Hundreds attend 'goodbye' to Rabbi Romain of Maidenhead Synagogue

More than 860 people turned up to say a fond farewell to Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain on Sunday as he moves on from Maidenhead Synagogue after 44 years.

Rabbi Romain has been at the heart of the community across four generations, dedicating effort to promoting inter-faith relations.

Under his guidance the synagogue has been providing lunches for the homeless and teaching English to Ukrainian refugees on a weekly basis.

The synagogue community had grown from 72 families to more than 920 under Rabbi Romain’s guidance and the ‘outreach-on-steroids’ campaign he led.

Perhaps, then, it is no surprise that around 860 members of the synagogue gathered for his goodbye party.

“It was wonderful and poignant,” said Rabbi Romain.  “It was a very powerful thing, [to have] so many people whose lives I’ve been involved with over four decades.

“Some of them I first met when they were just bumps in their mothers’ wombs, and are now mothers or fathers in their own right.

“I’ve done the baby blessing of child whose mother’s blessing I did, whose grandparents I married, and whose great-grandparents I buried.

“You become the family rabbi and deeply involved. It’s very enriching for me, hopefully for them too.

“It’s a real joy to have lived with people through such a significant period of their lives.

“Being a rabbi or minister isn’t about theology, it’s about relationships and helping [people] through their life.

“Of course, they’ve been part of my life as well – it’s a two-way process.

“When I lost my son Benedict who drowned a year and a half ago, it was the community who helped me enormously get through it. We were engulfed by waves of support.”

The goodbye event was a ‘total surprise’, he said; Rabbi Romain was told there would be an event and he might have to say a few words, but he had no idea that there would be so many people.

They were joined by Theresa May, who gave a speech paying tribute to his work in pioneering greater understanding of mixed-faith couples, for which he received the MBE.

She also lauded his efforts in leading the British response in providing Ukrainian refugees accommodation with British families, finding more than 2,000 homes for them.

Chair of the Synagogue, Martin Birch, also spoke about Rabbi Romain’s hard work over the years. He said:

“[Rabbi Romain] successfully rebranded the Synagogue from being a house of prayer to a community centre, reaching out to Jews in the area who were lapsed, but were persuaded to join up and join in.”

Speaking after the event, Rabbi Romain said:

“It was really quite overwhelming. What was amazing is that 900 people managed to keep a secret.”

Rabbi Romain will be leaving the area and take on a national role as convenor of the Beit Din (Rabbinic Court), dealing with status cases, such as conversion, adoption and divorce.

“It’s been a real joy being a citizen of Maidenhead,” said Rabbi Romain. “I know sometimes there is criticism about the town, but at the end of the day it’s a lovely place to live.”