Great Synagogue

Formal Name:

The Great Synagogue

Other Names:

Dukes Place Synagogue

Adler Street Synagogue (after move from Dukes Place)

Principal Address:

Dukes Place⁽ⁱ⁾ (formerly Dukes Street), London EC3 (from 1690, rebuilt 1722, 1766 and 1790).

The initial address of the congregation is sometimes given as Broad Court (later called Duke's Place Court), Mitre Square. Mitre Square is tucked behind Dukes Place and would not appear to be an earlier location of the synagogue, as some claim, but an alternative name for the Dukes Place location where the synagogue was actually built.⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

The synagogue, which was set back on the western side of Dukes Place, was destroyed in a German Air raid on 11 May 1942. In 1943, a temporary structure was erected on site and used until 26 October 1958.

Last Address:

Adler Street⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾, London E1. A room at Adler Street was used by the few remaining congregants of the Great Synagogue after 26 October 1958. (However, the marriage register for "Adler Street Synagogue" includes entries from 1950.)

Current Status:

Closed - 10 April 1977

Date Formed:

Founded in approximately 1690, primarily through the efforts of Benjamin Levy.

In 1722, the synagogue was rebuit, the cost of which was to a large extent covered by Moses Hart, brother of the then rabbi, Aaron Hart.^(iv)

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox - The earliest Ashkenazi synagogue following the Resettlement.

Affiliation:

One of the original five synagogues that formed the United Synagogue in 1870, of which it remained a constituent member.

Branches:

Prior to 1870, there were the following branches or dependencies:

• From 1853, Wigmore Street, later Great Portland Street, which became the Central Synagogue.

• From 1863, Bayswater Synagogue (a branch jointly with the New Synagogue).

• The Cutler Street "Polish" Synagogue was initially a dependency of the Great Synagogue.

• In addition, the Great Synagogue was one of the synagogues instrumental in setting up The Beth Hamedrash, sometime prior to 1782.

Membership Data:

In 1845 there were approximately 250 ba'alai batim and 480 seatholders (Chief Rabbi's Questionnaire)

Number of male seat-holders since 1870^(v):

1870	1880	1890	1900	1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970
324	400	449	459	410	522	445	577	608	310	294

Early Ministers (to 1756)^(vi):

Rabbi Judah Leib (ben Ephraim) Anschel Cohen - First Rabbi of the Congregation - 1690s.^(vii)

Rabbi Aaron ben Moses (the "Scribe") - temporary Rabbi of Congregation (from Dublin)^(viii) - early 1700s.

Rabbi Aaron Hart - 1705-1756 - considered the first Chief Rabbi.

See also List of Chief Rabbis

Local Government Districts:

for Dukes Place:

Dukes Place is in the Aldgate Ward of the City of London, now within the administrative area of Greater London. Until the abolition in 1908 of civil parishes in the City, it was in the parish of St. James Dukes Place

for Adler (Union) Street:

Adler Street is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and was previously (until 1965) in the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney.^(ix)