Rabbi Michael Laitner

Rabbi Laitner studied for the rabbinate in Israel. He has a BA in International History and Politics from Leeds University and an LLB from King's College London. He served as assistant rabbi at Finchley Synagogue (Kinloss), London (2013 to 2023) and from 2013 to 2014 was acting chief minister of the congregation. He is the Director of Education for the United Synagogue and is a qualified solicitor. (Finchley congregation's and the United Synagogue websites.)

Rabbi Benji Landau

Hendon-born Rabbi Landau learnt at kollel in Israel, where he received semicha, and has a degree in business management. He served as assistant communal rabbi of Stanmore & Canons Park Synagogue, London (2011-2014). In 2016, He and with wife, Rebbetzen Aviva, were later appointed associate rabbi and rebbetzen of Yeshurun Synagogue, Edgware, London (2016-c.2020) and he became Director of Mesila UK, a charity that promotes financial coaching and education (in both cases until present - June 2021). (Yeshurun Synagogue website.)

Rev. Bernard Landau
(1918 - August 1984)

Czechoslovak-born Rev. B. Landau arrived in England as a refugee from Nazi occupation in 1938 and studied at Gateshead yeshiva. He was appointed minister of Nottingham Hebrew Congregation in 1941, until about 1944, and later served the Stoke-on-Trent Hebrew Congregation (1945-1947) before becoming minister of Llandudno Hebrew Congregation, North Wales (1947-1951). (Although there is reference, in the JYB 1952, to Rev. Landau serving as minister of Middlesbrough Hebrew Congregation in 1951, this would appear to be an error or a post he never took up.) From 1951, Rev. Landau served the Margate Hebrew Congregation, Kent, for 33 years until his death in 1984, becoming the congregation's longest-serving minister. He married a fellow former refugee, Ilse Beaumann, in 1952 and one of their children was Rabbi Robert Landau, rabbi of Bnai Jacob Synagogue, Charleson, West Virginia, USA. Rev. B. Landau was the brother of Rev. I. Landau of Leeds and Rev. Michael A. Landau. (JYB listings and various JC reports and obituary of 31 August 1984; Nelson Fisher Eight Hundred Years. The Story of Nottingham's Jews.)

Rev. Jacob Henry Landau
(b. 1866)

London-born Rev. J.H. Landau was educated at Aria College, Portsea, Jews' College, London and London University. His first known post was as minister to the Cardiff Hebrew Congregation (1887-1890). He later left for Sydney, Australia where he was second minister at the Great Synagogue for 12 years (until 1903). In 1906 Rev. Landau arrived in the United States. He was briefly superintendent of the Young Men's Hebrew Association in Boston and later in 1906 the Adath Jeshurun Congregation, Philadelphia, elected him minister. (Various JC report.).

Rev. Michael A. Landau

Rev. M. Landau (m. Irene Glassberg of South Shields), from Czechoslovakia, served as reader of the South Shields Synagogue, Co. Durham (c.1936-c.1946). He was one of the founders of the North-Eastern Area Trades Advisory Council (of which he was Joint Hon. Secretary), chairman of the South Shields Zionist Society, and of the Defence Committee, and was a lecturer with the Workers Education Association He was the brother of the Rev. Bernard Landau and of Rev. I. Landau of Leeds. (JC report, 22 January 1946 and JYB listings.).

Rabbi Dr Samuel Landau

British-born Rabbi S. Landau (m. Shoshana) holds a professional doctorate in clinical psychology and is a practising clinical psychologist in the National Health Service. He studied at the Jerusalem Kollel of Rav Yitzchak Berkovitzand he and Australian-born Rebbetzen (Ma'ayan) Shoshana served as rabbinic couple at Kingston, Surbiton & District Affiliated Synagogue, London (2013-2019) and Barnet & District Affiliated Synagogue, London (April 2019 to present - June 2021). (For additional background, see Rabbi Landau's profile on Barnet Synagogue's website.)

Rev. Samuel Landeshut
(c.1825 - 26 November 1877)

Rev. Landeshut was born in Sifra, Prussia and came to Britain in 1846. He served as reader (chazan) of Bristol Hebrew Congregation (1855-1858) and then moved to Manchester to take up the position of reader of Manchester Old Hebrew Congregation (1858-c.1869) and was instrumental in establishing the Board of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor in Manchester, of which he became secretary. Moving to London in 1869 to became secretary of the London-based Jewish Board of Guardians, he was appointed as the first minister of the newly formed St John's Wood Synagogue in 1876 but his health was already failing and he died the following year. (Jews in Bristol by J. Samuel, 1997, p.87 and Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History (2011) by W. Rubinstein (ed.) and M.A. Jolles and H. L. Rubinstein (ass. eds.), p.546.)

Rev. David Louis Landy
(26 May 1915 - September 1987)

Liverpool-born Rev. D. Landy (m. Joan Speculand) was educated at Liverpool Talmud Torah and yeshiva. He held posts as a teacher at the Liverpool Talmud Torah and as assistant headmaster at Greenbank Drive Synagogue Hebrew Classes, Liverpool. He served as reader of the South Shields Synagogue, northeast England (c.1946-c.1948), and then the Ayr Hebrew Congregation, west of Scotland (between 1948 and 1950). Rev. Landy then served as the minister of the Coventry Hebrew Congregation (1950-1954). He reputedly emigrated to Australia, but in 1960 Rev. Landy was inducted as the minister of the Oudtshoorn congregation, Western Cape, South Africa. He was later a congregational rabbi in Toronto, Canada, where he died. He was father of Keith M. Landy who became President of the Canadian Jewish Congress. (Various JC reports including 21 April 1950; JYB listings; The Jews of Coventry 1970 by Harry Levine p.45; and Annual Review of Canada 1987.)

