Kingsbury Synagogue

Kingsbury, London NW9

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 of this congregation, the address of which is shown below.

Kingsbury Synagogue

Kingsbury Synagogue, June 2018
© David Shulman 2018

Congregation Data

Name:

Kingsbury Synagogue⁽ⁱⁱ⁾

Former Names:

Kingsbury District Synagogue (from 1948 until about 1976)⁽ⁱⁱⁱ⁾

Kingsbury Synagogue (from WWII until 1948)^(iv)

Kingsbury Hebrew Congregation (from formation until WWII)^(v)

Address:

Hool Lane

Hool Close, Kingsbury Green, London NW9 8XR
"Hool Close" was added to the address in about 2005, in honour of Rabbi Hool, following his retirement - see list below. The close was previously known as Woodland Close^(viii)

The congregation's address had previously been described as "Eden Lodge", Kingsbury Road, London NW9.^(ix)

Eden Lodge was acquired during World War II and served as both a synagogue and Hebrew classes. In about 1947 the first Kingsbury Synagogue was built in what became the Louis Domb Hall, and which now houses a school. Eden Lodge was demolished in 1966 and the following year the present synagogue was built,^(x) having been designed by architects David Stern & Partners.^(xi)

Current Status:

Active

Date Formed:

1934^(xii)

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Affiliation:

An affiliated synagogue of the United Synagogue from 1936, becoming a district synagogue in 1948^(xiii) and, in about 1976, becoming a constituent synagogue, when the district synagogue category was discontinued.^(xiv)

Website:

http://www.brijnet.org/kingsyn/ (currently not working - January 2023)

Ministers & Rabbinical Team:
(To view a short profile of a minister or reader whose name is in blue - hold the cursor over his name.)

Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Rabinowitz - 1934 to 1938 (see Letter of Reference for Rabbi Rabinowitz)^(xviii)

Rabbi Percy Selvin Goldberg - about 1938 to 1940 ^(xix)

Rev. Avrom Chaim Karwan - from at least 1945 to about 1948^(xx)

Rev. Isaac Newman - from about 1948 until about 1950^(xxi)

Rev. Chaim Joshua Cooper - from 1951 until 1957^(xxii)

Rabbi Maurice Hool - from 1959 until September 2004^(xxiii)

Rabbi Zvi Cohen (& Rebbetzen Rivky Cohen) - from 2004 to present (January 2023)^(xxiv)

Readers (Cantors):

Rev. Jack Grant - from early 1950s until 1973 and subsequently emeritus reader until about 1993^(xxvii)

Rev. Michael Rothstein - from about 1973 until about 1998^(xxviii)

Lay Officers:
(generally to 1950s)^(xxxi)

Chairmen

c.1938 to c.1939 - P.H. Hart

c.1939 to 1940 - A. Stein

1940 to 1945 - no listing

c.1945 to at least 1952 - H. Frome

Wardens

c.1938 to c.1939 - L. Silverman and A. Stein

c.1938 to c.1940 - A. Stein and S. Topper

1940 to 1945 - no listing

c.1945 to c.1947 - A. Stein and H. Frome

c.1947 to c.1951 - L. Dome and H. Frome

c.1951 to at least 1956 - L. Dome and J.J. Lewis

Treasurers (Financial Representatives from 1948)

c.1938 to c.1940 - H. Frome

1940 to 1945 - no listing

c.1945 to c.1946 - M. Laymond

c.1946 to c.1948 - V. Kano

c.1948 to c.1951 - L. Jackson, ACA

c.1951 to at least 1956 - H.I. Jacobs, FCA

Honorary Secretary

at least 1938 to c.1969 - Leonard Silverman

Membership Data:

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

1936

1940

1950

1960

1970

38

67

375

555

545

National Reports & Surveys^(xxxiii)

1977 - 521 male (or household) members and 211 female members

1983 - 443 male (or household) members and 216 female members

1990 - 477 members (comprising 457 households, 14 individual male and 6 individual female members)

1996 - 392 members (comprising 366 households, 12 individual male and 14 individual female members)

2010 - listed as having 200 to 299 members (by household)

2016 - listed as having 100 to 199 members (by household)

Charitable Status:

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

However, the congregation has its own general charitable trust - Kingbury Jewish Community Trust, a registered charity (no. 802647), registered on 8 January 1990. The governing document is a Trust Deed dated 28 November 1989.^(xxxiv)

Local Government District:

The suburb of Kingsbury in Northwest London is within the London Borough of Brent^(xxxv) and was (until 1965) in the former former Municipal Borough of Wembley (which was an urban district from 1894, being incorporated as a borough in 1937) in the former County of Middlesex.

Bibliography - Brent

Registration District (BMD):

Brent^(xxxvi) - Link to Register Office website

Cemetery
Information:

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

Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above)

(i) Reserved.

(ii) The congregation's present name was adopted in about 1976 (per Jewish Year Books from 1977), when the congregation ceased being a "District Synagogue", reverting to the name used prior to the congregation acquiring the status of District Synagogue. ↵

(iii) Jewish Year Books 1949 through 1976. ↵

(iv) Jewish Year Books 1945/6 through 1948. The name used during WWII is uncertain as Jewish Year Books were not published during the war years. ↵

(v) Jewish Year Books 1939 and 1940. ↵

(vi) and (vii) Reserved.

(viii) Jewish Year Books 1945/6 through 1948. ↵

(ix) Jewish Year Books 1954 through 1991 give the address as "Woodland Close, Kingsbury Green", whereas the editions from 1949 through 1953 and from 1992 through 2005, merely refer to "Kingsbury Green". ↵

(x) Congregation's website, accessed 8 April 2018. ↵

(xi) Carol Herselle Krinsky - Synagogues of Europe - Architecture, History, Meaning, 1996, Appendix I, p. 430. To view a description of the Jewish architectural works by David Stern & Partners, hold your cursor over their name. ↵

(xii) A letter from the secretary of the congregation dated 22 April 1937 (see below under Rabbi Rabinowitz) refers to the congregation having been established three years previously. The congregation was not listed in Jewish Year Books until 1939. ↵

(xiii) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 221/2. ↵

(xiv) Jewish Year Book 1977, page 78. ↵

(xv) to (xvii) Reserved.

(xviii) Rabbi Rabinowitz's letter of reference dated 22 April 1937 refers to his connection with the congregation since the date of its inception, three years earlier, and indeed, a notice in the Jewish Chronicle in about 1934 stated that "[a] public meeting to discuss the formation of the Kingsbury Hebrew Congregation will be held on Tuesday evening next at 8.30pm at the Church Hall, Roe Green, Kingsbury Road. The speakers will include Rabbi E.S. Rabinowitz and Mr Janus Cohen." His period of service at Kingsbury is confirmed by a family member. ↵

(xix) The Manchester Congregation of British Jews 1857-1957 by Rabbi P. Selvin Goldberg, Ch. XII (contributed by Dr. Benjamin Portnoy), page 88. ↵

(xx) Based upon his listing, as Rev. H. Karwan, in Jewish Year Books 1945/6 through 1948. The Jewish Year Book was not published during the war years. ↵

(xxi) Based upon Rev. (later Rabbi) Newman's listing as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1949 and 1950. The office of minister was shown as vacant in the 1951 edition. ↵

(xxii) Based upon Rev. (later Rabbi) Cooper's "Who's Who" entries in Jewish Year Books (latest 1999). The office of minister of the congregation was shown as vacant in the Jewish Year Book 1959. ↵

(xxiii) Based upon Rabbi Hool's listing in Jewish Year Books (1960 through 2005) and Congregation's website, accessed 8 April 2018. ↵

(xxiv) Congregation's website, accessed May 2021 and the United Synagogues's website, last accessed January 2023. ↵

(xxv) and (xxvi) Reserved.

(xxvii) Based upon Rev. Grant's listing in Jewish Year Books from 1954 through 1973, as reader of the congregation, and from 1977 through 1994, as emeritus reader. ↵

(xxviii) Based upon Rev. Rothstein's listing as reader of the congregation in Jewish Year Books from 1974 through 1998. He is the father of Rabbi Shimon Rothstein. ↵

(xxix) and (xxx) Reserved.

(xxxi) All this data here has been extracted from Jewish Year Books and the period of service given here runs from the year prior to first listing of the officer and ends with the year in which the officer was last listed. The Jewish Year Book was not published during WWII subsequent to 1940. There were no Jewish Year Book listings of officers (other than secretary) subsequent to 1956. ↵

(xxxii) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 216/7. ↵

(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) Charities Commissioners website (in beta test stage) and Open Charities website, both accessed 8 April 2018. ↵

(xxxv) The London Borough of Brent, an Outer London Borough within the Greater London administrative area, was created on 1 April 1965 upon the merger of the Municipal Boroughs of Willesden and Wembley (both of which had been in the former county of Middlesex). ↵

(xxxvi) The Registration District was renamed from Willesden on 1 April 1965, having been the registration district since the formation of the congregation. ↵

List of United Synagogue Congregations

Jewish Congregations in the London Borough of Brent

Jewish Congregations in Greater London

Greater London home page

Page created: 16 November 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 8 April 2018
Page most recently amended: 6 May 2024

Research and formatting by David Shulman

Explanation of Terms | About JCR-UK | JCR-UK home page

Contact JCR-UK Webmaster:
jcr-ukwebmaster@jgsgb.org.uk
(Note: This is to contact JCR-UK, not the above Congregation)

Terms and Conditions, Licenses and Restrictions for the use of this website:

This website is owned by JewishGen and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain. All material found herein is owned by or licensed to us. You may view, download, and print material from this site only for your own personal use. You may not post material from this site on another website without our consent. You may not transmit or distribute material from this website to others. You may not use this website or information found at this site for any commercial purpose.