Islington has one synagogue – an unassuming building tucked away in Elliott’s Place, flanked by apartments and office space. From the outside it looks like any other building, but as you step through the door, you are greeted with an array of abstract artwork, religious texts and assorted memorabilia.
The man in charge? Rabbi Mendy Korer.
We sit in Chabad Islington’s community space, where I notice a big, half-empty bag of salad on the table. Rabbi Mendy, 41, tells me he is trying to eat healthy ahead of his second marathon. His friendly, smiling demeanour instantly warms you to him, and he is clearly excited to tell me all about his work.
Rabbi Mendy grew up in Hackney with Orthodox parents and began his rabbinical degree at 16 years old. “A rabbi can be someone to lean on and get guidance or a sense of spiritual fulfilment from,” he explains. “There’s two types – an ivory tower rabbi and an outreach rabbi. You can be a rabbi focused on deeper academic study, and I get some time for that, but mostly I’m doing the outreach work, which I love.”
His seven-year degree took him around the world, doing outreach work in places like Namibia, Croatia, Australia and the Caribbean. After being ordained at Chabad Yeshiva in New York at 23 years old, Rabbi Mendy worked as an assistant in a large synagogue in New Jersey. However, he was keen to create something new.
“After two and a half years, I wanted to move into more of a start-up space, so we came back to London. You’ve got Hackney, Camden, central London, Barnet, all these different neighbourhoods, and Islington is nestled in-between without a single synagogue for the entire borough.”
But Rabbi Mendy did not create Chabad Islington alone. He is supported by his Belgian wife Hadasa, whom he met through a mutual friend. “We’re very much partners in crime,” he says. “It’s a shared mission.”
They launched a community centre from their own house in Canonbury in 2011. “It was tough,” Rabbi Mendy admits. “We knew from the 2011 census that there were around 2,000 Jews living in the borough – then we had to find them.” Luckily, their next-door neighbour happened to be Jewish, and word about Chabad Islington soon spread. In 2021, they opened a permanent synagogue – the first in Islington since the closure of Poets Road Synagogue in 1967.
We discuss demographics. The 2021 census revealed a 41 per cent rise in the number of Jews living in Islington since 2011 (to 2,714) but also made headlines for showing that more people do not identify as religious. “There are people that are not very religious in practice, but the idea is having Judaism as a resource locally when they want to access it,” Rabbi Mendy says. “One of the biggest motivations for me is creating quality, meaningful engagement.” He adds that there is still a demand for “spiritual attachment and growth”.
Alongside the synagogue, Chabad Islington puts on a range of classes, meals, tours and other events as a registered charity. In 2015, it launched Kosheroo, which delivers kosher food to the local area.
There is no doubting the charity’s popularity, which is visible at its annual menorah lighting. “The menorah lighting has been one of our flagship events,” Rabbi Mendy says. “That first year we hardly knew anybody. Perhaps 90 people came.” It is now the UK’s second largest annual public menorah lighting, with 700 attendees. “We try to think of creative, alternative activities to do. One year we had a company come in and set up hot coal barefoot fire walking,” he laughs.
On a more serious note, Rabbi Mendy reflects on a personal highlight. “There’s a woman who grew up knowing she had Jewish heritage but never quite felt confident enough to say: ‘This is my identity.’ She came one year to the menorah lighting and wasn’t sure whether she could participate. By the next year, she felt confident enough to participate, and now she comes regularly to our classes and events. She’s able to finally have confidence that this is her identity.”
Although there are around 100 other Chabad rabbis in the UK who offer support, he acknowledges the “loneliness” of starting a charity without a large team or a strong pre-existing Jewish community.
On the future of Chabad Islington, Rabbi Mendy says: “The biggest task is managing the long-term sustainable growth of this institution. Being rabbi and CEO means I need to be on top of that. We’ve not yet got to a size where I can fully delegate that. Being able to give a community a sense of something deeper or more than just day-to day-life is what inspired me to become a rabbi. Having that role is what I find most touching.”
