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JCR-UK is a genealogical and historical website covering all Jewish communities and
congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.
NOTE: We are not the official website for this community.
City of Oxford
The university city of Oxford, situated in south central England on
a section of the river Thames known as the river Isis, has a population of over 135,000. It was a
county borough until 1974, when it became a local government district of the administrative county of
Oxfordshire.
The Oxford Jewish Community
There was a significant Medieval Jewish Community in Oxford, dating from
about 1075 until 1290, when Jews were banished from England. In
modern times, individual Jews began settling in Oxford from the
mid-eighteenth century, but an organised Jewish congregation was not
established until about 1841. Until World War II, the resident Jewish community was
never particularly large. Numbers then swelled considerably as a result of
the influx of Jewish refugees and evacuees, and although many left
following the war, the size of the community still far exceeded its
pre-war numbers, and was supplemented by the large number of Jewish
students at the University.
Jewish Congregations
Information and data relating
purely to the Jewish Congregation will generally be found on the
congregation page, whereas information and data relating to the wider Jewish
community will generally be found on this page.
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On-line Articles and Other Material relating to the
Oxford Jewish Community
on JCR-UK
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Articles by Harold Pollins originally published in the
Oxford Menorah (25 articles) 1993 - 2017.
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Press Reports relating to the Oxford Jewish Community, compiled by Harold Pollins.
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Oxford Synagogue
- an article, dated 28 September 1849, from the Jewish Chronicle.
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The Rise of Provincial Jewry - Oxford.
From papers for a conference at University College, London, convened by the Jewish
Historical Society of England, prepared by Aubrey Newman - 6th July 1975.
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Provincial Jewry in Victorian Britain - Papers for a conference at University College, London, convened by the Jewish
Historical Society of England, prepared by Aubrey Newman - 6th July 1975.
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Oxford Synagogue - Memories - an article dated 26 August 1955,
by K. R. A. Hart from the Jewish Chronicle.
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Oxford - City of Sweetness
- an article dated 20 October 1978 on the Oxford Jewish community, its history, characters, buildings and institutions from the Jewish Chronicle.
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Herbert Martin James Loewe in Oxford
- an article by Harold Pollins that was first published in 2006 in the Jewish Journal of Sociology.
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Oxford Jewish Community - a Brief History, dated 13 June 2003, by Harold Pollins.
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Oxford’s Forgotten Sons and Daughters
- an article dated 5 February 2011 from the Oxford Mail on Oxford's rich Medieval Jewish history.
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Oxford Jewish Casualties during the Great War,
an article by Harold Pollins published in The Bulletin of the Military Historical Society, volume 65, pages 92-101, November 2014.
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Oxford Medieval Jewish Community.
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Oxford Bibliography
Additional articles are to be found on the Oxford Jewish Congregation page.
on third parties' websites
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Oxford Jewish Heritage at http://www.oxfordjewishheritage.co.uk
This website contains extensive material on the Oxford Jewish Community, past and present, including
the history of the Community (both medieval and modern), maps, biographies, articles and much more.
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The Jews of Oxford (1992) by David M Lewis, online
on the Oxford Jewish Heritage website.
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Oxford - City of Sweetness - an article on the Oxford Jewish Community from
The Jewish Chronicle, 20 October 1978.
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Memorial Marks City's Old Jewish Cemetery
- an online article dated 8 July 2012 in the Oxford Mail on Oxford's Medieval Jewish cemetery.
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Mikvaot of Oxford,
on the Oxford Chabad website, which comprises two articles;
"The Mikvaot in Oxford" an article by Marcus Roberts; and
"The Building of the first Mikveh in Oxford: From 1845 to 2005" by Rabbi Eli Brackman,
which also includes a brief history of the Jews in Oxford.
Some Notable Jewish Connections with Oxford
(primarily courtesy of Steven Jaffe)
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University Faculty members with major influences on the Jewish student community:
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Herbert Loewe (1882-1940) (m. Ethel Hyamson, born in Oxford) was
born in London. He was appointed lecturer in Semitic languages at Exeter College, Oxford,
in 1913. During World War I he served in India and returned to Oxford in 1920. During his time in Oxford the Loewe home
at Beaumont street was a focus of hospitality and social and intellectual activity for Jewish students.
In 1931 he took up an academic post at Cambridge. The Loewe collection comprises about 5,000 items at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish studies.
