School Visits to a Synagogue

I have got involved in recent years in supporting the programme of primary school visits to our Synagogue, Oaks Lane Reform Synagogue (Ilford, London) which is part of the Progressive Judaism Movement in the United Kingdom – despite its name, nothing to do with Farage’s Reform Party! Its philosophy, however, is very much bound up with the inclusivity of approach which we take for granted in the best traditions of primary education. It is true that part of me has some misgivings about this initiative to open the doors to children of primary school age, because I am well aware that the religious dimension of life is conceptually very difficult for the younger child and one always worries about the extent to which children at this stage are getting to grips with such abstract notions as belief, prayer, God and holiness. However, we encourage schools to send pupils from year three upwards and one does get a sense that in the main they are sufficiently mature to get something of value from the visit, even though they differ significantly in levels of understanding and interest. As the children proceed through the primary years, they become increasingly aware, especially in urban settings, of the diversity of cultural heritages which feed into the school community and beyond and it is part of our responsibility as a Synagogue to enhance that awareness, especially with regard to religious identity and practice.

The sheer size of the torah scrolls and the way in which they are encased in the Ark of the Synagogue always catches the eye and our Rabbi places great importance on introducing children at close quarters to their distinctive features. The everlasting light (Ner Tamid), which is a central feature of any Synagogue never fails to fascinate young minds. They respond enthusiastically to the challenge of writing some words in Hebrew script, coping with the strangeness of writing from right to left, and they seem to enjoy designing their own skull-caps (head-coverings or yarmulkas) with coloured pencils as part of a Synagogue trail. The task of engaging in observational drawings of household religious artefacts, such as candle-sticks or seder-plates for Passover, also draws the children into the domestic world of Judaism. The highlight for many is the opportunity to eat some challah (traditional bread for the Sabbath) accompanied with some grape-juice (the fruit of the vine), both of which mark the onset of Shabbat on a Friday evening.

One cannot under-estimate the significance of the interpersonal dimension of the visit as we welcome the children and their staff and parents into our sanctuary, respond to their questions and hopefully model those values which we see as underpinning the ethical basis of Judaism. Moreover, the opportunity for children to come face-to-face and enter into dialogue with members of the Jewish community in a Synagogue setting can help to break down fear and prejudice, critical at a time of increasing levels of antisemitism.

We can only scratch the surface on a half-day visit, presenting a particular version of Judaism, which we see as adapting to the values of modern society while retaining its core principles. We cannot do justice to the varying levels of orthodoxy which characterise Jewish religious identity in practice. Nor can we explore the complex nature of our relationship with the State of Israel and the biblical roots which have nurtured that relationship. That is a story for another day and for the student with a more sophisticated conceptual apparatus. But at least they can leave the Synagogue with a sense of what makes it distinctive. One hopes they will also come to appreciate what it is that the Synagogue shares in common with other places of worship.

At the end of a recent visit, one of the parents told me that although she had lived in the area all her adult life, she had never been into a Synagogue. This was her first visit and she described it as an eye-opener. Her vote of confidence was appreciated!

Robert Young

4 February 2026