Our People

Rabbi Shaya and Rebbetzin Leah Green have been the rabbinical couple in Northwood, since July 2023.

Rabbi Green, originally from Liverpool, Green left home at 18 to study in a range of Yeshivot in Brooklyn, NY, obtaining his semicha (Rabbinical Ordination) in Flatbush. Since returning to England he has worked with Chabad and most recently led their North Harrow branch, covering Harrow, Pinner, Ruislip & Northwood. He and Leah are passionate about getting every member of the synagogue involved in the synagogue services, social events and showcasing what NUS has to offer to the wider Northwood community.

Together they have 5 boys – Yehudah, Chaim, Mendel, Shmuel and Zalman – and one girl, Rochel. Besides being a dad, the Rabbi is an avid reader and collector of all manner of books and curates the shul Library but will always make time for members of the community, their problems, questions, life events and any area where they seek spiritual or religious help.

rabbi@northwoodus.org

Rabbi Shaya and Rebbetzin Leah Green have been the rabbinical couple in Northwood, since July 2023. Leah was born and raised in London where she attended the Lubavitch Girls School in Stamford Hill. After attending seminary in Tzfat, Israel, Leah spent a year working for Chabad in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She then returned home to London to study.

Since returning to England she and Rabbi Green led Chabad’s North Harrow branch, covering Harrow, Pinner, Ruislip & Northwood. She and Rabbi Green are passionate about getting every member of the synagogue involved in the synagogue services, social events and showcasing what NUS has to offer to the wider Northwood community.

Together they have 5 boys – Yehudah, Chaim, Mendel, Shmuel and Zalman – and one girl, Rochel. Besides being a mum of 6 and a great cook, the Rebbetzin is committed to our environment and is a member of the shul’s Eco Team. She will however always make time to help members of the community, offering advice or practical help in any way she can.

Alan has been involved in the community from day one and has been Chair of the community for a number of  years.

He was a partner in one of the largest investment managers and financial advisors before retiring. He is married to Judy, has 4 daughters and 10 grandchildren.

chair@northwoodus.org

Aviva has been an active member of the shul for 26 years. Her favourite tasks have included organising and leading childrens’ services and helping with our extensive HUB programming. Since the inception of Northwood Network she has been delivering gifts and writing Mazel Tov letters to members celebrating simchas, birthdays and joyus family occasions. During the Covid lockdown, she called them those with jahrzeits and special celebrations. She is very much a ‘people person’ and relishes that aspect of her role as Vice Chair.

Aviva is an expert in marketing, investor relations and led a successful career working for top FTSE companies and latterly in the property industry. She spearheaded one of the first City women in business network groups in the mid 80s. Since retiring she has been advising the Roth Trust, Revitalise Charity supporting Carers, volunteers for Jewish Care and recently become a Trustee of the Harrow Bereavement Trust. Aviva also enjoys studying the history of art, painting, art galleries, museums and the theatre.

Yvonne has been a member of the shul since moving to London in 2002.  After jointly developing and managing Northwood Network with Michele Massing for thirteen years, she moved over to her current financial role.

Yvonne graduated with a Bachelor of Science and went on to study an MBA.  She worked in retail banking in South Africa an internal management consulting role, before immigrating to the UK with her husband Garth.  She is mother to two gorgeous  daughters, Gilah and Daliah and manages Garth’s medical practice. In her spare time she enjoys golf, gym and socialising with friends.

Denise is the Woman’s officer for the synagogue. She has been a member of the community for nearly 27 years where her family of three children grew up and now have families of their own. For over 18 years she gave her full commitment to running the kiddush – ordering the food and facilitating the event so that it would happen smoothly and with a smile of contentment from the community.  

She is a professional kosher chef and cookery writer with cookery columns in numerous Jewish Press, has written numerous cookbooks, runs events for Jewish singles both face to face and online (Date on A Plate) as well many culinary charity fundraising foodie events too. She is married to Jeremy Stern and equally enjoys the growing family of grandchildren.

Anthony and his family have been members of Northwood United Synagogue since its inception. He has been on the Cheder committee, conducted children’s services on Shabbat and Yom Tov, organised events including Yom Ha’atzmaut and was the musical director for several Northwood Purim Spiels! Anthony has served as warden for the past 18 months and is a member of the Shul’s Eco Team. The Robinson family have have contributed richly to the vitality and development of the shul over the years.

Anthony retired as a Consultant ENT Surgeon in March 2023 to concentrate on medico-legal work. He is married to Ann and they have 3 married sons and 7 grandchildren. Once a keen cross-country skier, Anthony also enjoys walking, swimming and playing guitar and harmonica. He is the Senior Medical Officer for AJEX and also volunteers part time at London Zoo to meet and greet visitors!

wardens@northwoodus.org

Estelle has been our administrator since 2017 and is now part of the Northwood family (even though she doesn’t live locally). She is married to Darren and has two children, Amy and Zach

She is always cheerful and will go out of her way to help members with enquiries about membership, organising life events, shul events, yahrzeits, kiddushim or just about anything else to do with the shul.

Robert has played a part in our community since he was a child and has grown in stature as our Shammas. He works industriously behind the scenes to make sure the shul is ready for services, laying out prayer books and the wine for kiddush. At the end of Shabbat service he can be found helping the security team by ushering people out and imploring them not to linger.

When not at shul Robert lovingly cares for his parents Marilyn & Henry at home and is a fond uncle to many nieces and nephews. When he gets the chance he dons his black, gold and red scarf to cheer on his team, ‘the Hornets’, Watford FC.

Steve, a proud Yorkshireman (via Pinner), has been involved with NUS since it’s foundation. He has been a member of  the shul council for 6 years and is committed to its success. His particular area of interest is overseeing the welfare needs of the community.

