The special interfaith Friday night dinner hosted by Brenda Dinsdale
Newcastle Reform Synagogue (NRS) marked Jewish Culture Month as members invited non-Jewish guests to share Jewish cultural experiences – and lots and lots of food – with them.
The first event was a traditional meal in a home setting. Four women from Beamish spent the day with NRS member Brenda Dinsdale, cooking a Friday night dinner together. The menu included challah, egg and onion, chopped liver, chicken soup with kneidlach, cholent, kugel, latkes, carrot tzimmes and chicken schnitzel. Although initially sceptical about lokshen pudding, the guests enjoyed it, along with an added chocolate mousse dessert.
The evening was marked by enthusiasm and surprise, with one participant asking: “Do you do this every week?!” as she sat with a coffee after the meal. Husbands and children later joined the table and were impressed by the feast. Each guest was given a recipe leaflet titled ‘Cooking Jewish’ to take home.
The second event took the idea further, when directors of the Newcastle Council of Faiths attended Newcastle Reform Synagogue’s Community Friday night dinner. Guests included Father Mariadass (Catholic), Fariba Heyadati (Baháʼí), Jaswinder Singh and his two sons (Sikh), and Imam Raza (Muslim), alongside around 30 synagogue members.
The evening featured a showcase of Jewish cuisine, beginning with a Sephardic soup known as Mama’s Sopita, followed by vegetarian cholent served with caraway cabbage and rice, and ending with a British-style lemon cheesecake tiramisu. Conversations throughout the meal focused on sharing faith traditions and personal backgrounds.
The shul’s Vivienne Fleet said: “These were such successful evenings that there are already plans to repeat them next year.”
Guests from other religions at Newcastle Reform Synagogue