JCR-UK

Highgate Synagogue

London N6

 

 

 

  
 

 
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Highgate Synagogue, London
Highgate Synagogue, Grimshaw Close
(courtesy Jeff Rosen)

Congregation Data

Name:

Highgate Synagogue

(known as Highgate District Synagogue from 1949 until about 1976)(ii)

Present Addresses:

Grimshaw Close, 57 North Road, Highgate, London N6 4BJ.(iii)

These premises, adjacent to Highpoint Flats, were acquired and in use from about 1984.(iv)

In September 2016, the synagogue reopened after having been largely rebuilt and extended, with seating for 60 more congregants, a dedicated library, an enlarged hall and two extra cheder classrooms.(v)

Earlier Addresses:

The first synagogue was at 88 Archway Road, Highgate, London N19, in use from at least 1935,(viii) partly rebuilt in 1937,(ix) and vacated in 1952, to be demolished as part of a road widening project.(x)

The congregation then moved in 1952 to 200a Archway Road, Highgate, London N6,(xi) a former Baptist chapel.(xii) The synagogue was in use until the building was gutted by an electrical fire in 1976,(xiii) and the building subsrquently sold. The site is now the Highgate Hill Murugan Temple, the first Sri Lankan Hindu temple in Britain.(xiv)

Following the fire, the congregation initially met at the United Reform Church Hall, Pond Square, London N6,(xvii) and thereafter appeared to have no fixed address(xviii) until, eventually, in 1983, the congregation received permission from the United Synagogue to acquire new premises.

Date Formed:

The congregation was formed in 1927 or 1929.(xx)

Current Status:

Active

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Affiliation:

Joined the United Synagogue as an affiliated synagogue in 1935, becoming a district synagogue in 1949.(xxi) In about 1976, it became a constituent synagogue, when the district synagogue category was discontinued.(xxii)

Website:

http://www.highgateshul.com

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

Rev. Maurice Abram Lew - minister from 1932 until 1947s (served as chaplain abroad from 1941 to 1946).(xxvi)

Rev. Dr Frederick (Fritz) K. Solomonski - acting minister in about 1941/2.(xxvii)

Rev. Sidney Gold - acting minister from about 1943 until 1946.(xxviii)

Rev. (later Rabbi) Emile Nemeth - minister from 1947 until 1968.(xxix)

From 1968 until 1990 the congregation appears to have been without a rabbi or minister, although the following chazan and reader was appointed:

Rev. Stuart M. Plaskow - reader and chazan from 1960s until about 1981.(xxx)

Also, for a time Rev. Maurice Lew preached once a month as emeritus minister and Michael Nemeth, son of the congregation's late Rabbi Emile Nemeth, was a part-time officiant. In addition, Rabbi Brasil of nearby Muswell Hill Synagogue joked that he considered himself "the full-time minister of Muswell Hill and the part-time minister of Highgate."

Rabbi Eli Lifshitz - minister from 1990 until 1993.(xxxiii)

Rabbi Isaac (Yitzchok) H. Sufrin - minister from 1994 until 2008.(xxxiv)

Rabbi Nicky Liss & Rebbetzin Shuli Liss - rabbinic couple from 2008 until present (August 2025).(xxxv)  

Lay Officers:

Unless otherwise stated, all data on lay officers has been extracted from listings in Jewish Year Books (first published 1896/7).(xl)

Presidents

1935-1952 - Sir Robert Waley Cohen, KBE

1952-1956 - Ald. Bernard Waley Cohen

from 1956 - no data

 

Wardens

1936-1937 - H. Goldstein, M. Marcovitch & J. Sheinbaum

1937-1938 - H. Goldstein & M. Marcovitch

1938-1940 - H. Goldstein & J. Sheinbaum

1940-1945 - no data

1945-1947 - H. Goldstein & S. Glickman

1947-1951 - H. Goldstein & I. Hershman

1951-1953 - H. Goldstein

1953-1954 - H. Goldstein & S. Glickman

1954-1956 - H. Goldstein & C. Rogers

from 1956 - no data

 

Treasurers

1935-1939 - J. Burgh & A. Freeman

1939-1940 - A. Freeman & P. Ruback

1940-1945 - no data

1945-1947 - J. Cohen & I. Hershman

1947-1948 - J. Cohen & P. Ruback

1948-1949 - J. Cohen & H. Lewis-Harrison

1949-1951 - J. Cohen

Financial Representatives

1951-1953 - J. Daniels

1953-1954 - A. Epstein

1954-1955 - S. Burns

1955-1956 - J. Daniels

from 1956 - no data

Vice Presidents

1935-1936 - D. Cope & S.S. Freeman

 

Chairmen

1935-1939 - S. Burns

1939-1940 - L. Rosenthal

1940-1945 - no data

1945-1951 - A. Freeman

 

Vice Chairmen

1938-1939 - L. Rosenthal

1939-1940 - P. Schneiderman

 

Hon Secretaries

1939-1940 - Mrs. P. Ruback

1940-1948 - no data

1948-1951 - S.W. Posner

1951-1952 - L. Silverman

1952-1953 - S.W. Posner

1953-1954 - A. Super

1955-1965 - J. Mordsley

1966-1974 - S. Gittelman

1974-1977 - M.T. Vogel

1977-1987 - E. Ezekiel

1988-1991 - Mrs C.J. Levinson

Administrators

1992-1993 - R. Marks

1993-1994 - Ben Soller

1995-2000 - Mrs J. Rubin

2000-2012 - Charles Loeb

Membership Data:

United Synagogue (male seat-holders)(xli)

1935

1940

1950

1960

1970

59

81

308

361

248
National Reports & Surveys(xlii)

1977 - 182 male (or household) members and 108 female members

1983 - 143 male (or household) members and 100 female members

1990 - 270 members (comprising 268 households, 1 individual male and 1 individual female members)

1996 - 229 members (comprising 202 households, 16 individual male and 11 individual female members)

2010 - listed as having 100 to 199 members (by household)

2016 - listed as having 200 to 299 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).

Local Government Districts:

Highgate is an affluent residential suburb in North Central London, split between three London boroughs. The northern area (including the part where the synagogue is situated) is in the London Borough of Haringey (close the boundaries with Camden and Islington, the other two London Borough in which Highgate is situated), all London Boroughs were created on 1 April 1965.(xliii) 

The northern part of Highgate was previously in the former Municipal Borough of Hornsey (incorporated as a borough in 1903, previously an urban district from 1894) in the former county of Middlesex, both of which entities were abolished in 1965.

Registration District (BMD):

Haringey from 1 April 1965(xliv) - Link to Register Office website

Worship Registration:

The synagogue in 57 North Road  is registered as a Place of Worship - Worship Register Number 77782 - under the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855.(xlv)

Cemetery
Information:

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

 

Online Articles, Videos, Bibliography and Other Material
relating to this Congregation

on JCR-UK

 on Third Party Websites

 
Notable Jewish Connections with Highgate

  • Alvaro da Costa (1645-1716), a wealthy Jew of Portuguese origin and a close business associate of King Charles II, purchased Cromwell House, 104 Highgate Hill, in 1675. It is believed to have been the first freehold house owned by Jews in England since their expulsion by Edward I in 1290 and their readmission in 1656. The house contained a private synagogue as well as a mikvah.
    Cromwell House is now is a Grade I Listed Building (number 1079233), designated on 19 March 1951 - View description on Historic England website. The Forecourt Walls are also a Grade I Listed Building (number 1188817), designated on 10 May 1974 (View description) and the Wall to the southeast of the grounds is a Grade II Listed Building (number 1079234), designated on 10 May 1974 (View description).

  • Highgate Synagogue kept an empty seat throughout the captivity of Emily Damari, the young British-Israeli citizen and an ardent supporter of the local Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, who was brutally held hostage by Hamas for over 15 months following the 7 October 2023 atrocities. In May 2025, she was finally able to visit the synagogue and occupied the seat left vacant for 500 days.

  • Julius Salter Elias (later Lord Southwood) (1873-1946), British newspaper proprietor (head of Odhams Press) and Labour politician, was a resient of Highgate, where he died.

  • Baroness Lynne Featherstone, née Ryness (b. 1951 in Highgate), appointed a Liberal Democrat peer in 2015, was a Junior Minister in the Coalition government 2014-15, and MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, 2005-15. 

  • Geoffrey Finsberg (1926-1998), appointed Baron Finsberg in 1992, was Conservative MP for the former Hampstead and Highgate constituency, 1983-92, having previously been MP for the former Hampstead constituency, 1970-83, prior to boundary changes.

  • Sir Martin Gilbert (1936-2015), Jewish historian and author, attended Highgate School and the Library at the school is named in his honour. The Highgate Synagogue includes a Sir Martin Gilbert Learning Centre.

  • David Hirsch (b.1967 in Highgate), educated partly at Highgate School, a professor of sociology and scholar and campaigner against antisemitism. Author of Contemporary Left Antisemitism (2018).

  • Hyman (Chaim) Hurwitz (1770-1844), Polish-born resident of Highgate, was the first professor of Hebrew at London University and a close friend of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In 1822, he founded a Jewish boarding school for twenty boys at 60 Pond Square, Highgate. The school, which included a synagogue, was only the second Jewish school to be established in England.

  • Jon Lansman, b. 1957, founder of the left-wing Momentum movement, was educated at Highgate school.

  • Berthold Lubetkin (1901-1990), Russian-born architect, in the 1930s designed Highpoint I and II, iconic apartment blocks in Highgate (both Grade I listed). Lubetkin lived in the Highpoint I penthouse until the completion of Highpoint II

  • Sir Yehudi Menuhin, OM, KBE (1916-1999) lived at 2 The Grove, Highgate in the 1960s and 70s, and was the first president of the Highgate Society.

  • George Michael (1963-2016), singer songwriter, whose maternal grandmother was Jewish, lived at the Grove, Highgate, and is buried in Highgate cemetery.

  • Sir Erich Reich (1935-2022), Austrian-born child refugee from Nazism, travel executive who was knighted in 2010 for his charity fundraising work, was a resident of Highgate. 

  • Solomon Schonfeld (1912-1984) presiding rabbi of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, educator, and leader in rescue and refugee work during the Holocaust, grew up at 73 Shepherd's Hill, Highgate, the son of Rabbi Avigdor Schonfeld.

  • Peter Sellers (1925-1984), born Richard Sellers, actor and comedian, lived as a child at 10 Muswell Hill in Highgate, where a blue plaque marks the family home.

  • Gerry Springer (1944-2023), Anglo-American Jewish broadcaster, was born in Highgate London Underground station, while the station was being used as an air raid shelter during World War II.

  • Gregg Sulkin, b.1992, actor, was educated at Highgate school.

  • Sir Robert Waley Cohen, KBE (1877-1952), industrialist, principally for the Shell Company, and president of the United Synagogue, was a resident of Highgate, having purchased Caen Wood Towers in Highgate in 1919. He was also, for many years, the president of Highgate Synagogue, his son, Alderman Bernard Waley Cohen, assuming the presidency on his death.

  • Notable Jewish Burials (including ashes) at Highgate Cemetery:

    • Jacob Bronowski (1908-1974), Polish-born mathematician and philosopher, presenter and writer of The Ascent of Man (1973).

    • Lucian Freud OM (1922-2011) Berlin-born painter and portraitist, grandson of Sigmund Freud. 

    • Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012), b. Alexandria, Egypt, Marxist historian.

    • Georges Jacobi (1840-1906) Berlin-born composer, conductor and musical director of the Alhambra Theatre.

    • Rudolf Lehmann (1819-1905) German-born artist and author, and his daughter, London-born  Liza Lehmann (1862-1918) soprano and composer.

    • Andrea Levy, FRSL (1956-2019) author, London-born child of Jamaican immigrants, had a Jewish paternal grandfather who converted to Christianity.

    • Anna Mahler (1904-1988) Viennese-born sculptor, daughter of Gustav Mahler.

    • Karl Marx (1818-1883), German-born "Father of Communism".

    • Carl Mayer (1894-1944) Austrian-born screenwriter.

    • Malcolm McClaren (1946-2010) London-born fashion designer and promoter of punk rock bands, had a Jewish mother (Emily Isaacs). 

    • Ralph Miliband (1924-1994) Brussels-born Marxist sociologist, Jewish Chronicle employee, and father of David and Ed Miliband.

    • Walter Neurath (1903-1967) and his third wife Eva Neurath (1908-1999), refugees from Nazi persecution, publishers and founders of Thames and Hudson.

    • Ernestine Rose (1810-1892) b. Duchy of Warsaw, née Polowsky, suffragist  and abolitionist, known as "the first Jewish feminist".

    • Raphael Samuel (1934-1996) London-born  Marxist historian and pioneer of "history from below".

    • Anthony Shaffer (1926-2001) Liverpool-born playwright, twin brother of Peter.

    • Peter Shaffer (1926-2016) Liverpool-born playwright, twin brother of Anthony.

    • Peter Ucko, FRAI, FSA (1938-2007), b. Buckinghamshire, leading archaeologist.

 

Notes & Sources
(↵ returns to text above)

  • (i) Reserved.

  • (ii) This is the period during which the congregation was a District Synagogue of the United Synagogue. It was listed under this name in Jewish Year Books from 1951 through 1976. ↵

  • (iii) This is the address that is listed Jewish Year Books and on the congregation's website, last accessed August 2025. ↵

  • (iv) This address was first listed in the Jewish Year Book 1985. Following an electrical fire in 1975 which left the congregation without premises, it was not until 1983 that the congregation got the go ahead from United Synagogue to acquire new premises. ↵

  • (v) Jewish Chronicle report of 29 September 2016. ↵

  • (vi) and (vii) Reserved.

