Shalom.
Welcome to The Wimbledon Synagogue Web Site
Synagogue attendance after 19th July and for August.
Dear Member
As you will know, the UK government has confirmed that the lifting of legal Covid restrictions in England will go ahead as planned on Monday 19th July, though as you will undoubtedly have seen across all forms of media, this certainly does not represent a full return to pre-Covid norms.
This is the statement issued by Reform Judaism:
The Prime Minister has announced a lifting of most coronavirus restrictions on the 19th July. This will bring us into a new era of personal responsibility around tackling the spread of the virus.
Our priority must be that our members feel – and are – safe. We are encouraging our synagogues to continue to apply the same level of thoughtful responsibility that has characterised the last 15 months to this period of reopening, and to do so in a cautious way that prioritises people’s feelings of safety and comfort whilst also understanding their spiritual needs.
As the national Movement for Reform Judaism, we will be supporting all our communities in the decisions they make about what is appropriate given their building space, ventilation, community needs and other unique factors. We are also proud that as a Movement of communities we can learn from each other and share best practice going forward into our new normal.
This confirmation means that we will continue our programme of re-opening of the synagogue and its activities, and we will do so in a manner which reflects the “thoughtful responsibility” highlighted by Reform Judaism.
Here in Wimbledon we have a large and airy sanctuary and space to spread everyone out. Many of our regular worshipers are elderly and or vulnerable, they are the ones who have missed the services and community the most, and who we must ensure are kept safe.
At the beginning of July we had successful services with 30 people in our sanctuary. From the 23rd July our next step will be to double the number of congregants who may attend services to 60 – utilising space in the small hall as well as the main hall. In this way we can keep people safe. For services where there is a simcha, the first two-thirds of this capacity will be offered to the family and the remaining third will be reserved for the community.
We hope that, through the summer and the remainder of the year we will be able to make further increases to the number of congregants able to attend services in person, and we are using these next few weeks in particular to fine tune all our Covid security procedures in advance of the High Holy Days.
We will continue to expect everyone to wear a face covering inside the building, temperatures will be checked, and we will ask you sanitise your hands on entry. We are also encouraging people to take a lateral flow test before attending if at all possible. In this way we can enjoy the freedom of coming to shul and do everything possible to protect everyone in our community from the virus which is showing no signs of going away.
Anyone who would like to come to a service after 19th July please contact the office, giving us the dates that you would like to attend. (And the number in your party). We will give priority to those commemorating a Yahrzeit and children and families with upcoming b’nai mitzvah.
