Brighton’s Orthodox Holland Road synagogue is to suspend Shabbat services after this year’s High Holy Days.
According to Stanley Cohen, chairman of the Hove Hebrew Congregation, "this unhappy decision was arrived at with a heavy heart and careful deliberation as to the ongoing needs of Hove Hebrew Congregation's membership.”
The shul has a capacity of 500, but only five to seven of the members turn up regularly on Shabbat, so the synagogue often struggles to make a minyan and has to rely on visitors.
“The fundamental justifications were reviewed by shul members and, following debate both for and against the proposal, an overwhelming majority agreed with more than 80 percent of the membership in attendance at the Extraordinary General Meeting endorsing the Board’s decision," said Cohen.
Also discussed at the meeting was the advanced state of dilapidation suffered by the synagogue building, including progressive decayof decorative plasterwork, especially surrounding the Aron Kodesh.
The shul's membership was also a topic of discussion, with 75 per cent of members being over 70 years of age, and 60 per cent over 85 years old.
The move comes after the establishment of the new community centre in Brighton, the BNJC.
Cohen went on to say: "Hove Hebrew Congregation's decision to suspend services after Yom Kippur enables a long-desired opportunity for the two Orthodox communities to come together, creating an even more meaningful centre at BNJC by strengthening the minyan at the newly established synagogue.
"This arrangement, which HHC and BHHC are in the process of formalising, has the support and blessing of Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, who has conveyed his encouragement to me personally."
The Chief Rabbi also made the prospect of integration known to the wider Jewish Community at his address at Ralli Hall Community Centre in 2017.
Cohen concluded: "'When the time is right' is a maxim that undoubtedly expresses a purposeful understanding of a difficult decision. It has been woven into the decision the Holland Road congregation has endorsed. That time is now".
But the town’s Chabad rabbi Pesach Efune, the longest serving rabbi in Brighton, said: "The proposed cessation and change of use of the beautiful and still viable Holland Road Shul, goes against Halacha, is unjustifiable and a very great shame.
“While reasons to justify this action have been put forward, I do not believe that any other counter arguments have been adequately explored.
"It is absurd that on one side of Hove, The Bloom Foundation, have invested so much in order to revitalise our community, and on the other side actions are being proposed that totally contradict this vision.
"Perhaps, in order to create more communal cohesion, it may be better to create a United Synagogue of Brighton and Hove, with one board and two synagogues."