Rev. Harry Landy
(c.1919 - 1989)

Llanelli-born Rev. H. Landy studied at the Manchester, Liverpool and Etz Chaim (London) yeshivot. His first post was as minister of the small World War II evacuee community, Biggleswade Hebrew Congregation (1942-1944). He subsequently held posts in London at the Becontree & District Associate Synagogue (1944-c.1945), Harrow District Synagogue, Muswell Hill Synagogue, and New Road Synagogue, Whitechapel. His next post was as minister at the Elm Park Synagogue, Hornchurch, London, (c.1976-c.1985) and his last posting was as minister to the Yavneh Synagogue, South Hackney, London. He was also mashgiach (supervisor) to the London Kashrus Board. He was the brother of Rabbi Maurice Landy. (JC obituary, 10 February 1989 and JYB listings.)

Rabbi Maurice Landy
(31 May 1913 - 12 May 1996)

Llanelli-born Rabbi M. Landy (m.1939 Rachel Factor (d.1964) and m.1966 Eve Levene (d.1997)) studied at Manchester Yeshiva and Liverpool Talmudic College and later received semicha from Jews' College, London in 1947. He served as minister of Russell Street Synagogue, Liverpool, Southport Hebrew Congregation, Aberavon and Port Talbot Synagogue (1936-1942) and St Albans United Synagogue Membership Group (1942-1943). He was then temporary minister to Hendon Synagogue, London (December 1943-c.1946) before being appointed minister of Cricklewood Synagogue, London (1947-1978), serving that congregation for over 30 Years, and was Hon. Principal of North West Jewish Day School from 1951 until his death in 1996. He was the brother of Rev. Harry Landy and the father-in-law of Rev. Aubrey Rosenberg (later Aubrey Ross). (North West Celebrates 60 by Marian Lebor (2006) pp. 41/3, JYBs Who's Who listings and Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History (2011), p.547.)

Rabbi Nachman Dovid Landynski
(d. 22 April 1968)

Rabbi N. Landynski (also Landinski) was born in Radin (now Radun, Belarus), the son of Rabbi Moshe Landynski, Rosh of the famous Radin Yeshiva, often referred to as Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim of Radin, and studied at the yeshivot in Radin, Wyszkow, Eishyshok, Kelm, Mir, Lomza and Suvalk. In 1930, he came to Britain, following his appointment, upon the recommendation of the Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagin of Radin, as the first Rosh of the newly established Gateshead Yeshiva, where he served until 1951. He is considered as a co-founder of the yeshiva and was a guiding force that made the institution into a byword for Jewish orthodox education.  He later went to the United States, where he died and is buried in Washington Floral Park Cemetery, Deans, New Jersey (view image of gravestone). (The Jewish Communities of North-East England by Lewis Olsover (1980); The Sunderland Beth Hamedresh 1889-1999 by Derek Taylor & Harold David, Chapter 6, A pause for Gateshead; Gateshead Yeshiva Alumni website; online research.)

Rabbi Benzion (Benzel) Lapian
(1913 - 7 March 2002)

Born in Kelme Lithuania, Rabbi Lapian (m. Lotte in 1941) was from a large rabbinical family, and a son of HaRav Elyahu Lopian ("Reb Elya"). He was educated at Telz yeshiva from age 14. He moved with his family to Britain in 1929, studying at Etz Chaim Yeshiva (where his father was a senior teacher) and returning to Telz where he obtained semicha in 1936. Managing to return to England with war looming, he birefly evacuated to Letchworth, Hertfordshire, together with his father. He then became rabbi and teacher to a sizeable community of evacuees in Buxton, Derbyshire, known as the Buxton Hebrew Congregation until about 1945. He later served as minister of the Woolwich and Plumstead Synagogue, Southeast London (1945-1946). He was next appointed director of education and headmaster to the Sheffield community (1946-1952), then with some 150 children, where he introduced a pioneering Bat Mitzvah ceremony for girls and Sephardi-Israeli pronunciation of Hebrew, and for a time was acting rabbi to the Sheffield Hebrew Congregation. He subsequently served as minister of Ohel Shem Synagogue, Willesden, London (mid 1950s to c.1964) and Yeshurun Synagogue, Edgware, London (c.1965-c.1970). He then moved to Israel and later became minister of the Ohel Leah Synagogue, Hong Kong (1990-1993). He died in Netanya, Israel. He was uncle to Dayan Gershon Lopian (JC obituary 19 April 2002, JYB listings and information provided by family member.)

Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence

Rabbi Lawrence (m. Mandy), holds an MA (Hons) in Jurisprudence from St Catherine’s College, Oxford University and attended Yeshivath Knesseth Beth Eliezer and Yeshivat Hamivtar in Jerusalem, where he received semicha. He served as Senior Rabbi of the Auckland Hebrew Congregation, New Zealand (1997-2004) and as chief minister of The Great Synagogue, Sydney (2005-2014) before his appointment as senior rabbi of Finchley Synagogue, Kinloss Gardens, northwest London, in 2014. He resigned in May 2023. (See online Biography.)

Rev. Zacharia Lawrence
(d. 1931)

Rev. Lawrence was briefly minister at Newport, Monmouthshire (1896-1897) and then served as minister of Sunderland Hebrew Congregation (1897-1904). He emigrated to South Africa and was minister at Bloemfontein in the Orange Free State from 1904 until his death in 1931. (Arnold Levy, Sunderland Jewish Community; JC reports.)

Rev. Steven Leas
(b. 1949)

Cape Town born Cantor Leas officiated as chazan of the Linksfield-Senderwood Hebrew Congregation, Johannesburg. He has served as chazan (cantor) of Central Synagogue, London from about 2003 until present - June 2021. He is the principal soloist of the London Jewish Male Choir. (Congregation's website.)

Rabbi Dovi Lebrett

Londoner Rabbi Lebrett (m. Mimi) obtained a Mathematics and Economics degree with honours, and received a scholarship to complete semicha in Israel as a Mizrachi UK fellow. He and rebbetzen Mimi have served as the rabbinic couple at Shenley United Synagogue, Hertfordshire, from September 2024 to present (November 2024). (Profile on the congregation's website.)

