Frequently Asked Questions

Our general ‘minhag’ (custom) is to meet for Shabbat morning services on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month, and for a Friday evening service on the 2nd Friday of each month, as well as meeting for all major festivals.

All Shabbat service details, including the dates of our next Shabbat service, are on our Shabbat page here.

Our calendar here also shows when our events and services are happening.

Our newsletter (typically emailed out once-a-week on a Thursday) contains a two-week calendar and further information about Kehillah services, news and events, as well as services, news and events from the wider Jewish and local community which our members and friends may find interesting. You can sign up to our mailing list and view our latest and past newsletters here.

The vast majority of our services are held at the St Mary’s Centre (formally the New Community Rooms) Stoke Newington, Spensley Walk (off Stoke Newington Church St), London N16 9ES. If a service is being held at an alternate venue, we usually emphasise this in the weekly newsletter here.

Details of our Shabbat services are here

We welcome non-members at all of our services (excluding the High Holidays, when everyone needs to book in advance due to capacity, and gatherings in members’ homes, which may be members only – at the hosting member’s discretion).

If you have not attended any of our services before, and plan to attend a particular service, please do drop an email to our our Co-Chairs here to introduce yourself – just so that we know to look out for you and say hello!

Please note that this is not essential. We have increased our security but also endeavour to be an open and welcoming Jewish community.

For some bigger services, such as the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur High Holiday services, we may ask for a suggested donation from non-members wishing to attend. We welcome donations by non-members to attend any other services as well but the best way to support us is to do so by becoming a member.

See all our planned events on our calendar here.

We will be running our Creche (for ages 0-5) at every Shabbat morning service. Dates for our upcoming Shabbat services here.

Our Cheder (for ages 6-13) runs at all our Shabbat morning services that take place in term time. You can see all the dates for the current academic Cheder year on our Youth Education page here.

While Cheder is primarily for children of members (or prospective members) of the community, non-members and their children may want to come to Cheder on a trial basis and see what the community is like. Do come along! If you plan to bring your children on a particular date, please do drop an email to our Administrator to introduce yourself – just so that we know to look out for you and say hello! Further details on our Youth Education page here.

If a young person is interested in pursuing B’nei Mitzvah with us, we expect them to regularly attend cheder from at least age 11, learning Hebrew and integrating into community life in preparation.

If your young person has been regularly attending cheder for a couple of years, please email our Administrator who can put you in touch with the relevant person to help you find a B’nei Mitzvah tutor and set the date.

Our membership costs and a link to our online membership pack are on our Membership page here and includes the application forms.

Once the Administrator has received the completed forms,  Rabbi Leah will endeavour to have a meeting with you to get to know you, which is the final part of the membership application process. Payment can then be made by bank transfer, posted cheque or direct debit.

Our Cheder teaches basic biblical Hebrew to our young people as part of our offering for our young members. We occasionally are able to offer modern Hebrew courses for Kehillah members. Email our Administrator at info@kehillah.org.uk to find out more about this.

If you are interested in learning Hebrew or doing any other kind of Liberal Jewish learning in the UK, we can recommend the Lehrhaus Adult Jewish learning programme at Leo Baeck College (the British progressive rabbinical college). They have a huge range of courses available both in person and held online.

Mazel Tov on your forthcoming marriage! Members of the Synagogue can be married by Kehillah North London and Rabbi Leah. If you are already Kehillah members, please email our Administrator with information about your forthcoming wedding. The Administrator can put you in touch with the relevant people to book the date for you.

If you are not yet a member, please see the membership section of our website and send in a membership application to our Administrator ASAP. We expect those wishing to be married by the community to remain members of the community for a minimum of 2 years, integrating into community life.

Members looking to pursue conversion or to officially confirm Jewish status need to join as members and should regularly attend our Adult Education classes – details here. Please also email Rabbi Leah who can discuss this with you.

Please call Ronnie King of Kings Funeral Directors on these numbers, 24 hours a day, including bank holidays and Jewish festivals: 0208 368 7453 or 07595 956936.

You can also ring our mainline at 0203 951 8113 to reach our Administrator or the Rabbi.

You can book tickets to our High Holiday services here.

A reminder that Sukkot and Simchat Torah services are not ticketed and that we welcome non-members coming along to these services.

If you are interested in supporting us and make sure you can attend our High Holiday services and events, see our membership page here.

If you have any further queries or feedback on this, please email our Volunteer High Holidays Coordinator, Holly here.

All services (as well as our Rosh Hashanah lunch) will this year be at our regular venue of St Mary’s Centre (formally the New Community Rooms) Stoke Newington, Spensley Walk (off Stoke Newington Church St), London N16 9ES.

Further information about services & timings can be found on the individual event pages:

Erev Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah Morning

Kol Nidre

Yom Kippur

If you are a non-member looking for other High Holiday services see Liberal Judaism’s list of communities here. The nearest alternative Progressive Synagogues are:

New Stoke Newington Shul (Mazorti)

Makor Hyim

ELELS

SWERS

FPS