Rabbi is the term in Judaism for a religious teacher. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ in many senses, including "revered." The word comes from the Semitic root R-B-B, and is cognate to Arabic ربّ rabb, meaning "lord" Rabbi ' onMouseout='HidePop("15141")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/David_Nieto">David Nieto
David Nieto was the Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community in London, later succeeded in this capacity by his son, Isaac Nieto....
took spiritual charge of a congregation of
Spanish and Portuguese JewsSpanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on...
(also called
Sephardim) who met in a small synagogue in Creechurch Lane. A considerable influx of Jews made it necessary to obtain more commodious quarters. Accordingly a committee was appointed, consisting of António Gomes Serra, Menasseh Mendes, Alfonso Rodrigues, Manuel Nunez Miranda, Andrea Lopez, and Pontaleão Rodriguez. It investigated matters for nearly a year, and on February 12, 1699, signed a contract with Joseph Avis, a
QuakerThe Religious Society of Friends is a religious movement, whose members are known as Friends or Quakers. The roots of this movement are with some 17th century Christian English dissenters, but today the movement has branched out into many independent national and regional organizations, called...
, for the construction of a building to cost £2,750. Avis would later decline to collect his fee, on the ground that it was wrong to profit from building a house of God. On 24 June of the same year, the committee leased from Lady Ann Pointz (alias Littleton) and Sir Thomas Pointz (alias Littleton) a tract of land at Plough Yard, in Bevis Marks, for 61 years, with the option of renewal for a further 38 years, at £120 a year.
Avis began building at once, reportedly incorporating in the roof a beam from a royal ship presented to the community by
Queen AnneAnne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702, succeeding her brother-in-law, William III of England and II of Scotland...
. The structure was completed and dedicated in 1702. With the exception of the roof (which was destroyed by fire in 1738 and repaired in 1749), it is today as it was over 300 years ago. The interior decor and furnishing and layout of the synagogue reflect the influence of the great
Amsterdam SynagogueThe Portuguese Synagogue also known as the Esnoga , or Snoge, is a 17th-century Sephardic synagogue in Amsterdam. Esnoga is the Ladino word for synagogue.-Background:...
of 1677.
In 1747
Benjamin Mendes da CostaBenjamin Mendes da Costa was an English merchant and philanthropist. In July 1840 he emigrated to the newly settled colony of South Australia, becoming a successful merchant on Hindley Street and acquiring significant landholdings in the city centre...
bought the lease of the ground on which the building stood, and presented it to the congregation, vesting the deeds in the names of a committee consisting of Gabriel Lopez de Britto, David Aboab Ozorio, Moses Gomes Serra, David Franco, Joseph Jessurun Rodriguez, and Moses Mendes da Costa.
Influence
The Bevis Marks Synagogue was for more than a century the religious center of the Anglo-Jewish world, and served as a clearing-house for congregational and individual troubles all the world over; e.g., the appeal of the
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n Jews for a reduction in taxation (1736); the internecine quarrel among the
BarbadosBarbados , situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent West Indian Continental Island-nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. For over three centuries Barbados was a colony and protectorate of the United Kingdom; and still currently maintains Queen Elizabeth II as head of state...
Jews (1753); and the aiding of seven-year-old Moses de Paz, who escaped from
GibraltarGibraltar is a self-governing British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe at the entrance of the Mediterranean overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory covers and shares a land border with Spain to the north...
in 1777 to avoid a forced conversion.
As the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community grew and moved out of the City and East End of London to the West End and the suburbs, members demanded a new synagogue be built in the West End. When leadership refused that, members formed a breakaway synagogue in Burton Street, which later became the
West London SynagogueThe West London Synagogue of British Jews was established on the 15 April 1840, and is among the Oldest synagogues in the United Kingdom and the oldest reform synagogue in Great Britain.-History:...
. In 1853 a branch synagogue was opened in Wigmore Street; in 1866 this moved to Bryanston Street,
BayswaterBayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster. It is a built-up district located 3 miles west north-west of Charing Cross and borders the north of Hyde Park over Kensington Gardens....
. Attendance at Bevis Marks declined so much that in 1886 a move to sell the site was contemplated; a "Bevis Marks Anti-Demolition League" was founded, under the auspices of H. Guedalla and A. H. Newman, and the proposed move was abandoned.
In 1896 a new synagogue was built at Lauderdale Road,
Maida ValeMaida Vale is a residential district in West London between St John's Wood and Kilburn. It is part of City of Westminster. The area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, consisting of many large late-Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats...
, as successor to the Bryanston Street synagogue.
Features
The synagogue's most prominent feature is undoubtedly the beautiful
RenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...
-style
arkThe Torah ark or ark in a synagogue is known in Hebrew as the Aron Kodesh by the Ashkenazim and as the Hekhál amongst most Sefardim. It is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet, which contains each synagogue's Torah scrolls...