Rabbi Dr. Reuven Leigh

Rabbi Leigh (m. Rochel) studied at yeshivot in Manchester and Montreal and upon graduating in 1999, he assumed a rabbinic internship in New Haven, Connecticut. He subsequently received semicha in 2001 from the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva and was appointed as a lecturer in Chassidic philosophy. In 2003 Rabbi Leigh and Rochel arrived to Cambridge and established Chabad of Cambridge and they remain its rabbinic couple and directors until the present (October 2023). He has also served as a Jewish chaplain at the University and in 2009 was appointed as rabbi to Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation. Both Rabbi Leigh and Rochel have pursued academic studies at Cambridge. He was awarded his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2020. Rochel, who had pursued her higher education at the Rabbinical College of Canada in Montreal, where she graduated with honours, and taught Jewish Studies in Florida, California, Texas and New York, was awarded her MEd from the University of Cambridge in 2018. (Chabad of Cambridge website and press reports.)

Rev. Michael Leinkram
(early 1850s - 25 November 1923)

Rev. Leinkram (m. Esther Riesenfeld 1887, d.1930) was born in Krakow. He served as the last minister/reader of the Penzance Jewish Congregation, Cornwall, from 1887 formally until 1890 and informally until the mid-1890s, during which period he spent some time in the United States due to his fine voice. He subsequently served the Belfast Hebrew Congregation from about 1897 until at least 1904. From about 1906, he was minister of the Woolwich Hebrew Congregation, south London, serving until at least 1911.  He was buried at the Edmonton Federation Cemetery. ("The Lost Jews of Cornwall" by Kieth Pearce, Helen Fry and Godfrey Simmons; JC reports, census results.)

Rev. Barry Lent
(b. 1944)

Rev. B. Lent (m. Hilary daughter of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Gurdus of Manchester) studied at Manchester and Gateshead yeshivot before obtaining a BA degree at Manchester University. He served the Stockport Hebrew Congregation (dates unknown) and taught languages at Manchester Jewish Grammar School. He was minister of the Bradford Hebrew Congregation, Yorkshire, from 1970 until 1973. He left the ministry to teach at Carmel College. He later became Director of the company producing the Chevington brand of kosher cheese. (JC reports and JYB listings)

Rabbi Zalman Lent
(b. 1974)

Reading-born, Manchester-raised Rabbi Lent (m. Rifky Loewenthal) studied at yeshivot in Montreal, Melbourne and New York. He has, since 2000, served in Dublin where he was initially youth minister at Terenure Hebrew Congregation and was appointed communal rabbi of Dublin in 2003. He was subsequently, until 2023, the only resident rabbi to serve the Dublin Hebrew Congregation since the merger of the Adelaide Road and Terenure synagogues which was finalised in 2004. Also until 2023, he is also the only resident rabbi in the Irish Republic generally, where the number of Jews in recent years has been boosted by the arrival of hi-tech workers and their families from Israel, USA and elsewhere. He and Rebbetzen Rifky are the Directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Ireland. He is the brother of Rabbi Mendy Lent of Nottingham Chabad. (Internet research and interview with Rabbi Lent.)

Rabbi Dr. Sidney Benzion Leperer
(4 August 1922 - 5 December 1995)

London-born Rabbi Leperer, BA, PhD, who attended the University of London, obtained his doctorate in 1977. He studied at Gateshead Yeshiva, Yeshiva Etz Chaim and Jews' College. London and was granted semicha in 1956. Rabbi Leperer was appointed in 1969 as the first Jewish Student Chaplain at Oxford by Chief Rabbi Dr Jakobovits, but it is not clear whether he took up the appointment which was not to be made official until he met the students. He served as minister of Walthamstow and Leyton Synagogue, London, Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue, London and North Finchley and Woodside Park District Synagogue, London (1956-1960). He then taught at Carmel College (1961-1969), returning to the pulpit to become minister of Hove Hebrew Congregation (1970-1974), before returning to teaching as a lecturer at Jews' College. (Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History (2011), p.565 and JYB listings)

Rabbi Barry Lerer

USA-born Rabbi Lerer (m. Naomi), who has a bachelors degree in psychology and a masters in Jewish education, studied at Yeshivat Hakotel in Jerusalem and was awarded semicha in 2000 from Jews' College, London. He and Rebbetzen Naomi served as rabbinic couple at Watford & District Synagogue, London (2006-2019), Barnet & District Affiliated Synagogue, London (2006-2019) and Central Synagogue, London (February 2019 to present - June 2021). (Includes information personally provided by Rabbi Lerer. For additional background, see Rabbi Lerer's profile on Central Synagogue's website.)

Rabbi Harold Lerner
(14 June 1925 - 11 April 1998)

Liverpool born Rev. (later Rabbi) Lerner (m. Yvette), son of the Rev. Simon Lerner of Liverpool, studied  and taught at Liverpool yeshiva and received smicha in 1946. He was assistant minister at the Great Synagogue, Grove Street, Liverpool (1946-1950), then minister of the Bristol Hebrew Congregation (1951-1955), Norwich Hebrew Congregation (1955-1959) and at Stockport Hebrew Congregation, then in Cheshire, (1959-1961). He then emigrated to Canada where he served congregations at Guelph, Ontario and Bet Am Congregation, Toronto. He died at Bradenton, Florida. (Jews in Bristol by J. Samuel, 1997 JC profile 27 March 1959 and reports, JYB listings and internet research.)

