Oliver Cromwell officially readmitted the Jews to England in 1656. His act followed a petition from a leader of the Amsterdam Jewish community.
With a sweep of his arm, Henri Vallier calls attention to the immense brass chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling and the six smaller replicas surrounding it, all fitted with wax candles. Vallier, a French Sephardic Jew, is shammes (caretaker), tour guide, and historical raconteur of the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London's colorful East End.
"The small chandeliers represent the six days of Creation; the large one symbolizes the Sabbath, the day of rest," Vallier explains. "The ten brass candlesticks in front of the Holy Ark symbolize the Ten Commandments, and the twelve marble columns supporting the women's balcony represent the twelve tribes of Israel." Save for the chandeliers and the gilt-trimmed carved-wood-and-marble adornment surrounding the Holy Ark, the synagogue epitomizes simplicity. It features dark wood wainscoting, white upper walls, and clear glass arched windows. There are no pictorial Judaic symbols.
Bevis Marks, Britain's oldest Jewish house of worship, opened in 1701 and remains almost unchanged. It is in regular use for weekday and Shabbat services. Bevis Marks is the ideal starting point for a Jewish tour of London, and in fact is the first stop on Sunday- and Tuesday-morning Historical Walks of London tours (Tel: 0181-668-4019), called "The Real London Eastenders—the Old Jewish Quarter." To visit on your own, from the Aldgate Underground (subway) station go to Duke's Place, then proceed straight ahead to Bevis Marks (the street name) and Henri Vallier's office on Heneage Lane. The synagogue is in an obscure courtyard, specifically situated there to prove to 18th-century London that Jews were not trying to attract Christians.
Although it is believed that the first Jews arrived in England with the Romans, the earliest recorded evidence shows that William the Conqueror took French Jews along with him in 1066 as merchants and moneylenders. Despite their freedom to travel the country, they were not allowed to learn or practice any crafts or trades. Since others in the population could not float loans and the Church condemned the practice, many anti-Jewish rumors circulated. As a result, Jews were subjected to persecution and death. Royalty killed or expelled the Jews to avoid repaying their loans, and in 1275 King Edward I prohibited Jews from collecting interest. The Jews were finally banished altogether in 1290. Among the atrocities suffered by Jews was the massacre of the Jews of York in 1190. Many families committed suicide rather than fall into the hands of their Christian persecutors, to be used for immoral purposes. On Tishah B'Av, we recall this atrocity in one of the kinot that we recite.
 Menorah from a Spanish Bible, 1384, at the British Library. |
Jews first settled in London just behind the present location of the Bevis Marks Synagogue, where they established a kosher butcher, a mikvah, a cemetery, and a small synagogue. These were Sephardic Jews of Spanish and Portuguese descent, whose ancestors had fled to Holland to escape the Inquisition. They soon outgrew their first synagogue, and construction on Bevis Marks commenced in 1699. The large central chandelier, according to reports, was a gift from the city of Amsterdam. Some 20,000 Jews lived in Great Britain by the conclusion of the 17th century, most of them in London, where three Ashkenazic synagogues had opened. Permitted by then to hold a variety of occupations, Jews gained additional economic as well as social privileges with the passage of the Jew Bill of 1753, but were not granted full citizenship until 1840. The right for Jews to sit in Parliament came in 1858, when the words "the oath of the true faith, of a Christian" were eliminated from the swearing-in ceremony.
The late 19th-century emigration from Eastern Europe and the flight from Nazi persecution during World War II swelled Britain's Jewish population to a peak of nearly 400,000. Today around 330,000 Jews live in Britain, more than half of them in Greater London and its suburbs. Jews proliferate in Maida Vale, Golders Green, Camden Town, and Finchley, all of which can be easily accessed by the Underground or the train. The Jews in Britain enjoy a hospitable environment, where communal organizations operate freely, especially in large urban areas. Kosher food is readily available.
