(from about 1950 to about 2016)(ii)
Wimbledon & District Reform Synagogue
(until about 1950)(iii)
|
Address: |
1 Queensmere Road, Wimbledon Park, London SW19 5QD
(From 1997) The building was the former Athlone Hall of Southlands College. (iv) |
Former Addresses: |
44-46 Worple Road, Wimbledon London SW19
4EJ (from 1952 to 1997)
This was a purpose-built synagogue. The site was acquired in May 1950
and the foundation stone was laid on 8 April 1951 by Mr. Ernest Abelson
(chairman, later president, of the congregation) and Mr. Leonard Montefiore
OBE (then treasurer of the West London Synagogue). The synagogue was formally opened and dedicated on 25 May 1952 by Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck.(v)
Previously the congregation
held services at temporary accomadation, in particular (from 1950 about until 1952)
at 61 Worple Road, Wimbledon SW19 (vi),
which appears to have been a church hall. |
Current Status: |
Active |
Date Formed: |
Although a local Jewish Social Group had existed since
1948, the congregation was founded in February 1949, when an inaugaral
meeting was held to establish a reform congregation.(viii) |
Ritual: |
Reform |
Affiliation: |
A constituent synagogue of the
Movement for Reform
Judaism (formerly the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain). |
Website: |
http://www.wimshul.org/ |
Ministers:
(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.) |
Rev. Alexander C. Jaffe
- from 1952 until about 1953(x)
Rabbi Charles Berg
- from June 1953 until 1974, and thereafter emeritus(xi)
Rabbi Hillel Avidan
- from June 1974 until August 1981(xii)
Rabbi Amnon Daniel Smith
- from 1982 until 1993(xiii)
Rabbi Robert Franklin Shafritz
- from October 1993 until July 1996(xiv)
Rabbi William (Willy) Wolff
- from 1997 until 2002(xv)
Rabbi Sylvia Helen Fay Rothschild
and Rabbi Sybil Ann Sheridan
- joint ministers from October 2002 until 2014(xix)
Rabbi Tony Hammond (interim rabbi - 1st period)
- from 2014 until November 2015(xx)
Rabbi Jason Posner
- from November 2015 until September 2016(xxi)
Rabbi Tony Hammond (interim rabbi - 2nd period)
- from 2016 until 2020(xx)
Rabbi Adam Schell
- from November 2020 until present (January 2021)(xxii)
|
Membership Data: |
Various Publications
1951 - 63 members(xxvii)
1956 - 130 families(xxviii)
1961 - 225 members(xxvii)
National Reports & Surveys(xxix)
1977 - 335 male (or household) members and 93 female members
1983 - 343 male (or household) members and 100 female members
1990 - 550 members (households)
1996 - 539 members (households)
2010 - listed as having 500 - 749 members (by household)
2016 - listed as having 400 - 499 members (by household) |
Legal & Charitable Status(xxx): |
On
11 January 2013, the congregation was incorporated as a registered
private company (company no. 08356706), limited by guarantee without a share capital (and with
an exemption from use of the word 'Limited'), registered under its
previous name Wimbledon and District Synagogue. It is also a registered
charity, in the same name (no. 1150678), registered on 4 February 2013.
The governing documents are the company's Memorandum & Articles
Association, as amended.
There was an earlier registration of the congregation as a registered
charity (no. 1040712) registered on 19 September 1994 and removed from the
register on 18 March 2014. With effect from 1 April 1913, all assests
and activities of this charity were transferred to the new entity.
|
Local Government
District: |
Wimbledon is a suburb in South London. The present synagogue is located close to
Wimbledon Park, at the northern end of Wimbledon, lying just within the London Borough
of Wandsworth, an Inner London Borough created in 1965 within
administrative area of Greater London.(xxxi)
However, most of Wimbledon,
including the previous synagogue in Worple Road, is
in theLondon Borough of Merton, an Outer London Borough within
administrative area of Greater London, and was previously (until 1965) in the
former Municipal Borough of Wimbledon, in the county of Surrey.(xxxii)
|
Registration Districts (BMD): |
London Borough of Wandsworth -
Link to Register Office website
London Borough of Merton(xxxiii) -
Link to Register Office website
(Group for Marriage Certification: West London Synagogue.) |
Cemetery
Information: |
Membership of the synagogue includes burial rights through the
Jewish Joint Burial Society (JJBS) at one of its cemeteries,
principally the Western Cemetery in Cheshunt. There is
also the option (through the JJBS) of a Woodland Burial in Cheshunt or cremation at Golders Green Crematorium. |
Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above)
|
Bibliography, On-line Articles and Other Material relating to this Congregation
on JCR-UK
on Third Party websites
|
List of Reform Judaism Congregations
Jewish Congregations in the London Borough of Wandsworth
Jewish Congregations in the London Borough of Merton
List of Member Synagogues of the Jewish Joint Burial Society
Jewish Congregations in Greater London (other than East End)
Greater London home page
Page created: 25 October 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes added: 13
December 2018
Latest revision or update: 5 January 2021
Explanation of Terms |
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