Rev. Jacob Lesser
(22 October 1833 - 22 March 1906)

Rev. Lessor (m. Maria) was for some years a chorister at the Great Synagogue, Duke's Place, London, and later at the Western Synagogue, St. Alban's Place, London where he subsequently became second reader, from 1872 until 1874. In the following year, he was appointed the chazan of the Dalston Synagogue, London (1875-1906), the first person to hold such position in the then recently-established congregation. In 1900, he was presented with a testimonial on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his appointment. According to his JC obituary: "He did not pretend to be an Ascher nor a Hast; but he gave his congregants good old Chazonus from a good and sympathetic voice." Rev. Lesser was father-in-law of the Rev. M. Rosenbaum. (JC obituaries, 23 and 30 June 1906. and "The Dalston Synagogue - An Historical Sketch" by Rev. D. Wasserzug, 1910.)

Rabbi Menachem Lester

Rev. (later Rabbi) Lester, MA, MSC served as chazan (reader) of Hackney & East London Synagogue (c.1990-c.1994). He later served as minister of Highams Park and Chingford Synagogue, northeast London (c.1996-c.2005), obtaining semicha in about 2003, and South London Synagogue (c.2007-c.2011). He subsequently moved to Israel. (JYB listings.)

Rev. Ahrn Mair Lev
(b. 3 April 1933)

Birminngham born Rev. Lev studied at Birmingham Hebrew School, Staines Yeshivah, Gateshead Jewish Boarding School and Gateshead Yeshivah. Aged just nineteen, he served as chazan for some eighteen months at the Maida Vale Beth Hamedrash, Elgin Avenue, west London (c.1952-c.1954). In about 1956, whilst still studying at Jews'  College, London, (where he was a pupil of Cantor Pinkasovitch), he officiated at the Belfast Hebrew Congregation, and then spent seven months in Leeds, serving the Great Synagogue, Belgrave Street and Chapeltown Hebrew Congregation, Francis Street. He was then appointed to served as chazan of Wembley Synagogue, northwest London (1958-1973), where he established the congregation's choir, followed by Golders Green Beth Hamedrash ("Munk's Shul"), northwest London (c.1973-c.1996). He is a first cousin of Rabbi Meir Lev. (JYB listings; Jolles's Encyclopaedia.)

Rabbi Meir Lev
(b. c. 1948)

Birmingham-born, Manchester-raised, Rev. (later Rabbi) Lev (m. Carol) started singing as a boy chorister at the Higher Crumpsall Hebrew Congregation, Manchester, studied at the Gateshead yeshivah, and at 20, was appointed chazan at the New Synagogue, Birmingham, where he spent four years (1968-1972) and studied at the Birmingham College of Music. In 1972 he became reader at the Great Synagogue, Belgrave Street, Leeds. In 1973 Rev. Lev returned to Birmingham, where he served the Birmingham Central Synagogue as full time chazan for about ten years before going part time and starting a business career. After a total of 23 years at Central Synagogue he left Birmingham in 1996 to make aliyah but later returned to the UK. He was chazan and second minister to Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation (2005-2008). In 2013 he obtained semicha from the London Montefiore rabbinic programme, aged 66. Rabbi Lev served Sutton & District Synagogue (2010-2015) and then returned to Israel. He is a first cousin of Rev. Ahrn Mair Lev. (JC profile 21 June 1996 and various other reports; JYB listings.)

Rev. Hyman Levenberg (later known as Hyman Siskin)
(b. 1889)

Rev. Levenberg (m. Dora Berkowitz from Latvia) was born Zhagory, Kovno, Lithuania. He came to Britain in 1904 and served as junior minister to the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, under Rev. Jacob Furst. An experienced chazan, chorister and student of music, he sang for the Edinburgh Choral Society. In 1908 he became reader and shochet to the Portsea (Portsmouth) Hebrew Congregation, Hampshire, under the equally venerable Rev. Isaac Philips. In early 1921, he emigrated with the family to the United States, taking in residence in Chicago. Rev. Levenberg, by then known as Rev. Hyman Siskin, initially failed to secure a rabbinic post but by the summer was employed by a newly established congregation at Joliet, Illinois. He then served congregations at East Chicago, Indiana and Shenandoa, Pennsylvania. In the late 1950s Rev. Siskin was retired and living at Gulfport, Florida. He was the father of Rabbi Edgar Elias Siskin, reform rabbi in New Haven and then Chicago. (Rev. Hyman Siskin was interviewed about his career in Britain in a profile of his son, available on line here.)

Rev. Abraham Levene
(c.1891 - October 1977)

London-born Rev. Levene was a student at Etz Chaim Yeshiva and King's College, London, and obtained a Ph.D in 1936 in Syriac and Rabbinics. He was the author of The Early Christian Fathers on Genesis, and other scholarly works. He served as minister to the Nottingham Hebrew Congregation (1923-1936) where, according to the congregation's historian, a lay leader, Caroline Weinberg, "caused him considerable problems." Rev. Levene left Nottingham to become headmaster of the Avigdor Secondary School, Amhurst Park, north London (1936-1947). From 1947, Rev. Levene taught at the Hasmonean Boys' school until he retired in 1961. He is buried at Waltham Abbey cemetery. (JC article on his retirement, 11 August 1961 and obituary 21 October 1977; Eight Hundred Years - The Story of Nottingham's Jews (1998) by Nelson Fisher, chapter 6.)

Rabbi Marc Doron Levene

British-born Rabbi Levene (m. Lisa), who was awarded a BA (Hons) from Leeds Metropolitan University, studied at Darche Noam Yeshiva (Shapell's) in Israel. He served as assistant rabbi at Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue, London (c.2011-2017) and then as minister of Belmont Synagogue, London (2017 to present - May 2020). (Belmont Congregation's website.)

Rev. (later Rabbi) Myer Levenstein
(11 August 1919 - 19 September 1981)

Born in Whitechapel, Rev. Levenstein (m. Norma) studied at Jews' Free School and Yeshiva Etz Chaim in London. He was a teacher for the London Board of Jewish Religious Education and served as part time reader and teacher at the Harrow and Kenton District Synagogue, northwest London. He was briefly minister at the Wallasey Hebrew Congregation,, Wirral, Cheshire (now Merseyside) in about 1951/2. Rev. Levenstein was Minister at Mile End and Bow District Synagogue in London's East End in the 1960s and early 1970s. He was the last full-time minister at the recently combined West Ham and Upton Park Synagogue from 1973 until his death. He is buried at Waltham Abbey cemetery. (Earlham Grove Shul by Howard Bloch; JC obituary 16 October 1981 and various reports; and JYB listings.)

