Sunderland Hebrew Congregation

Congregation Data

Sunderland Hebrew Congregation

Sunderland Hebrew Congregation incorporating the Beth Hamedrash from 1985⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

It is believed that first Jewish congregation was established in Sunderland in about 1768^(iv) although nothing is known about any early congregation or congregations until the establishment in 1781 of the Polish Synagogue.^(v)

On 13 July 1821 a second and rival congregation was established in the town under the name Adath Jeshurun,^(vii) which gradually dropped this name in favour of the Congregation of the Israelites or the Sunderland Israelite Congregation.^(vii)(viii)

In 1857, the Israelite Congregation, together with the other small congregations that then existed in the town (including the remnants of the Polish Synagogue), decided to join forces to build "a spacious synagogue ... uniting the different congregations into one body".^(x) In December 1861, the synagogue (in Moor Street) was completed and the Sunderland Hebrew Congregation was formally established.^(xi)

In 1889, a further split developed in the community which led to the establishment of the Beth Hamedrash ("the Greeners' shul"), after which the congregation was frequently referred to as the "Englisher" shul to distinguish its more Continental rival.

Ryhope Road, Sunderland SR2 7EQ, from 9th December 1928^(xii) until last services on 25 March 2006.^(xiii)

The Ryhope Road synagogue, designed by architect Marcus T. Glass, FRIBA, was completed at the initial cost of £11,000 and the opening ceremony was performed by the Lord Mayor of Hull, Cllr. Benno Pearlman, the service being conducted by Rev. L. Muscat and Rev. Gottlieb and the consecration sermon was delivered by Rev. Emmanuel Drukker of Newcastle.^(xv)

Although in use until 2006, the synagogue had actually been sold for £65,000 in September 2000 to an American Jewish charity, the Shlomo Memorial Trust, but the community was permitted to continue using it, paying a peppercorn rent.^(xvi)

The synagogue was dedicated as a Grade II Listed Building on 21 May 1999 (number 1387275). See Historic England listing and description.

Moor Street, Sunderland, from 1862 to 1928. 

The synagogue was built following a decision by the different congregations to unite into one body, largely through the efforts and generosity of Aaron Moses Lotinga, who in 1858 inserted the appeal for funds in The Jewish Chronicle:^(xx)

"The Jewish community of Sunderland, at present amounting to 250 Souls, have for the last 90 Years (when the number was much smaller) worshipped in rooms under different congregational heads. They are now building a spacious synagogue and uniting the different congregations into one body, so that peace and unity may be established and the service of the Most High be conducted in perpetuity, and in a more decorous manner, in one body, than has heretofore under various congregations. They now appeal to their brethren to aid them in their good work."

It took three years to raise the requisite funds and the foundation stone for the new synagogue was laid on 11 June 1861 by Mr. Lotinga, with Rev. David Joseph, the unpaid minister, conducting the service and reading a prayer especially written by the Chief Rabbi for the occasion. The building was completed in December 1861.^(xxi) On 7 May 1862, the synagogue was consecrated by Chief Rabbi Nathan Adler accompanied by his son, Dr. Herman Adler.^(xxii)

In 1899/1900 major renovations and alterations were carried out to the synagogue, referred to as a "Reconstruction" and on 30 December 1900, the renovated building was reopened by Sir Francis Montefiore and reconsecrated by Rev. Dr. Herman Gollancz.^(xxiii)

It is unclear where the predecessor Israelite Congregation held its regular services prior to the opening of the Moor Street synagogue, although there are references to services being held at the home of Rabbi Jacob Josephs (see below).^(xxiv)

Final Status:

Following the final service in the synagogue in 2006 (see above), certain services continued to be held in members' homes until 2008, when Jewish communal life finally came to an end in Sunderland after 240 years.

Ashkenazi Orthodox.

The congregation was unaffiliated but under the aegis of the Chief Rabbi.

"Rabbi" Jacob Joseph (previously chazan and shochet of the Polish Synagogue - the first spiritual head of the Sunderland community) - frequently carried out services of a ministerial nature from the 1821 until about 1834.^(xxvi)

Rev. Isaac Davidson – possible chazan and shochet in the 1820s^(xxvii)

Rev. David Joseph - minister from 1834 and continued to act in various capacities, including registrar, until 1861.^(xxviii)

Rev. Moses Woolf - from February 1862 until 1865^(xxx)

Rev. Isaac Hart - from December 1866 until 1870^(xxxi)

Rev. Israel Aaron Levy - from May 1871 until 1881^(xxxv)

Rev. Mark Louis Harris - from April 1883 until August 1886^(xxxvi)

Office vacant 1886 to 1888.

Rev. Aaron Asher Green - from 1888 until 1892^(xxxvii)

Rev. Jacob Phillips - from April 1893 until July 1897^(xxxviii)

Rev. Zacharia Lawrence - from September 1897 until October 1904^(xxxix)

Rabbi Dr. Samuel Daiches - from January 1905 until December 1907^(xlii)

Rabbi Dr. Salis Daiches - from September 1908 until February 1919^(xliii)

Rev. Aaron Plaskow - from April 1920 until June 1923^(xliv)

Rabbi Dr. Alec Eli Silverstone - from December 1924 until October 1927^(xlv)

Office vacant 1927 to 1934, however, the readers, Rev. L.J. Muscat and A.N. Oler (see below), respectively, served as acting minister for much of this period.

