Edinburgh Synagogue | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism |
Rite | Nusach Ashkenaz |
Ecclesiastical or organisational status | Synagogue |
Ownership | Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation |
Leadership | Rabbi David Rose |
Status | Active |
Notable artworks | Stained-glass windows by William Wilson |
Location | |
Location | 4 Salisbury Road, Newington, Edinburgh, Scotland |
Country | United Kingdom |
Location in Scotland | |
Geographic coordinates | 55°56′18″N3°10′28″W / 55.93822792856555°N 3.1745465796842764°W |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | James Miller (1932) |
Type | Synagogue architecture |
Style | Byzantine Revival |
Date established | 1816 (as a congregation) |
Groundbreaking |
|
Construction cost | £20,000 |
Specifications | |
Capacity | 1,000 worshipers |
Dome(s) | One |
Materials | Red brick |
Website | |
ehcong | |
Listed Building – Category B | |
Official name | 4 SALISBURY ROAD, SYNAGOGUE CHAMBERS INCLUDING GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS |
Type | Listed Building |
Designated | 29 March 1996 |
Reference no. | LB43172 |
The Edinburgh Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 4 Salisbury Road in the Newington area of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1816 as the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, the congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.
The current synagogue building was opened in 1932, replacing a converted chapel on Graham Street which had served as the synagogue since 1898. [1]
The Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation is a mainstream Orthodox congregation under the auspices of the Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue. [2] David Rose has served as rabbi since 2003. [3]
The Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, the city's first synagogue, was established in 1817 at Richmond Court for a congregation of 20 families. In 1868, the congregation had grown and so they moved the shul to a larger accommodation at Park Place. They moved again in 1898 to Graham Street. [4]
Between 1881 and 1914, immigrants arrived in large numbers to Edinburgh. They brought different religious traditions with them. As a result, other congregations began to form. [4] Some of these Jews migrated from within Britain. In 1879, Hasidic Jews from Manchester who had come to work in the Caledonian Rubber Works on Fountainbridge established a synagogue in the Dalry area on Caledonian Crescent. This synagogue served about 35 families. [5] [4] However, a majority of the migrant population came from the Pale of Settlement in Eastern Europe. In 1890, the Eastern European migrants established Edinburgh New Hebrew Congregation in Richmond Court. It was eventually moved to Roxburgh Place in 1916. [4]
In 1918, the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation and the Edinburgh New Hebrew Congregation unified on paper but continued to worship in separate places given their different practices. [5] : 63–64
Under Rabbi Salis Daiches in October 1926 the community formed a fundraising committee to build a larger synagogue. In November 1928 the site at 4 Salisbury Road, Newington was purchased. The Roxburgh Place synagogue closed in March 1929 and a "Beth Hamedrash" (literally House of Study) opened in an existing house on the site.
Construction of the new synagogue began on 3 May 1931 when Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted laid the foundation stone. [6] The synagogue took 15 months to complete and was opened on 11 September 1932 by Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz. [5] : 68 It was designed by the Glasgow architect James Miller; the synagogue is one of only two buildings he designed in Edinburgh. [7] The purpose-built synagogue could hold 1,000 people and also had a mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) on the premises. [8] Faced in red brick it is built in a simplified Byzantine Revival style with a large central dome suspended from the flat roof by steel hangers which floods the building with light. [7]
In 1981, Michael Henderson of Dick, Peddie & McKay was hired to reduce the interior. While the mikveh was in disuse by this point, it was retained and in 2003 came back into use when the synagogue was renovated again with the help of a £300,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. [8]
The synagogue was listed in 1996 as a grade B listed building. [6]
The synagogue houses six stained windows by the Scottish stained glass artist William Wilson which combine Jewish religious symbols with abstract and floral motifs, with one depicting the act of Creation. [9] [10]
The United Synagogue (US) is a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central Orthodox movement in Judaism. With 56 congregations comprising 36,000+ members, it is the largest synagogue body in Europe. The spiritual head 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.
Jews in Philadelphia can trace their history back to Colonial America. Jews have lived in Philadelphia since the arrival of William Penn in 1682.
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.
Isaac Leeser was an American Orthodox Jewish religious leader, teacher, scholar and publisher. He helped found the Jewish press of America, produced the first Jewish translation of the Bible into English, and helped organize various social and educational organizations. He is considered one of the most important nineteenth century American Jewish personalities. He was "fiercely opposed" to Reform Judaism and was regarded as one of the most important "orthodox" rabbis of his era. Leeser is regarded as a forerunner by both Modern Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism.
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.
The Congregation Shearith Israel, often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 2 West 70th Street, at Central Park West, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States.
Sabato Morais was an Italian-American rabbi of Portuguese descent, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue in Philadelphia, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary, which initially acted as a center of education for Orthodox Rabbis.
The Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue, commonly known as Giffnock Shul, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 222 Fenwick Road in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, on the south side of Glasgow, Scotland, in the United Kingdom. The synagogue is the largest in Scotland and also features a religious day school for both children and teenagers.
Congregation Schara Tzedeck is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The synagogue is the oldest synagogue and the largest Orthodox synagogue in Greater Vancouver. From Hebrew, the transliteration of the synagogue's name is the "Gates of Righteousness".
The Machzike Hadath, also known as the Spitalfields Great Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Highfield Road, Golders Green, in the Borough of Barnet, in the East End of London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation was formed predominately by Lithuanian Jews in 1891 and was initially located on Brick Lane. The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.
The Gardens Shul, formally the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation (CTHC), also called the Great Synagogue, is a Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Company Gardens, in the Gardens neighborhood of Cape Town, South Africa. The congregation was established in 1841, making it the oldest Jewish congregation in South Africa.
The Cardiff United Synagogue, also called the Cardiff Shul, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located in Cyncoed Gardens, in the Cyncoed suburb of Cardiff, Wales, in the United Kingdom.
The South Fallsburg Hebrew Association Synagogue is a historic Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Lake Street in the hamlet of South Fallsburg, New York, in the United States.
The Perth Hebrew Congregation is synagogue located in the Perth, suburb of Menora, Western Australia. Established as an organization in 1892, it is the oldest of three shuls and one temple serving the Jewish community in Perth. The synagogue includes a child care - namely Ruth Landau Harp Early Learning offering education to children aged from 6 weeks to 5 years, educating children on the Jewish calendar of events and Jewish values, with all meals being kosher. The synagogue offers facilities for daily services, educational programmes, PHC also houses a library, a mikveh and a bookshop. In July 2004, the shul was heavily defaced with anti-Semitic vandalism.
The Dalston Synagogue was an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Poet's Road, Canonbury, in the Borough of Islington, North London, England, in the United Kingdom. After formation in 1874, the congregation worshiped in the Poet's Road synagogue from 1885 until its closure in 1967. The congregation worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite.
Kesher Israel Congregation is an Orthodox synagogue located in the Uptown neighborhood of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Founded in 1902, the congregation is officially affiliated with the Orthodox Union.
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.
The Kazinczy Street Synagogue, variously called the Sasz-Chevra Synagogue and the Great Orthodox Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue complex, located at 29–31 Kazinczy Street, in Pest, in the VII district of Budapest, Hungary. The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.
Salis Daiches (1880–1945) served as rabbi of the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation from 1919 to 1945.