BEADLE’S ABOUT…

By ARNOLD CHAZEN

One aspect of my duties in the Synagogue is to make the premises available for both casual and organised visits and, indeed, the New West End welcomed many visitors during the past year.

Partly due to the fact that we now have an excellent website, people turn up from all parts of the world, either to attend services or simply to be shown around. Our visitors book contains names and addresses from Israel, Holland, Italy Russia, Portugal, Turkey and the USA just to name a few.

The open house days last September attracted around 200 visitors. We also hosted organised group visits from various schools, colleges and associations.

The Synagogue is also in demand as a recording and filming venue, not only for its architectural beauty, but also because of its excellent acoustics. The BBC recorded an item for its TV show Songs of Praise whilst Carlton TV and BBC Glasgow have also used the premises for documentaries on aspects of Judaism.

The Milken Foundation of New York visited the synagogue for a second time as part of their ten-year project aimed at recording all known Jewish liturgical music. They spent nearly four weeks recording Ashkenazi and Sephardi pieces with various choirs and cantors. These recordings will be included in the Foundations archives in New York as valuable reference material for musicians and musicologists.

In addition, no fewer than 36 weddings were performed in the Synagogue. The NWES is by far the most popular venue for weddings of any United Synagogue.

Add to this all of the other activities that take place in the building and it would seem that the NWES is flourishing!