The most northerly synagogue in the UK is preparing a series of fundraising talks online to help it pay of a £45,000 repair bill for its crumbling roof.
The Aberdeen Synagogue on Dee Street caters to around 200 members of the Jewish community, and is a focal point for all manner of events in the Jewish calendar.
But earlier this year, builders carrying out repair work on the chimney discovered severe problems caused by rot and woodworm in the roof.
The community has already managed to raise £30,000 to cover the costs of repairs, but still needs to generate a final £15,000 – and due to the coronavirus lockdown, the synagogue’s management have faced difficulties raising the remaining cash required.
To help hit the target, the synagogue has now organised a series of online talks from authors about the Jewish community’s history and culture in Aberdeen, Shetland, and elsewhere in Scotland.
Mark Taylor, president of the synagogue, said: “Obviously nowadays people have far bigger concerns than synagogue roofs, which is completely understandable, but the fact is we still need to raise the money.
“We came up with the idea of doing something online, as we had seen many other people raising money over the internet.
“We’ve got three authors who have given their time free of charge to us, in the hope that we can get lots of people all willing to donate a few quid, have a cup of coffee and listen to three very interesting talks.”
The first online talk, titled “75 years of Dee Street – the history of the Aberdeen Jewish Community”, will take place on Tuesday, April 28.
Click here to sign up.
