Sukkat Shalom Reform Synagogue

On Erev Shavuot about 50 people stayed behind at the synagogue after the service to hear Rabbi Dr Michael Shire give a talk on Pioneers of Progressive Judaism from 1810 till today. A similar talk was taking place in other synagogues in order to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Progressive Judaism.

The talk began by focussing on its foundations in Germany where Israel Jacobson built a Jewish school and a synagogue in Westfalia. He had been greatly influenced by the French revolution and believed in egalitarianism and religious pluralism opening the way for ideas of enlightenment and rationalism to come into Judaism.

We then discussed the development of these ideas by Abraham Geiger in Germany , who founded the conference of Reform Rabbis and compiled the first Reform Prayer Book and Isaac Mayer Wise in the USA who was the first American Reform Rabbi and established HUC as the Reform training college for Rabbis.

Our attention then turned to three rabbis who had an enormous effect on progressive Judaism in England: Leo Baeck, who established the first rabbinic seminary here, Lily Montagu, who formed the first Jewish girls club in England and established the Liberal synagogue in St Johns Wood and John Rayner who compiled the first new prayer book after WW2 and became an advocate of a radical ethical Judaism

Unfortunately we ran out of time (it was already 11.30 pm by the time we had covered the above) for us to discuss some other important contributories including Regina Jonas, Abraham Herschel and Hugo Gryn  and these were left for us to read as homework.