I am often asked why I chose a career in the rabbinate. As you might expect, there was a range of factors at play, some more prosaic than others. But there was one individual who I identify without hesitation as being my primary inspiration in following this pathway. That person was Rabbi Maurice Hool, of blessed memory, who passed away a month ago at the age of 95.
Rabbi Hool served as rabbi of Kingsbury United Synagogue, the shul of my youth, for a remarkable 45 years, from 1959 until 2004. During that time, he inspired countless individuals, families and especially young people, many of whom went on to become community leaders in a variety of fields, including more than 30 rabbis who grew up in Kingsbury shul. What was it about Rabbi Hool that made him so unique? The answer lies in just one word: authenticity.
Twenty-six years ago, at a Hachnasat Sefer Torah, the traditional procession welcoming a new Torah scroll, Rabbi Avraham Gurwicz, Rosh Yeshiva of Gateshead Yeshiva, walked up the steps in front of the Ark at Kingsbury shul, paused to kiss the Aron Kodesh and spoke movingly about the Torah being more precious than pearls. Remarkably, despite being a regular 16-year-old, I knew exactly what he meant. Because I had grown up in a community that deeply valued the Torah. I had seen a personal example in my rabbi, rebbetzin and their children of what it meant to love and respect the Torah, of what authentic Judaism was all about.
In that quest to build an authentic community, Rabbi Hool achieved a remarkable number of firsts. Kingsbury was the first community to host Project Seed’s trailblazing one-to-one learning programme, with nearly 100 people studying together on a mid-week evening in the shul hall.
Kingsbury was also the first United Synagogue to have its own mikveh. For many years, brides who learnt through it about the beauty of a Jewish marriage were presented with a silver kiddush cup by Rabbi and Rebbetzin Hool.
And Kingsbury was the first United Synagogue to set up a chevra kadisha, a group of volunteers dedicated to caring for the deceased. Today, that first group has grown into the chevra kadisha of the United Synagogue, the largest of its kind in Europe.
But above all, perhaps, the genius of Rabbi Hool was that he managed to achieve all this as the rabbi of a United Synagogue — a community that welcomed all Jews, of all persuasions. It was always authentic to its standards, but it was also a genuinely broad community in which everyone had a place and everyone was cherished.
It’s strange how small things stick in your mind. I remember as a teenager the conclusion of Yom Kippur one year.
We had just finished Neilah and started Maariv. And I distinctly remember saying the Shema and someone trying to jostle past me to get out. At the time, I remember being irritated. Teenagers see things in black and white. Couldn’t he wait just five more minutes, I thought to myself.
But now, looking back, I can see that this was part of the beauty of Kingsbury. It wasn’t only for a narrow group of people. Those who came three times a year were treated with as much respect as those who came to the weekly Gemara shiur.
And in doing so, Rabbi Hool and Kingsbury shul taught us what a community at its best is all about. That you can hold fast to your ideals and still be a community that is built to be inclusive of all Jews, of every description and persuasion.
Today, as a community rabbi, I often reflect on Rabbi Hool’s remarkable legacy. For close to 50 years, he upheld the twin values of community and authenticity, always respecting the former, while realising that without the latter there could be no meaningful success in communal leadership.
Kingsbury today is a small shul, membership-wise. But this is the wrong way to measure the immense impact of just one United Synagogue. Rabbi Hool’s lasting legacy is a community of hundreds of communities — families all over the world, like my own, whose children grew up in Kingsbury and were determined to recreate that atmosphere and those values wherever life took them.
To be an alumnus of Kingsbury shul is a badge of honour I wear with pride.
And I have an eternal sense of gratitude to Rabbi Hool, my rav, who had the wisdom to lead his community with such grace, tenacity and above all authenticity.
May his memory be a blessing forever.
Yoni Birnbaum is Rabbi of Kehillas Toras Chaim, Hendon
