the former

Wanstead & Woodford United Synagogue

South Woodford, London E18

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and congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.

Congregation Data

Name:

Wanstead and Woodford United Synagogue, or simply Wanstead and Woodford Synagogue⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

formerly known as Wanstead and Woodford Affiliated Synagogue,⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾ until March 2013

Last Address:

20 Churchfields, South Woodford, London E18 2QZ.^(iv)

Although the plot of land had been acquired in the late 1940s, the foundation stone for the synagogue was not laid until 1952, and the synagogue was consecrated in 1954.^(v)

Former Addresses:

Services were previously held at 56 The Drive, Woodford Road, South Woodford, from about 1949 until about 1954,^(viii) and prior to then, at Oak Lodge, High Road, Woodford, from 1947.^(ix)

Date Formed:

The congregation was formed in 1947.^(x)

Status:

The congregation held its final service on 31 January 2015, following which it merged with Waltham Forest Hebrew Congregation (Boundary Road Synagogue), to form Woodford Forest United Synagogue, which continued to worship at the congregation's Churchfields synagogue, where it held its first service on 7 February 2015.^(xi)

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Affiliation:

An affiliated synagogue of the United Synagogue from 1947^(xii) until March 2013, when it became a full (constituent) member synagogue.^(xiii)

Ministers:
(To view a short profile of a minister - hold the cursor over his name.)

Rev. Isidore Stanley - from about 1949 until about 1954^(xvii)

Rev. Mordechai (Martin) Miloslawer - from about 1954 until about 1959^(xviii)

Rabbi Eliezer Jacob (Jack) Ferber - from 1959 until 1974^(xix)

Rev. (later Rabbi) Bernard P. Goldberg, BA - from 1974 until 1983^(xx)

Rabbi Arnold Saunders - from 1984 until 1989^(xxi)

Rabbi Alan Lewis - from 1989 until 2006^(xxii)

Rabbi Beni Fleischer - from 2006 until the 2015 merger^(xxiii)

Lay Officers:

All data on lay officers has been extracted from listings in Jewish Year Books.^(xxvi)

President/Chairmen

1947-1951 - Hyman Bagel, president

1951-1955 - Hyman Bagel, chairman^(xxvii)

1955-1956 - J. Coleman, chairman

Wardens

1949-1956 - A. Granditer & N. Reuben

Treasurers/Financial Representative

1947-1956 - H. Granditer^(xxviii)

Secretaries & Hon Secretaries

1947-1949 - M. Gordon

1949-1950 - Rev. I. Stanley

1950-1951 - A. Sandler

1951-1952 - H. Reubens

1952-1980 - Harold Weinberg

1980-1984 - J. Saltman

1984-1987 - Harold Weinberg

Membership Data:

United Synagogue (male seat-holders)^(xxxi)

1947

1950

1960

1970

25^(xxxii)

126

368

484

National Reports & Surveys^(xxxiii)

1977 - 530 male (or household) members and 80 female members

1983 - 480 male (or household) members and 112 female members

1990 - 682 members (comprising 673 households, 6 individual male and 3 individual female members)

1996 - 629 members (comprising 590 households, 5 individual male and 34 individual female members)

2010 - listed as having 400 to 499 members (by household)

Charitable Status:

As a constituent of the United Synagogue, the congregation operated within that organisation's registered charity status (registered charity no. 242552).

Local Government Districts:

South Woodford, a suburb of Woodford in northeast London, is in the London Borough of Redbridge, an Outer London Borough created on 1 April 1965, within the administrative area of Greater London.^(xxxiv)

Previously, South Woodford was in the Municipal Borough of Wanstead and Woodford (incorporated as a borough in 1937) within the County of Essex.

Registration District (BMD):

Redbridge from 1 April 1965^(xxxv) - Link to Register Office website

Worship Registration:

The synagogue at 20 Churchfields is registered as a Place of Worship - Worship Register Number 64261 - under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855.^(xxxvi)

Cemetery
Information:

For United Synagogue cemeteries, see Cemeteries of the United Synagogue.