Rev. Shlomo Pesach Toperoff - from August 1934 until 1951^(xlvi)

Rabbi Moshe Turetsky - from 1952 until 1959^(xlx)

Rabbi Ephraim-Levy Gastwirth - from 1960 until September 1964^(l)

Rev. (later Rabbi) Bernard Susser - from February 1965 until 1971^(li)

Rabbi Mordechai Lev (Lionel) Cofnas - from 1971 until 1975^(lii)

Rev. Joseph Braunold - effectively minister from about 1975 until 1984 (previously second reader from 1957, then reader from 1969)^(liii)

Rabbi Shammai Zahn - communal rav of Sunderland from 1981 to 2001^(liv)

Rev. Moses A. Schreiber - reader and teacher from December 1866 until 1869^(lviii)

Rev. Elias Friedlander - reader from January 1871 until 1878^(lix)

Rev. Joseph Barnet Rittenberg - reader and shochet from at least 1881 until about 1883^(lx)

Rev. S. J. Levy - reader and shochet unknown date until 1888^(lxi)

Rev. W. Kantorowitz - reader and shochet from 1888 until 1897^(lxii)

Rev. Lazarus Jacob Muscat - reader and shochet from 1898 until 1923 and from 1924 until 1929^(lxiii)

Rev. Abraham Noach Oler - first reader from about 1931 until World War II (and acting minister 1931-1934)^(lxvi)

Rev. Abraham Isaac Burland - second reader from about 1931 until about 1945^(lxvii)

Rev. E. Slotki - second reader from about 1946 until about 1948^(lxviii)

Rev. Eli Willencyk - first reader from about 1947 until about 1957^(lxix)

Rev. A. Cohen - first reader from about 1959 until about 1968^(lxx)

Rev. Joseph Braunold - see above, listed under ministers

Little is known of the lay officers of Adath Jeshurun (the Israelite Congregation) - there are no extant minutes. The following are some of its notable known members:

David Jonassohn (1795-1859) was the most prominent member of the Jewish community in the 1820s to 1850s. He was a successful industrialist. In 1953, he was elected as the congregation's first deputy to the Board of Deputies. (The Polish Synagogue had previously elected the first deputy to represent a provincial congregation, who resigned in 1841.) Unfortunately, Mr. Jonassohn was excluded from taking his seat, when it was revealed that he was a member of the West London (Reform) Synagogue. (Reform congregations were not eligible for membership of the Board until 1874.) Although he died and is buried in London, an Obelisk to his memory (and possibly the gravestone of his wife) is the only extant structure at Sunderland's first Jewish cemetery at Ayeres Quay.^(lxxv)

Aaron Moses Lotinga was the leader of the congregation in the latter part of the 1850s and the person most instrumental in the building of the synagogue in Moor Street and the formation of the Sunderland Hebrew Congregation.^(lxxvi)

The years, or span of years, given below are the years in which the honorary officer was elected to office. In most instances, he would have continued to serve until the following year.

Unless otherwise stated, the data on the honorary officers below has been extracted, as regard the period to 1952, from the names and years listed on the tablets of such officers that adorned the walls of the synagogue^(lxxx) and, as regards the period 1953 to 1955, it has been extracted from relevant Jewish Year Books.^(lxxxi) In most instances, the officer's first name has been obtained from other sources.

Presidents

Aaron Moses Lotinga - 1862, 1866

E. Fryde - 1864, 1869, 1871, 1874/75. 1883/84, 1888/89

George Asher - 1865

Joseph Harris - 1867

Joseph Aaronson - 1868, 1870, 1872/73, 1876/77, 1880/81/82

Joseph Wolfe - 1878/79

Jacob Gallewski - 1885/86

Isaac Goldman - 1887

Phillip Gallewski - 1890/91/92

Israel Jacobs - 1893/94, 1911, 1921/22/23, 1925, 1929/30

Bernard Jacoby - 1895/96/97, 1913 through 1918

Cllr. Newman Richardson - 1898 through 1904

Simon Olswang - 1905/06/07

Jacob Goldberg - 1908/09/10, 1912

Cllr. Henry Minski - 1919/20

Maurice Jacobs - 1921

Henry Olswang - 1924

Solomon Gillis - 1926/27/28, 1936/37/38

B. Josephs - 1925

Julius Behrman - 1931/32/33

Hyman Berg - 1934, 1939

L. Magrill - 1935

Stan Goldberg - 1940

Abraham Merskey - 1941 through 1946

Jacob Clark - 1947

Harold Olswang - 1948 through 1953

Major Mordaunt Cohen, RA(TA)  - 1954/55

Parnassim

Sol Gallewski - 1919/20

I. Levy - 1921

Jacob Goldberg - 1922 through 1930^(lxxxii)