Rev. Israel Leventon
(1 September 1841 - 14 August 1899)

Born in Rajgord, Lomza, Poland, Rev. Leventon (or Levanton) (m. Rosa Greenberg in Poland) came to England in 1861, and served congregations in Leicester (where a son was born in 1870), Leeds and at the Swansea Hebrew Congregation (from 1876 until at least 1789, possibly until 1881). From about 1881, for the next 18 years, Rev. Leventon was reader, baal koreh, shochet, mohel, secretary, and registrar to the Dublin Hebrew Congregation. He was the last minister to serve in the congregation's Mary's Abbey synagogue and the first minister to conduct the services at the congregation's new synagogue on Adelaide Road, opened in 1892. Evidently a sofer, he completed his own sefer torah and presented it to the community in 1894 - believed to be still in use. He died in office. In 2002, just over a century after his death, 120 direct descendants of Rev. Leventon and his wife gathered in Dublin for a family reunion (report). (JC obituary 18 August 1899; Louis Hyman's Jews of Ireland.)

Rabbi Joseph Lever

Rabbi J. Lever studied at Manchester School of Music and served as chazan of the South Broughton Synagogue, Manchester, at the age of fourteen. He was minister and chazan of the Hull Western Synagogue (1984-c.1992) and principal of the Talmud Torah. In 1989 he conducted the first combined service of the Hull Old and Western synagogues following the sale of the Old Hebrew Congregation's synagogue (but prior to a formal merger of the two congregations). In 1992, he was briefly minister at Cardiff United Synagogue but then left for Israel. Following his return to the UK, he became rabbi of the United Synagogue (Mead Hill Shul), north Manchester, (c.1998 to at least 2017). (Various JC reports, JYB listings).

Rev. Joshua Levi

Rev. Joshua (or Jonah) Levi (also spelled Levy) served as the first chazan of the Liverpool New Hebrew Congregation, Pilgrim Street, Liverpool. He later served as reader, mohel and collector (of subscription, of which he received a commission) of the Cheltenham Hebrew Congregation, Gloucestershire, from February 1859 until 1863. View his Contract of Employment at Cheltenham. (The Hebrew Community of Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud by Brian Torode (1989), pp.41/2; Jolles's Encyclopaedia.)

Rev. Moses Levi

Rev. Moses Levi served as the first known spiritual leader of the Nottingham Jewish Community. He was already in Nottingham by about 1817, as a partner in the firm of Levi, Herts & Co. and in 1822 was a signatory to the lease for the community's first cemetery - the Sherwood Street Jewish Burial Grounds. In 1823 he officiated at the ceremony of laying of the foundation stone at the cemetery and was described in contemporary reports as the rabbi. He later served the Brighton Hebrew Congregation. There was a Rev. Moses Levy who served as minister to the Bristol Hebrew Congregation (1898-1903), although this is unlikely to be the same person. (Eight Hundred Years - The Story of Nottingham's Jews (1998) by Nelson Fisher; Jolles's Encyclopaedia.)

Rev. Moses Levi

Rev. Moses Levi, the son of Rabbi Yehudah Leib, Dayan of Frankfort-on-Main, Germany, served as reader, shochet and teacher of the Penzance Jewish Congregation between 1817 and 1820. ("The Lost Jews of Cornwall" by Kieth Pearce, Helen Fry and Godfrey Simmons.)

Rev. Aubrey Levin
(b. c.1948)

Manchester-born Rev. Levin attended the Royal College of Music and Yeshiva in Manchester. In 1967 he was appointed full-time reader of the Southport Hebrew Congregation, Lancashire at the age of just 19. Two years later he was appointed to the Great Central Synagogue, Glasgow, and then in 1973 to the New Synagogue, Stamford Hill, London. He was the grandson of Rabbi H. Levin of the Manchester Bet Din. (JC report, 14 September 1973.)

Rev. Elias Bere Levin
(c.1864 - 4 May 1936)

Rev. E. Levin, a native of Telz, Lithuania, studied at the Yeshivot of Telz, Zader and Slonim and received semicha in his teens. He initially served as a rabbi in Vilna. He settled in Limerick in 1882 and served as a minister and reader of the Limerick Synagogue until 1911. He was the minister of the congregation and chaired an ad hoc committee to defend the Limerick Jewish community during the infamous boycott of Limerick's Jews (1904 to 1906) and was described by a colleague as having "played both a very heroic and very statesmanlike role." The boycott caused economic devastation to the Jewish community and some two thirds of them were forced to abandon the town. He later moved to Leeds where he was appointed rabbi and reader of the Central Synagogue and was later second reader and shochet of Great Synagogue, Belgrave Street, serving such congregation for some 23 years. He was a qualified sofer and was working on a sefer torah until a week or so before he died. ("The Jews of Ireland" by L. Hyman, pp.201-217 and 346; JC obituary 8 May 1936; "Limerick Boycott 1904 - Anti Semitism in Ireland" by Prof Dermot Keogh.)

Rabbi Harris (Zvi Hirsch) Levin
(1871 - 31 August 1933)

Rabbi Levin (also spelled Levien) was born in Goniądz, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland (now Belarus) (2nd m. to Sarah). One of his first positions after arriving in the UK was to serve the immigrant Jews living in North Belfast, where he was living in 1891, and which was probably a post independent of the Belfast Hebrew Congregation. In 1896 he was in Cork, Ireland and by 1897 he had settled in Manchester. He served as rabbi of the Chaye Adam Synagogue, Manchester (c.1909-c.1918) and at Rydal Mount Synagogue, Cheetham, Manchester (c.1918-1933). Rabbi Levin was a long-serving member of the Manchester Bet Din, rabbi to the Shechita Board and was hon. superintendent of the Talmud Torah in Manchester. He was the author of a rabbinic work, Sefer Zoro, and also a volume of sermons and addresses in English. Following his death in Southport while on holiday, thousands are said to have attended his funeral. He was the grandfather of Rev. Aubrey Levin. (JC obituary 8 September 1933 and various tributes.)

