It is Shabbos (Saturday), December 10th, 1887 and Delegate Chief Rabbi Dr. Hermann Adler is in the then almost 200 year-old Great Synagogue in Dukes Place in the City of London, the Cathedral Synagogue of Anglo Jewry. The original wealthy families have mostly moved away and his large congregation includes many new immigrants from Europe. … Continue reading The Industrious Apprentice. A Sermon preached at the Great Synagogue, by Rev. Dr. Hermann Adler, London 1887.
Category: London
Willesden Synagogue Review, Chanucah 5707, London 1946.
The Willesden and Brondesbury Synagogue in London seems to have had quite a complicated origin, a near death experience and a miraculous modern rebirth. Jews started to move into Willesden in Victorian times, but it was still countryside then, and the Willesden Jewish Cemetery opened in 1873. With the coming of the railways, Willesden became … Continue reading Willesden Synagogue Review, Chanucah 5707, London 1946.
Binyan, Organ of the Senior Section of Habonim, London, April 1945.
I came across this magazine in my search for Anglo-Jewish ephemera. Apart from capturing the moment of a British, Socialist Zionist Youth Movement just before the end of the war, I found it included a letter on page 11 from Ivor Blankfield, my mother's first cousin, then serving in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. Siblings … Continue reading Binyan, Organ of the Senior Section of Habonim, London, April 1945.
Report of the Mahamad of the Proceedings on the occasion of the Bicentenary Festival of the Bevis Marks Synagogue, 5661 – 1901, London 1903.
The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, Shaar Hashamayim, is in Bevis Marks, a street in the City of London. The community had acquired the land in 1699 to replace the older and now too small synagogue in Creechurch Place which had opened in 1657. The new landmark synagogue, still in continuous use, the United Kingdom's oldest … Continue reading Report of the Mahamad of the Proceedings on the occasion of the Bicentenary Festival of the Bevis Marks Synagogue, 5661 – 1901, London 1903.
Ohalei Shem by Rabbi Joseph Kohn-Zedek, London 1883.
Joseph Kohen-Zedek, was born in Lemberg (then in Austria, today Lviv in the Ukraine) in 1827. He was a pupil of Rabbi Solomon Kluger in Brody and Rabbi Saul Joseph Nathanson in Lemberg. He published a number of collections of patriotic poetry in honor of the Austro-Hungarian emperor – from whom he received a gold … Continue reading Ohalei Shem by Rabbi Joseph Kohn-Zedek, London 1883.
Catalogue of Rare Judaica No. 4, Shapiro Vallentine & Co., London, circa 1948.
This catalogue is for the collectors. Look what we could have bought and at what low prices! Shapiro Vallentine, the famous publishers and bookshop was in Wentworth Street in the East End of London. It was originally owned by the Nirenstein family and then by their son-in-law, Chimen Abramsky, son of Dayan Abramsky. They published … Continue reading Catalogue of Rare Judaica No. 4, Shapiro Vallentine & Co., London, circa 1948.
Loshen un Leben (Language and Life), edited by A. N. Stencl, London, July 1951.
This is another nice issue of A. N. Stencl's monthly Yiddish literary magazine. Avrom Nochem Stencl came to London in 1936. He was born in Poland, into a rabbinical family, and had lived in Germany for some years, where he was a published author. His first volume of poetry in London was published in 1937. … Continue reading Loshen un Leben (Language and Life), edited by A. N. Stencl, London, July 1951.
The Zionist Federation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northen Ireland, 72nd Annual Report, London 1972.
This 110 page Report is definitely historical - it is 50 years old and therefore claims its place in my library of Anglo-Judaica. It is one of a long series of similar reports, and I have previously written about that of 1945. However, much of the 1972 Report is about the British Zionist Federation's 71st … Continue reading The Zionist Federation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northen Ireland, 72nd Annual Report, London 1972.
What was Rabbi Ferber reading? Tsuf Dvash by Vidal Tsarfati, 1718, Amsterdam.
Before we discuss the book itself, which is interesting in its own right, it is inscribed twice, has a marginal note, and has the ownership stamp in red ink, of Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Ferber. Rabbi Ferber was born in Slobodka, a suburb of Kovno, Lithuania, in 1879. He was a renowned Torah and Talmudic scholar … Continue reading What was Rabbi Ferber reading? Tsuf Dvash by Vidal Tsarfati, 1718, Amsterdam.
Sefer Shalos uTshuvos (Responsa) of Rabbi Solomon Luria, Furth 1768 – from Jews College London.
This book of responsa (questions and answers) is by Rabbi Solomon Luria. Solomon the son of Yehiel Luria is known as Maharshal or Rashal. He was a Rabbi and author; born in Brest-Litovsk, Lithuania, in 1510. He died in Lublin in 1573. When he was still a youth his parents sent him to Posen, where … Continue reading Sefer Shalos uTshuvos (Responsa) of Rabbi Solomon Luria, Furth 1768 – from Jews College London.
Jewish Miscellanies 