Rabbi Shulamit Ambalu has worked with Milton Keynes and District Reform Synagogue- Beit Echud since she was ordained by Leo Baeck College in 2004.

She works closely with every part of the community, providing guidance to the Cheder, teaching adults, leading services on Shabbat and the festivals and supporting the Council who lead the community. She is available to people who want to talk through any issues relating to their Jewish journeys. Part of the purpose of a Jewish community is to mark and support our members at each stage of their lives. Rabbi Shulamit welcomes new babies into the synagogue, guides and teaches our bar and bat mitzvah students, and officiates at weddings and funerals.

Before Rabbi Shulamit came to the rabbinate she worked for 14 years in the National Health Service as a Speech and Language Therapist working with people with a range of complicated disabilities. Her background has led her to base her teaching on the principle of actively engaging our members in their learning. It this led her to believe that Judaism’s most complex concepts can and should be communicated and discussed.  She firmly believes that her own continued learning is central to her role.

MKDRS-Beit Echud, together with Rabbi Shulamit, has developed a warm inclusive and welcoming community. A synagogue like ours, which is at a distance from the major centres of Jewish life, must reach out to Jewish people and those who would like to join us, and to find a way for everyone to feel part of us, and to belong. This means that our community has a special kind of warmth.