The Executive, Board & Sub Committees

“Together everything is possible. Let’s do it!”

I am delighted that you have taken the time to take a peek at the BHC Web pages and are finding out about The Chair, which is me and my colleagues – the BHC Trustees – also known as the Board of Management. Boring we are not!

For 2023-2024 I occupy the Chair, which is a great honour and roundly concludes the many roles that my parents & family have given over 80 years of devotion to this marvellous, friendly Kehila. I am retired (or I thought I was!) having had a hectic business life as a General Manager and Finance Director across many industries throughout the world, as well as serving on this Board on previous occasions.

My aim for the Bournemouth Community Hebrew Congregation as we are branded is simple; to build on the success of the Golden Thread of Orthodox Jewry that this congregation has richly cultivated.

We live in a beautiful, relaxing area, correctly seen as ‘’provincial’ in geographical relation to the metropolises of London and the North, which does not hold me back in delivering another of my aims to further enrich BCHC communal life with vigour, through exciting social activities which are expected in large communities.

Overall, my aim is to warmly welcome all our members and the plethora of visitors to enjoy their time with us here at BCHC so that every member, potential member, and visitor feels connected and wants to keep coming to BHC and involve themselves with the many aspects of communal life we offer in ‘Sunny, Sunny Bournemouth’.

Shalom Aleichem

simon.lurie@bhcshul.co.uk

After a successful career in Engineering, Sales and Marketing, Security Systems, IT, Business and Financial Management, and Consultancy, in 2017 my wife, Zara and I retired early to Bournemouth. I immediately joined the BHC Security Team and the Shul Choir. Offering my services straight away, I authored and redesigned the BHC Brochure. I was co-opted to the BHC Board after the election in 2018 and was formally elected in 2019, with responsibility for buildings/health & safety, working on many refurbishment ideas, carrying out a full review of fire safety, implementing a safety review of the Menorah Suite kitchen, and advising on the new sound systems for the Menorah Suite and Throop.

I am highly conversant with management accounts and budgeting. I also have a deep interest, understanding and experience in building construction projects, renewable energy, and property management. Whilst away from the Board, I remained hands-on. I have been an active member of the Strategy Committee since day one, taking a central role in developing the vision for the future of BHC, for its rebranding and for its planned online presence. I implemented the Community Survey, the results forming the foundation for our community-focused approach.

I attend daily, weekly and Yomtov services, and am implementing a technology solution to help ensure a minyan can be achieved at all services. Alongside my fellow Board members, I am passionate about revitalising Shul services, attracting and welcoming new members from within our Community, and nationally, as well as expanding our cultural and social activities.

Some of my personal objectives are:

• to overhaul our communication channels via social media and our internet presence,
• to participate in local and national community initiatives,
• to implement monthly management accounts reporting,
• to continue to listen to the views of our congregation and act on recommendations.

simon.pinner@bhcshul.co.uk

My great-grandfather Samuel Broude and my grandfather Shaul Rosenblatt were both instrumental in founding Shuls in Liverpool, as well as being great philanthropists. Communal life is in my blood.

When Bernie and I arrived in Bournemouth in 1986, we immediately threw ourselves into the life of the Community. I joined the Security Team, and I am still there 35 years later. I have been a member of the Shul Board over many years, heading the Shul Aid Committee and the New Members Committee. The Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation welcomed us all those years ago, and we have loved being part of this very special Community. Although I had believed that I had taken a step back from being on the Board, Simon Lurie persuaded me to return because of his enthusiasm and his vision for our future.

In my role of Joint Vice-Chair, I have been given the brief of advancing the role of the ladies in religious matters. We have already introduced the Royal Prayer being read from the ladies’ gallery and we will be looking into other areas where women can play a more active part. I will be taking an interest in matters of kashrut, the Shul Shop and Security. I look forward to playing my part in the exciting future of our Community and Congregation and I am delighted to be part of a strong and vibrant team.

If you would like to be involved in these initiatives, please do get in contact:

marilyn.dexter@bhcshul.co.uk

For 30 years I created and ran a retail menswear chain of 17 stores with 100 staff. Today, I am MD of a small property company, although now, I am semi-retired.

For 12 years, I was a Birmingham City Councillor, including several opposition spokesmanship’s.

For 15 years I was Vice Chairman for the Representative Council of Birmingham and West Midlands Jewry.

For 25 years, I was a Council Member of Birmingham Hebrew Congregation: eight years as President, two as Vice President and Warden. We turned a failing Shul into an active and vibrant community, with extremely strong finances. I acted as Segan for over 15 years.

My family connection to Bournemouth is my late cousin Harry Ellis z”l, who did so much for BHC. My wife, Karen and I moved permanently to Bournemouth in May 2020 for the Shul, Community, sun, and sand. Currently, I am at work during Shacharit, but regularly attend Mincha, Ma’ariv and Shabbat services. I am committed to working with the Executive and Board to invigorate the fortunes of BCHC as the premier Shul in Bournemouth for future generations.

I am an enthusiastic advocate of open minds and a “can do” philosophy, expanding religious activities and hosting guest Chazzanim. I am a strong believer in congregational participation in services, on our Guild and in the Choir, as well as in leading educational and cultural events, which will enhance the welcome we can provide. I am a supporter of encouraging non-resident memberships for our weekend visitors and holiday homeowners. I am committed to the Shul Shop as an essential community resource. Finally, as we emerge from the pandemic, I look forward to BCHC revitalising our fundraising activities.

