2 July 2019

Members of Liberal Judaism’s new Three Counties Liberal Jewish Community came together in June to honour Anne Frank with a special Shabbat service to commemorate what would have been her 90th birthday.

The annual memorial has become a tradition at Herefordshire Jewish Community, with prayers and readings held around a tree dedicated to Anne Frank that stands in the garden of a community centre where the group meets.

Herefordshire are now uniting with Gloucestershire Liberal Jewish Community to form the new Three Counties congregation and members of both came together for this year’s event.

Liberal Judaism president Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein conducted the well-attended service that included several important guests including both the Mayor and High Sheriff of Hereford. Canon Anna Nugent represented Hereford Cathedral as the community’s Torah scroll is on loan from the Cathedral’s library.

A choir from the St James School in Malvern sang a number of Jewish songs during the service which brought back memories for Andrew and his wife Sharon, as they had once run Liberal Judaism’s Kadimah Summer School at St James.

A formal unification service for the new community will take place on Saturday 20 July led by Liberal Judaism’s senior rabbi, Rabbi Danny Rich, and Three Counties’ Student Rabbi Lev Taylor.