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Golders Green shul is busier than ever during crisis

Rabbi says that maintaining activities for all ages is exhausting. 'I've never worked so hard'

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An adapted version of Desert Island Discs, a “virtual jukebox barbecue” for Yom Ha’atzmaut and a digital book club have been part of an enterprising offering for the lockdown at Golders Green United Synagogue.

Senior rabbi Harvey Belovski said the shul was providing a wide variety of educational, religious and social programming through a young leadership team.

Sermons and snippets from its social events are also available on a new YouTube channel.

Maintaining activities for all ages and interests was proving “very demanding”, Rabbi Belovski confided. “I am exhausted. I don’t remember ever working so hard.”

In late February, the shul was one of the first to begin winding down its physical programme of social events and it has been spared the worst of the pandemic, with no deaths from the virus reported.

“We have a number of prominent scientists in the community who were able to offer advice on behaviour,” the rabbi reported. Guidance on home schooling and mental health has been available from experts within the congregation.

Up to 40 volunteers are also helping vulnerable community members, delivering supplies and making regular phone checks.

A Gemach fund is assisting those in financial hardship, the shul’s Pesach fund having received a record number of requests for help.

“It’s been a very moving experience, despite the difficult times,” said synagogue vice-chair Joel Clark.

“We are physically distant but we’ve never felt more together. We’ve always had a very active welfare provision and sought to do as much as we can for people in need. Lots of people have felt very grateful for what’s been done.”

Shul chair Naomi Verber said it was fortunate that “all of these structures were in place before. We just adapted them to a new scenario.

“We had the people, the ideas and the momentum. It was a matter of switching channels, especially on the support side, making sure that nobody fell through the cracks.”

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