Synagogues across the board have reported an increase in attendance over the High Holy Days, largely attributed to October 7.
A staggering 2,000 people took part in services and programmes across Borehamwood and Elstree United’s two sites – Croxdale and Yavneh – with more than 100 attending a youth service.
Brondesbury Park United had their largest ever attendance over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, with more than 800 people, including 200 at a special Kol Nidre service for young professionals.
Dan Coppel, the chair of Brondesbury Park United Synagogue, said: “We’re delighted (and a little exhausted) after our busiest ever Yom Tov period. We also had a full house to hear from and commemorate with Ada Sagi and her family on the anniversary of October 7.”
Ada was kidnapped, held in Gaza and subsequently released in an exchange deal in November. “There’s no doubt that events in Israel led more people to come to shul this year,” he said.
Barnaby Nemko, director of community life at the United Synagogue, said: “Tens of thousands of people attended United Synagogue communities over the yamim noraim and Succot. We were thrilled to hear reports from our communities of such large attendances across our communities, no doubt thanks both to our shuls’ reputation for warm and welcoming services and more people wanting to connect with their community and each other following the horrific events of October 7 last year.”
Progressive synagogues also saw a swell in attendance. At Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue (EHRS), there was a 50 per cent increase in attendance on Simchat Torah compared to last year when the festival fell on the day of the deadly attack.
EHRS senior rabbi Mark Goldsmith and committee member Michael Weber said: "So many members told us that they attended in person this year because this was the time to be with the community. They wanted to be together in an open and safe Jewish space. We also noted that family services were higher, and our online services were highly popular for those members who, for various reasons, couldn't be with us in person."
The Ark Synagogue, a Liberal Jewish community in Northwood, which has in-person and online services, also saw an increase in attendance, which included a doubling of the congregation from 2023 for Yizkor and the additional Musaf service which was curated to mark October 7.
Several attendees said they were there because they felt the need to belong and were concerned about the situation in Israel.
A young congregant celebrates Rosh Hashanah at York Liberal Jewish Community
Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein, the Ark's emeritus rabbi, said: "We had an innovative and moving Yom Kippur additional service covering the October 7 massacre. A former Ark official, who had not been to shul for decades but felt the need to come because of the current situation, commented to me that the services deeply moved him, and he was so impressed by the large number of younger people in the congregation."
A spokesperson for Progressive Judaism said: “Overall, the early feedback from Progressive communities up and down the country shows that numbers were up this year. Most are still collating the precise figures, but the anecdotal evidence is clear.”
Rabbi Joseph Dweck, Sephardi senior rabbi, agreed with this sentiment, noting: “General attendance to synagogue has increased due to the events [of October 7].”
Ed Horwich, chair of the Jewish Small Communities Network, also saw an increase in numbers at his shul in Whitefield, north Manchester.
Norwich Synagogue, which isn’t affiliated to an organisation but holds a traditional, Orthodox service, saw a similar trend, with minyans at each of its High Holy Day services and a “truly lovely atmosphere,” according to the congregation's president.
However, two other small communities in the network reported lower attendance this year compared to last.
The uptick in attendance at a number of synagogues echoed comments made by Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis, who, at a Jewish Chronicle event on Sunday, suggested that more people had been drawn into community and spiritual life since the Hamas terrorist atrocities.
However, senior Masorti rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg said his own congregation, New North London Synagogue (NNLS), had not seen a shift. “Anecdotally, I do not think there has been a massive uptick. I do not think the numbers were drastically different this year compared to last.
“Some have sought and found strength in community. Others have found it in different ways.”
Nonetheless, Rabbi Wittenberg said that services at NNLS were full, with two egalitarian services, two traditional non-egalitarian and a small late service “all well attended and all packed”. Last year saw a similar number of congregants at the same number of services, he said.
Rabbi Wittenberg’s comments chime with data collected by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), which reported that most (four in five) Jews in Britain either had no change in how frequently they have attended a synagogue since October 7 (56 per cent), or they did not normally attend synagogue before October 7 and still don’t (25 per cent).
Of those who said they had changed their habitual synagogue attendance, 13 per cent said they attended more often than less often (7 per cent).
The report stated: “Anecdotally, many synagogues reported higher than usual attendance levels in the weeks immediately following October 7, but if this was the case, it does not seem to have prevailed over time in a significant way.”
Numbers over the recent High Holy Days were not included in JPR’s report.
