Features / Bristol Harbour
Community centre celebrates ten years of supporting Bristol’s Jews
Community centre Chabad of Bristol has celebrated ten year years of supporting Bristol’s Jewish community.
The special celebration called for a change of scenery, choosing to celebrate on a harbour cruise across the Floating Harbour, reminiscent of their first ever event in 2015.
The Sunday night cruise happened kicked off at at 7pm with an array of food, drinks, games, speakers and “good times” all included with the ticket.
is needed now More than ever
The sun was shining with the boat taking the many in attendance down the scenic Bristol harbour.
The community centre has services for all facets of life, food, religion and pastoral care to name a few – photo: Rob Browne
Deemed the ‘Lag B’aomer Cruise’, the event was also organised to mark the Jewish religious holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Omer period, in between Passover and Shavuot.
There are a few explanations why Jews celebrate Lag Ba’ome, but none is definitive.
Chabad aims to serve as a community centre for Jews across the southwest region of England – visits to Bath, Cardiff, Exeter and Plymouth are arranged.
They have parent, student and community pages open for adult discussions and to be a ‘home away from home’ for everyone.
Chabat of Bristol is an independent charity – photo: Rob Browne
Rabbi Mendy and Rebbetzen Chaya Singer established the Chabad of Bristol to welcome their fellow Jews to connect and support one another.
The family organisation holds Torah classes, community events and Shabbat dinners.
These events are particularly meaningful for students in the city as they are away from home.
Chabad of Bristol is a ‘home away from home’ for many, the cruise celebrated this community – photo: Rob Browne
University of Bristol student Sylvie Green said: “Most Jews at University are secular – Chabad gives us a chance to easily connect to our roots, eat great food and experience our traditions.
“Many of us never get to experience opportunities like keeping Shabbat on Saturday or eating Kosher food.”
The Singer family hosts weekly Friday dinners providing Kosher food brought in from London, they explain that “there’s barely any Kosher food in Bristol and no Kosher meat.”
Having these dinners they say is special, adding “They feel like family.”
Originally from Manchester, Rabbi Mendy Singer noted that Bristol is significantly behind other big cities infrastructure wise with no Kosher shops or Jewish schools.
The trip was a family affair – photo: Rob Browne
Rabbi Mendy Singer and his wife Chaya met in New York and moved to Bristol after hearing there was no Rabbi in the city.
Rabbi Mendy said: “By the next milestone, I am hoping for a Kosher shop to have opened as well as a school, we have started our way towards this with opening a Jewish summer school.
“The way Jews are portrayed in the media right now I am so grateful for this positive, vibrant, growing community around us.”
Main photo: Rob Browne
Read Next:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
