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THE ORIGINS OF THE CONGREGATION
From: The Bevis Marks Synagogue by Richard D. Barnett & Abraham Levy.
Published by: The Society of Heshaim. ISBN 0-9501086-6-9
There is no conclusive evidence of any, Pre-Norman settlement of Jews in England, but it is an established fact that a number entered the country early, in the reign of William the Conqueror (1066- 1089). They were allowed or perhaps even encouraged to come in the interests of finance, a pursuit at which they excelled but which was virtually, unknown in Saxon England. Under the first three Norman kings Jews appear to have been left unmolested: but after a period their position deteriorated for a number of reasons, not least because of the anti-Jewish feeling caused by the Crusades. After a series of persecutions and even massacres this culminated in the expulsion of the Jews by edict of Edward I, dated 18th July 1290 The decree took effect on All Saints' Day of that year (1290) and thereafter, for a period of over 365 years, there was no Jewish community, or place of worship in the British Isles.
In the early part of the seventeenth century, a small colony of 'Marrano' Jews settled in the City of London. Marrano was the derogatory, name (probably meaning a pig) given to the Jews in Spain who in order to save themselves from the relentless persecution of the Church under Catholic Spanish rulers had opted outwardly for the Christian religion while inwardly adhering to the old religion of their fathers.
Eventually the Inquisition, revived by Ferdinand and Isabella, turned its attention to these crypto-Jews, and from the last years of the fifteenth century, they: were systematically persecuted, arrested, tortured, tried, and burnt at the stake. From about this time there was a constant exodus of 'Marranos' who succeeded in escaping from Spain and Portugal or its dependencies to avoid persecution and a small number of them reached Protestant England Outwardly, they were obliged to behave as Christians, for at that time Jews were not allowed officially, to enter the country, but at any rate they could live there, provided that they behaved with circumspection, and could meet in secret in each others' houses for prayer.
It was not long before they, felt that the time was opportune to present a petition in the form of a humble address to Oliver Cromwell asking for the official re‑admittance of the Jews to England Their decision was no doubt a wise one, as Cromwell, reared in a Puritanical atmosphere with its emphasis on the Old Testament was likely to hear favourably any petition presented by the 'people of the Old Testament'.
For this purpose Menasseh ben Israel came over from Protestant Holland, where the Jews had already found freedom and tolerance Menasseh, a 'Marrano' by birth, was at once a rabbi, doctor, printer and writer who had at the early age of fifteen become a qualified preacher and at eighteen had been appointed a Rabbi of an important Congregation. He had previously shown his interest in the possibility of the re‑admittance of the Jews into England, and had written a pamphlet on the subject called 'The Hope of Israel' in 1650. In it he had voiced a popular belief in the advent of the Messiah in the year 1666. But prior to the Messiah's advent, it was necessary, to fulfil the prophecy in the book of Deuteronomy (Ch. 28 v. 64) stating that the Jews were to be scattered over the four corners of the earth. As they were then living in almost every country of the world except England, the English protector would have to re-admit Jews to his country to hasten the advent of the Messiah – an event so longed for by all Puritans.
But the wildest and most alarming rumours started to spread all over England concerning the consequences which would occur if the Jews were re-admitted to this country. One such rumour suggested that the Jewish Community had made a bid for the recently rebuilt St. Paul’s Cathedral with their intention of converting it into a Synagogue! The petition, therefore did not succeed.
In the following year, 1656 as a result of the war which had broken out between Britain and Spain, Cromwell's Council of State announced that all goods belonging to Spaniards were lawful prize. Two ships and other goods belonging to Antonio Robles one of the secret Jews in London, were impounded, and the proclamation threatened the position of many of the other Jews. Robles thereupon petitioned the Council of State for the restoration of his property, making the novel assertion that he was not a Spaniard and a Catholic, but a Portuguese by birth and a Jew; his plea was supported by the testimony of other 'Marranos' in like case.
The Council assented to Robles'. plea and restored to him his goods and ships. On the same day, a further petition was laid before Cromwell, signed by Rabbi Menasseh ben Israel and by six of the secret Jews, led by Antonio Carvajal.