Rev. Hyman Levin (or Lewin)
(1850 - 11 February 1931)

Polish-born Rev. H. Levin (m. Leah) was a pupil of "Rabbi Shimmelle der Melamed" of Serey Poland. He served as minister of the West Hartlepool Hebrew Congregation, County Durham (at least 1873-1874) and was then appointed minister by the Cheltenham Hebrew Congregation, Gloucestershire, in 1874 and served there until 1885. He was the second reader of the Manchester Great Synagogue (Old Hebrew Congregation) for over 37 years, from 1885 until 1921 and was also the shochet. Rev. Levin was a supporter of the Manchester Jewish Soup Kitchen, helped to found the Jewish Working Mens' Club and the Manchester Naturalisation Society. He retired in 1921, moved to Blackpool, where he died. He is buried at Crumpsall cemetery, Manchester. (JC Obituary 20 February 1931.)

Rev. Joshua Emanuel Levin
(d.1934)

Rev. J.E. Levin of Portsmouth, the son of Rabbi Lewis Levin (1852-1920), was chaplain to the Parkhurst Prison Synagogue, Isle of Wight, from about 1924 until his death. He was also chaplain to Jewish prisoners at Portland and Winchester prisons, and became the accredited Jewish visitor to the Royal National Hospital, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, which mainly treated tuberculosis patients. He was the brother of Rev. Walter Levin. (JC reports.)

Rev. Solomon Noah Levin
(7 January 1872 - 26 June 1929)

Rev. Levin was born in Papile, Lithuania, and came to Britain in about 1890. In 1896, he married Phoebe Rebecca Marks (d. 1902 in a house fire) and in 1904 he married Annie. He may have initially served the Aberdare Hebrew Congregation, south Wales, and subsequently served as minister of the Tredegar Hebrew Congregation, south Wales, from about 1898 until 1902. In 1903, he appears to have served briefly as minister of the Nottingham Hebrew Congregation.  He served as minister, reader and shochet at the Fountains Road Synagogue, Kirkdale, Liverpool, from about 1904 until about 1926. He died suddenly during the wedding ceremony of his son and was buried at Rice Lane Jewish Cemetery, Liverpool (view image of gravestone). (JYB listings; JC reports; and Jolles's Encyclopaedia.)

Rev. Walter Levin
(26 November 1872 - 18 September 1943)

Rev Levin (m. Rose Forewood), the son of Rabbi Lewis Levin (1852-1920), was born in Portsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, and educated at Aria College, Portsea. He was minister of the North-West London Synagogue, Caversham Road, Kentish Town. During World War I, he was Jewish chaplain to the Forces in Italy, Egypt and Palestine. After the war, he served for over 25 years years at the North London Synagogue, Lofting Road, Islington, and then as minister (1930-1938) and secretary (1935-1938) of Bayswater Synagogue, west London. He was also hon. president of the Becontree & District Associate Synagogue, northeast London, during the 1930s. He is buried at Willesden cemetery. He was the brother of Rev. Joshua Emanuel Levin. (Various JC reports; JYB listings; and Reference to Rev. Levin in Roth's Short History of the Bayswater Synagogue.)

Rabbi Ephraim Levine

London-born Rabbi Levine (m. Rochel) was educated at Rabbinical College of America and at Kfar Chabad in Israel where he received semicha in about 1997. He served as minister at West Ham and Upton Park Synagogue, London (1999-2003) and Watford & District Synagogue (2006-2019). (Profile formerly on the Watford congregation's website; and LinkedIn profile.)

Rev. Harry Levine
(1916 - February 1990)

Birmingham born Rev. Levine (m. Esther or Hetty - d.1998) took a diploma in education from Birmingham University. In 1930 he was appointed residential master at the Jewish Orphanage, Norwood, and he returned to Birmingham in 1934 to join the staff of the Hebrew School. He opened Briarcliff, a boys' day and boarding school, at Lowestoft, Suffolk, in 1949. He was a teacher in Birmingham and for a number of years travelled to Coventry on Sundays to take religion classes. He was editor of the Birmingham Jewish Recorder and was Birmingham correspondent to The JC for 36 years. In 1970 he authored a history of the Coventry Hebrew Congregation on its centenary having previously written on the history of Birmingham's Singer's Hill Synagogue. On his retirement as a teacher in 1970, he took up an appointment as reader and teacher to the Norwich Hebrew Congregation and was actively involved in all aspects of the congregation's life. He was Jewish chaplain at the University of East Anglia. Due to illness Rev. Levine had to step down from duties in about 1981 and he formally retired in 1983. He was appointed emeritus reader and he continued to live and teach in Norwich. (JC report 8 May 1970 and obituary, 2 March 1990.)

Rev. Isaac Levine
(c.1876 - 28 December 1957)

Rev. I. Levine (or Levene) (m. Miriam - d.1966) was born in Dvinsk (today Daugavpils, Latvia) and trained in Vilna (today Vilnius, Lithuania). He came to Britain as a young man was said to have been the youngest chazan in Britain when he took up an appointment in 1899 in Edinburgh. He then served as reader, shochet and mohel at the Hull Central Synagogue (1907-1923). He was chazan of the Bradford Hebrew Congregation, Yorkshire, for 1925 until the late 1940s and still retained certain duties until his retirement in 1951. He also served as shochet, mohel and teacher for most of his time at Bradford. He was Hon. Investigating and Relieving Officer of the Bradford Benevolent society until his death. He died in Manchester and is buried in Bradford. In 1975 an illuminated glass plaque in the Springhurst Road synagogue, was dedicated during the Yom Kippur service in Rev. Levine's memory. (JC obituary 3 and 10 January 1958 and internet research.)