I’m Jane Cowland, a devoted member of this wonderful Shul and community. With deep roots in the Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation, both my grandparents’ and parents, zikhronah livrakha, involvement has inspired my 60-year commitment to the congregation.  My paternal Grandfather, I am told, organised and ran the first choir in our Shul. 

Over the years, I’ve been involved with many of the organisations in the community, working and taking responsibility. These include WIZO, Emunah,  BBYO, The Cheder (I have taught and been a pupil, both my parents were pupils and all three of my children). The School, I helped run the pre school group in the early days and also have been on the Shul Board of Management. I founded and ran the synagogue’s Kosher Shop for 12 years until Covid started, and I have held various other volunteer positions over the years. Currently, I’m trying to organise more Education in the Community as I’m passionate about Jewish education and its impact.

Family values are dear to me, with three children, eighteen grandchildren and several great grandchildren. Sadly none of them actually live in Bournemouth but they all visit regularly and harbour a love for and interest in the beauty of  the area and the success of the Shul and Community, and of course The Cherries. 

I cherish being part of this synagogue, and I’m dedicated to its growth and success.

I moved here from Leeds with my late husband in 1968. Our three children were born and educated here. Over the years I have served on the Board of Management, the Ladies Guild and was Chair of our Cheder PTA. Having trained as a teacher, I ran the Yavneh Kindergarten, and left shortly before the birth of our third child. Additionally, I worked on committees for Young WIZO, MDA and Technion, all of which held fund raising and educational activities. I was also Chair of Shul Aid, putting on a variety of functions to raise funds for BCHC, and am Joint Chair of Bournemouth Golda Emunah.

I was the local correspondent for the Jewish Chronicle for 20 years from 1994.
I am the Editor of “Ruach” the Synagogue’s magazine.

If you would like to contribute an article to the magazine, please do make contact – ruacheditorial2@gmail.com.

As a Board member, I co-ordinate Chessed & Welfare at BCHC. During Lockdown, the Shul kept in touch with our members through a Buddy system. We liaise with BJSS so that, when needed, we can support our members in whatever way possible. If in the future you or your family need assistance, please get in touch and we will do what we can to help. We are always looking for extra volunteers who are friendly, sensitive, and caring, and will offer practical support in a confidential manner.

After 12 years of living in Bournemouth, I have stepped up as a Warden, bringing over 40 years’ experience from Belfast, serving as Treasurer, Cheder convenor, and member of Chevra Kadisha, and the final 12 years as Warden.

The Bournemouth Community means a lot to me, and I have been involved in many aspects of it, including explaining Judaism to school children, whilst hosting their school visits to our Synagogue. I also organise transport for elderly members of the Community to attend the Meet and Munch lunch club and stand Segan on Shabbat mornings.

As Warden I aim to maintain our high standards of Orthodox Judaism as my priority.

I have lived in Bournemouth since 1969 and joined BHC in 1975. Having been involved in the Kosher Catering Industry, I have always been involved with our Community.

I served on the Board from the mid 1990’s, eventually standing for the position of Vice President in 2004. After two years in that role, learning a great deal re looking after the Community’s needs from the then President Ivor Weintroub, I was elected as President in February 2006, serving the full two-year term. In February 2016, I again stood and became President until 2018.

I am pleased to see so many new faces now putting themselves forward to help lead the Community. Along with my fellow Warden, Adrian Levey, I look forward to seeing our Community growing from to strength to strength.

Mahir Ozdamar

BHC has played an important role in our lives ever since we became members in 1980. After serving on the Board of Management in 2012, I served as Vice President from 2016 to 2018 and as President from 2018 to 2020 and again in 2021 when the Senior Trustees had to step in to lead and help manage the day-to-day running of BHC. I have been a Senior Trustee since 2019 and hope to continue to serve this Congregation, which is so dear to me, for as long as I am able.

Ivor Weintroub

The Congregation is precious to me. It has changed in its management and direction over the years but not in its fundamental being as an Orthodox Hebrew Congregation. I have done my best to serve the Congregation in a number of roles, including serving on the Board from 1986, as Treasurer in 1989 and President on a number of occasions since 1990, and latterly as a Trustee.

The changing role of Senior Trustees makes them responsible for the well-being of the Congregation in its governance, and for the welfare of its members holistically, ensuring that change is for the better and traditions that brought us here are not forgotten.

Stephen White

BCHC must both remember the past and plan for the future. Progress is best founded on an understanding of what has gone before – the things that worked and the things that didn’t, the traditions we all value and should keep as well as the routines which should have been made redundant years ago. But we should always remember that what worked before might not work now, and what failed in the past might now be perfectly suitable.

The main role of the Senior Trustees is to manage the assets of the Congregation, but we also fulfil the function of “corporate memory”. I was first elected to the Board of Management in 1986, served as Treasurer 1991-4, as President 1994-7 and as a Trustee since 1999. My memory therefore goes back a long way, and I hope this will prove useful to the new management team. I am also still working full time and I hope that my work experience can be of help to the new management.

I am a passionate supporter of the Congregation; a regular attendee both at Shul and at social and cultural events. I am delighted that there is a new ‘crew’ leading the way and I wish them success in all their endeavours for the benefit of the Community.