Rabbi proves the ace of Herts
THE IMPACT of rabbinic couple Daniel and Alli Sturgess is behind a continuing upsurge in numbers at St Albans United Synagogue, the longest established in Herts.
Membership now exceeds 250, up from 155 in 2013, with 20 newcomers in the past four months alone.
Recently-elected chair Elissa Da CostaWaldman — a barrister who runs a family law practice in the Temple — said that, since arriving four years ago, the couple had brought about “an unprecedented flurry of activity in our shul with their energy, enthusiasm and charisma.
“They have introduced a range of ‘firsts’, from a community trip to Poland to an annual public Chanukiah lighting in the centre of our historic city.” The couple had also attracted internationally renowned speakers “to our relatively small community”.
Now the shul was “in very real need of larger premises and we are currently investigating the opportunities for relocating our synagogue to provide the additional accommodation we require.”
Rabbi Sturgess said it was “wonderful to see the community growing so steadily, both in membership and in engagement. The community is regularly praised for being so friendly and welcoming and I’m sure that is a major factor in its success.”
Some congregants also highlight — not solely in jest — the progress of the congregation under three successive chairwomen. St Albans was the first US community to elect a female chair, Karen Appleby, in 2013.
The community — established at the outset of the Second World War to cater for families fleeing the bombing of London — has also moved from affiliated status to become a full US member.
“The pity of it,” Mrs Da Costa-Wald- man said, “is that the last surviving founder of our shul, former honorary life president Henry Grabiner, passed away recently at the age of 96 without appreciating how the ‘baby’ he had nurtured for so many years had blossomed into such a strong and healthy adult.
“Back in 2001, when the then Chief Rabbi Sacks came to help us celebrate the 50th anniversary of the shul, Mr Grabiner recalled that membership in the 1960s had fallen to just 23 families. He would have been thrilled to see how it has thrived in the past few years.”
The shul is regularly praised for being so welcoming’