For ever and ever? Perhaps not (From Watford Observer)

For ever and ever? Perhaps not

1:56pm Sunday 7th February 2010

• Print
• Email
• Comments(1)

The recent news that Bushey United Reformed Church is to close at Easter due to the congregation dropping away to almost nothing is sad. It must be absolutely heartbreaking to the members who have had to make the decision. I too was saddened, as they had allowed my then embryonic Jewish community use of the premises before we had a home of our own.

It is, though, nothing new. Places of worship have always opened, thriven and subsequently closed, as religious communities have grown, diminished or moved on.

I grew up in North London, where much of the East End Jewish community had arrived by the 30s, as they fled the tenement buildings and slums, which their parents had occupied on their arrival from persecution in Russia and Poland. I attended Religion School at the New Synagogue, the ‘cathedral’ of the United Synagogue Movement. And indeed it was a grand cathedral of an edifice, with an imposing pillared entrance, vaulted interior and beautiful Ark. It had itself replaced the previous New Synagogue in Bishopsgate, which had closed in 1911 as the community there shrank.

In the 1960s the congregation numbered four figures, but by the 80s was down to about 300, and closure was inevitable. I attended a nostalgic valedictory service and afterwards wandered around a deserted choir loft, where I had sung Soprano, and then Baritone when my voice broke.

So it goes. My synagogue, Radlett & Bushey Reform, is housed in a former church in Radlett. Other churches and synagogues have become mosques.

What is the message? Nothing is ‘forever and ever.’ Prayer is conveniently offered in a place of worship, but where you pray or gather is irrelevant. Most of our early services, before we had a permanent home, were in members’ houses. Founders remember those occasions fondly – gatherings of 20 families, some prayers, discussion of a specific topic, then not least tea and cakes! As opposed to the full, and arguably less intimate, services in our own building.

One of the Hebrew words for God is HaMakom. Literally ‘the place,’ it translates more freely as ‘immanence,’ suggesting that He [or She] is everywhere. Nice Churches, Synagogues, Mosques are lovely. What goes on there, though, can happen in your own home or workplace. Faith is in us, not in our bricks and mortar.

Barry Hyman Vice President Radlett & Bushey Reform Synagogue