Wardens

Jacob Clark - 1948 through 1952

Isaac Gordon - 1948 through 1952

W. Morris - 1953/54

Gerald Behrman - 1953/54/55

Isaac Gordon - 1955

Treasurers

Joseph Aaronson - 1862/63/64, 1884

Joseph Wolfe - 1865 through 1969, 1874/75/76

Jacob Schott - 1870/71

Isaac Goldman - 1872, 1877/78/79

A.N. Richardson - 1873

Myer Cohen - 1880, 1888/89

N. Gallewski - 1881/82/83

S. Wolfe - 1885/86/87

Israel Jacobs - 1890/91/92, 1999

Bernard Jacoby - 1899, 1904, 1908, 1911

Cllr. Newman Richardson - 1895/96/97, 1909, 1913

Aaron Jackson - 1900/01/02

Simon Olswang - 1903/04

Israel Jacobs - 1905, 1910

A. Share - 1906

Jacob Goldberg - 1907/08

Hyman Berg - 1918, 1931/32

Maurice Jacobs - 1919/20

Charles Brewer - 1921/22

Henry Olswang - 1923

Solomon Gillis - 1924/25, 1929/30

H. Taylor - 1926/27/28

Isaac Gordon - 1933

L. Magrill - 1934

Jacob Clark - 1935 through 1946

Harold Olswang - 1947

Hyman Book - 1948 through 1952

Major Mordaunt Cohen, RA(TA) - 1953

J.D. Levene - 1954/55

Gabbais

I. Levy - 1919/20

Julius Behrman - 1921/22, 1928

Jacob Gallewski - 1923, 1925/26/27

Herman Berg - 1924

Abraham Merskey - 1929

Hyman Berg - 1930

Secretaries and Hon. Secretaries

(Based upon listings in Jewish Year Books)^(lxxxiii)

1896-1899 - Joseph Levy

1899-1900 - Bernard Jacoby

1900-1901 - D.R. Morris

1901-1902 - Lionel Wolfe

1902-1920 - D.R. Morris

1920-1921 - E. Mark Rowlands

1921-1922 - I. Muscat

1922-1923 - B. Freedman

1923-1925 - no data

1925-1946 - Jack Goldberg^(lxxxiv)

1946-1952 - M. Cohen

1952-1953 - Major Mordaunt Cohen, RA(TA)

1953-1955 - T. Buck

1955-1958 - Maurice H. Minchom

1958-1964 - Louis Berg

1964-1966 - Cyril E. Lee

1966-1969 - David R. Berg

1969-1971 - B. Taylor

1971-1975 - D.D. Levey

1975-1978 - Peter N. Olswang

1978-1983 - J. Sadlik

1983-1984 - Dr. J. Phillips

1984-1985 - Dr. Bernard I. Chazan

1985-1986 - Dr. H. Wacks

George Asher, E. Fryde, Jacob Gallewski, Isaac Goldman, Israel Goldman, Joseph Kaufman, Jacob Schott, Joseph Wolfe

General

1845 - 5 ba'alai batim (Chief Rabbi's Questionnaire)

Number of Seatholder as reported by Jewish Year Books)

1896	1898	1902	1903	1904	1905	1908	1909	1911	1912	1913
98	106	115	120	110	120	110	123	125	122	135

National Reports and Surveys^(lxxxvi)

1977 - 164 male (or household) members and 39 female members

1983 - 153 male (or household) members and 40 female members

1990 - 149 members (comprising 64 households, 53 individual male and 32 individual female members

1996 - 73 male or households members

The congregation was a registered charity, number 1078345.

Cemetery
Information:

There were four Jewish cemeteries, in consecutive use by the Sunderland Jewish Community (for details, see Sunderland Cemetery Information)

Congregational Records

General:

• Numerous records of the Jewish Communities in Northeast England (only a sample of which are listed below) are deposited with the Tyne and Wear Archives Service (http://www.legacyarchives.org.uk).  
  
  CLICK HERE to view a full list of these records (correct to December 2005).

Births/Circumcisions::

• Birth register 1867-73, 1892 - Tyne and Wear Archives Service (see above);

• Brit milah (circumcisions) 1850-1889 - Tyne and Wear Archives Service (see above);

• Brit milah (circumcisions) 1850-1889 -  Tyne and Wear Archives Service (see above).

Deaths/Burials:

• Burials 1856 to 1899 listed in Appendix V to Arnold Levy's "History of the Sunderland Jewish Community 1755-1955" (see Bibliography).

Marriages:

• Marriages 1837-1985 searchable on All-UK Database and -  Tyne and Wear Archives Service
  (see above);

• All marriage records are now deposited with the Office of Chief Rabbi.

Synagogue Records:

• Minutes 1899-1984 - Tyne and Wear Archives Service (see above);

• Lists of Subscribers, Seat Rentals 1901-1912 -  Tyne and Wear Archives Service (see above);

• Annual Reports 1904-1996 -  Tyne and Wear Archives Service (see above);

• Plans 1927 - Tyne and Wear Archives Service (see above).