Previous Events

“The value of prayer”

This Jewish Kent event with Rev. Malcolm Weisman took place on Sunday 10th June 2007 at Chatham Synagogue. A follow up event will take place at Margate Hebrew Conregation on Sunday 27 July 2008 at 11am.

The 2007 event started with an open discussion on “The value of prayer” led by Rev. Malcolm Weisman and this was followed by a light sandwich lunch. After lunch, Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short story “Menashe’s Dream” was told by David Herling.

The “Jewish Life in the Medway Towns” exhibition (recently open at the Rochester Visitors’ Centre) was at the synagogue to coincide with the event..

Jonah and the Whale

Jewish Kent Community Day at Chatham

The second Jewish Kent Community Day took place  at Chatham Memorial Synagogue on Sunday 12 June 2005. This was an afternoon  event with activiteis as varied as a kosher wine tasting, a music workshop and  an amusng talk by TV star Juliette Kaplan.

Over 70 people from all the Jewish communities in Kent attended the first Jewish Kent Community Day on Sunday 31 October 2004, which was very rewarding and entertaining.

As well as enjoying a lunch of chicken soup, viennas and latkes, those attending heard talks by the Rev Malcolm Weisman, Minister for Small Communities and Mark Negin a well known theatre designer. There was a quiz and a raffle which raised £90 for Magen Dovid Adom. After lunch we were entertained by Isaac Bashevis Singer’s story of “The Lantuch” told by David herling and the event conclued with traditional Jewish folk music sung by Nina Maraney (assisted by the younger children).

This event was organised by all the local communities represented in Jewish Kent.

Visit the Jewish kent Website at www.jewishkent.org.uk

Jewish Way of Life Exhibition

Provided by the Board of Deputies and organised by the local SACRE, the exhibition took place in September at Woodlands Primary School Sports and Community Arts Centre, Woodlands Road Gillingham.

Chatham Memorial Synagogue was proud to be associated with this important educational project.

Solaris - String Quartet

On Sunday 19 June 2005, we were treated to the wonderful sound of a string quartet playing music from Terezin. The excellent accoustics of the synagogue enhanced the quality of the musicianship.

The Terezin concentration camp (Theresienstadt), a staging post on the brutal way to Auschwitz, was briefly home to a remarkable flowering of music and art.  The Solaris Quartet’s repertoire for this concert is the legacy of the composers and performers whose talents pushed the darkness aside for a while.

“Clarion Voices”

On Sunday 11 January 2004, Members of Chatham Memorial Synagogue enjoyed a concert of music by a new choral group, Clarion Voices, who gave an excellenent performance to a capacity  audience. The concert consisted of sacred and secular music for unaccompanied voices, with pieces from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Composers included Salomone Rossi, Palestrina, Byrd, Monteverdi, Saint-Saens, Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Gershwin. The pieces had been chosen to show off the fine accoustics of the mid-19th century listed building and the superb singing was much appreciated by the very mixed audience, consisting of members of the Synagogue and friends, local interfaith groups, local churches and choirs but all with a love of music.

The concert had been arranged by the Secretary of the Synagogue, David Herling and a welcome was extended by Jon Weiner, the Chairman, who also, at the end of the concert, presented the singers with a certificate for trees to be planted in Israel in their names.

The singers, Karen Gilbert, Judy Elias, Carolyn Steel, Nan Atichatpong and Matthew Shoults, were heartily congratulated at the resounding success of their inaugural concert. The proceeds of the concert will go towards the continuing repairs to the synagogue building.

Karen Gilbert commented after the concert, "It was fabulous to give Clarion Voices' inaugural performance to such a packed and enthusiastic house. The evening had a real sense of occasion about it, and we couldn't have wished for a warmer or a more appreciative audience. The Shul has a wonderful acoustic and it was a real pleasure to sing there. We hope that there will be many moreopportunities in the future to fill it with sound, and meanwhile we wisheveryone at the Shul all the best!"

Summer Concert - 2001

Other Events

In 2001 we held a number of events including very successful Chanukah and Purim parties. In January the service to commemorate the first National Holocaust Memorial Day was attended by the Mayor of Medway.

An open day in September 2001 as part of European Jewish Heritage Day was attended by over 100 visitors.

In August 2002 we held a guided walk round historic Rochester followed by tea at the home of Hilary and Marie Halpern.

In January 2003 we held a question and answer evening with Rev. Malcolm Weisman, the Minister for Small Communities. In April 2003 we had a slide lecture by Gabriel Lancaster entitled Spires, Domes and Minarets, about religious buildings around the world.

In August 2003 we held a garden party at the home of Hilary and Marie Halpern.

South-East Quest - We were co-hosts at the synagogue, with Kent Liberal Jewish Community, of this annual conference for small communties in the South-East on Sunday 14 September 2003. Click here for further details.

In July 2004 we held a coffee evening and in August 2004 we held a garden party to celebrate the Golden Wedding of Hilary and Marie Halpern. We also held garden parties in 2005 and 2006.

In september 2004 and again in September 2005 and September 2006 we had 2 Open Days at the synagogue as part of a a European Jewish Heritage day organised by B’nei Brith and an English Heritage day.