Bristol Hebrew CongregationThe orthodox community in Bristol has a continuous history of Jewish life dating from 1750. Housed in the historic and beautiful Park Row Synagogue, which dates from 1871, the congregation offers a range of activities, religious, social and educational.  The Bristol Hebrew Congregation is highly regarded as a small but very active community and was awarded the joint runners-up prize in the Chief Rabbi’s Awards for Excellence in 1993 under the Synagogue/Community of the Year Category. The community has a wide range of members pursuing a variety of occupations. It is close and supportive and welcomes potential new members. Services are held each Shabbat, from 9.45 am, and are followed by a kiddush. There are also services on all festivals, and occasional childrens’ services. It is our wish to make all participants feel valued and welcome, regardless of their level of observance or knowledge, and we try to make the service accessible. Services are usually led by our part time minister, Rabbi Hillel Simon; but in addition members of the congregation who are able to do so are encouraged to lead parts of the service. There is a cheder for religious education, taking children from the age of four. This is held on Sunday mornings and is open (by prior arrangement) to the children of non-members. The cheder curriculum has recently been expanded and a group of post-bar/bat mitzvah children is currently following a GCSE course in Jewish Studies. The BHC Women’s Guild organises a regular programme of social events, some of them at members’ homes. An important institution in Bristol Jewish life is the "Kosherina", a kosher shop which offers a comprehensive range of kosher foods, including meat, as well as shabbat and memorial candles etc. The community also runs its own Chevra Kadisha (burial society) which serves both its own members and unaffiliated Jewish people in the area. Adult classes are led in the main by Rabbi Simon, who seeks to respond to members’ educational needs, whether elementary or advanced. In addition many members also participate in the cultural and educational activities of Davar, the Jewish Institute in Bristol. An innovation launched in the 1980’s is West Quest, a confederation of small communities in the South West and South Wales. This organisation, which aims to be mutually supportive, holds a conference at member communities’ synagogues each year. BHC also has a close relationship with the JSoc and students of Bristol’s two universities, many of whose members attend services. Important to this link are Bristol Hillel House (run by volunteers from BHC and the Bristol and West Progressive Synagogue) and the Western Region Jewish Chaplaincy Board, which administers the student chaplaincy service in a region stretching from Reading to Plymouth, including South Wales. The congregation’s part-time minister, Rabbi Simon, also serves as chaplain to the region.
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This page was originally created on 21st December 1995 by Paul Freedman.
It was last updated on 7th November 2000 by Alan Tobias.
If you have any comments or suggestions on this Web Page please contact bristol@brijnet.org