Rev. J. Levine

Rev. J. Levine served as minister and marriage secretary of the Great Yarmouth Hebrew Congregation, Norfolk, from between 1907 and about 1909 or possibly 1911. He subsequently went to South Africa and served the Robertson congregation in Cape Province and the Pietersburg congregation in Transvaal. (JC reports; JYB listings; and Jolles's Encyclopaedia.)

Rev. Samuel Levine
(1865 - 1941)

Rev. Levine served as principal of Townley Castle school, a "high class" boarding school for young Jewish gentlemen, initially situated in Ramsgate, Kent, but which later moved to London. He became principal on the death in 1907 of his father-in-law, Rev. S.H. Harris, who founded the school in 1890. The school closed in 1940 or 1941, shortly before the death of Rev. Levine. (JC obituary 9 December 1941.)

Rev. Abraham Levinson
(c.1866 - July 1955)

Rev. Levinson (m. Sara, daughter of Rev. H. Wasserzug, in 1893) served as minister of Stroud Synagogue, Gloucestershire (1893-1894) and is believed to be the same Rev. A. Levinson who served at the Bristol Hebrew Congregation (1894-1899). For the next 31 years Rev. Levinson served the Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation's Middle Street synagogue, first as second reader and teacher and then as chazan. He suffered several periods of ill health and was given extended leave from time to time until his retirement in 1930, although continued to lead additional services on the festivals for many years. He was president of Brighton and Hove Zionist Society and provincial grand chaplain of Sussex freemasons. His brother, Rev. I. Levinson, was senior Jewish chaplain to South African forces during World War II. (JC tribute 22 July 1955 and various reports; Jews in Bristol by J. Samuel, 1997.)

Rev. Abraham Levinson
(1877 - June 1949)

Born in Kutno, Poland, Rev. Levinson (m. (1) 1900 Rachel Hulman - d.1912; (2) 1913 Gertie Hulman - d. 1918; (3) 1919 Rebecca Kerbel - d.1957) was the nephew of chazan and scholar, Rev. Moshe Aaron Kibel, of Grodzish. He graduated from the Russian High State School in Lodz and then studied at the Berlin Conservatoire of Music. He came to England in 1898 and was appointed secretary and choirmaster to the New Synagogue, Manchester. Rev. Levinson served in a ministerial capacity at Walthamstow and Leyton Synagogue, northeast London, and then as minister and reader of Bangor Hebrew Congregation, north Wales (1907-1911). In 1911, he was appointed chazan and shochet to the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, Graham Street and later Salisbury Road, where he served for over 25 years, and retired owing to ill-health in 1937. He is buried at Piershill cemetery. Rev Levinson's life featured in a South African edition of the programme "Who Do You Think You Are?", as the great grandfather of political cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro. (JYB listings; JC obituary 24 June 1949, article by Harvey Kaplan in The Edinburgh Star, September 2009, pp. 5/6, available online.)

Rev. Fibush Levinson
(c.1825 - 5 May 1900)

Rev. F. Levinson (m. Sarah) was born in Prussia. He served as shochet, chazan, mohel and secretary of the Temple Street Synagogue, Newcastle upon Tyne, from about 1855 until 1870 (although his commencement date is not totally certain), during which time he organised the the first Hebrew school. He later, by 1891, became a financial agent in Newcastle. (The Jewish Communities of North-East England by Lewis Olsover (1980).)

Rev. Judah Levinson
(15 July 1906 - 30 July 1996)

Rev. J. Levinson (m. Miriam Miller) was born in Liepāja (now in Latvia), studied at Vilkovishk Yeshiva (now Vilkaviskis, Lithuania) and was appointed assistant minister to a small community in Lithuania. He came to the Britain in about 1926 and studied at Yeshiva Etz Chaim in London. He served as minister of the small Brynmawr Hebrew Congregation, Breconshire (now in Gwent), south Wales, (c.1929-c.1931) and appears to have served, in some capacity, at another south Wales community, the Llanelly Hebrew Congregation, probably from about 1931 until 1932. In 1932 he was appointed second reader, mohel and shochet at the Hull Old Hebrew Congregation, later becoming reader and serving until 1956. He was appointed minister to the Hounslow & District Affiliated Synagogue, Middlesex (now west London) in 1957, and in 1958 he became minister to the Walthamstow and Leyton Synagogue, Boundary Road, east London, serving until his retirement in 1976, following which he continued to serve the congregation for some years as a part-time chazan. His daughters, Norma and Deirdre, were both writers. He died in London. (The History of Hull's Orthodox Synagogues, 2000, by Elliot Oppel; Jolles's Encyclopaedia; and JYB listings.)

Rev. Abraham Levy
(13 March 1878 - 12 May 1957)

London born and educated at Jews' College and University College, London, Rev. Levy (m. 1st Fanny Morris; 2nd Paula Schapiro) was for some time prior to 1903 a visiting minister to the Aldershot Hebrew Congregation, Hampshire. In 1903 he became minister of the Durban Hebrew congregation, South Africa. In 1910 he moved to Australia to become minister at Brisbane's Margaret Street Synagogue. Whilst in Brisbane Rev. Levy was active in Zionist activities and with the Jewish National Fund. He returned to South Africa in 1913 and served as minister of the Port Elizabeth congregation in the Eastern Cape until he retired in 1954. In 1934, he brought a successful action for defamation against the leaders of the antisemitic Grey-Shirt movement, who claimed to have proven the existence of a world-wide Jewish conspiracy from a document stolen from his synagogue - which was proven to be a forgery. A correspondent of The JC, who met him shortly before he died, remarked that he remained "essentially a fine, cultured English gentleman." Rev Levy died at Port Elizabeth and is buried at North End Cemetery. (JC report 29 April 1910; obituary 24 May 1957; and online search: photograph of Rev. Levy's wedding in Durban in 1907.)