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Dr Cecil Roth (1899-1970), pre-eminent Anglo Jewish historian of his day, collector of Judaica and editor of the
Encyclopedia Judaica. London-born Roth was lecturer in post Biblical Jewish studies at Oxford from 1939 until 1964. He and his wife Irene continued the tradition of Herbert Loewe
in providing at their home in Oxford a social and intellectual focus for Jewish students, for instance, by hosting an open house on Shabbat afternoons.
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Other celebrated Oxford academics and alumni include:
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Samuel Alexander OM (1859-1938), Australian-born philosopher, scholarship student at Baliol and Fellow of Lincoln
College, Oxford.
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Professor David Baum (1940-1999), Birmingham-raised professorial fellow in paediatrics at Oxford University, attached to St Catherine's College.
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Lord Max Beloff (1913-1999), London-born historian and Conservative peer,
was a graduate (with first class honours) of Corpus Christi
College, Oxford.
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Sir Isaiah Berlin OM CBE (1909-1997),
Latvian-born philosopher, was a Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, and a Trustee of Oxford
Synagogue.
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Baruch S Blumberg (1925-1911), American-born Nobel Prize-winning scientist, Master of Balliol
College, Oxford.
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John Bowers KC (b.1956), Grimsby-born principal of Brasenose
College, Oxford.
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Sir Maurice Victor Blank (b. 1942), businessman and philanthropist, was a graduate from
St Catherine's College, Oxford.
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Lord Lionel Leonard Cohen of Walmer (1888-1973), London-born barrister and judge
was a graduate of New College, Oxford.
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L. Jonathan Cohen (1923-2006), British philosopher was a graduate of Balliol College, Oxford,
and a Fellow and Praelector in Philosophy and Senior Tutor at The Queen's College, Oxford.
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Sir Zelman Cowen (1919-2011), Melbourne-born Governor General of Australia, Rhodes scholar and later Provost of Oriel College, Oxford.
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Professor David Daube (1909-1999), refugee from Nazi Germany, fellow at All Souls College,
Oxford, and Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford University,
until 1970 when he moved to California, where he became Professor-in-Residence at UC-Berkeley's law school.
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Baroness Ruth Deech, DBE (née Fraenkel; b. 1943),
London-born academic, lawyer, bioethicist and politician, chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), (1994 to 2002),
Principal of St Anne's College, Oxford.
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Walter Eytan (1910-2001), German-born don at Queen's
College Oxford, a codebreaker at Bletchley Park during World
War II, he became director general of Israel's foreign office.
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Professor Eduard Fraenkel (1888-1970),
German-born refugee from Nazi Germany, Corpus professor of Latin at Corpus Christi
College, Oxford.
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Sir Martin Gilbert (1936-2015), London-born honorary Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, historian and the author of eighty-eight books.
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Arthur L. Goodhart, KBA, QC
(1891-1978), American-born Professor of Jurisprudence, Master of University
College, Oxford.
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Lord Arnold Goodman (1913-1995), London-born solicitor, political adviser and chair of the Arts Council, Master of University College, Oxford.
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Avraham Harman (1914-1992), Israel's
London-born
ambassador to USA, president of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem was a graduate of
and later honorary fellow of Wadham College, Oxford.
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Herbert Hart (1907-1992),
Harrogate-born professor of jurisprudence, principal of Brasenose College,
Oxford. He had been a codebreaker at Bletchley Park during World War II.
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Leslie Hoare-Belisha (later 1st Baron Hore-Belisha)
(1893-1957), British politician and Member of Parilament, was a
graduate of St John's College, Oxford. He initially represented
the Liberal Party, then National Liberal Party and later the
Conservative Party and served as the UK Minister of Transport (1934–1937) and Secretary for War (1937–1940)
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Lord (Sir Charles James) Jesselton (1860-1928), British barrister, magistrate and businessman,
was a graduate of Balliol College, Oxford.
He was vice-chairman of the British North Borneo Company, and Jesselton,
the future capital of British North Borneo, was named after him
(now known as Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia).
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Lord (Sir Keith) Joseph (1918-1994) London-born
Conservative government minister and political and economical theorist, graduate of Magdalen
College, Oxford, elected Prize Fellow to All Souls College in 1946.
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Elena Kagan (b. 1960), Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court
was a graduate from Worcester College, Oxford.
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Harold Laski (1893-1950), Manchester-born
Left-wing political and economic theorist in the UK and the USA
and a Professor at the London School of Economics, was a graduate of New College, Oxford.
