Joining NNLS

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Joining NNLS

We are pleased that you are considering joining our Masorti community.
NNLS is a growing and thriving congregation.

We are a warm, tolerant and non-judgemental community providing a wide variety of religious, educational, community and social events for people at all ages and stages of life.

If you have not yet attended a service (or any other NNLS event), we hope you will take the opportunity to come along and appreciate the warmth and vibrancy that makes being a member of New North London Synagogue so special.

Our aim is to make you feel as welcome on your first visit as we hope you will feel throughout your membership at NNLS.

Please click here for Membership Application.

Meet some of our NNLS Members

Just over 7 years ago we moved to London from Cheshire in order to be close to our children who had been living here for some time. Since then, we have been blessed with the arrival of four grandchildren! We had been members of a Reform Community, Menorah Synagogue and we chose to join NNLS as we had heard very positive things about the community and Rabbi Jonathan. We have found that NNLS has a particularly friendly atmosphere and many members were very welcoming on our arrival.

Since joining we have been involved in kiddush and security rotas and the New Members welcoming Team and during the lockdown have enjoyed a number of new initiatives including MasorTeva and the Tuesday lunch club. The last year has been difficult for all communities but we have been most impressed with the way that NNLS has found innovative ways in which to continue as a thriving and functioning synagogue and above all to maintain excellent communications with its members.

Anne & Stephen White

I will never forget the welcome I received when I first turned up, by myself, at NNLS aged about twelve. I’ve been trying to join the shul since then. I succeeded when I turned 21 a few years ago and was eligible for a membership in my own right. In the intervening years, I have only grown to love NNLS more - for the welcoming nature I experienced on my first visit, its thoughtfulness, and deep commitment to enacting Jewish values. NNLS’ response to lockdown has exemplified what a special community it is. The weekly service before Shabbat comes in has been a great comfort over this year, even if it has made me miss in-person shul!

Hannah Arnaud

We chose NNLS as a very good friend of ours who was already a member recommended it to us. I was looking into conversion programmes so inclusivity was a must for me. We were welcomed graciously and introduced to others in the same situation as us who shared the same values and interests and have made some friends for life. The relaxed atmosphere in Assif is why we enjoy going to Shul and our eldest has enjoyed the toddler service too.

Natasha & Darren Heilig

To me, what New North London Synagogue excels at is creating community. ‘Community’ is an overused and somewhat degraded word these days when some suggest that those who agree on any single issue somehow magically constitute a community. In my view that use is simplistic.

NNLS exemplifies what community ought to be - the interaction of people who are not related, who may or may not be close friends but who come together because they can thereby create more than the sum of their parts. Interests can be very different, but community involves linking in to the overall values reflected by the organisation.

We live in a society where individualism is regarded as the norm. Being an individual or part of a family stuck in isolation due to Covid rules was tough. I felt increasingly the return to community and to praying in the way I always had was part of the physical and spiritual way out of the pandemic. NNLS was there when we needed it and the superb group of Rabbis, professionals and lay leaders supported us through.

Now that’s what I call real community.

Andrew Levy

Our family felt at home in New North London from the moment we joined. We cross many boundaries in respect to who we are: a same-sex couple, parents, mixed Jewish and non-Jewish... and all of our identities have been embraced as part of this community. We have been welcomed with open arms and are part of some of the groups that help form the shul's culture for today. The environment and leadership are accessible and open to dialogue, in a spirit of mutual respect. This shows our children a wonderful community where religion is used to bring people together for the better.

Roberto Beggi & Raymond Elias

Having returned to London after working abroad I was looking for a community that combined tradition and modernity (egalitarian services in particular), observance and respect for personal choices, welcoming to people of different backgrounds and LGBTQ+ inclusive. A friend recommended NNLS. I came to Friday night service and felt welcomed, liked the atmosphere and that the services are run by members of the community. I became regular and then joined the community. Only a few years later I am reading from the Torah, leading services, sitting on the Council, and co-leading the LGBTQ+ network. I was encouraged and supported in my Jewish growth and volunteering in the community. But I also know that if I chose to be less active, I would have felt no less welcome. Warmth, welcome, diversity, support, beautiful singing, rich educational programme – this is what makes NNLS the right choice for me.