I came from Hackney Wick in London’s East End where my parents belonged to the Federation Synagogue. The only time they went to shul was for a wedding or a Bar Mitzvah. Although they weren’t religious, they insisted I went to Hebrew classes to become Bar Mitzvah.

The good thing about having my Bar Mitzvah was that I had enough money to buy my first guitar. My other interest in life at this time was meeting girls so I would go to shul on the High Holidays stand outside just to talk to them not really caring for what was going on inside.

Growing up I didn’t know much about the religion. At the age of 16 I joined Habonim. Joining Habonim opened up a whole new world for me, it was also where  I met my first wife, Ruth. Through her and her family I was introduced to S.D.R.S.

Thanks to S.D.R.S and the Reform Movement I discovered my Judaism.  It was here that I was able to enjoy taking part and understanding the services and meet lots of lovely people. I was encouraged to take an active role within my newly found Jewish community mostly by our late President, Arthur Bergner. Initially I took over the running of Security then went on to train as a Religion School teacher. My guitar came in handy – I wrote songs for every festival which was a good way of teaching the children about the festivals.

When S.D.R.S moved to its current home and became known as Sha’arei Tsedek, I joined Louise (Katin) and the gang to be a part of Koleinu, the band that plays once a month on Erev Shabbat.

With the encouragement and support of Rabbi Shulamit I am now playing guitar at non Koleinu Erev Shabbat services. I believe that music is such an important part of our tradition and a great way to become involved with the community.

I love our shul and its members and am so pleased I joined all those years ago. It has, and continues to be, a wonderful experience.