Montefiore Synagogue | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism |
Rite | Spanish and Portuguese |
Location | |
Location | Ramsgate, England |
Geographic coordinates | grid reference TR3883865734 |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | David Mocatta |
Style | Regency |
Completed | 1833 |
The Montefiore Synagogue is the former private synagogue of Sir Moses Montefiore. It is an 1833, Grade II* listed building in Ramsgate, Kent, England. [1] The synagogue and mausoleum are cared for and maintained by the Montefiore Endowment. The endowment also maintains the nearby Ramsgate Jewish Cemetery. [2]
Sir Moses Montefiore first came to Ramsgate in 1812 on his honeymoon with his wife Judith Cohen, sister-in-law to Nathan Rothschild. Ramsgate had had a small Jewish Community since 1786. The synagogue was in the European tradition of great men having private chapels on their estates. Sir Moses Montefiore had the synagogue built immediately upon purchasing East Cliff Lodge in 1831. On the day the building was dedicated, Montefiore fulfilled the Jewish custom of marking such an occasion by giving charity to the poor by giving money to be distributed by the priests of the two neighbouring Church of England parishes. [3] David Mocatta, a cousin, was hired to design the Synagogue. Mocatta estimated the cost at between £1,500 and £1,600 exclusive of the interior which was to cost from £300 to £400. The foundation stone was laid on the New Moon of Tammuz 5691 or 9 August 1831.
In 1869, Sir Moses founded the Lady Judith Montefiore Theological College, a yeshivah. This was located to the rear of the synagogue; it was demolished in 1965. The work of the college is continued today in London and is run by the Montefiore Endowment. The site of the college is now owned by Ramsgate Town Council and maintained by volunteers as a dedicated woodland. [4]
East Cliff Lodge was demolished in 1954. The grounds are now the King George VI Memorial Park. The entrance gates, gate-house and Italianate Greenhouse still stand. [lower-alpha 1] [5]
In 2007 a general medical practice opened on the grounds of the former estate. The developer contributed funds to preserve the woodlands next to the historic synagogue. [6]
The rite of the synagogue is that of the Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City of London. Regular services are no longer held due to a lack of a local Sephardi congregation.
The building is set on a knoll that, in Sir Moses' day, overlooked extensive gardens. [3]
The synagogue is a noted example of ecclesiastical Regency architecture. [7] The architect was Montefiore's cousin, David Mocatta. [7] It was the first purpose-built synagogue in Britain designed by a Jewish architect. [7] [8] It is a masonry building covered with stucco. The building is a rectangular with canted corners and a semicircular apse to accommodate the Torah Ark. The small vestibule contains the stairway of the women's gallery. The facade features a clock, which is the only example in an English Synagogue. The clock bears the motto, Time flies, virtue alone remains. The Montefiore coat of arms was a later addition to the facade. [9]
The typically Regency interior features an octagonal dome with a lantern to admit daylight, and a window over the Torah Ark. The interior was originally of whitewashed plaster. The pink, grey and cream marble and granite walls and much of the furniture were added by Montefiore's heirs in 1912. Oak furniture and iron gallery supports were added in 1933. [9] Windows on the northeast and southeast walls with stained glass were also added in 1933. [3]
The synagogue is illuminated by candles in the original chandeliers. The gallery is curtained by an old-fashioned, tall latticework. It retains Lady Montefiore's original seat, no. 3. Sir Moses' seat is on the ground floor. In 1933, the original wooden board with the prayer for the Royal Family was moved to the Bristol Synagogue. [9]
In the lobby there is a memorial to a member of the family, Captain Robert Sebag-Montefiore who was killed in Gallipoli during World War 1.
Next to the synagogue is the tomb which is the final resting place of Sir Moses and Judith, Lady Montefiore. It is a replica of Rachel's Tomb on the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. During an 1841 visit to the Levant, Montefiore got permission from the Ottoman Empire to restore the tomb. [10]
Like Rachel's tomb, the Montefiore mausoleum is cube surmounted by a dome. It has an open, arched porch. The interior has a stained glass skylight but no other decoration. The two graves are marked by identical chest tombs of Aberdeen marble.[ clarification needed ] The graves face east, towards Jerusalem. The floor is made of Minton tile. The porch features ironwork grills in intricate Moorish patterns. [10]
Above the porch of the Mausoleum is the following inscription. It is taken from the last verse of the Hebrew hymn Adon Olam : "Within Thy hand I lay my soul / Both when I sleep and when I wake. / And with my soul my body too, / My Lord is with me, I shall not fear".
