26 November 2015

Northwood & Pinner Liberal Synagogue (NPLS) has won the Mitzvah Day Award for Interfaith Partnership of the Year.

The trophy was presented to Rabbi Aaron Goldstein and volunteer Marsha Myers, by Mitzvah Day founder Laura Marks and interfaith chair Daniela Pears.

It was given in recognition of the synagogue’s incredible work acting as a hub for local faith communities to donate materials to refugees, which were delivered through the Wycombe Islamic Society.

The judging panel – which included Daniela, Luciana Berger MP and Jewish News editor Richard Ferrer – especially praised the ‘Refugees are Welcome’ Mitzvah Day event at NPLS on Sunday, which saw an entire day of collections and talks in conjunction with René Cassin.

Speakers included Thiru, a member of Freed Voices who has recently been through the detention system, and Fritz Lustig, a 96-year old German-Jewish man interned in the UK during the Second World War.

Rabbi Aaron said: “I would like to pay tribute to the immense work of Marsha, and her husband Peter and their family. Rabbi Lea Muehlstein, Josh Edelman, Adrienne Cohen, Jean and Naomi Ryba and many others provided phenomenal support throughout. We are fortunate to have such a strong rabbinic team, community and partners!”

Other Mitzvah Day Award winners included Sinai (Reform) Synagogue in Leeds, Moishe House London and Broughton Jewish Cassel Fox Primary School.

Picture by Marc Morris