Chatham Memorial Synagogue

Welcome to the web site of the Chatham Memorial Synagogue. Built in 1861 by Simon Magnus, in memory of his son Lazarus, on the site of an even older Synagogue, it is  the home of  the Jewish community in mid and north Kent.

Chatham Memorial Synagogue is actually located in the historic city of Rochester on the River Medway in the county of Kent, about 35 miles South-east of London and only 45 minutes by train.

Rochester, the home of the author Charles Dickens, is a popular tourist destination. For further information about Rochester, please visit our Historic Rochester page.

Location map

Please click here for a map showing the location of the synagogue.

News - March 2008

Magnus 150th Anniversary service

The Mayors of Queenborough, Medway and Ramsgate and consorts with Jon Weiner and Gabriel Lancaster from the synagogue at the civic service to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the election of Lazarus Magnus as Mayor of Queenborough.

The Mayor of Ramsgate can be seen wearing the chain of office presented by Sir Moses Monefiore who incidentally was a member of the Magnus family.

The service was conducted by Revd Malcolm Weisman OBE, Minister for Small Communities together with Rabbi Cliff Cohen of Thanet and District Reform Synagogue and Jon Weiner, David Herling and Gabriel Lancaster from the Chatham Memorial Synagogue.

Irina Shub, a member of the synagogue and a Medway archivist spoke about the life of Lazarus Magnus - click here for the full text.

The synagogue was built by Simon Magnus in memory of his son Lazarus (photo on left) who died tragically at the age of 39.

For further details, please visit our Magnus page.

News - January 2008

Holocaust Memorial Day

Once again Chatham Memorial Synagogue had a central role in the organistion and planning of the 2008 Holocaust Memorial Day event. The 2009 event will be at the synagogue.

 

This year’s event was held in Rochester Caththedral on Sunday 27 January and was attended by over 200m people. As in previous years, the event was organised in partnership with Medway Council and the Medway Inter-Faith Action Forum.

A powerful poem read by a Holocaust survivor and written by her late brother was followed by various contributions from students of local schools and music from the Cathedral Special Choir. Prayers were read by representatives of Chatham Memorial Synagogue, Kent Liberal Jewish Community and Medway Inter Faith Action.

Please visit our Holocaust Memorial Day page for further details.

The Commmunity

Although we are a small provincial community with limited financial resources, we hold regular services for Shabbat and festivals as well as social and cultural events.

Over the past couple of years, we have been undergoing a  programme of repair and renovation to the Synagogue which has been the subject of a major appeal and fundraising is an ongoing process.

The beautiful stained glass window which you see below and which was largely funded by Medway Council was unveiled by the Mayor of Medway on 26 January 2003 at a service for Holocaust Memorial Day. Click here for further details.

As a community we are concious of our responsiblities in the field of education both within the Jewish Community and the wider community. We regularly host visits by groups of local school children as well as assisting religious education students at local universities and colleges of education.

We have recently been looking at how we can secure the future of our community and so continue to practice our religion in this beautiful Synagogue. This process is called “The Way Forward” and details appear on a separate page. We are always pleased to welcome visitors to the area and their families as well as new and prospective members.

We held a Service of Remembrance and Renewal on in 2002 to remember the Holocaust victims and to celebrate the restoration of our beautiful building, while looking to the future of the community.

Please visit our Services and Events pages for up to date information on what is happening at the synagogue.

Please navigate around the site using the menu on the left hand side of the screen.

We receive a lot of enquiries from people about their ancestors who lived in the area. For all such enquiries please contact Irina Shub, one of our members who is an Local Studies Librarian at the Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre. Her email address is irina.shub@medway.gov.uk You may also like to visit their website: http://cityark.medway.gov.uk

For further information about the synagogue or the community please contact Jon Weiner at jon@chathamshul.org.uk
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Chatham Memorial Synagogue - Website last updated 05 May 2008