Beyond the tomb there is a short, Roman pillar of Egyptian porphyry. The pillar was a gift from Mehmet Ali (1768-1849), khedive of Egypt, with whom Montefiore established friendly relations. It was placed there by Lady Montefiore to indicate where she wished to be buried. Lady Montefiore died in 1862.
In August 1973, it was reported that the Israeli government had tried to have the remains of Sir Moses moved to Israel. [11]
Mocatta is a surname.
Synagogue architecture often follows styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. According to tradition, the Shekhinah or divine presence can be found wherever there is a minyan, a quorum, of ten. A synagogue always contains an Torah ark where the Torah scrolls are kept, called the aron qodesh by Ashkenazi Jews and the hekhal by Sephardic Jews.
Bevis Marks Synagogue, officially Qahal Kadosh Sha'ar ha-Shamayim, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located off Bevis Marks, Aldgate, in the City of London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation is affiliated to London's historic Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community and worships in the Sephardic rite.
The Great Synagogue of London was a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the City of London, England, in the United Kingdom. The synagogue was, for centuries, the centre of Ashkenazi life in London. Built north of Aldgate in the 17th century, it was destroyed during World War II, in the Blitz.
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England, with a population of 39,639 in the '2001 UK Census. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline, and its main industries are tourism and fishing. The town has one of the largest marinas on the English south coast, and the Port of Ramsgate provided cross-channel ferries for many years.
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The Old Synagogue in Canterbury is considered to be the best example of an Egyptian Revival synagogue.
David Alfred Mocatta (1806–1882) was a British architect and a member of the Anglo-Jewish Mocatta family.
The Montefiore Windmill is a landmark windmill in Jerusalem. Designed as a flour mill, it was built in 1857 on a slope opposite the western city walls of Jerusalem, where three years later the new Jewish neighbourhood of Mishkenot Sha'ananim was erected, both by the efforts of British Jewish banker and philanthropist Moses Montefiore. Jerusalem at the time was part of Ottoman-ruled Palestine. Today the windmill serves as a small museum dedicated to the achievements of Montefiore. It was restored in 2012 with a new cap and sails in the style of the originals. The mill can turn in the wind.
The Middle Street Synagogue is a synagogue in the centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It was the centre for Jewish worship in Brighton and Hove for more than a century. Although it is not in full-time use, the building is still open at certain times, and cultural events frequently take place, as do weddings. It has been listed at Grade II*, reflecting its architectural and historic importance.
The Little Synagogue on the Prairie is a small, wooden synagogue originally built in Sibbald, Alberta, just west of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. Originally called the Montefiore Institute, it was built in 1913 or 1916 by the Montefiore colony of Jewish immigrants who had settled in Alberta in 1910, named after Sir Moses Montefiore. It is one of the few surviving examples of the small, wooden synagogues that were built by pioneers on the Canadian and American prairie.
The Sassoon Mausoleum is the former grave of Sir Albert Sassoon and other members of his family, including Sir Edward Sassoon, 2nd Baronet, of Kensington Gore. It stands at 83 St. George's Road in Brighton, England. The single-storey building, which is Grade II listed, has since served as a furniture depository and an air-raid shelter, and since being purchased by a brewery in 1949 has remained a pub or bar.
The Cheltenham Synagogue is a synagogue in Cheltenham and is noted for its Regency architecture. It is an independent congregation located in the town centre on Synagogue Lane, off St James's Square.
The Plymouth Synagogue is a synagogue in the city of Plymouth, England and the home of the Plymouth Hebrew Congregation. Built in 1762, it is a listed Grade II* building and the oldest extant synagogue built by Ashkenazi Jews in the English speaking world.
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, after he achieved success, he donated large sums of money to promote industry, business, economic development, education and health among the Jewish community in the Levant. He founded Mishkenot Sha'ananim in 1860, the first Jewish settlement outside the Old City of Jerusalem.
Judith, Lady Montefiore was a British linguist, musician, travel writer, and philanthropist. She was the wife of Sir Moses Montefiore. She authored the first Jewish cook book written in English.
Louis Loewe was a Silesian linguist. He served as principal and director of Judith Theological College for twenty years; he was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society, Numismatic Society and of the Asiatic Society of Paris.
Judith Lady Montefiore College is a Jewish theological seminary founded in 1869 by Sir Moses Montefiore in memory of his late wife, Lady Judith Montefiore, at Ramsgate, Kent. Though closed in 1985, the College re-opened in London in 2005.
The Lauderdale Road Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, more commonly called the Lauderdale Road Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Maida Vale on Lauderdale Road in the City of Westminster, West London, England, in the United Kingdom.
Montefiore may refer to: