Manchester synagogue shuts after being centre of community for 70 years

Closure of reform synagogue on Jackson’s Row, the second oldest reform community in the UK, was marked by an emotional final Shabbat service.

Manchester city centre’s last remaining synagogue has shut after 70 years.

The closure of Manchester reform synagogue on Jackson’s Row, the second oldest reform community in the UK, was marked by an emotional final Shabbat service.

Members had mixed feelings as they walked away from a building that had become too costly to repair, but whose sale provided sufficient funds to ensure a bright future together in a new home.

Jackson’s Row president, Jane Black, told Jewish News the weekend achieved “a real sense of occasion. A great deal of work went into preparations. It was a very successful, happy as well as emotional time”.

The principal Rabbi of Manchester reform synagogue, Robyn Ashworth-Steen, said: “It’s been a home since childhood for me and many members of the community. But it’s a very exciting and unusual chance for a religious community to have the opportunity to invest in its future, to create something new that works for us in Manchester and demonstrates our mark on the city.”

Manchester reform synagogue sold its building on Jackson’s Row for £15million and will hold Shabbat services at a temporary base at Manchester University’s chaplaincy on Oxford Road, a mile away, while the synagogue seeks a new home.