Smaller shuls made big efforts to involve as many members as possible in Shabbat UK. For example, at Kingston, Surbiton and District Synagogue, some 200 people - a large proportion of the membership - accepted invitations to Friday night dinners hosted by 17 congregants plus minister Rabbi Samuel Landau and his wife, Rachel. Also on the Kingston agenda was a learning programme on the Shabbat laws and a "farewell to Shabbat" service with light supper and entertainment.
At St Albans Synagogue, around a third of the community spent the best part of the day in shul enjoying a post-service kiddush, hot lunch and a lively discussion on the joys of Shabbat led by new minister Rabbi Daniel Sturgess.
Sponsorship enabled the 300-member Ruislip Synagogue to host a three-course Friday night dinner for 70 people, including a number of non-members. "The Shabbat UK concept captured everyone's imagination," Rabbi Stanley Coten said.
Another synagogue reporting "a great turnout for a shul of our size and level of observance" was Watford United, where members were challenged by minister Rabbi Ephraim Levine to "keep Shabbat in all its splendour according to Jewish law from sunset on Friday to stars out the following day". Some 60 people, seated in family groups, enjoyed a Friday night dinner, while a further 70 were in shul for a Shabbat day lunch.
In advance of the day, leaders of Hull's Pryme Street Synagogue delivered more than two dozen Shabbat celebration packs to those unable to attend local events.
Three strictly Orthodox families from Gateshead were among the 90 people at a Friday night dinner. They spent the weekend in Hull at the invitation of the shul's Gateshead-born rabbi, Naftoli Lifschitz. One family stayed in a residential annex transformed from its previous use as a storage area at the shul. BBC Radio Humberside presenter Blair Jacobs was the Friday night guest speaker and meals were prepared by rebbetzin Shayna Lifschitz and the ladies' guild.
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