Secret Shul-Goer No 27: Anshei Shalom

Size of Community: 100-199 member households
 

Website: : https://www.anshei-shalom.com

I was invited to visit Beit Hamidrash Anshei Shalom by a member of the community who, perhaps for his own protection, I’ll not mention by name. In his email, he described the members of his community as “youngish” and “genuine Orthodox”. I admit that I pondered that description for some time. For starters, what does ‘youngish’ mean? To me, with two kids under eight, a youngish congregation is any synagogue that has a designated space for pushchairs, and more birth announcements than stone settings. To my parents, of course, it means something entirely different. To them, a ‘youngish’ congregation is one where the majority of members are not yet retired and there’s no weekly luncheon club for widows. And what, I wondered, is ‘genuine Orthodox’. Or, more to the point, what is non-genuine Orthodox? In this era of fake news, do we also have to worry about fake Orthodox?

The shul’s website gave little away, short of describing itself as “an independent Sephardi orthodox synagogue and learning centre”. The learning on offer includes ‘programs targeted at ladies’, marriage classes and classes for young boys. There don’t seem to be any classes for young girls. Perhaps they have to wait until they are ladies? Or women, as we are now more generally known. (It’s curious that we are only ever referred to as ‘ladies’ at racecourses, on toilet doors or at synagogue. There’s probably an episode of Radio 4’s Word of Mouth right there.)

Reading between the lines, I suspected that the members of the synagogue might be predominantly French. The website does not state it explicitly, but the English spelling of some Hebrew words suggested that that might be the case. ‘Shiour’ and ‘quiddush’, for example, instead of the more usual ‘shiur’ and ‘kiddush’. And if that wasn’t a strong enough clue, there is a daily ‘parasha shiour and croissant’ listed on the What’s On page. I worried that that might put me at a disadvantage, given that it’s many years since I sat my French GCSE, and the only phrase I can remember with any accuracy is ‘Can you tell me when the swimming pool closes?’

However, if there’s one thing I’ve discovered since starting the Secret Shul Goer project, it’s that a shul’s website is not always the best indicator of what the experience of actually visiting the synagogue will be like. And so, with that in mind, I set off to check out the youngish, genuine orthodox ladies.

Anshei Shalom meets in the large St Johns Wood Synagogue building although, as I was informed at the end of the service, the two communities are entirely separate. Security on the front gate was thorough, but courteous, and after a number of identity questions, I was directed to the upstairs rooms used by the congregation.

There was only one other woman in the women’s section when I arrived, although within the next hour the section filled up so that, by the end, there were roughly twenty women. And as far as I could tell, all the women were well under the age of 25. So when they say ‘youngish’, they mean really youngish.

We sat behind a very thick curtain that separated us from the men’s section, and made it almost impossible to see what was going on. At certain junctures of the service, for example when the Torah scroll was removed from, and then later returned to, the ark, the thick curtain was pulled back so that we could watch the procession. But for the rest of the service, it was an entirely audio rather than visual experience. That said, the audio was very pleasant, with most of the prayers chanted in Arabic-influenced melodies that were unfamiliar to me. The only tune I recognised was La Donna È Mobile from Rigoletto, which, for reasons I couldn’t work out, was used during the repetition of the Amida.

During the service, one moment in particular stood out. Or rather two moments, because the incident happened twice. Two men were called up to make the blessing over the Torah, and each announced the birth of a baby. On both occasions, the male congregants spontaneously stood up, surrounded the bima and began dancing around the new father, singing a rousing rendition of ‘Siman Tov U-Mazal Tov’. The women clapped while the men danced, and the singing went on for a good five minutes each time.

The vocal welcome for the new babies was a joyful explosion of emotion. But that was at odds with the rest of my experience. For the most part, I sat in silence for the entirety of the service. Perhaps the youngish women sitting in a row at the front of the women’s section didn’t notice the not-so-youngish woman sitting on her own at the back?

After the service, we moved into another room for kiddush. I have to admit that I stood for a very long time without anyone speaking to me. I could hear a lot of people speaking French around me, and I wondered if that might be the issue? I racked my brain to think of something to say in French that didn’t involve the opening times to the local swimming facilities. But in the end, I gave up, and focussed on the food. Which is just as well, because the kiddush was excellent. In fact, the table positively groaned with food; platters of fruit, dips, meat cholent, fish goujons and sweet pastries. It was a really fantastic spread.

After roughly ten minutes standing in silence, I was approached by the Rabbi’s wife, who told me a little about the community, its predominantly French membership and its history before and after their move to St Johns Wood synagogue. She assured me that it was a very friendly community, and I decided it would be churlish to point out that she and the security guard were the only people who’d spoken to me since I’d arrived. After a short chat, and a bit more cholent, I made my way out of the synagogue to go home. I think it’s fair to say that I probably don’t fit the demographic that the synagogue usually caters for. But if you are a youngish person with a good working knowledge of French, this would be a perfect synagogue to visit.

Warmth of Welcome 2*

Decorum 4*

Service 3*

Kiddush 5*