Our Services

Shabbat evening services are held weekly in Bedford at 8:00pm during the summer, and 7:00pm during the winter. A Shabbat morning service is held at 10:30am on the first Saturday of each month in Luton. The Bedford Shabbat service is held on the third Saturday of each month. We provide services for the High Holydays and other festivals and a Communal Seder on the second evening of Pesach.

There is no service on the first and third Friday of each month, which is followed by the Shabbat morning service.

History of Bedfordshire Progressive Synagogue

In Martin Gilbert’s fascinating book ‘An Atlas of Jewish History’, Bedford is listed as a town with documented evidence of a Jewish presence prior to the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290.

In more recent historical times, Jews have been documented as having lived in Bedford in small numbers from the early 1800s, and have probably been present continuously ever since.

One of the factors that have encouraged this Jewish settlement was the town’s reputation for religious tolerance due, in no small part, to the determination of John Bunyan.

In the mid 1600s John Bunyan spent twelve years in prison in Bedford for expressing dissenting religious views. It was largely through Bunyan, and the support he received from the local population, that the right of the individual to hold non-conforming religious opinions was established in England.

 Even in the 1700s the Jewish congregation remained small so that no synagogue existed and, as at present, services were held in private homes. Nevertheless the congregation must have been soundly established, as it was apparently traditional that at Sukkot, willows from the Great Ouse were sent to London for use as lulavs.

At the turn of the 20th century the Bedford Jewish community was still very much in existence. It was in the early part of this century that the ‘Abrahams’, the most famous Bedfordshire Jewish family, were beginning to make their mark. Of the four distinguished brothers, Harold was an Olympic gold medallist; Adolph was a doctor, knighted, in part, for his services in helping refugee doctors gain permission to practise in the UK; Solomon was knighted for work in the Colonial Service and the fourth brother became a coroner.

In the 1939-45 war the local Jewish population expanded in dramatic fashion, with over 400 Jewish families being evacuated from London and at one stage there were even two Rabbis!

The community, however, did not have a synagogue and has basically survived through the endeavours of a small number of people ensuring that traditions were maintained.

In 1967, the Beds-Herts Liberal Jewish Synagogue was formed, meeting mainly in St. Albans and Bedford. Since 1982 we have been based at Luton,  where we now hold the majority of our services. Over the last two or three years, the local Bedford Jewish Congregation has seen a renaissance with regular monthly services held in Bedford under the auspices of the Rodef Shalom Synagogue. However, certain special events (Chanukah, Succoth etc.) still take place in our members’ homes underlining our thriving community.

Joining our Synagogue

Synagogue Membership is open to all of the Jewish Faith.  We welcome families with non-jewish partners and same sex relationships.

The subscription year runs from January to December - subscriptions are calculated pro- rata if you join at other times of the year.  Our membership includes burial fees, which entitle the member to be buried at the Liberal Jewish Cemetary at Edgewarebury.   If you are over 55 when you join and are not already a member of the Liberal Judaism burial scheme, there will be an extra fee levied to join.

We encourage all members to gift aid their subscriptions which enables us to reclaim the tax that you have paid. 
We have a number of categories of Membership:

  • Family Membership is where both partners are Jewish, or one partner is Jewish and the children are attending Cheder.
  • Single Membership also includes where one partner is Jewish and there are no children attending cheder.
  • Country Membership is available for members who live over 50 miles from Bedfordshire.
  • Young Persons Membership is available up to 25 years old.
  • Associate Membership is open to non-jewish partners of members, or individuals who wish to be Friends of the Synagogue.

     

Synagogue Council and Officers

The Synagogue is managed by a council consisting of 6 members

Chairman - David Young

Vice-chairman - Naomi Fellerman (Bedford Council of Faiths representative)

Hon. Secretary - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hon. Treasurer - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Rosie is also Treasurer of Liberal Judaism

Council Members - Susanne Combe (Chadashot and SACRE representative) 

Gerald Fox - Luton Council of Faiths and Board of Deputies Representative

 

 

Our Vice-Chairman and long time member, Hans Seelig passed away on 24th June 2009.   Hear Hans recount his memories of Kinder Transport (Thanks to BBC 3Counties) - This interview was recorded during our 40th anniversary weekend in December 2008 by Ian Pearce, who sadly passed away in 2010.  Listen to it here.

 

Hans Seelig1

 

 

 

David Corfan looks after the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

 

 
 

Cheder

We have held a thriving Sunday Morning Cheder (Religion School) over many years.  Currently we don't have any children of Cheder age, but we do offer Bar and Bat Mitzvah preparation.  

 

Find out more about BPS

Are you Jewish or do you have Jewish parents or grandparents? Perhaps you were brought up in a Jewish environment and would like to renew your acquaintance with Judaism. If you're new to the area, we are a small and friendly Liberal conmmunity with a traditional approach to services. Everybody is made welcome and we hold services both in Luton and Bedford.

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