‘We used Skype to attract new faces and buck national trend’
SYNAGOGUE MEMBERSHIP may have dropped across Britain, but a new Liberal community in Durham has bucked that trend — attracting 30 members in its first year.
Despite being in a geographic part of the country where few Jews live, Durham and North East Liberal Jewish Community is approaching its first anniversary with a rapidly growing membership.
Hava Fleming’s family founded the community and said the rise was in part due to the fact she uses the internet and social media to engage members.
She explained: “We were inspired by the other young Jewish communities elsewhere and I wanted to see if there was a new way we could achieve this here in Durham.
“I set up ‘cyber shuls’ where members can come together over Skype to read the Torah.
“We are very flexible in our approach and that appeals to people. We don’t have a scroll and we don’t mind having a photocopy.
“I teach conversion and bar- and batmitzvah preparation over Skype too.”
The community meets once a month in a local church and has also attracted members by “rethinking some of the Jewish traditions such as conversion,” said Ms Fleming.
Members include non-Jewish partners and children.
Ms Fleming said: “We reached out to those who had family established in the area before the Second World War. They might have married out but we wanted them to have a way to reconnect.
“We try to make it a welcoming place. We also have transgender members and are very involved in social action projects such as Mitzvah Day.”
Ms Fleming added: “A lot of our services are carried out in English and we provide a variety of events. We are the only Liberal community between here and Edinburgh, so it has become a home for anyone in-between who wants to be involved with a more progressive community.”
Liberal Judaism has enjoyed similar success with growing communities outside London, including York and Gloucestershire.
Hava Fleming