The outgoing cantor of a reform synagogue in Leeds hosted a Palestine fundraiser just eight weeks after the 7 October Hamas atrocities.
According to a report in The Jewish Telegraph, six months before taking up her role at Sinai Synagogue, Rachel Weston compered the event for Palestine Action on behalf of The Zeudah Collective, whose Instagram account, on which it has promoted anti-Zionist marches, describes the movement as a group for “radical, queer Judaism in Leeds”.
The paper says her involvement in the event was promoted across social media and on her pseudonym account @rokhlmerlot.
Palestine Action, the group that has vandalised several branches of Barclays Bank across London and Edinburgh, later publicly thanked her for her involvement.
Weston was part of a ‘Kaddish for Gaza’ in 2018.
Following concern from the Leeds community, she later wrote a statement on Sinai’s website, saying she had participated “with others from progressive Jewish backgrounds” because “I believe in dialogue, human rights, mourning the loss of all human life, the power of communal ritual, freedom, and kindness”, adding that she was “deeply cognisant and saddened by the divisiveness and pain it caused in the Jewish community.”
She went on to say that with her “responsibilities as a cantor leading a congregation with many diverse views”, she wouldn’t now attend “such a gathering, because at this deeply volatile time, my role as a spiritual leader is to provide solace and sanctuary to all those feeling the pain of myriad and profound trauma, both current and historic.”
Sinai Synagogue’s website says Weston completed a five year training at Hebrew Uni and college in Jerusalem and then in New York before joining them.
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Weston was inaugurated in November 2024. On 9 March 2025, the synagogue executive announced that “with sadness” the cantor would be leaving after Pesach, noting she has “infused our community with vibrancy and spirit, particularly through her musical leadership and a commitment to nurturing our spiritual growth. She provided steadfast support during a period of challenge, and her presence will be deeply missed.”
The shul is scheduled to hold a celebratory ‘farewell’ kiddush for Cantor Weston on 26 April.
Jewish News has approached Sinai Synagogue, Cantor Weston and the Movement for Reform Judaism for comment.
