Two potential sites have been identified for a £6 million Jewish cultural centre in Edinburgh, with a decision on the most suitable being taken in spring.
One of the sites under consideration is a City of Edinburgh Council property. The other would involve the renovation of the premises of the Orthodox Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, a sensitive issue as it is proposed that the Liberal Sukkat Shalom community would also take space on the rebuilt site.
The cultural centre team engaged a conservation architect to assess the practicalities and cost of renovating the synagogue building. A similar exercise has been taken on the council site.
According to the project’s Professor Joe Goldblatt, “our next step is to appoint a consultant to conduct a business options analysis of the two sites and then agree upon a preferred site”. At that point, a major fundraising effort would be launched —“it’s not appropriate to have fundraising before we have the site”.
Prof Goldblatt believes a cultural centre would attract some of the many unaffiliated Jews in the city.
The last Scottish Census suggested a Jewish population of some 1,000 but only a third are members of either congregation. Prof Goldblatt pointed out that a local Chanukah celebration was attended by 200 people, “half of whom we never see again throughout the year.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity as so many people don’t participate in day to day Jewish life.”
But the centre would need to be “feasible, viable and sustainable. We are not building it for two or three years but for the next 100.” And it would need the support of the wider community — “folks who are not Jewish dropping in for a salt beef sandwich, to look at a display or to attend a concert”.
Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation chairman John Danzig said there were mixed views among members on the potential renovation of the EHC building. “All sorts of issues” were raised at a meeting last autumn, not least about Sukkat Shalom having its own space.
“We need to get more details about Sukkat Shalom’s sensibilities and possible red lines. It’s extremely complicated. My strong desire is to do some more research into arrangements that have worked in sharing sanctuaries.”
From the EHC standpoint, concerns included Shabbat, “when Sukkat Shalom have a cheder and [the children] do drawings and things like that”.
Sukkat Shalom’s Rabbi Mark Solomon — who visits once a month to conduct services — said it would be a positive to have the congregation’s first permanent home. And a cultural centre would represent “a really exciting opportunity for all Jews in Edinburgh”.
He cited the Oxford Jewish Centre as an example of Liberal and Orthodox communities sharing a site, although adding that “the preferred option” was a building with no prior Jewish history. “But we recognise that in the end, the EHC renovation might be the more viable.”
He acknowledged that Shabbat activities would be potentially contentious, and not only the cheder. “Sukkat Shalom has a long established tradition of members bringing in food to share. No meat is allowed but not everything is supervised. The Hebrew Congregation has absolutely understandable concerns about kashrut.”
At EHC, Mr Danzig noted that the cultural centre plans were being discussed at a good time as “after a long period of decline, we are slowly growing. We have stopped the rot.”
Prof Goldblatt estimated that 80 per cent of the project funding would need to be raised privately in advance of a public campaign. He anticipated support from trusts and wealthy individuals.
