Some months ago we sent an invitation to the Norwich Liberal Jewish Community (NLJC) to consider sharing with us in the use of the Synagogue premises. This has been discussed on and off for some years, but with the opportunities created by the refurbished building it was felt the right time to send a more formal written invitation which could form the basis of further discussions. The core element of the invitation is that the NLJC would be able to hold their monthly Shabbat morning service in our Prayer Hall, while we would that week switch our service into the refurbished Communal Hall. Many other activities would be shared, bringing together the limited number of Jew who live in and around Norwich, and hopefully all drawing strength from that togetherness.
The NLJC are seriously considering our approach and recently sent us a series of questions on our invitation. These were designed to clarify what we have in mind, and to ensure that their members fully understand the implications of a what could if successful become a permanent move into the Synagogue building. At present the Liberals pay to use the Old Meeting House in Colegate for just one Shabbat each month, so any change to sharing our permanently available home with us would be a major upheaval for them.
That is not to underestimate the significance to NHC and its members of starting to share the use of our building with another group of Jews. Some NLJC members are also or have in the past been NHC members, some will be friends of our members, others may have visited our Synagogue for services or cultural events, and some may so far have been total strangers to us all and to our Synagogue. There are all kinds of new arrangements which would need to be discussed and agreed before any sharing could get underway. Some things will and no doubt need to be later adjusted to reflect the realities of living together under one roof.
The committee has recently been spending a lot of time pulling together our responses to the questions which have been raised by the NJLC which we hope to have been able to release to them by the time this Newsletter appears. I recently had a long and friendly chat with the NJLC Chairman Philip Lawrence, which will hopefully pave the way to many further discussions between our Management Committee and their Council about the detailed workings of any sharing arrangement.
Once we have got to a point where there is a clear enough idea of whether and how this arrangement might work, we anticipate inviting all our members to a meeting so you can have a say on both the principle and the detail of what is being considered.