Chatham Memorial Synagogue - Rochester, Kent, U.K.

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 - September 2009

Rosh Hasahanah Newsletter

Our Rosh Hashanah newsletter is now available for download from our Newsletters page

The service times for the High Holidays and Succot are now on our High Holydays page.

Kent CCJ annual Meeting

On Wednesday, 9 Septemeber 2009, the Kent branch of the Council of Christians and Jews held their annual meeting at Chatham Memorial Synagogue. An address was given by the Right Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali, Bishop of Rochester, entitled “Can the Spiritual and the Moral be Accommodated in Public Life?” We were extremely fortunate that Bishop Michael was able to join us, just 3 days before his Farewell Service in Rochester Cathedral. Bishop Michael has been a good friend to the local Jewish community during his tenure in the Rochester Diocese and we wish him and his family well for the future.

Open Days

Chatham Memorial Synagogue was open to the public on the European Day of Jewish Culture on Sunday 6 September and the English Heritage Open day on Sunday 13 September 2009. To coincide with the opendays 2 intervies with synagogue members were included in the Sunday programme on BBC Radio Kent on 13 September.


	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 We appreciate the support of Jewish Heritage for our historic synagogue and community. For further details please click www.jewish-heritage-uk.org


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	Chatham Memorial Synagogue - Website last updated 07 October 2009