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Marghanita Laski (1915-1988), Manchester-born journalist, radio panelist and novelist, who contributed over 250,000 additions to the Oxford English Dictionary,
was a graduate of Somerville College, Oxford.
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Ruth Lawrence-Neimark (b. 1971), Brighton-born child maths prodigy, joined St Hughs
College, Oxford, in 1983, aged 12. She graduated in 1985
with a starred first as the youngest graduate of the university in modern times. She teaches at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
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Nigella Lawson (b. 1960), London-born chef and broadcaster,
graduated from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.
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Professor David Malcolm Lewis (1928-1994), Professor of Ancient History
at the University of Oxford. Past President of Oxford Jewish Congregation
and Oxford University Jewish Society, author of The Jews of Oxford
(1992).
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V.D. (Vivian David) Lipman (1921-1990),
Anglo-Jewish author and historian, was awarded first class honours
BA from Magdalen College, Oxford, and a D.Phil from Nuffield
College, Oxford.
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Sir Alan Mocotta (1907-1990), a high court judge,
was a graduate of New College, Oxford and a warden at Oxford Synagogue.
He served as chairman of the Council of Jews' College
and vice president (and later president) of the Board of Elders of the Spanish and Portuguese
Jews' Congregation.
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Claude Joseph Goldsmid Montefiore (1858-1938), scholar,
philanthropist, religious leader and a founding president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism,
graduated (with first class honours) from Balliol College, Oxford.
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Lord Claus Moser, KCB, CBE (1922-2015), German-born refugee from Nazi Germany,
a leading statistician and civil servant,
was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford.
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Adolf Neubauer (1831-1907), Hungarian-born and a scholar in Jerusalem and Paris, was a noted Jewish librarian in the Bodleian
Library, Oxford University, and
compiler of the catalogue of the Hebrew collection. From 1884 until 1900 he was reader in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University.
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Dr David Patterson (1922-2005), Liverpool-born
Cowley Lecturer in Post-Biblical Hebrew at Oxford University, was the
founder and president of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish studies
(biography).
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Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, CBE (1907-1995)
German-born British nuclear physicist, who held the post of the Wykeham Professor of Physics
and a Fellow of New College, Oxford.
In 2004, the theoretical physics building at Oxford University was named the Sir Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics.
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Robert Peston (b. 1960), London-born journalist, presenter and author,
graduated from Balliol College, Oxford.
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Harold Pollins (1924-1918), historian and author, was a resident of Oxford and a tutor at Ruskin College, Oxford.
He was a major contributor of material to JCR-UK, in particular
relating to Oxford (biography).
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Chaim Raphael (born Chaim Rabinovitch) (1908-1994), Middlesbrough-born civil servant and writer, was Cowley
Lecturer in Post-Biblical Hebrew at Oxford University (biography).
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Rachel Riley (b. 1986), Southend-born co-host on Channel 4's Countdown,
graduated in mathematics from Oriel College, Oxford.
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Michael Rosen (b. 1946), London-born children's novelist and poet,
graduated from Wadham College, Oxford.
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Cecil Roth (1899-1970), Anglo-Jewish historian and editor-in-chief of the
Encyclopaedia Judaica, was a graduate of Merton College, Oxford.
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Herbert Louis Samuel (later 1st Viscount Samuel) (1870-1963),
British Liberal politician and former party leader who served as
the first High Commissioner for the British Mandate in Palestine,
graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, and he and Lady Samuel
were war-time residents of Oxford.
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Sir Simon Schama (b.1945), London-born historian and TV presenter, was a fellow of Brasenose
College, Oxford, before taking up a post in the USA.
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Lord Samuel Segal, MRCS (1902-1985), surgeon and Labour Party politician who became Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, was born in Oxford and
was a graduate of Jesus College, Oxford.
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James Joseph Sylvester (born James Joseph) (1814-1897) is believed to be the first Jewish Fellow at an Oxford college.
In the course of a trans-Atlantic career, London-born Sylvester was appointed Savilian Professor of Geometry at Oxford University in 1883.
He was the first to coin mathematical terms such as "graph" and "matrix".
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Lord
George Weidenfeld (1919-2016), Viennese-born publisher
who came to Britain as a refugee from Nazi Germany, was an Honorary Fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford, Hon. Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford,
and was awarded the Degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, by Oxford University in 2010.
