The Great Synagogue

Smaller space than I imagined_ Brahms was dead boring apart from last movement. Final piece by Enescu-Romanian Rhapsody was not a disappointment
May 8th, 2023

The synagogue is beautiful, the Rabbi met with me and gave me a (brief) tour. The people who run security for the synagogue are incompetent and a bit bizarre, it is as if you are in the West Bank. There is no concern for you (even if they know you are Jewish), they will tell you to go away without blinking an eyelid (I only succeeded in getting the tour with the Rabbi by extreme persistence on my part).
May 4th, 2023

It was great to get to visit the Great Synagogue and learn about how Jewish people pray, worship, and read the Torah. 5 stars.
Mar 14th, 2023

Visit during the Week nit possible! Only on Shabbat
Feb 14th, 2023

After calling before hand to check that it was okay that an outsider came, I wanted to come here for a different cultural experience for a uni assignment. I turned up on a Saturday morning Shacharit at 8:45, rang the buzzer and waited around 10 minutes for no one to show up. I did a quick walk around the block to see if there was another entrance and saw some security guards had come out. I was aware that I needed to bring photo ID, and was prepared for some typical security guard ego checks. I seems that I had to explain myself 3 times over for the gentlemen, not sure if it was because he wasn't listening, or was too busy talking on his radio whilst we were chatting, and gave him my ID, let him search my bag, gave him every reason why I was there and answered every question he had. After the two security guards deliberated, they decided to not let me in, and gave me no explanation as to why. The gentlemen said the best thing to do is to call up beforehand to make sure, and very quickly remembered, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I DID. Clearly there was some ulterior motive for not letting me, of which I did not care to ask, after having my time and patience wasted by these two lovely people. It does not make sense to me that someone who clearly poses no security threat is turned away and not allowed in. Very welcoming of you guys to turn away someone who is looking to LEARN about your culture. The purpose of my assignment was to have different cultural experiences, and because of the ego trip and paranoia of these two, I was robbed of this. I was looking forward to having my stereotypes challenged and being educated on this, but clearly your community does not care for outsiders, nor interested in educating anyone who is not in your in-group. Overall, extremely disappointed and angry at being told that visitors are always welcome and encouraged, and being shut down at the door.
Apr 26th, 2023