Machzeh Avraham by Rabbi Abraham Schachter (father of Rabbi Jacob Schachter of Manchester and Belfast), Rumania, 1923.

Rabbi Abraham Schachter, the son of Yehuda Leib, was born in Dorban in Serbia in 1853.  He was Rabbi of Frumusika, where his son, Rabbi Jacob Schachter, later to become Chief Rabbi of Belfast, Northern Island, was brought up, and Batashan (Botosani) in Rumania. In 1920 Rabbi Jacob Schachter moved to Manchester where he was … Continue reading Machzeh Avraham by Rabbi Abraham Schachter (father of Rabbi Jacob Schachter of Manchester and Belfast), Rumania, 1923.

Talmud Torah Eavris B’Eavris, 4th Annual Report, 1904-1905, London, November 1905.

The Redman's Road Talmud Torah in Stepney, East London, was founded in 1901 and had just moved to its new address in Redman's Road when this report was written. Redman's Road runs parallel to Mile End Road, from Jubilee Street, almost to Stepney Green.  The Headmaster, J. K. Goldbloom, was to remain for many years.  … Continue reading Talmud Torah Eavris B’Eavris, 4th Annual Report, 1904-1905, London, November 1905.

London Board of Jewish Religious Education, Eleventh Report, 1960.

This report details the organization required to provide 13,681 children with some level of Jewish education in 1960.  This includes mainstreem orthodox Synagogue Hebrew Classes and Talmud Torahs, and the Jews Free School, but not schools of the religious left or right. Included below are lists of all the people who attended meetings (or not!) … Continue reading London Board of Jewish Religious Education, Eleventh Report, 1960.

Berlin, Moscow, Jerusalem, by Elias Paluszak, Yiddish, London 1956.

The writer Elias Paluszak was born in Dobrzyn, Poland, on 6th December 1898.  From World War I he was living in Germany. At the beginning of World War II he was able to reach London, and there he was an active contributor to the monthly Yiddish magazine Loshn un Lebn  (Language and life), edited by … Continue reading Berlin, Moscow, Jerusalem, by Elias Paluszak, Yiddish, London 1956.

Birkat Yosef, by Rabbi Joseph Shaposhnick, Odessa, 1902.

Rabbi Joseph Shaposhnick (Shapotshnick) was eventually to become, after he emigrated to London, a controversial and divisive rabbi in the rabbinical world. He was born in Kishinev in 1892 and in 1902, when he was just 20 years old, long before the controversies, the young prodigy had this, his first book, published in Odessa. As … Continue reading Birkat Yosef, by Rabbi Joseph Shaposhnick, Odessa, 1902.

50 Years of the Mizrachi Hapoel Hamizrachi Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, London, 1968.

This booklet sets out the history of Mizrachi, which  is the religious Zionist movement, in the British Isles, celebrating it's golden jubilee in 1968.  There are lots of names of those involved, and it emphasizes the involvement of Mizrachi members in the religious life of Anglo-Jewry.

Shu”t Maharash, Chelek Shevii, by Rabbi Shmuel Engel, published by his grandson, Rabbi Elchanan Halpern (Reb Chune), London, 1954.

The Synagogue, Beis Medrash Beis Shmuel (Rav Chuna's), 169-171 Golders Green Road in London is named after the author of this book. Rabbi Shmuel Engel of Radomysl was said to be one of the greatest Chassidic scholars of the interwar years. He was born in Tarnow, and his father, a Chassidic Rabbi died when he … Continue reading Shu”t Maharash, Chelek Shevii, by Rabbi Shmuel Engel, published by his grandson, Rabbi Elchanan Halpern (Reb Chune), London, 1954.