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Professor Geza Vermes (1924-2013), Hungarian-born British academic, Biblical scholar and historian, was
a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, and
the first Oxford Professor of Jewish Studies.
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Other former Oxford residents include:
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Robert Carvalho (1907-1996), solicitor, president of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews Congregation,
and President of the Anglo-Jewish Association, who was also warden of Oxford Synagogue.
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Sir Monty Finniston (1912-1991), Glasgow born chemist and industrialist, lived in Abingdon, Oxford from 1946 until 1958.
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Sir Ludwig Guttmann (1899-1980), German-born refugee from Nazi Germany, neurologist who first settled in Oxford.
In 1943 he was asked to establish the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire,
but continued to live in Oxford until 1951.
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Miriam Margolyes (b.1941), actress, was born and schooled in Oxford.
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Lord Segal of Wytham (1902-1984), doctor, Labour MP, working peer and deputy speaker of the House of Lords,
lived in Oxford as a child and adult, and was the son of resident minister Rev. M. H. Segal.
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Rabbinical Figures who were residents,
academics or
students in Oxford, including student chaplains, include:
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Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski, a graduate of
University College, Oxford, is senior rabbi of Golders Green synagogue.
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Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Chabad shaliach at Oxford
(with which he later split), founder of the L'Chaim Society.
He was referred to by The Washington Post as "the most famous rabbi in America".
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Rabbi Daniel Braune-Friedman, and his wife,
Hannah, were Jewish
students' chaplains in Oxford from 2009 until 2013.
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Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie
was a graduate of Balliel College, Oxford.
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Rabbi Dr. Samuel Daiches, notable Jewish scholar and the first rabbi to become an English barrister,
spent the war year in Oxford.
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Haham Rabbi Moses Gaster
lectured in Slavonic languages at Oxford University.
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Rabbi Dr Solomon Goldman was a postgraduate student at Oxford University and rabbi
of St John's Wood
Synagogue.
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Rabbi Sidney Benzion Leperer
was appointed in 1969 by Chief Rabbi Dr Jakobovits as the first student chaplain
in Oxford, but it is not clear whether he took up the appointment
which was not to be made official until he met the students.
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Rabbi Michael Rosenfeld-Schueler
and Rebbetzen Tracey Rosenfeld-Schueler have
served as the Oxford University Jewish Chaplaincy Couple from 2013
until present (September 2023).
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Rev. Malcolm Weisman,
minister to small communities, was a student and then chaplain at Oxford University.
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Rabbi Saul Zneimer,
former chief executive of the United Synagogue, is an Oxford graduate who was awarded two blues for football.
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Non-Synagogal Jewish or Jewish-Oriented Institutions &
Organisations in Oxford
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Institutions connected with Higher Study or Research
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The Bodleian Library is one of the most important holders of Hebrew and Jewish manuscript and published material in Europe.
The earliest Hebrew manuscript acquisition was in 1601. The library of Chief Rabbi of Prague. David ben Abraham Oppenheimer, was acquired in 1829.
The library also holds extensive extracts from the Cairo
Genizah.
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The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies was founded in 1972 by Dr David Patterson to help restore Jewish Studies in Europe
in the aftermath of the Holocaust. It is currently based in the Clarendon Institute, Walton Street, Oxford,
having relocated from Yarnton Manor in 2014.
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Refugee Organisations in World War II
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A hostel for 15 Jewish refugee boys was located at 1 Linton Road, North Oxford.(xxi)
In August 1940, it was reported that "some 20 boys from Germany, previously accommodated at Barham House Training School, Ipswich,
have now been transferred to Oxford Refugee Boys’ Hostel which has been empty for a time
owing to the internment of all the inmates."(xxii)
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In addition, Blackwell's (booksellers) and Webber's (department store) had hostels for refugee employees.
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A refugee club met at a school hall on Leckford Road.
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The Committee for Refugees had an
office in a house on New Inn Hall Street.
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The community had a social club which used the Forum in the High Street for its activities and
the Jewish Community Centre at 95 Walton street at which volunteers ran a kosher canteen for servicemen and residents.(xxv)
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Association of Jewish Refugees,
founded by at least 1947 and existing until
mid-1950s.(xxvi)
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JUFRA club for German-Jewish Women,
founded about 1939.(xxvii)
Article by Harold Pollins.
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Habonim in Oxford during World
War II.
Article by Harold Pollins.
