Membership & The US

Membership for those who are not currently members of any US synagogue
The Magen Avot US membership subscription will be £250 person and £500 per couple per year. The year will run from January to December. If you wish to join the US FES (Funeral Expenses Scheme), you may do so at no additional joining cost, irrespective of your age with three conditions;

1. That you live within a mile and a half radius from Magen Avot’s current location of the Od Yosef Chai Synagogue complex
2. That you wish to enter the said scheme within three months of Magen Avot joining the US i.e. by the 10th of October 2017 (after this date there will be an entrance fee into the scheme according to age)
3. That you have not in the past defaulted on membership subscriptions to the US

Annual FES costs are currently £72 per person or £7 per person for those under the age of 30. Children of members aged 21 and below are covered by the FES of their parent/parents at no additional charge.

The United Synagogue offers a young persons membership for singles aged 21-30 at a discounted cost of £60 per annum which includes FES. This can be found online at https://www.theus.org.uk/TCM

Magen Avot Membership for those who are currently members of US Hendon, Finchley and Alei Tzion
Under an agreement between the US and Magen Avot if you are currently a US member of Hendon, Finchley or Alei Tzion and wish to transfer your membership to Magen Avot, you will be able to do so from July 2018, one year after Magen Avot has joined the US. As far as we are concerned, even though you will join us formally in a year’s time, we will still consider you part of the Magen Avot family. As is the US policy for any transfer between US shuls if you have not moved home, for the first two years of your transferred membership, you would pay whichever is higher of your current membership subscriptions or the Magen Avot subscriptions to Magen Avot. This is to ensure that members do not transfer shuls only for financial reasons.

Magen Avot Membership for those who are members of other US shuls
If you wish to transfer your existing US membership (not including US Finchley, Hendon or Alei Tzion) to Magen Avot you will be able to do so as per the normative US internal transfer processes and policies. Please contact your current shul and give them notice of your request to transfer. You will need to be paid up to date to be eligible to transfer. Please request a transfer form from Cecil Taitz which should be returned to him once completed. As per US policy as noted above if you are requesting a transfer and have not moved home you will pay the higher of the two membership subscription requests for two years.

Gift Aid
We would be grateful that if you have not already done so and are in a position to sign a US Gift Aid Form, that you do so, as this allows us to reclaim 25% of the amount paid from HMRC. Forms are available on request, please complete the form and scan it back to treasurer@magenavot.com or print it out and hand it to Cecil Taitz. Please note that if your situation changes in the future such that we are not able to claim Gift Aid on your donations, please ensure that you inform us.