  • (viii) First listed in the Jewish Year Books 1936. ↵

  • (ix) The Jewish Year Book 1947 stated that the synagogue was erected in 1937. ↵

  • (x) Peter Renton's The Lost Synagogues of London, 2000, p. 164 ("Renton's Lost Synagogues"). ↵

  • (xi) Address first listed in the Jewish Year Books 1952. Date of move confirmed by Renton's Lost Synagogues, although actual address not given. ↵

  • (xii) Renton's Lost Synagogues and Jews of Highgate video (see online material section). ↵

  • (xiii) Renton's Lost Synagogues. This was listed as the congregation's address in Jewish Year Books until 1976 ↵

  • (xiv) Online research. ↵

  • (xv) and (xvi) Reserved.

  • (xvii) This was listed as the congregation's temporary address in Jewish Year Books 1977 and 1978. ↵

  • (xviii) In Jewish Year Books from 1979 through 1984, the congregation was listed without an address ↵

  • (xix) Reserved.

  • (xx) The Jewish Year Book 1947 stated that the congregation was established in 1927, whereas the 1968 edition stated that the year of establishment was 1929. However, it was not listed in Jewish Year Books until 1936. ↵

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

  • (xxii) The congregation was first listed as a constituent synagogue in the Jewish Year Book 1977. ↵

  • (xxiii) to (xxv)

  • (xxvi) Jewish Chronicle obituary gives the dates of Rev Lew's Highgate ministry as 1932 to 1947 and a report dated 1 December 1933 places him there. A report of 22 August 1941 reported that the Highgate Synagogue held a service recently "to bid Godspeed to their minister, the Rev. M. A. Lew, on his departure to take up duties as a Chaplain to the Forces." He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1936 through 1940 and !945/6 and 1947 (publication was suspended 1941 to 1945). ↵

  • (xxvii) Michael Jolles' Encyclopaedia of British Jewish Cantors, etc., 2024, p. 901/2. ↵

  • (xxviii) Jewish Chronicle report of 15 August 1986 and obituary of 6 April 2012. Rev. Gold was listed as the temporary minister and secretary of the congregation in the Jewish Year Book 1945/6. ↵

  • (xxix) Jewish Chronicle of 24 October 1947 reported that the new minister of the Highgate synagogue, the Rev. E. Nemeth, was inducted into office the previous Sunday by Dayan M. Swift, and in an obituary of 1 November 1968 it reported that Rev. Nemeth had died in office. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1948 through 1968. ↵

  • (xxx) Rev. Plaskow was listed as reader of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1970 through 1978, and in the editions 1979 through 1981 (when the congregation did not have its own premises), Rev. PLaskow's name and telephone were given for contact purposes. ↵

  • (xxxi) and (xxxii) Reserved.

  • (xxxiii) Jewish Chronicle of 28 September 1990 reported that Rabbi Eli Lifshitz has arrived from Israel and on 16 July 1993 it reported that Highgate's Israeli-born Rabbi Eli Lifshitz, who is also London student chaplain, will be returning to Israel next month. He was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1993 and 1994. ↵

  • (xxxiv) Rabbi Sufrin was listed as minister of the congregation in Jewish Year Books 1995 through 2008. ↵

  • (xxxv) Congregation's website, last accessed August 2025. ↵

  • (xxxvi) to (xxxix) Reserved.

  • (xl) 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 year appearing the 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. Jewish Year Books were not published during WWII subsequent to 1940. There were no Jewish Year Book listings of officers (other than secretary) subsequent to 1956. ↵

  • (xli) The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 218/9. ↵

  • (xlii) 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. ↵

  • (xliii) The London Borough of Haringey, an Outer London Borough within the Greater London administrative area, was created on 1 April 1965 upon the merger of the municipal boroughs of Hornsey, Tottenham and Wood Green. All three municipal boroughs had been within the former county of Middlesex. ↵

  • (xliv) The former Registration Districts were Edmonton, from 1 July 1837 until 1 October 1847; and Wood Green, from 1 October 1847 until 1 April 1965. All registers would now be held by the current register office. ↵

  • (xlv) Page 650 of the 2010 List of Places of Worship ↵


List of United Synagogue Congregations

Jewish Congregations in the London Borough of Haringey

Jewish Congregations in Greater London

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Page created: 18 November 2006
Data significantly expanded and notes first added: 6 August 2025
Page most recently amended: 11 August 2025

Research by David Shulman and Steven Jaffe
Formatting by David Shulman

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