In the early 1960’s there were just a handful of Jewish families living in Bushey. By 1968 numbers had grown and families were meeting for services in homes in Bushey Heath on Friday evenings and Shabbat mornings. The highlights of that year were the Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur services in the scout hut at the top of Little Bushey Lane. The services were beautifully led by a young local trainee lawyer.

As news of this new kehilla (community) spread, our numbers of members increased, and a building was found. In 1969, what was originally a Church Mission Hall in a state of disrepair behind the now defunct Bushey Police Station soon became a place of warmth and prayer for our fledgling community. Help was provided by a loan and affiliation to the United Synagogue to purchase the property.

As Bushey became known as a place for the ‘living’ rather than just for the deceased, there was a clear need for a Rabbi for the now growing community. In December 1979, Reverend, now Rabbi, Meir Salasnik moved to Bushey with his young family and became our spiritual and pastoral leader.

Growth and expansion of the community continued and the building in Police Station Lane was no longer suitable. With funds raised and pledged by our 250 members and a loan from the US, our purpose-built synagogue in Sparrows Herne was completed in 1984. Five years later our membership had exceeded 600 and was predicted to continue growing. We then obtained planning permission to extend the premises to cater for many varied activities which were now taking place.

We are very fortunate to be custodians of a Czech Scroll. This is a scroll that was rescued from Czechoslovakia, brought to London in 1964 and restored by the Memorial Scrolls Trust.  The scroll number is Czech #733.

In 2010, a major refurbishment took place to update the Shul facilities. Our membership is now well over 2000 members, comprising of 1400 family units. Open seven days a week we offer facilities and activities for every age range in the community.