The Aberdeen Synagogue and Jewish Community Centre (ASJCC) maintains a shul (synagogue) on Dee Street in the centre of Aberdeen (UK). This is the northernmost synagogue in the British Isles.
Several Jews were awarded medical degrees from Aberdeen in the 18th century, [1] but they did not live in Aberdeen (the degrees were awarded in absentia). Jews were definitely living in Aberdeen by the late 19th century. [2] The Aberdeen Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1893, and initially worshipped in a flat on Marischal Street. In 1945 the congregation bought a house on Dee Street, and converted it into a synagogue and community centre. In 2016 Aberdeen Hebrew Congregation was reorganised and renamed as Aberdeen Synagogue and Jewish Community Centre.
According to the census, there are about 250 Jews in the Aberdeen area (city and shire). The community is mostly incomers who come to Aberdeen to work or study. The ASJCC tries to support all Jews in the Aberdeen area, regardless of which type of Judaism they follow.
There is a burial area for Jews in Grove Cemetery. [3]
There is also a Jewish Students Society in Aberdeen, which works closely with the ASJCC.
The community has not had a permanent full-time rabbi since the 1950s. Most services are led by lay members of the community, but rabbis do visit to lead services on major holidays and events. ASJCC's website has up-to-date details about services and events.
The United Synagogue (US) is a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central Orthodox movement in Judaism. With 62 congregations, comprising 40,000 members, it is the largest synagogue body in Europe. The spiritual leader of the union is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth – a title that bears some formal recognition by the Crown, even though his rabbinical authority is recognised by only slightly more than half of British Jews.
The West London Synagogue of British Jews, abbreviated WLS, is a synagogue and congregation near Marble Arch in central London. It was established on 15 April 1840. The current synagogue building in Upper Berkeley Street, dedicated in 1870, is Grade II listed. It is one of the oldest synagogues in the United Kingdom and it was the oldest house of prayer affiliated with the Movement for Reform Judaism, before its affiliation lapsed in February 2023.
The history of the Jews in Scotland goes back to at least the 17th century. It is not known when Jews first arrived in Scotland, with the earliest concrete historical references to a Jewish presence in Scotland being from the late 17th century. Most Scottish Jews today are of Ashkenazi background who mainly settled in Edinburgh, then in Glasgow in the mid-19th century. In 2013 the Edinburgh Jewish Studies Network curated an online exhibition based on archival holdings and maps in the National Library of Scotland exploring the influence of the community on the city.
Congregation Mikveh Israel, is a Sephardic Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 44 North Fourth Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The congregation traces its history from 1740. Mikveh Israel is a Spanish and Portuguese congregation that follows the rite of the Amsterdam esnoga. It is the oldest synagogue in Philadelphia, and the longest running in the United States.
Bournemouth Reform Synagogue, also known as BRS, is a Reform Jewish synagogue of over 500 members in the heart of Bournemouth, England.
Temple Beth El is a Reform synagogue located at in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, in the United States. Beth El was founded in 1850 in the city of Detroit, and is the oldest Jewish congregation in Michigan. Temple Beth El was a founding member of the Union for Reform Judaism in 1873, and hosted the meeting in 1889 during which the Central Conference of American Rabbis was established.
Jews have a long history in Singapore, dating back to the 19th century, and are currently a significant minority population in the country.
Capers C. Funnye Jr. is an African-American Conservative rabbi, who leads the 200-member Beth Shalom B'nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation of Chicago, Illinois, assisted by rabbis Avraham Ben Israel and Joshua V. Salter.
The Cardiff United Synagogue, also called the Cardiff Shul, is an Orothodox Jewish synagogue, located in Cyncoed Gardens, in the Cyncoed suburb of Cardiff, Wales, in the United Kingdom.
The history of the Jews in Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada has been noted since the mid-19th century.
Garnethill Synagogue is the historic 'cathedral synagogue' of Scotland. It is located in Garnethill, Glasgow.
Exeter Synagogue is in Synagogue Place, Mary Arches Street within the old city of Exeter, Devon, and is the third oldest synagogue in the United Kingdom. Originally built as a Sephardi synagogue for Dutch Jews trading in Exeter, it is now a synagogue of the Ashkenazi rite. Exeter Hebrew Congregation itself existed shortly prior to its construction.
Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim known locally as "The Jewish Temple" is an historic Jewish synagogue located in Alexandria, Louisiana, in the United States. Founded in 1859 by Jews from the Alsace region of France, it is one of the oldest congregations in Louisiana and one of the original founding members of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, now known as the Union for Reform Judaism.
Laura Naomi Janner-Klausner is a British rabbi and an inclusion and development coach who served as the inaugural Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism from 2011 until 2020. Janner-Klausner grew up in London before studying theology at the University of Cambridge and moving to Israel in 1985, living in Jerusalem for 15 years. She returned to Britain in 1999 and was ordained at Leo Baeck College, serving as rabbi at Alyth Synagogue until 2011. She has been serving as Rabbi at Bromley Reform Synagogue in south-east London since April 2022.
Edinburgh Synagogue was opened in 1932 and is located on Salisbury Road in the Newington area of Edinburgh. It is the home of the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation (EHC) which was founded in 1816. Prior to the opening of the 1932 building, the congregation worshipped at a converted chapel on Graham Street which had served as its synagogue since 1898.
Dundee Synagogue in Dundee, Scotland was the place of worship of the Tayside and Fife Jewish Community, which was established in 1878 under its former name of the Dundee Hebrew Congregation. The synagogue building, designed by Ian Imlach, was located on St Mary Place. It was opened in 1978 to replace the former synagogue building at 15 Meadow Street that was demolished in 1973.
The Great Park Synagogue is an Orthodox synagogue situated in Houghton, Johannesburg. The present building was consecrated in 2000, after the congregation vacated their long-time home, the Great Synagogue on Wolmarans Street, Hillbrow in 1994, after eighty years. The Wolmarans Street synagogue came to be known as the city's mother synagogue and "the crown jewel of Orthodox Judaism in South Africa." All large-scale Jewish events in Johannesburg were held in the building, and throughout its existence it was the seat of the country's chief rabbi. Northward migration by congregation members led to the synagogue closing its doors in 1994. The relocated synagogue was built on the model of the Great Synagogue, whose own architecture in turn was inspired by the Hagia Sophia. Great Park Synagogue was also the original name of the synagogue on Wolmarans Street before it became the Great Synagogue.
Temple Israel is the oldest of eleven Progressive synagogues in South Africa. It is a provincial heritage site, built in the Art Deco style by architect Hermann Kallenbach. It is located in the Johannesburg suburb of Hillbrow. It is an affiliate of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ), which is part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ).
The South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ) is an affiliate of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and supports 11 progressive congregations. Rabbi Moses Cyrus Weiler, a founder of Reform Judaism in the country, led the country's first Reform synagogue, Temple Israel in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. Weiler is credited with growing the movement, to represent 15-17% of South African Jewry and establishing 25 congregations in the country. A 2020 joint study by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and the University of Cape Town showed that 12% of Jews identified as Progressive and that in relative terms the progressive strands are increasing after falling to 7% in 1998 and 2005 studies. In Johannesburg, the community accounts for 7% of the city's Jewry, rising to 18% in Cape Town and 25% in Durban.
57°08′32″N2°06′12″W / 57.1423°N 2.1032°W