The World Headquarters of ORT, an international organization of vocational training schools founded over 100 years ago to help make poor Jews financially self-sufficient, is located in Camden Town. Its contemporary stone building at 126 Albert Street faces the Jewish Museum. A Rembrandt etching of Manasseh ben Israel hangs among paintings of other famous English Jews in the first-floor portrait gallery of the museum.
The Jewish Museum recently amalgamated with the former London Museum of Jewish Life, at 80 East End Road in the North London community of Finchley, locale of the Chief Rabbi's office and the Beit Din. The museum's social history collection includes a 400-tape Oral History Archive, a 12,000-image Photographic Archive, and documents and objects relating to Jewish heritage in Britain.
The two major Anglo-Jewish newspapers circulating in London are the Jewish Chronicle, the oldest Jewish newspaper in continuous publication in the world (since 1841), and the London Jewish News. A spectrum of Jewish agencies, organizations, and day schools —including several yeshivot — supports the community. Among these is the historic JFS, Jews' Free School, a secondary school that started in 1732 as an East End Talmud Torah, and was once Europe's largest school, with more than 4,000 pupils.
London's B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation is centrally located at 1/2 Endsleigh Street, near the Euston Railroad and Underground Stations. Its religious and social activities cater to about 2,000 Jewish students, with special Shabbat accommodations available. Tourists are welcomed, and can call for details at: 0171-388-0801. Hillel's hospitality network also places tourists with Jewish families.
 The holy Ark in the New West End Synagogue. |
In front of the building, a gripping memorial depicts Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who issued false passports that saved up to 100,000 Jews destined for death camps. The monument, constructed by the Christians' and Jews' Society, was unveiled in 1996 by Queen Elizabeth II, who then took tea in the social hall, possibly her first visit to a synagogue.
The Central Synagogue, located on Great Portland Street, between Regent's Park and Oxford Circus, developed as a branch of the Great Synagogue to retain Jews leaving the East End. Consecrated in 1855, it has undergone one move and several renovations, primarily to accommodate growth. A 1948 renovation resulted from the synagogue's destruction by enemy bombs in 1941.
A vast interior of peachy beige marble seats at least 500 on the ground floor and 400 in the ladies' gallery. Stained glass windows decorated with Judaic symbols line the side walls.
The New West End Synagogue at St. Petersburgh Place, near the northwest edge of Kensington Gardens, is scarcely 125 years old. The foundation stone of the red brick, Victorian-style synagogue was laid in 1877, and the building opened formally in 1879.
A dark blue velvet ark curtain, embroidered in brilliant jewel tones with a design of a crowned temple above a flaming menorah, creates a spiritual magnificence. The interior decoration also includes a mosaic floor, two stained glass rose windows, and Hebrew texts along the walls. On Shabbat, a male choir accompanies the chazzan.
Many smaller synagogues throughout the city hold daily services. One is Sandy's Lane Synagogue, located in an old, blue-trimmed pale brick building on a narrow East End street. London's answer to New York's Lower East Side, this area of sidewalk racks and pushcarts overflowing with dry goods was once the showcase for Jewish peddlers and merchants and the site of many kosher restaurants. Today, amidst encroaching Asian shopkeepers, the area is losing its Jewish character, but is still worth a Sunday visit.
Among the city's secular museums, the renowned British Museum holds the Balfour Declaration, the 1917 document favoring a Jewish homeland in Palestine. It also houses some 50,000 volumes and 3,000 manuscripts of Hebraica. A showcase contains late 15th-century manuscripts from the School of Portuguese Hebrew illumination. The Lisbon Bible and the Lisbon Mishneh Torah (Maimonides' Codex), other examples of this style, are in the British Library.
London is a Jewish-friendly city. Except for the challenges of crossing streets with traffic on the left and understanding Yiddish and Hebrew pronounced with a British accent, Americans can get on comfortably and enjoyably, reliving our heritage.
Judith Broder Sellner, a New York-based freelance writer, specializes in Jewish lifestyle subjects. She is a contributing editor to The Jewish Homemaker and a correspondent for national and regional periodicals throughout North America.