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About us

Our Kehilla

Welcome! We are a warm and inclusive liberal Jewish community in the beautiful city center of Utrecht. We know that each of our Jewish journeys is unique and here you will find a community of people at all stages of life who will welcome you wherever you are in your own journey. Our goal is to strengthen Jewish community life in the larger metropolitan area of Utrecht.

When you become a member of the Liberal Jewish Community in Utrecht (LJGU), you join a warm, active and tolerant community.

The LJGU was founded on December 7, 1993. It is one of the Liberal Jewish Congregations of this country, and belongs to the Society of Progressive Jews in the Netherlands. Since its foundation, our congregation has developed into a full-fledged group. Since the end of 2004, the congregation has its own synagogue in the former Jewish orphanage in Utrecht at its disposal.

Services

At the heart of LJG Utrecht are the services that connect us to Judaism and each other. There are Shabbat services every other week (one Erev Shabbat and on Shabbat morning) and services for all the Jewish holidays. The services are led by our excellent rabbi Corrie Zeidler and chazzanit Sarah Whitlau. We love celebrating Jewish holidays. Most of the time with food, music and good talks. We also make sure the kids have their own fun activities. We also offer occasional learning sessions on all kind of Jewish religious and philosophical topics, lectures, musical evenings and even outdoor activities.

So if you have a Jewish identity please feel free to join our Shabbat service or celebration of a Jewish holiday.

If interested we kindly request you to send an email to info@ljgutrecht.nl.

Talmud Torah and preparing for bar/bat mitsva

With the guidance of a lovely teacher, we offer Jewish lessons for children from the age of 4 up to education for bne mitsva(bar and bat mitsva). During these lessons – that occur twice a month, one during services so that parents can join in synagogue and one on a sunday – we help children discover their Jewish identity and learn about important elements of Jewish tradition. 

Becoming a member

We invite you to discover if LJG Utrecht can be part of your Jewish home. Please contact us via info@ljgutrecht.nl for more information about membership.

Membership gives you access to all activities of our congregation such as services, holiday celebrations, social events, lectures and learn sessions. In our bi-weekly newsletter, you will find the calendar of all our activities and other interesting pieces and news from members. You also receive JoodsNu (Jewish Now), a Dutch periodical of the National Board of Progressive Jewry.

We would like to emphasize that membership is restricted to those who are Jewish according to the Halacha. Also it is good to know that unlike other places around the world, Jewish congregations in the Netherlands are fully independent from the government and therefor ask a membership fee.

For membership applications and all other information, contact the secretariat of our congregation through email: info@ljgutrecht.nl (Mira)