North Western Reform Synagogue

North Western Reform Synagogue
Religion
Affiliation	Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Leadership	Rabbi Golan Ben-Chorin Rabbi Hannah Kingston Rabbi Elliott Karstadt Rabbi Colin Eimer Rabbi Josh Levy (Emeritus)
Status	Active
Location
Location	Alyth Gardens, Temple Fortune, Golders Green, Borough of Barnet, London, England NW11 7EN
Country	United Kingdom
Location of the synagogue in Greater London
Geographic coordinates	51°34′46″N 0°11′47″W
Architecture
Date established	1933 (as a congregation)
Completed	1936
Website
alyth.org.uk

The North Western Reform Synagogue, commonly known as Alyth, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Temple Fortune, Golders Green, in the Borough of Barnet, north-west London, England, in the United Kingdom.

Overview

Logo of the congregation

The congregation was founded in 1933, and its building was built in Alyth Gardens in 1936, on land carved out from the West London Synagogue’s cemetery in Hoop Lane. In 1942, the congregation became a founding member of Associated British Synagogue, now known as the Movement for Reform Judaism. With approximately 2,500 adult and 1,000 child members, the congregation is one of the largest Reform synagogues in the United Kingdom.

In 1958, the (Leo Baeck Centre was completed and in 2004 social spaces were expanded and a kindergarten completed.

In 2021 its members approved a £6 million upgrade to the synagogue building.

Clergy

The following individuals have served as rabbi of the congregation:

Ordinal	Officeholder	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
1	Solomon Starrels	1933	1938	4–5 years
2	Maurice Perlzweig	1938	1942	13–14 years	Also chair of the World Union of Jewish Students in 1933 and had helped to create the World Jewish Congress
−	Vivian Simmons	1942	1943	0–1 years	Acting, on secondment from West London Synagogue
3	Dr Werner van der Zyl	1943	1958	14–15 years	Also founder and president of Leo Baeck College
4	Philip Cohen	1958	1972	13–14 years
5	Dow Marmur	1972	1983	10–11 years
6	Charles Emanuel	1983	2003	19–20 years
7	Laura Janner-Klausner	2003	2011	7–8 years	Later Senior Rabbi at the Movement for Reform Judaism
8	Mark Goldsmith	2006	2019	12–13 years	Later Senior Rabbi at Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue in 2019
9	Josh Levy	2008	2023	14–15 years	Emeritus; later Chief Executive of the Movement for Reform Judaism in 2023
10	Colin Eimer	2015	incumbent	8–9 years
11	Hannah Kingston	2017	incumbent	6–7 years
12	Elliott Karstadt	2020	incumbent	3–4 years
13	Golan Ben-Chorin	2024	incumbent	0 years

Notable members

• Leo Baeck, a German rabbi, scholar and theologian who served as president of the congregation from 1947 to 1956
• Norman Bentwich, a barrister and legal academic, who served as president of the congregation from 1958 to 1971

See also

• History of the Jews in England
• List of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom
• List of synagogues in the United Kingdom

External links

• Official website