Hello and welcome to the website of Bournemouth Reform Synagogue - a spiritual home by the sea. Our community has been responding to the needs of Reform Jews in and around Bournemouth for over sixty years, from humble beginnings in a small hall to our wonderful building five minutes from the seafront. Although many of our members live in Bournemouth, our membership area covers a huge distance around Dorset, and sometimes even further. I am proud to have been the Principal Rabbi of BRS since August 2005, and Rabbi Jenny Goldfried Amswych has been our Associate Rabbi since 2007.

I can see why my predecessor - Rabbi David - was Rabbi here for 33 years...Bournemouth Reform Synagogue is friendly, welcoming and dynamic. More than that, Bournemouth itself is amazing - there aren't many communities where you can hold services down on a sandy beach, after all!

Let me tell you a little more about our community in depth...

We have an active Ritual Forum where all members are invited to give their input into how our services are conducted. Our wardens also attend to receive feedback and ideas so that they can help ensure the smooth running of our Shabbat and festival services, our weddings, bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies, baby blessings and special anniversaries.

I firmly believe in the importance of interfaith dialogue and am very pleased thatour community is connected to the Three Faiths Forum, the Council of Christians and Jews and IDEA: Interfaith Dorset Education and Action. Our community is well known in Bournemouth for our interfaith work, from an interfaith statement on the Middle East to our annual interfaith tea.

Our community has also become very strong on education. We have an exceptional cheder called Oseh Shalom and our new curriculum for 2009 promises to provide our 5-15 year olds with very powerful and enjoyable Jewish education based firmlyaround Torah, worship and good deeds. Every month we host an education session on Shabbat for our adults as well as an educational service. Every week, we host an introduction to Hebrew class and an introduction to Talmud class. We also have extensive online learning - we were even the first synagogue to provide online learning specifically tailored for those wishing to convert to Judaism. We also teach individuals from local schools - teachers and students - when they come and visit our community.

Socially, we are very proud to host the Bournemouth Jewish Social Centre, otherwise known as the Day Centre, which we have hosted for over 25 years. The Day Centre caters for Jewish senior citizens from all across Bournemouth and is held in our community every Monday. We also run a number of clubs, such as the Art Group, Bridge Club, the Opera Film Club, the Music Appreciation Club and many more.

For members in need, we have a team of dedicated carers known as Chaverim ("friends") who visit and call members whenever they need. We also host a monthly bereavement group called the Choni Circle.

All this, and much more, is held together by our dynamic Council of twelve members and Chair who meet once a month to administrate the financial, religious and educational affairs of the synagogue. At BRS, we open our Council meetings to all members so thatour community can respond to the needs of ever member.

At BRS, we pride ourselves on being inclusive, on being welcoming and on our commitment to Reform Judaism and I hope that if you have not yet visited us, that we might see you soon.

Rabbi Neil Amswych

Our Mission Statement...

At BRS...

We aim to explore and enjoy our Jewish heritage of spirituality, ethics, learning and culture in order to empower our diverse community to create their own meaningful Reform Jewish life in today's ever-changing world.

By anticipating and responding to our needs, we hope to bring people together and to build on the habit of active participation and friendship in a welcoming and caring community.

We will provide a focused leadership who will guide the spiritual and communal heart, develop the ideals of the synagogue and effectively carry them through with mutual respect.

From this page, you can access links to...

People at BRS

Our Working Groups and Committees

Our Social Groups