Notable Local Jewish Residents
or Former Members of this Congregation

Harry Cohen (b. 1949) was Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead from 1997 until 2010, having previously been MP for Leyton from 1983 until 1997.
Andrew Garfield (b.1983 in Los Angeles), actor, who has played Spiderman in various blockbuster films and has been nominated for academy awards, grew up in the Wanstead and Woodford synagogue community, where his parents were members.
Marie van der Zyl, OBE (née Kaye) (b. 1965) grew up and was educated locally in South Woodford. A lawyer, she was President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews 2018-2024.

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved.
(ii) The congregation appeared under this name in Jewish Year Books from 2014. ↵
(iii) The congregation appeared under this name in Jewish Year Books until 2013. ↵
(iv) This was the full address listed in Jewish Year Books from 1958. ↵
(v) Jewish Chronicle report of 9 April 1954 - extract below. ↵
(vi) and (vii) Reserved.
(vii) This was the address listed in Jewish Year Books 1950 through 1954. ↵
(ix) This was the address listed in Jewish Year Books 1948 and 1949. ↵
(x) Jewish Chronicle report of 9 April 1954. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1997 (Jewish Chronicle report of 7 February 1997 - extract below). ↵
(xi) Jewish Chronicle report of 13 February 2015. ↵
(xii) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), p. 222. However, the congregation was listed as independent in Jewish Year Books 1948 and 1949. ↵
(xiii) Jewish Chronicle of 4 March 2013 reported that the congregation's members voted for the shul to switch from affiliated to full United Synagogue member status. The congregation was first listed as a full US member in the Jewish Year Book 1914 ↵
(xiv) to (xvi) Reserved.
(xvii) Based upon Rev. I. Stanley's listing as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1950 through 1954. ↵
(xviii) Based upon Rev. M. Miloslawer's listing as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1955 through 1959. The last Jewish Chronicle report placing Rev. Miloslawer at Wanstead and Woodford was on 13 December 1957. ↵
(xix) Jewish Chronicle of 12 June 1959 reported on the induction of Rabbi Jacob Ferber as minister of the congregation and on 14 June 1974 it reported that Rev B. P. Goldberg was taking over as minister of the congregation in succession to Rabbi J. Ferber, who retired that month. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1960 through 1976. ↵
(xx) Jewish Chronicle of 14 June 1974 reported that Rev. B.P. Goldberg, aged 25, of Hendon, was taking over as minister of the congregation in succession to Rabbi J. Ferber, who was retiring that month and on 22 July 1983 it reported that over 200 people attended a farewell reception at the congregation for Rabbi Bernard Goldberg - the minister of the community since 1974 - who was leaving at the end of the month to go on aliya together with his family. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1977 through 1983. ↵
(xxi) Jewish Chronicle of 6 April 1984 reported that the congregation, which has been without a minister since Rabbi Bernard Goldberg went on aliya last July, has appointed Rabbi Arnold Saunders of the Blackpool Hebrew Congregation. Rabbi Saunders will take up his new post at the beginning of July. On 15 September 1989 it reported that over 200 people attended the Wanstead farewell party for Rabbi Arnold Saunders... who is leaving after the High Holy Days to take up the post of minister of the Sale Hebrew Congregation. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1985 through 1990. ↵
(xxii) Jewish Chronicle of 5 January 1990 reported that Rabbi Alan Lewis took his first Shabbat service at the congregation at the end of December and on 25 August 2006 it reported that Rabbi Alan Lewis had bowed out after almost 17 years at the congregation. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1991 through 2007. ↵
(xxiii) Jewish Chronicle of 2 February 1907 reported that Rabbi Fleischer started serving the congregation on a temporary basis almost immediately following his predecessor's departure in August 2006 "so we were never really without a minister." He was not appointed to serve the merged congregation after the 2015 merger He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 2008 until the last edition (2015). ↵
(xxiv) and (xxv) Reserved.
(xxvi) Where a person is first listed in a year book as holding a particular office, it has been assumed that his term of office commenced in the year of publication of the relevant year book (which was generally towards the end of the year prior to the year appearing in the title of the year book) and that he continued in office until the commencement of office of his successor, unless the office was vacant (e.g. if he is listed in Jewish Year Books 1947 through 1951, it is assumed that he commenced office in 1946 and continued in office until 1951). However, it should be noted that this is only an assumption and accordingly his actual years of office may differ slightly from those shown here. There were no Jewish Year Book listings of officers (other than secretary) subsequent to 1956. ↵
(xxvii) Hyman Bagel was named Life President in about 1955. ↵
(xxviii) Treasurer until about 1949 and thereafter financial representative. ↵
(xxix) and (xxx) Reserved.
(xxxi) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 218/9. ↵
(xxxii) Jewish Chronicle of 9 April 1954 stated that the congregation "was formed as an affiliate of the United Synagogue with 34 members... By the end of the first year membership had increased to 82." ↵
(xxxiii) Reports on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by or on behalf of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and which can be viewed on the website of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research. Click HERE for links to the various reports. ↵
(xxxiv) The London Borough of Redbridge, an Outer London Borough within the Greater London administrative area, was created on 1 April 1965 upon the merger of the former municipal boroughs of Ilford and Wanstead and Woodford, plus smaller areas from the municipal borough of Dagenham and Chigwell urban district. All these municipalities had been within the county of Essex.. ↵
(xxxv) The former Registration Districts were West Ham, from 1 July 1837 until 1 October 1935, and Essex South Western, from 1 October 1935 until 1 April 1965. All registers would now be held by the current register office. ↵
(xxxvi) Page 1152 of the 2010 List of Places of Worship ↵

