Welcome

Services Information - Please Click Here

Welcome to a warm friendly community and the only community to offer, to all Jewish people in the area, regular weekly services and many other activities for adults and children, both inside our wonderful Synagogue & adjoining community hall and at other venues. Due to the various Covid-19 restrictions that are currently in place please note that we have had to institute a new booking process for visitors, pease see below. Reading Hebrew Congregation and our Synagogue in Goldsmid Road is, and has always been, the centre of Jewish Community life in Reading, Berkshire, UK and the surrounding area for over 130 years. We are an Independent Orthodox Synagogue operating under the auspices of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. If you would like to visit us or are considering moving into the area please contact us first by email, phone or via our Facebook site. We also have provided help and hospitality to many visitors and welcome any donations to help us to continue to provide these services. If you would like to know more about the history of our community, please click here.

Visitor Booking Process

We have been running Shabbat and Yom Tov services for members, subject to the current Governement guidelines and restrictions since July. We are now in a position to be able to welcome a limited number of adult visitors to our normal Shabbat services who are not currently members but are considering joining us. To facilitate this we have introduced the following process which we have to follow to be in line with the current guidance. Note that this may be subject to change. Therefore if you would like to visit the Synagogue we ask that you: 1) Contact us in advance (a minimum of 3 days notice is required) 2) Fill out the attached booking form confirming that you have not, to your knowledge, had any Covid-19 symptons or been in contact with anyone who has and also to provide us with your name, address, phone number & email address (for the purposes of Covid-19 Track & Trace which requires us to hold your details for 21 days, following your visit) 3) Provide photo id to us, if this is your first visit, that will passed to our security officer. We retain the right to refuse entry to anyone without such id having been previously presented. 4) Wait for us to contact you to confirm availability.

Despite the current lockdown measures we are still running many social activities within the community. When things return to normal we will post up and coming events here. Monday Evening 9th March - Purim Rabbi Mark Daniels is coming to read the Megillah at 18:45pm, followed by a reception in the Hall afterwards. Always a great event for the whole family. Please contact us if you would like to attend. Shabbat, 7th February - Community Meal We’re organising a community meal after the Friday evening service. Our regular Friday evening services are always a good way to come and get to know the community. Saturday, 1st February - WIZO National Quiz We’ve got our team together for this year’s WIZO National Quiz. In previous years we’ve done very well! As usual lots of organization behind the scenes, not least sorting out who’s doing what for the accompanying supper. The venue is full and everbody is set for a great evening.