"Struggling British Synagogue Saved By City's Muslims"

[applegrove]

Struggling British Synagogue Saved By City's Muslims

by Helen Pidd, The Guardian / Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/bradford-synagogue-saved-by-citys-muslims-2013-12

"SNIP.....................................


It was around this time last year that the trustees of Bradford's final remaining synagogue faced a tough choice. The roof of the Grade II-listed Moorish building was leaking; there was serious damage to the eastern wall, where the ark held the Torah scrolls; and there was no way the modest subscriptions paid annually by the temple's 45 members could cover the cost.

Rudi Leavor, the synagogue's 87-year-old chairman, reluctantly proposed the nuclear option: to sell the beautiful 132-year-old building, forcing the congregation to go 10 miles to Leeds to worship.

It was a terrible proposition, coming just after the city's only Orthodox synagogue had shut its doors in November 2012, unable to regularly gather 10 men for the Minyan, the quorum of 10 Jewish male adults required for certain religious obligations.

But rather than close, Bradford Reform Synagogue's future is brighter than ever after the intervention of Bradford's Muslim community, which according to the 2011 census outnumbers the city's Jews by 129,041 to 299.



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[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Thanks, we need more of this

Happy holidays.

[applegrove]

2. You too. And have a Happy New Year.

[dballance]

3. Thanks for sharing!

I can't wait to post this on FB.