Northern English synagogues forced to close

[Behind the Aegis]

The doors of the synagogues of two of the oldest Jewish communities in the UK were closed for the last time in the past two weeks after dwindling attendances meant they were no longer required.

Ryhope Road synagogue in Sunderland and Stoke On Trent Hebrew Congregation were both packed to the rafters for special ceremonies marking the last time services will be held in the buildings.

The Sunderland community, which dates back more than 250 years, welcomed former community members and minister for small communites Rev Malcolm Weisman to its last service on 26 March.

In an emotional sermon, Wiesman noted that although the community no longer will be based in Sunderland, north eastern England, a website and a network of contacts will continue the links.

Special mention was made of the Shul caretaker, Paul Marsden, who has been an ever present fixture of the place for over 40 years.

more...

[David in Canada]

1. Churches too...

Many religious centres in Europe are shuttering because people have evolved beyond belief in a deity. Deities are no longer needed as people are moving towards secular humanism.

[Kailassa]

2. And many others, such as myself, still believe in a deity.

But it's a deity we feel in our hearts,
a loving friend we feel close to,
and absolutely unrelated to the "god" of the bible.

Religion is irrelevant,
an anachronism stained with hatreds;
a collection of tales of superstions enforced on the many,
to bolster the authority of the few.

There is a "Jesus" in my heart who may never have existed.
He teaches love for all. He sows the seeds of wisdom.
He shows the necessity of standing alone,
of doing our own seeing, our own thinking.

This Jesus is born of a virgin.
In that we each have an aspect of ourselves that is forever pure,
forever virginal,
And it is from this part of ourselves that "Jesus" arises.

He tells me that to understand all is to forgive all
and he forgives my lack of understanding.

[Davis_X_Machina]

3. All over northen New England...

...something similar has taken place, with an in-gathering of the Torah scrolls. (Whenever possible the Torahs are loaned back out to a new congregation, usually in the Sun Belt some place.)

Lots of mill towns used to have small but active congregations, usually organized around the family who owned the local dry-goods and later department store. When the chain stores came in, and the mills closed, and the young people moved away, the old congregations dwindled, in towns like Berlin NH, and Presque Isle, Maine, and Plattsburg and Potsdam NY. Sometimes a local college's Hillel House takes up the slack.

Signs of changing times