The second petition, likewise referred to the Council of State, was answered by no written assurance; but The Lord Protector clearly gave the petitioners a verbal guarantee of security under which they might meet privately for Jewish worship, acquire a burial‑ground, trade as brokers on the Exchange, and enlarge their Community by bringing into England some more Sephardi (i.e. Spanish Jewish) merchants of good standing. Cromwell's interview with the petitioners, in effect, established the Jewish Community of England.
No doubt Cromwell, like William
the Conqueror before him, recognized the commercial advantages that the Jews
could bring to this country, and it may
well be that I that considerations of this kind were as much in his mind as the
Messianic dreams mentioned above.
As a result the first Jewish house of worship of the resettlement of the
Jews in England was as opened in 1656 in the upper floor of a house in
Creechurch Lane, which is but a stone's throw from the present Synagogue in
Bevis Marks The site of this house is today marked by a plaque, on the rear
corner of Cunard House in Creechurch Lane. This little Synagogue served to give
to Englishmen their first acquaintance with Jewish worship. A very famous
English visitor paid a visit bit to this Synagogue on Wednesday, 14th
October 1663. He was no other than Samuel Pepys, who recorded for us his
impressions of his visit in his immortal diaries. His account was somewhat
contemptuous as it appears he visited the Synagogue during a festival (Simchat
Torah) when Jews tend to rejoice in a somewhat light ‑hearted manner.
By the turn of the century the Congregation had outgrown the building ill
Creechurch Lane despite its considerable enlargement in 1674 and steps were
taken leading to the building in 1701 of the present Synagogue in Bevis Marks,
today the oldest Jewish Synagogue in the country.
THE SYNAGOGUE AND ITS WORK
In spite of many difficulties, the community of escaped fugitives steadily grew, both in numbers and security, and in 1695 the Wardens laid plans and considered models for building a larger house of prayer which should be specially built for the purpose. A site was leased in the street called Bevis Marks, and in 1699 one Joseph Avis, citizen and merchant tailor, said to have been a Quaker, was given a contract for building a new Synagogue at a cost of £2,650, then a large sum, about half of which was raised in the form of offerings from every yahid or member of the Congregation. The new House of God was opened amid rejoicing on the Sabbath Eve, on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Ellul 5461 (September 1701) just before the Jewish New Year, in the wardenship of Isaac Israel Correa, Isaac Pereira, Abraham Vaes Martines, and Isaac Israel Henriques, Moses Francia being Treasurer. Two pleasing traditions, hitherto lacking proof, were attached to this event in the memory of the community. The first is that Queen Anne (or Princess Anne as she would have been at the time) presented an oak beam from one of the Royal Navy's ships to be incorporated in the roof of the building. The other is that the builder, Mr. Avis, returned to the Wardens on the day of the opening such profit as he had made, refusing to take financial gain for the building of a House of God. Even if untrue, these rnemories attest two simple facts: that the small and often harassed Jewish community owed gratitude to two diametrically opposed, Groups of friends, the House of Stuart and the Puritans. From the former Creechurch Lane Synagogue were brought the oak benches on which the worshippers had sat, and these, incorporated among the lie back rows of seats in the new synagogue, still survive. They were for long used by the children from the synagogal school, the Shaare Tikva, who sat on the right of the Warden's pew, while the orphanage boys sat on the left. A handsome painting representing Moses and Aaron standing with the Ten Commandments between them, commissioned from one Aaron de Chavez in 1675 to hang above the Ark in the older synagogue, also still survives; but in 1701 it was felt to infringe too openly on the Second Commandment to be allowed to hang in the main body of the new building, and it is now preserved in the Vestry.
The magnificent wooden Ark or cupboard) resembling a reredos, at the east end, is built in classical architecture in the manner of Sir Christopher Wren's time. It contains (as is the custom in Jewish synagogues') the sacred scrolls of' the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses, written in Hebrew on parchment, which are read in consecutive instalment over the period of a year as the central feature of the Sabbath Service. Several splendid seventeenth century vestments and silver ornaments belonging to the scrolls survive. The entablature of the Ark has as its central feature the Ten Commandments written in Hebrew (abbreviated), above which are inscribed in Hebrew the words 'Know before Whom thou standest'.
The silver hanging Sanctuary Lamp, burning perpetually before the Ark, was presented by Edward Foligno in 1876 and evidently replaces an earlier example, now lost.