Having worked for the NHS for over 40 years, he was pleased to retire in 2009 and have time for his leisure interests, including wood carving and wildlife photography. He is also a regular if sometimes reluctant bridge player, partnering his wife Barbara!

Since joining NUS, Ingrid has developed the Annual NUS Mitzvah Day Programme and arranges the many HUB event programmes we all enjoy. She is also one of the organisers of our Tributes to both Holocaust Day and Yom HaShoah and is a member of the EcoTeam.

Ingrid personifies community spirit with enormous energy and enthusiasm. She actively is engaged in several roles with Hillingdon NHS and runs an outreach programme for the Holocaust Survivors Centre. She has two daughters – Sara living locally and Louise in Tel Aviv.

I was Northwood’s first Chair and Senior Warden. Along with others, I have steered our community with pride and passion from its birth By now I must be the longest serving member of the synagogue lay leadership!

Now retired, my business career has included the footwear and clothing trade, property construction and rentals, nursing homes and even establishing and running international Jewish teenage summer camps, with my wife, Patricia.

We have been married for 54 years and have 3 adult children and 9 grandchildren with whom we are very involved. I enjoy socialising, travelling the world, theatre and am passionate about the gym and shul attendance. A mixture of the spiritual and the physical!!

Stephanie’s enduring connection to first Pinner and then Northwood Synagogue spans over 50 years, reflecting her commitment to community and faith. Her passion lies in alleviating loneliness, and she actively seeks ways to support and uplift those who may feel isolated. Through her life’s journey, she has found purpose in fostering connections and making a positive impact on those around her. She truly believes that our synagogue plays a dual role both in our religious life but also in our social interaction.

In her home life she is surrounded by a large, loving extended family, 5 strong women, 5 useful sons in law and 11 grandchildren

Carolyn is dedicated to supporting the community’s younger people and has helped to organise Northwood’s annual Holocaust Memorial Event programme for 10 consecutive years, educating students from local schools about the Shoah. She has always played an active role in the community and its activities including her role in the team that established the Northwood and Pinner pre-Cheder club and managing the Cheder security rota for 5 years, as well as hosting Israeli teenagers on their annual visits to London with The Jewish Agency for Israel’s ‘Magic Moments’ programme.

Together with her husband Nick and their 3 children – Carolyn moved to Northwood from Pinner and joined the shul in 1998. Outside of her shul life she runs a property company providing accommodation for students.  In her spare time, she enjoys Pilates, walking her golden retriever, Carlos, playing golf, bridge and spending as much time as possible with her grandchildren.

Kim has been an active member of the community and served on the Board over several terms including a period as Vice Chair. He has served on various committees and chaired the Shul reopening committee after the Covid lockdown. He is a keen environmentalist and is an active member of the Eco Team. Kim is the Board of Deputies representative and was elected to its Defence Division, combating antisemitism in the UK. 

Kim and his wife Geraldine were founder members of this Synagogue. His 40-year career was in global companies and he was seconded to Whitehall for two years as a ministerial commercial advisor. This prepared him for the ultimate challenge of keeping up with three active grandchildren! He enjoys reading, cycling and photography and has a long-standing interest in the City of Bath.

Sue, and her husband, Howard have been members of NUS for 35 years. Their daughter, Natasha was the first baby to have a blessing in the newly formed community. Sue works on the Synagogue Mitzvah Day project, and has been helping to growing vegetables for a local food bank. She also works to encourage more members of the community to get involved with the various activities we have going on.

Having recently retired from working full time, Sue now has time to follow her interests, which include; art classes and  gardening. She also volunteers for various charities, including running holocaust education programmes in schools and is a qualified Mental Health First Aid trainer.

A marketing man by trade, Jeremy ensures that the shul projects a professional image whether that be the website, the magazine or the weekly newsletters and event posters. Having worked for companies such as Unilever, Tesco, BT and Coca-Cola, Jeremy now runs his own marketing company that runs campaigns for clients in the UK, Europe and beyond.

Northwood resident for 20 years, he has six children and a football team of grandchildren.

Lester has only been at NUS since 2017 but is a regular participant in shul services and events. He has been on the Council since 2021 edits the website and also chairs the Eco Team, following his passion for nature and the environment.

Still a working man. Lester trained as a surveyor and has worked in real estate since age 18. He runs a niche property consultancy and is also the founder of  a tech start-up business in out of home advertising.

Proud of his south London roots, Lester is a keen follower of Arsenal (from Woolwich originally), and when not working loves cricket film and theatre. He is a keen cyclist and likes to get away skiing when possible. He is father to 3 young adults and was recently married to Watford girl, Jenny.

Pauline has been a member of our shul since its inception over 25 years ago. During that time she has been a member of the Ladies Guild when she organised outings to popular places in and around London and was part of the shabbat kiddush rota. More recently she has been involved with Northwood Network and, together with Lena Marx, has arranged our popular monthly community teas for several years now. In January 2023 Pauline and Lena’s work was recognised in an award for volunteering from the JVN – Jewish Volunteering Network. Pauline keeps in contact throughout the year with congregants who may need some assistance or just a sympathetic ear.

On leaving secretarial college Pauline started her career as legal secretary before going to Israel to work as a volunteer in 1967 during the 6 day war. On her return she worked as a secretary for a partner in a large West End property company. Pauline and her husband Brian, have been married for 50 years, and celebrated their Golden Wedding last April. They have 2 sons and 5 grandchildren.

Richard has been a member of the community for over 20 years and joined the synagogue council in 2023.

He is an actuary and has worked in the life assurance industry for his whole career. He is married to Lisa and they have 2 sons.