Harlow and Chelsford Jewish Community

(and the former Harlow Jewish Community)

Harlow, Essex

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Harlow and Chelmsford

Harlow, a new town established in the late 1940's, is about 30 miles north of London and has a population of about 80,000. It was an urban district until 1974, when it became a local government district, remaining in the county of Essex.

Chelmsford, a city since 2012 and the county town of Essex, with a population of about 110,000, is situated about 20 miles east of Harlow. It was a municipal borough until 1974, when it merged with the surrounding rural district to form the local government district (later borough) of Chelmsford, also remaining within the county of Essex.

The Jewish Community

A Jewish congregation was first established in Harlow in the early 1950s and in Chelmsford in the 1970s (for details, see Chelmsford Jewish Community).

Congregation Data

Name:

Harlow and Chelmsford Jewish Community

Date Formed:

The congregation was formed in February 2026 with the merger of the Harlow Jewish Community with Chelmsford Jewish Community, an unaffiliated congregation.⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

Harlow Jewish Community was founded in 1952.⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

Address:

Harberts Road, Hare Street, CM19 4DT, which was previously the address of the Harlow congregation from 1967/8.^(iv) The synagogue was extended in 1998 and in 2009 underwent some renovation and improvement work.^(v)

Shabbat and festival services are held both online and in the synagogue premises and popular events that were previously held in Chelmsford, including the civic Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration, continue to be held there. ^(viii)

Previously, from 1957, the community used a temporary, single-story prefabricated structure as its synagogue.^(ix)

Current Status:

Active

Ritual:

Progressive / Reform

Affiliation

The congregation, since its formation, has been a constituent community of the Movement for Progressive Judaism .^(x)

Harlow Jewish Community had become a member of the Associated Synagogues of Great Britain (ASGB) by 1956.^(xi) ASGB subsequently became the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain and later the Movement for Reform Judaism, which on 1 January 2026 merged into the Movement for Progressive Judaism (MPJ).

Website:

http://www.harlowjewishcommunity.org.uk/ (The website of Harlow Jewish Community)

Ministers:
(To view a short profile of a minister - hold the cursor over his or her name.)

Harlow and Chelmsford Jewish Community

Rabbi Irit Shillor - from February 2026^(xii)

Harlow Jewish Community

Rabbi Michael Pertz - from 2001 until about 2005^(xvi)

Rabbi Irit Shillor - from October 2005 until February 2026^(xvii)

Membership Data:

Press Reports^(xviii)

2026 - 300 families

National Reports and Surveys (Harlow Jewish Community)^(xix)

1977 - 40 male (or household) members

1983 - 41 male (or household) members and estimated 41 female members

1990 - 76 members (comprising 55 households, 8 individual male and 13 individual female members)

1996 - 115 members (246 households)

2010 - listed as having 100 to 199 members (by household)

2016 - listed as having 100 to 199 members (by household)

Charitable Status:

Harlow and Chelmsford Jewish Community is a registered charity (no. 1186532), registered on 22 November 1919, initially under the name Harlow Jewish Community until late 2025.^(xx)

Cemetery and Burial Information:

There is no Jewish cemetery in either Harlow or Chelmsford.

However, the congregation and both its predecessor congregations were member synagogues of the Jewish Joint Burial Society (JJBS), through which the congregations' members participated and participate in a burial scheme, with burial rights at the Western Cemetery, Cheshunt.

Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved.

(ii) Various online press reports included Essex Jewish News of 4 February 2026, The Jewish Chronicle of 4 February 2026 and the Jewish News of 6 February 2026,. ↵

(iii) Congregation's website, accessed 17 September 2019. ↵

(iv) This was the address under which the community was listed in Jewish Year Books from 1969 until the last edition (2015) and the community's website, accessed February 2026. The website also states that by 1977 the community had raised enough funds to build a permanent brick structure to accommodate its synagogue building. ↵

(v) The community's website, accessed February 2026. ↵

(vi) to (vii) Reserved.

(viii) The press reports referred to in footnote (ii). ↵

(ix) The community's website, accessed February 2026. ↵

(x) The press reports referred to in footnote (ii). However, it was not yet listed as such on the MPJ website, accessed 16 February 2026. ↵

(xi) Based upon the congregation first being listed as a member of the Reform movement in Jewish Year Book 1957. However, the community's website and Tradition and Change - A History of the Reform Movement in Britain 1840-1995 (1995) by A.J. Kershen and Rabbi Jonathan A. Romain, p.358, states that the congregation joined the Reform movement in 1960, although this would appear to be an error. ↵

(x) The press reports referred to in footnote (ii). ↵

(xiii) to (xv) Reserved.

(xvi) The community's website states that in 2001 the community welcomed its first part-time rabbi, Michael Pertz and that Rabbi Shillor joined the community in 2005. However, he was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books only from 2003 and until 2009. There were no ministers listed for the congregation in Jewish Year Books prior to 2003, although in the 2003 edition a Rabbi J. Newman was referred to as rabbi emeritus. ↵

(xvii) Based upon Rabbi Shillor's LinkIn account and the congregation's website, last accessed February 2026, which states that she joined the community in 2005 and where she is still named as minister. ↵

(xviii) The press reports referred to in footnote (ii). ↵

(xix) Reports on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by or on behalf of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and which can be viewed on the website of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research. Click HERE for links to the various reports. ↵

(xx) Charity Commission website, accessed February 2026. Clicking the charity number will take you to the charity's registration on the website. ↵

Community Records

Registration District (BMD):

Essex (since 1 February 2010)
- Harlow's previous Registration Districts:
  Epping - from 1 July 1937 to 1 April 1974;
  Harlow - 1 April 1974 to 1 February 2010.
- Chelmsford's previous Registration District:
  Chelmsford - from 1 July 1937 to 1 February 2010.
- Any registers would now be held by the current register office.
Link to Register Office website
Group for Marriage Certification: West London Synagogue

Online Articles and Other Material
relating to the Harlow Jewish Community
and Harlow and Chelmsford Jewish Community (from 2026)
(for Chelmsford Jewish Community prior to 2026, see Chelmsford page)

on third party websites

Annual Reports & Accounts filed with the Charities Commission (pdf):
- For years ended 31 March 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2015.

Harlow Jewish Population
1984	45 families	(The Jewish Year Book 1985)
1990	190	(The Jewish Year Book 1991)

List of Progressive Judaism Congregations

List of Former Reform Judaism Congregations

Jewish Congregations in Essex

Jewish Communities in Greater London and its Outskirts

List of Member Synagogues of the Jewish Joint Burial Society

Jewish Communities of England home page

Page created: 2 February 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 17 September 2019
Page most recently amended: 17 February 2026

Research and formatting by David Shulman

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