Selected Press Reports (Extracts)
relating to the congregation

The Jewish Chronicle, 9 April 1954
Consecration of Synagogue
In 1947 the Wanstead and Woodford Congregation was formed as an affiliate of the United Synagogue with 34 members. By the end of the first year membership had increased to 82 and the synagogue acquired a plot of land on which to build the present synagogue. In November, 1952, the foundation-stone was laid... The Ark and almamar are of unusual design. Gold-painted metal trellis-work doors to the Ark replace the usual wood, the parochet being inside the doors instead of on the outside.... The cost of the building is about £20,000. A congregation of over 600 can be accommodated.
The Jewish Chronicle, 7 February 1997
The Wanstead and Woodford Synagogue, on the Essex-East London border, kicked off its 50th-anniversary programme with a ladies guild dinner this week. The United Synagogue's largest affiliate, with 680 families, it has boasted an active ladies' guild from its start, under its first chairwoman Gertie Gordon. Her late husband was instrumental in assembling the founding members. They held their first meeting in 1947 at the home of Hyman Bagel, the first president. But for all their fund-raising efforts, thanks to Britain's post-war austerity regime they had to wait nearly six years until they could get permits for building materials and start work on the synagogue. By that time, the cost had gone up, and the committee decided to forego the traditional ladies' gallery and build a one-storey shul. Chairman Geoffrey Abrahams said it turned out to be a wise decision, foreshadowing today's multi-purpose buildings. "The synagogue is in use every day of the week," he said. "It can accommodate a Shabbat service for 200-400, extend to over 1,000 for the yomtovim, and convert into a communal centre for meetings." Under Rabbi Alan Lewis, its fifth minister, the synagogue has started a flourishing nursery, while the cheder - thanks to purpose-built classrooms - has been transformed.

List of United Synagogue Congregations

Jewish Congregations in the London Borough of Redbridge

Jewish Congregations in Greater London

Greater London home page

Page created: 16 November 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 10 September 2025
Page most recently amended: 14 September 2025

Research by David Shulman, assisted by Steven Jaffe (rabbinic profiles)
Formatting by David Shulman

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