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The Great Synagogue of London was, for centuries, the centre of Ashkenazi synagogue
Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
 and Jewish life in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
.

earliest Ashkenazi synagogue constructed in London after the return of Jews to England in the 17th century was built about 1690 at Duke's Place, north of Aldgate
Aldgate

Aldgate was the easternmost gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the East End of London. Aldgate gives its name to a ward of the City....
. The congregation grew, and in 1722 a new building was erected with the cost being born by businessman and philanthropist, Moses Hart.






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The Great Synagogue of London was, for centuries, the centre of Ashkenazi synagogue
Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
 and Jewish life in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
.

History

The earliest Ashkenazi synagogue constructed in London after the return of Jews to England in the 17th century was built about 1690 at Duke's Place, north of Aldgate
Aldgate

Aldgate was the easternmost gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the East End of London. Aldgate gives its name to a ward of the City....
. The congregation grew, and in 1722 a new building was erected with the cost being born by businessman and philanthropist, Moses Hart. An enlarged building, designed by George Dance the Elder
George Dance the Elder

George Dance the Elder was an England architect of the 18th century. He served as the City of London Surveyor and architect from 1735 until his death....
, was consecrated in 1766.

Between 1788 and 1790, the third synagogue was built on the site. This building would stand until destroyed by the Germans in 1941. Unusually for the times, the principal donor was a woman, Judith Hart Levy, a descendant of Moses Hart. The architect was James Spiller. The building was in the classical style identified with Adam
John Adam (architect)

John Adam was a Scotland architect. Born in Linktown of Abbotshall, now part of Kirkcaldy, Fife, he was the eldest son of architect and entrepreneur William Adam ....
. It was redecorated and repaired in 1832 and 1852 by John Walen, and restored again with small renovations in 1899 and 1930.

The Royal Dukes of Cambridge, Cumberland, and Essex, sons of George III, visited the Great Synagogue of London in 1809. There were seated on elegant Egyptian revival chairs as they watched the religious service.

The synagogue was destroyed in the London Blitz
The Blitz

The Blitz was the sustained bombing of United Kingdom by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, in World War II. While the "Blitz" hit many towns and cities across the country, it began with the bombing of London for 57 consecutive nights ....
 on May 10, 1941.

Rabbis

The Rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
s of the Great Synagogue, and their terms of office, included:

  • Aaron Hart
    Aaron Hart

    Rabbi Aaron Hart was the chief rabbi of the United Kingdom and the rabbi of the Great Synagogue of London from 1704 until his death.A portrait of Rabbi Hart hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London....
     1704-1756
  • Hart Lyon 1758-1764
  • David Tevele Schiff 1765-1792
  • Solomon Hirschell
    Solomon Hirschell

    Rabbi Solomon Hirschell was the Chief rabbi of Great Britain, 1802-42. He is best remembered for his unsuccessful attempt to stop the spread of Reform Judaism in Britain by excommunicating its leaders....
     1802-1842
  • Nathan Marcus Adler
    Nathan Marcus Adler

    Rabbi Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler, , was the Orthodox Judaism Chief Rabbi of Great Britain 1845?1891, probably the most prominent 19th century rabbi in the English language-speaking world....
     1845-1890
  • Hermann Adler
    Hermann Adler

    Rabbi Dr. Hermann Adler Royal Victorian Order was the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire from 1891 to 1911. The son of Nathan Marcus Adler, the 1911 Encyclop?dia Britannica writes that he "raised the position [of Chief Rabbi] to one of much dignity and importance."...
     1890-1911


Cantors

Myer Lyon
Myer Lyon

Myer Lyon , better known by his stage name Michael Leoni, was a hazzan at the Great Synagogue of London who achieved fame as a tenor opera singer in London and Dublin, and as the mentor of the singer John Braham....
 was hazzan
Hazzan

A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the synagogue in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources....
 at the Synagogue from 1767. For some time he also doubled as an opera singer at Covent Garden Theatre under the name 'Michael Leoni'.

In art

In 1819 an aquatint
Aquatint

Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching.Intaglio printmaking makes marks on the matrix that are capable of holding ink....
 of the interior was drawn by Augustus Charles Pugin and Thomas Rowlandson
Thomas Rowlandson

Thomas Rowlandson was an English artist and caricaturist....
, and originally published in the popular illustrated magazine of the period, Ackermann's Repository of Arts. Pugin drew a handsome representation of the Ionic
Ionic

Ionic or Ionian may refer to:In science:* Ion, in physics and chemistry, an atom or group of atoms with a net electric charge** Ionic bond, a type of chemical bond involving ions...
 columns supporting the balconies and the classical decoration of the building. Rowlandson drew caricatures of the congregants, with the hunched shoulders and exaggerated noses traditionally attributed to Jews.

Sources

  • Kadish, Sharman Building Jerusalem, Jewish Architecture in Britain, London, Valentine Mitchell 1996
  • Krinsky, Carol H.
    Carol Herselle Krinsky

    Carol Herselle Krinsky Architectural historian, born in New York City, New York, USA. She studied at Smith College New York University, Krinsky was a Professor Of Fine Arts At New York University for more than thirty years....
    , Synagogues of Europe; Architecture, History, Meaning, MIT Press, 1985; revised edition, MIT Press, 1986; Dover reprint, 1996
  • Roth,Cecil
    Cecil Roth

    Professor Cecil Roth, was a British Jewish historian and educator.He was educated at Merton College, Oxford and returned to University of Oxford as reader in Jewish Studies from 1939 to 1964....
    , The Great Synagogue London 1690-1940, London 1950. (available in an online version ).
  • Wischnitzer, Rachel
    Rachel Wischnitzer

    Rachel Bernstein Wischnitzer, was an architect and art historian.Born in Minsk, in Russian Empire, Wischnitzer studied at University of Heidelberg and graduated from the ?cole Sp?ciale d'Architecture in Paris in 1907 where she was one of the first women to receive a degree in architecture....
    , The Architecture of the European Synagogue.


See also

  • History of the Jews in England
    History of the Jews in England

    The first written records of Jewish settlement in England date from the time of the Norman Conquest, mentioning Jews who arrived with William the Conqueror in 1066 although it is believed that there were Jews present in Great Britain since Roman times....