In honour of Yeshurun Cheadle and Gatley’s diamond anniversary, we sat down with Rabbi Greg Bank and five of the synagogue’s members to find out what the community means to them.
Yeshurun Cheadle & Gatley synagogue was first established 60 years ago from a desire to have a shul close at hand for Jewish families in the area, as one of the founding members Harold Solomon tells: “10 of us set up the synagogue 60 years ago. I was the baby. The others were established members of synagogues in North Manchester, but I had just moved into South Manchester, and they wanted a younger member on their committee. Every Shabbat we used to have to walk all the way into Northenden. So we decided to form a synagogue in Cheadle & Gatley.”
The founding members each contributed £1,000 to buy the house the shul now sits in. The synagogue wasn’t always going to be named Yeshurun. In fact, the founding members had initially decided on the name King David, which the Chief Rabbi did not approve. After some further consideration, the name Yeshurun, derived from a word meaning ‘song’, was chosen.
The synagogue not only served the existing Jewish community in the area, but also drew more Jews into the area, as Trustee Judith Stone shares: “When my husband and I married in 1965, we chose to purchase a house in Gatley, because it was convenient to walk to shul. We were choosing between that and Sale. A rabbi had just been appointed to the shul, which in 1965 was beginning to operate on a more formal basis.”
Judith’s son Richard Stone grew up in Yeshurun’s community and shared his experience of that: One thing that I liked about it was that it was always a very open place. You had people who were Shomre Shabbat, and people who would drive straight to the match after shul, and they all sat next to each other, and nobody looked down on anyone.”
Amanda Dee is on the Shul Board and Events Committee and joined the shul a few years ago when moving into the area with her young family: “When we moved to Manchester, we were actually part of a different South Manchester community, but we came to Yeshurun one time, and I just loved it. It had a really warm, open, welcoming feeling. I remember the first time we came, the person doing security on the door was so pleased to see a young family in shul.” Such is the shul’s commitment to a welcoming environment, that there are no set seats for congregants, allowing everyone to sit wherever they choose.
From Bar and Bat Mitzvah groups, to discussion groups for both men and women, to summer programmes for the kids, there’s so much going on. Rabbi Greg and Hannah Bank feel its important their role to be constantly engaging with the shul’s congregation: “The main thing is that I want the Jewish experience to be both meaningful and fun, especially for the younger members. When they walk into the shul building, I want them to feel that they want to be there, that it’s not a drag to be taken to shul. I’m very much of the opinion that the role of the rabbi is not to be up there on the podium and separate to the community, but more to be part of the community.”
Find out more about the 60th anniversary celebration plans at Yeshurun.org.uk