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Societies connected with the University
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Oxford University Jewish Society, formed in 1933 on the merger of The Adler Society,
founded 1904, and the Oxford Zionist Society,
founded 1922 (although there had been an earlier
Oxford University Zionist Society, founded in November 1906,
which survived until at least 1910).(xxx)
(View
photograph of an Adler society dinner.)
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Cholent Society, an exclusive male only students' black tie dining club which hosted speakers. It celebrated its silver jubilee in 1981.
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L'Chaim Society, founded in 1989 by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach who came to Oxford as a Lubavitch shaliach in 1988,
and developed the society into the second biggest
student organisation ever at Oxford University by attracting mostly non-Jewish
(approximately 5,000), as well as Jewish students.
It attracted star speakers from politics, arts, and culture from around the world.
In 1994, the society was converted from being a student society into becoming an independent organization and the relationship between L'Chaim Society and Chabad was terminated.
It remained active until 2001.(xxxi)
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Chabad in
Oxford.
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Branches of National Organisations
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Friends of Hebrew University, founded by 1939.(xxxiv)
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Oxford Womens Zionist Society (or
Federation of Women Zionists), founded by 1939.(xxxv)
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Poale Zion Society, founded by 1945.(xxxvi)
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Anglo-Jewish Association, founded by 1946.(xxxvii)
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League of Jewish Women, founded by 1946.(xxxviii)
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Social, Literary and Miscellaneous
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B'nai B'rith Lodge, which became the
Oxford Menorah Society.(xli)
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Jewish Social and Literary Society,
later Jewish Literary Society, formed by 1945.(xlii)
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Jewish Youth Club, formed by 1945.(xliii)
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Jewish Centre, at Port Mahon, James Street, st.
Clements, established by 1951.(xliv)
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Oxford Jewish Representative Council,
constituted by the religious and lay organisation, formed by 1945.(xlv)
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Oxford Zionist Society, re-formed
in November 1939,(xlvi)
presumably following the 1933 merger of the previous
Zionist society into Oxford University Jewish Society.
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Oxford Jewish Cemeteries Information
The following are the known Jewish cemeteries that existed in
Oxford:
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Wolvercote Cemetery, Jewish Section, Banbury Road, Wolvercote, Oxford. First Jewish burial
dates from 1894. This is the cemetery currently in use by the Oxford Jewish community and contains some 400 burials.
The Oxford Jewish Cemetery page of the
Oxford Jewish Heritage website,
includes a downloadable pdf list of all burials in the Wolvercote Jewish Cemetery.
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Medieval Jewish Cemeteries:
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The Jews Garden: acquired in 1177, when Jews were first allowed to purchase land outside London.
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A Jewish cemetery, now part of Magdalene College and the Botanical Gardens, was in use from 1231 until 1290.
(For additional information, see also
IAJGS Cemetery Project - Oxford)
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Oxford Jewish Population Data
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Year
|
Residents |
University Students |
Source |
|
1896
|
35 |
10 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1896/7) |
1897
|
24 |
2 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1897/8) |
1899
|
20 |
8 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1899/1900) |
1901
|
30 |
14 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1901/2) |
1904
|
20 |
14 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1904/52) |
1908
|
17 |
29 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1909) |
1911
|
17 |
25 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1912) |
1912
|
12 |
40 |
(The Jewish Year Book 1913) |
1949
|
500 |
n.a |
(The Jewish Year Book 1950) |
1960
|
650 |
n.a |
(The Jewish Year Book 1961) |
1964
|
450 |
n.a |
(The Jewish Year Book 1965) |
1966
|
400 |
n.a |
(The Jewish Year Book 1967) |
1974
|
600 |
n.a |
(The Jewish Year Book 1975) |
1989
|
542 |
n.a |
(The Jewish Year Book 1990) |
1990
|
600 |
n.a |
(The Jewish Year Book 1991) |
1991
|
542 |
n.a |
(The Jewish Year Book 1992) |
1993
|
700 |
n.a |
(The Jewish Year Book 1994) |
2003
|
500 |
c.500 |
(The Jewish Year Book 2004) |
Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above) |
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Jewish Congregations in Oxfordshire
Jewish Communities of England home page
Page created: 13 June 2003 Data significantly expanded and notes
added: 26
September 2023
Page most recently amended: 1 April 2024
Research by David Shulman, assisted by Steven Jaffe
Formatting by David Shulman
Explanation of Terms |
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