In its severely simple architecture the synagogue somewhat resembles a contemporary Dissenters' chapel. But with its high rounded windows and proportions, its general arrangement of ladies' gallery, ark, seats, reader's desk, and great brass hanging candelabra, it is obviously influenced by the impressive sister synagogue in Amsterdam, opened in 1675.
The simple ornamentation conceals a latent symbolism. In the centre are the seven great hanging many‑branched candelabra still used to light the building with candlelight on holy days after dark‑held to represent the seven days of the week. Before the Ark are six great brass candlesticks, four of which bear the inscription of the donors: 'P. M. & R. Pereira'; four more, making ten in all, stand on the Reading Desk ‑ these may symbolize the Ten Commandments, while the twelve columns supporting the gallery traditionally signify the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Four of the candlesticks (probably those inscribed) and one of the candelabra were sent from Amsterdam.
Certain officials have seats permanently allotted to them. The Wardens have their special pew (called Banca) at the left side of the building level with the Reading Desk. In front of the Reading Desk are the seats of the Haham or Chief Rabbi and his two assistant rabbis. At the left of the Reading Desk is the Beadle's seat.
Except for the addition of the doors to the Banca or Wardens' pews and to the Haham's or Chief Rabbi's seat in 1787, and of the choirstalls in about 1830, the ancient synagogue has remained virtually unchanged. Electric light was installed in 1929 at the sides of the building to supplement discreetly that of the candles. The heating system was formerly effected by placing three charcoal braziers along a passage running under the building, so that their warmth percolated through three grilles in the floor. This system has now been replaced by radiators. In the immediate surroundings of the building, too, the former school, an orphanage, a bath house, &. and an older vestry room have gone. But though the building has seen many changes in its worshippers and passed through many vicissitudes of history (an attempt to pull down the building in 1886 was resisted with difficulty), yet the ancient worship continues as before. English has long replaced Portuguese as the congregation's vernacular, though they continued to use the latter officially till 1810, and even today certain congregational announcements (mitsvoth) are still made in the traditional Portuguese language‑both here and at the branch Synagogue in Lauderdale Road, while a part of the service on the Fast of Ab is read in Spanish. Unfortunately, the shift of population away from the City for many years past has gravely thinned the ranks of the worshippers. But it is hoped that this tendency may be reversed with the new building policy of the City of London.
Still today this building serves to remind us that it was within the shadow of that City and under the protection of its tolerant rulers that the entire Anglo‑Jewish community in all its ramifications London by the Spanish has grown up, exercising the right freely to worship God in its own way.
In the true tradition of Judaism the founders of the Synagogue were not content merely with building a House of God, it had to be a place where, through the service of God, help could be given to those in need, a place where the highest moral and philanthropic ideas were actually put into practice. This Synagogue looked after its less fortunate members at a time when needy people in England were too rarely given the basic dignities which are the right of every human being.
The Synagogue had and still has many charitable trusts to look after its poorer members 'from the cradle to the grave'. For the young there was an orphanage which not only looked after them but made provision for teaching them a trade. There were the Shaare Tikvah (Gates of Hope) School for boys founded in the seventeenth century and the Villareal School for girls, both of which taught their pupils to become worthwhile citizens. Today the funds from these schools are used for other educational activities in the Congregation. There are also two Dower Societies to provide monetary assistance to brides to set up a proper home.
For the older people there is the Welfare Board with social workers giving all types of assistance to people in need. There is also a Beth Holim which today is an old peoples' home but which was originally the maternity hospital of the Congregation founded in 1747‑8. Nearly three hundred years ago this Synagogue had engaged a part‑time doctor, Abraham Perez Galvao, for its members, providing free medical facilities, through him and his successors, thus anticipating by some two hundred and fifty years this country's national health service. It even had from 1664 a fund Cautivos (Captives) to provide ransom money for Jews taken captive by pirates at sea which is now used to repatriate unfortunates.
Today, under the welfare state, these moneys are used to provide the extra comforts for the poor, not always given by the State.
In 2001, at the tercentennial celebration, Prince Charles attended the service.
