A record £70,000 was raised at the Masorti Judaism annual dinner held on Sunday at the New North London Synagogue, up 40 per cent on last year’s event.

More than 260 guests — up from 190 in 2012 — drawn from across Masorti Judaism’s 12 communities enjoyed a packed evening of entertainment featuring guest speaker JC columnist and TV broadcaster David Aaronovitch in conversation with author and psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz on the nature of the human subconscious.

Masorti Judaism’s chief executive Matt Plen detailed plans for the organisation’s future: “Our movement continues to grow, making its mark on the Anglo-Jewish landscape. Among many new initiatives, we will be employing Rabbi Rafi Kaiserblueth of St Albans Masorti as a campus outreach minister to offer support to Masorti and other Jewish students, and creating communities in Shenley, Muswell Hill and in other parts of the country.”

Senior Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg spoke of his commitment to Masorti Judaism, stressing “the importance of Tikkun Olam (healing the world) in making Judaism relevant to the younger generation”.
Masorti has grown by a third over the past 10 years; its current adult membership is 4,000.