Explaining his career path, he said “Normally newly ordained rabbis, as I was back then, start with a small community, move on to a larger one and then progress accordingly. But the congregation here began to grow rapidly and I found myself looking after an ever increasing shul and I stayed with it.
Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, who is leaving Maidenhead Synagogue after 40 years as its spiritual leader[Missing Credit]
“We had the lovely problem of constantly outgrowing our building and have had to either move or rebuild four times, with Prince Edward coming to open our current premises.”
He attributes the congregation’s huge growth during his tenure, from 72 households to 947, to the rebranding of the synagogue from a house of prayer to a community centre.
“I honestly don’t care if people come to services on a Saturday, the film evening on a Sunday or the walking group midweek,” he said. “It’s coming that counts and being part of the community in whatever way they feel comfortable.”
Rabbi Dr René Pfertzel, who is leaving Kingston Liberal Synagogue to take up the pulpit at Maidenhead Synagogue[Missing Credit]
He was a pioneer in outreach to mixed-faith couples, encouraging communities to find ways to welcome rather than exclude them, and was recognised with an MBE in 2004.
He has written on Anglo-Jewish history, Reform Judaism and — the theme of recent books, Confessions of a Rabbi and The Naked Rabbi — his rabbinic experiences. For more than 20 years, he has contributed to the JC’s Rabbi I Have a Problem column.
His TV appearances include one Songs of Praise filmed at the synagogue.
Beyond the Jewish community, he is chair of Dignity in Dying, which campaigns to legalise assisted dying, and has chaired the Accord Coalition, which believes faith schools should admit pupils from other religions than their own.
His fundraising for the RNLI has included a sponsored jokes event and a sponsored “non-sermon”, when people in the High Street had to donate to stop him offering them a sermon.
More recently, he has been involved in finding homes and organising help for Ukrainian refugees.
Rabbi Pfertzel said, “It is an honour and privilege to follow in the footsteps of a rabbi of the stature of Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain. I am very much looking forward to joining the thriving and vibrant community of Maidenhead, and to add my stone to this beautiful edifice.”