SOME FAMOUS RABBIS AND SONS OF THE CONGREGATION
As the oldest Jewish community to be established in the British Isles after the resettlement, the Congregation can claim to have had its affairs shaped by great Rabbis, lay leaders, and sons of all sorts in the last three hundred years.
Of the numerous Hahamim (literally wise men) who have been Chief Rabbis of' the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation, at
least three have been widely famous.
The first Haham of the Congregation, when it was still in its original abode in Creechurch Lane, was Jacob Sasportas (1610-1698). He lived at a time when traditional Judaism was threatened by the teachings of the notorious Shabbetai Zvi, the false messiah from Smyrna who tried to change the whole foundation of the Jewish Faith. Whole communities acknowledged him as the true messiah and few dared to deny his divine mission.
Sasportas realized from the beginning that Shabbetai was nothing but an impostor. He publicly condemned him and tried hard to prevent his heretical doctrines gaining ground in England. It was largely due to Sasportas that traditional Judaism was saved from the hands of a plain madman.
David Nieto (1654‑1728) was Haham of the Congregation from 1702 until his death. He was born in Venice and lived later in Leghorn, where, according to his own account, he was Dayyan (judge), Preacher of the Congregation, and Physician. He is believed to have studied medicine at the University of Padua.
Nieto was undoubtedly one of the most distinguished Jews of his day and his merits were recognized both inside and outside the Community. Apart from his profound Jewish scholarship, he was highly regarded as a philosopher, poet, mathematician, and astronomer. In 1702 he published a book entitled Paschologia, dealing with the differences between the Greek, Roman, and Jewish calendars. Nieto was the first man to fix the time for the beginning of the Sabbath eve in the latitude of England.
A prolific writer, he stoutly defended the Oral Law and, with equal zeal, opposed the claims of the false Messiah, Shabbetai Zvi, rightly regarding them as dangerous to the basic tenets of Judaism. Nieto himself, however, became the centre of a controversy arising out of a sermon he preached on Divine Providence. The learned Haham was accused of following the pantheistic heresy of Benedict Spinoza. The quarrel was bitter, and was ended only by the submission of the case to the Ashkenazi Rabbi of Hamburg, Zvi Ashkenazi, whose authority was respected by Ashkenazim and Sephardim alike. Nieto had by then put his case in writing under the title De La Providencia; and his position was entirely vindicated by Rabbi Zvi Ashkenazi and his assistants.
The inscription on his tombstone, composed by Isaac de Sequeira, and very typical of the eighteenth century, reads as follows: 'Sublime theologian, profound sage, distinguished physician, famous astronomer, sweet poet, elegant preacher, subtle logician, ingenious physician, fluent rhetorician, pleasant author, expert in languages, learned in history.' Even allowing for a certain inevitable and excusable exaggeration concerning a dead man, his life was one of no mean achievement.
Moses Gaster (1856‑1939) was Haham of the Congregation from 1887 until 1918. Dr. Gaster was an Ashkenazi by birth though his own family had always worshipped with the Sephardim and was thus the only non‑Sephardi Haham. Born at Bucharest in Rumania, he attended the university there, and at Leipzig; he also studied at a Rabbinical Seminary at Breslau. He became lecturer at his old University at Bucharest on Rumanian literature and folklore, and his text‑books are still the standard works on these subjects.
In 1885 he came to England, and was appointed Lecturer at Oxford on Graeco‑Slavonic Literature. In 1887 he was offered, and accepted, the office of Haham, which had been vacant since the death of Benjamin Artom in 1879.
In addition to his great scholarship covering many fields both religious and secular, he was one of the fathers of political Zionism in Great Britain and worked ceaselessly for the time when this country would recognize the demands of the Zionists. His efforts eventually bore fruit when the original draft of the now famous Balfour Declaration was prepared in his own home at No. 193 Maida Vale, London, W. 9. The distinct contribution made by Dr. Gaster to the Zionist Movement may never perhaps be fully known. Being of a somewhat impetuous nature, as great leaders often are, he quarrelled with many people including Theodore Herzl whom Gaster himself had introduced to English Jewry.
In most of the numerous references to this Haham, in the monumental five‑volume edition of Herzl's diaries, the clash between two great minds is always apparent but only Herzl's observations are recorded. One wonders whether the early history of Zionism might not have needed some revision had not many of Gaster's papers on this subject been burnt by bombing during the last war.
