BySimon Rocker, Simon Rocker
Reading Hebrew Congregation has reached a settlement with its former rabbi and his wife midway through an employment tribunal.
Rabbi Zvi and Dr Shira Solomons had sued for unfair dismissal following their redundancy last May after seven years with the small Orthodox community.
But on the second day of a scheduled three-day hearing in Reading on Wednesday, the parties came to a confidential agreement.
Rabbi Solomons - who runs services in his home in the town as the Jewish Community of Berkshire - said that he and his wife were "delighted that RHC has settled the case and hope that in future there can be a constructive and mutually beneficial way forward for Jews in Berkshire".
On behalf of the shul, president Sarah Firsht said: "We're all delighted that we have reached an agreement."
Synagogue's rules showed an obligation to 'maintain a minister'
On the opening day, QC Simon Myerson, representing the couple, had grilled members of the synagogue's board over why they had not explored alternatives to redundancy.
He said the synagogue's rules stipulated that it should "maintain a minister" if it could. There was no obligation to maintain a building. The current synagogue was "four times larger than the community is ever going to need", he declared.
But chartered accountant Maurice Lawson - whose analysis of the community's financial situation prompted the decision to make the couple redundant - contended that the community was "stuck" with the synagogue, whose condition and Grade II-listed status made it "virtually worthless".
According to Mr Lawson's figures, membership had dropped from 190 in 2007 to 111 by 2015. The congregation's running losses had amounted to £83,000 in the six years up to 2014.
In an email to then acting president Mrs Firsht early in 2015, Mr Lawson took the view that the shul was not able to support employees costing £34,000 a year.
But Mr Myerson argued that he had failed to take account of £110,000 of donations - including one legacy of £70,000 - to Reading over the past few years.
He maintained that the building was the main problem with looming repairs estimated to cost more than £240,000 before the end of the decade. He asked whether any move had been made to de-list it.
"What you encouraged the board to do was to rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic," he suggested to Mr Lawson.
It was also revealed that the synagogue loaned the Solomons £100,000 to help buy their house, which is repayable a year after the end of their employment with the congregation.
The couple had proposed forgoing their salary for a number of years in return for the community reducing its equity in the house.
The barrister asked Reading's honorary secretary, Susan Clarke, if the congregation had explored the idea of joining the United Synagogue.
"Not directly with the United Synagogue," she replied, continuing that there had been "history with the United Synagogue", although she was unaware of the details.
Mr Myerson also raised the question of how an unnamed "non-Orthodox minister" read the Megillah at Reading on Purim in a community under the authority of the Chief Rabbi.
"I'm not particularly aware of what his background is," Mr Lawson replied.