Community
Living in a small community: How I helped to launch a Liberal community in York
July 24, 2015 09:23
When former Movement for Reform Judaism chief executive Ben Rich moved from London to York with his young family early in the summer of 2013, there was no organised Jewish life. Today the York congregation - the newest in the Liberal Judaism fold - is celebrating its first anniversary, attracts three dozen people to its monthly Shabbat service, and is searching for a full-time rabbi. Well over 100 individuals have attended a York service or event.
"You will only get that core by talking to people and by chutzpah," says Mr Rich, who was this week appointed interim chief of staff to new Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.
He once recruited a woman he saw in the street wearing a Star of David necklace. "It turned out she was a member of Sinai in Leeds but never went because it was too far. She and her family became founding members of York." Press releases to local media also helped.
The 49-year-old became convinced of the city's Jewish possibilities when he and his wife, Rachael, studied there. When he worked for the Reform movement, he could not convince his colleagues of its potential. It was only after he left MRJ that the couple decided to decamp to York with their two young children.
"I took every opportunity to tell people I was in York to see if they knew Jews there. I contacted the universities and the JSoc. I reached out in as many ways as I could."
The community's first event, a chavurah session at Mr Rich's home, attracted 10 participants, among them Ros Clayton, who had helped to establish the Liberal community in Reading. She agreed to be his "partner in crime" and they arranged another chavurah session with more than double the turnout. When Mr Rich's cousin - Liberal Judaism chief executive Rabbi Danny Rich - said his movement would support the congregation, he knew he was on to a winner. Almost 50 people attended the inaugural Shabbat service in a rented room in the local Quaker building in June of last year. Sixty turned up for Yom Kippur, and an interfaith service brought in 160. At the outset, Liberal Judaism paid for the venue. But a member's pledge to donate £10k annually for three years, plus other donations, grants and membership fees, means paying for accommodation is no longer an issue.
To build on initial interest, supporters need to feel a "degree of ownership" in the project. "It can be a really small thing, like setting up a Twitter account or photocopying a newsletter. I spent the first few months having coffee with people and asking them: 'What do you want?' When they told me I told them to organise it." A regularly updated website plays its part and Mr Rich, by profession a PR consultant, says it is essential to reply immediately to inquiries.
An offbeat approach can also pay dividends. Searching for donors, he emailed the major Reform communities in New York with the subject line of "From old York to New York" and including a potted history of the Jews of York. It seems set to attract at least one donation.
The historical nadir was the 1190 massacre of the local Jewish population of around 150. "Of course there is a delight to bring new Jewish life to anywhere where there is no Jewish life, and that is poignant because of what happened 800 years ago," Mr Rich adds. "But we are defined by what happens today."