(containing the
TorahThe term "Torah" , refers either to the Five Books of Moses or to the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts...
scrolls) located at the centre of the Eastern wall of the building. Both in its location and in its design, it is like the
reredosthumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from St. Josaphat Catholic Church in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries.There are two common meanings of the word reredos...
of the churches of the same period. Painted to look as though it is made of coloured Italian marble, it is in fact made entirely of oak.
Seven hanging brass candelabra symbolise the seven days of the week, the largest of which - hanging over the
Tevah (or central platform) - represents the Sabbath. This central candelabrum was donated by the community of the Great Synagogue in Amsterdam, upon which Bevis Marks' interior is based largely. The candles are still lit today for weddings and the Jewish Festivals. The rest of the year the Synagogue is lit by the electric lights added in 1928.
Twelve pillars, symbolising the twelve tribes of Israel, support the women's gallery.
The synagogue contains benches running parallel to the side walls and facing inward, leaving two aisles for the procession with the Torah scrolls. In addition, backless benches at the rear of the synagogue, taken from the original synagogue at Creechurch Lane, date from 1657 and are still regularly used.
A number of seats in the synagogue are roped off as they belong or have belonged to notable people within the community. Two seats are withheld for the most senior officials of the congregation's publishing arm,
Heshaim. Those that hold the positions are welcome to sit in them when visiting the synagogue, but they are otherwise kept vacant. A third seat, fitted with a footstool, has been withheld as it belonged to Sir Moses Montefiore, a very notable Jewish philanthropist. It is the seat nearest the Ark on the central row of the left half of the benches. It is only ever occupied by very senior dignitaries and it is considered a high honour to be allowed to sit in the seat. Recently Prince Charles sat in the seat during the tercentenary service,and Prime Minister Tony Blair for the service celbrating the 350th anniversary of the re settlement of the jews in Great Britain.
The synagogue today
Today the Spanish and Portuguese descendant community operates three synagogues. In addition to Bevis Marks, there is Lauderdale Road, which is the administrative headquarters, and a smaller synagogue in
WembleyWembley is an area of north-west London, UK, and part of the London Borough of Brent.-Location:Wembley is bounded on the south and east by the River Brent and the A406 North Circular Road, separating it from Neasden, Willesden and Park Royal. To its west and northwest are Sudbury and Harrow...
. The community's sheltered housing "Harris Court" and old-age home "Edinburgh House" are located there as well. A number of other Sephardic synagogues in Britain have associated status.
Bevis Marks Synagogue remains the flagship synagogue of the community and indeed of Anglo-Jewry in general. Regular daily and Sabbath morning services are held in addition to the Friday Night Kabbalat Shabbat services. The synagogue remains a favoured venue for weddings and other landmark celebrations. The synagogue suffered some damage in the
IRAThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation which sought to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
Bishopsgate bombingThe Bishopsgate bombing occurred on 24 April 1993, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb in London's financial district in Bishopsgate, City of London, England. One person was killed in the explosion and 44 injured, and damage initially estimated at £1 billion was caused...
on 24 April 1993, but has since been restored.
On Friday 13 November 1998,
Lord LevenePeter Keith Levene, Baron Levene of Portsoken KBE is chairman of Lloyd's and was Lord Mayor of London 1998 to 1999.-Life:...
of
PortsokenPortsoken is a historical district in the City of London, located outside the former London Wall, on the eastern part of the City, near Aldgate. It remains one of the twenty-five wards of the City. Aldgate and Tower wards lie to the west, and its eastern boundary is defined by Middlesex Street, in...
became the eighth Jewish
Lord Mayor of LondonThe Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
. An Ashkenazi by birth, Lord Levene's first public act was to walk, with a retinue, from his official residence (
Mansion HouseMansion House may refer to:* the official residences of the Mayor or Lord Mayor of various towns and cities in Great Britain and Ireland:** Mansion House, Dublin** Mansion House, London***See also Mansion House tube station on the London Underground....
) to Bevis Marks Synagogue, for the Sabbath Eve service.
The tercentenary of the synagogue was celebrated in 2001. On 13 June 2007 the 350th anniversary of the readmission of Jews to the British Isles was commemorated by a service at Bevis Marks Synagogue in the presence of Chief Rabbi Sir
Jonathan SacksJonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, Kt is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His Hebrew name is Yaakov Zvi....
, the
Lord MayorThe Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.* In England, Wales and Northern Ireland it is a purely ceremonial post, see Mayors in the United Kingdom, list of cities in the United Kingdom, especially Lord Mayor of the City of London The Lord Mayor is the title...
, and Prime Minister
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
.
The synagogue is the only one in Europe which has had continuous services for over 300 years.