Tours of Places of Worship – Tuesday 22nd October 2024-
Redbridge Faith Forum - Tours of Places of Worship at SUKKAT SHALOM REFORM SYNAGOGUE, 1 Victory Road, Hermon Hill (Wanstead), London E11 1UL on Tuesday 22nd October 2024
Following on from our Annual Walk of Peace, where we have the opportunity to have a short tour of some of the many Places of Worship in Redbridge, Redbridge Faith Forum decided to organise a series of Tours of individual Places of Worship. This aims to provide the opportunity to have more in-depth visits of our local Places of Worship.
Our first visit was hosted by the Jewish Community at the Sukkat Shalom Reform Synagogue in Wanstead. This Synagogue is in a beautiful building with a very varied and extremely interesting history. The architecture inside is quite unique and we were given a tour of the building and had an opportunity to see and learn about Jewish symbols and practice.
Our host Mitzi gave a brief outline of the history of Judaism and described the different sects ranging from ultra Orthodox to the liberal and reform groups. Mitzi also gave a comprehensive insight into what it means to be a member of the Jewish community, highlighting practices and traditions. The ark, which houses the Torah Scroll, an important part of a synagogue service, was opened and the Torah Scroll carefully taken out and displayed. This was particularly interesting to see and we all gathered round while Mitzi read a passage from the Torah and explained in fascinating detail how the Torah Scroll was written and the minute detailing of the language used. All present were delighted to be given the opportunity to have such a close look at the Torah Scroll. As this visit was during Sukkot, a Festival celebrating the Harvest, there was a lovely Sukkah (Harvest Shelter) for the visitors to see at the entrance to the Synagogue.
We ended the tour with questions and answers and enjoyed some lovely refreshments and had ample time for socialising. There were 35 people who attended the Tour and everyone enjoyed the visit and expressed their interest in future Tours.