Gaster's remarkable gifts did much to raise the standing of the Congregation, for he was undoubtedly the most versatile and eminent holder of his office since the days of David Nieto.
As regards the sons and daughters of the Congregation the three following are perhaps the most famous in the English scene.
Isaac d'Israeli (1766‑1848) was in no sense a leader of the Congregation he was a minor poet and literary critic, whose devotion to his religion was by no means ardent. He was chosen to be a Warden of the Congregation in 1813; but not only did he decline the office, but also refused to pay the fine of £40, to which, according to the Ascamot or laws, anyone who rejected the office was subject.
When the Synagogue authorities sought to enforce payment of the fine, d'Israeli left the Congregation, and, a few years later, caused his children to be baptised as Christians. Jews were not allowed to become Members of Parliament until the year 1858, so that had it not been for this quarrel, it is extremely unlikely that Benjamin Disraeli, his son, would ever have become Prime Minister of England. Benjamin, however, in spite of his conversion, remained consistently a well‑wisher of the Jews. The Congregation still possesses the Register of Births with the entry Benjamin D'Israeli (as his surname was then written), stating that he had been circumcised by David Abarbanel Lindo, his uncle.
The most famous son of the Congregation was undoubtedly Moses Monteficre (1784‑1885). Retiring from the Stock Exchange in 1821, he devoted the rest of his long life to the interests of his poor and oppressed fellow‑Jews, not only at home, where his charities and benevolent foundations were on a large scale, but more especially by his visits to Palestine, Morocco, Rome, Russia, and Turkey, where he sought to relieve the persecutions to which the Jews in those places were subject. For these noble services he was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1837 and was created a Baronet in 1846. He visited Palestine no fewer than seven times, and there endowed hospitals and almshouses, as well as actively encouraging agriculture.
Of the many journeys which he made abroad two of the most famous were probably those connected with The Damascus and The Mortara Affairs.
The old pernicious and baseless slander that the Jews required the blood of a Christian for making their Passover wine was once again revived in Damascus in 1840 and resulted in a general persecution of Jews. Sir Moses, with the support of Lord Palmerston, who intervened, was able to refute these allegations and received a firman (royal order) from the Sultan of Turkey, cancelling the charges against the Jews of Damascus and guaranteeing protection to all Jews in his dominions.
Sir Moses, however, was not so successful in the 'Mortara Affair'. This concerned a Jewish child by name Edgardo Mortara, who had been baptised by, his nursemaid without the knowledge of his parents and was subsequently abducted by, the Papal Guards to be brought up as a Christian. Many, European sovereigns strongly protested against this action, but to no avail, Sir Moses went to Rome and although courteously received by a Cardinal who assured him that such a thing would not be allowed to happen again, he was refused an audience with the Pope, and the child remained under Catholic care,
It is reported that when Pope Pins IX accepted Edgardo Alortara into the Priesthood he said to him, 'I have bought thee, my son, for the church at a very high price.' There is no doubt that the scandal caused by this affair was gravely detrimental to the reputation of the Catholic Church.
Men who devote themselves to the help of their fellow men generally do so in one of two ways: they give either of their time, or of their money. Moses Montefiore was an outstanding example of a man who was able, and willing, to give both: and to such effect that today, after the lapse of over eighty years, his name is still remembered and revered by Jews all over the world.
In a very different field, mention may be made of Daniel Mendoza (1763‑1836), the celebrated pugilist. He was champion of England, and was largely responsible for raising the art of boxing from being a matter of brute force, to something more nearly approaching a science. In the words of a contemporary, 'It has been a tolerably general expressed opinion that no pugilist whatever, since the days of Broughton (or even Broughton himself) has ever so completely elucidated or promulgated the principles of boxing as Daniel Mendoza . . .'
On 19th December 1951 the Congregation held a Service to celebrate the 250th anniversary, of the opening of the Synagogue which was attended by the Duke of Edinburgh. On 22nd March 1956 British Jewry held a Service of dedication and thanksgiving at the Synagogue on the tercentenary of the resettlement of the Jews in the British Isles. The Synagogue is still used for regular worship as well as for special services organized by British Jews in general.