Rev. Dan Levy (formerly Fleishman)

Rev. Lev y (m. Sharon) served as part-time minister of Potters Bar and District Affiliated Synagogue, Hertfordshire (1996-c.2000) and Enfield and Winchmore Hill Synagogue (c.2000-c.2001), Rev. Levy was a presenter on Spectrum Radio and a news presenter on the commercial radio station, News Direct. (JC report 8 October 1999; and JYB listings.)

Rabbi Daniel Levy

Rabbi Levy (m. Naomi) received semicha from Gateshead yeshiva and obtained BA and MA degrees through Jews' College, London. He was youth director at Golders Green Synagogue, and was then minister at the Cardiff United Synagogue (c.1993-1999) and then the United Hebrew Congregation of Leeds. Rabbi Levy holds qualifications in counselling and mediation training and has written short stories for children and many articles on contemporary Jewish thought. He is on the educational staff of the Jewish Learning Exchange. (Profile on JLE website.)

Rev. Elkan Levy
(b. 1943)

Preston-born Rev. Levy, BA (Hons), the son of Rev. Raphael H. Levy, (married Celia Fisher, the daughter of Dayan Michoel Fisher), a practicing solicitor, held several senior communal positions, including Chairman of the United Synagogue Burial Society (1992-1996), President of the United Synagogue and Chairman of the Chief Rabbinate Council (1996-1999), Director of the Office of Small Communities (2004-2010) and Editor of the JYB (2010-2015). He also acted as a minister, generally on an interim basis, for certain United Synagogue congregations, including Belmont & District Affiliated Synagogue, London (1969-1973 and 1991-1992) and Radlett United Synagogue, Hertfordshire (2005 and 2010-2011). (JYB Who's Who listing.)

Rabbi Emmanuel Levy
(b. 1948)

Manchester-born Rabbi Levy (m. Myriam, a graduate of Gateshead seminary) studied at Gateshead yeshiva for six years and obtained semicha there in 1972. In 1974 he was appointed rabbi of Langside Hebrew Congregation in Glasgow, where he and his wife set up a kindergarten and he helped establish a kolel. He was minister of Southend and Westcliff Hebrew Congregation (1980-1988) and has, for over twenty years, served as minister of Palmers Green and Southgate Synagogue (PGSS) (1988 to present - February 2021). Rabbi Levy founded and served as the first chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the Provinces and has the educational portfolio in the Chief Rabbi's cabinet (PGSS's website profile)

Rabbi Ephraim Moses Levy
(c.1891 - 1969)

Rabbi E.M. Levy MA, LLB (m. Rachel Newman) grew up in Swansea, Wales, and attended Jews' College, London, Oxford University and London University. In 1916, he was appointed minister of the the Llanelly Hebrew Congregation, Carmenthenshire, south Wales. However, later in 1916, he was appointed to the position of chaplain to the Aldershot Command (1916-1917) and does not appear to have returned to to his post in Llanelly. He  served as a Jewish chaplain to the forces in France and Italy. He was second reader of Bayswater Synagogue, London (c.1918-c.1919) and in 1924 was appointed minister to the Durban Hebrew Congregation, South Africa, serving until 1935. He obtained rabbinical qualifications from senior rabbis in Eastern Europe and the UK. Rabbi Levy was later principal minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, Australia. He served as temporary minister of Hammersmith & West Kensington Synagogue, London (1939-1940). He subsequently moved to Canada where he practiced law and served as a abbi at Beth Jacob Congregation, Montreal, and later at Victoria, British Columbia. He was rabbi of the Wellington community in New Zealand (1956-1959) - a case between him and the congregation regarding the non-renewal of his contract of employment was heard by the country's supreme court in 1959. He died in Vancouver. His son marrried the daughter of Rabbi Harris Swift. (Various JC reports; JYB listings; The History of the Hammersmith Synagogue by Rev. Adler.)

Rabbi H. J. Levy

London-born Rev. (later Rabbi) Levy was responsible for the religious education of Jewish evacuee children in South Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for a period during the war. He also held posts in the Portsmouth and Southsea Hebrew Congregation (from possibly as early as 1941 until 1945) and in Glasgow. He served as minister of the Derby Hebrew Congregation (c.1952-1959) and is believed to be the last resident minister for that community. Rev. Levy was subsequently appointed minister of the St Albans Affiliated Synagogue, Hertfordshire (1959-c.1962), obtaining semicha in 1960. He later left the ministry. (JYB listings, JC profile 18 May 1959 and various reports.)

Rev. H. P. Levy

Rev. H.P. Levy served the Middlesbrough Hebrew Congregation in the 1880s. He spoke at the opening of the first Jewish cemetery there in 1885 and also conducted services in Northampton in November 1885. The Jewish Provincial Ministers' Fund provided grants enabling Rev. Levy to preach occasionally and provide instruction for the Darlington and Stockton congregations. He visited Darlington 6 September to 6 December 1886 and Stockton and Darlington 6 December 1886 to 6 December 1887. (JC reports, 6 November 1885 and 1 July 1887 ; Press reports of Stockton; "The Jewish Communities of North East England" by L. Olsover, 1980.)

Rev. Dr. Isaac (Harry) Levy, OBE
(14 September 1910 - 31 March 2005)

London-born Rev. Levy, OBE, PhD, TD, (m. Tonie Landau) was educated at Yeshiva Etz Chaim, Jews' College, London, and University College London (where he earned a B.A. in 1932). Subsequently, in 1956, he obtained his PhD in Rabbinical History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He served as minister of Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue, London (1936-38) and Bayswater Synagogue, London (1938-1939) He then volunteered for service in British armed forces, becoming Senior Jewish Chaplain (a post he held until 1966). Returning to ministerial life, he was appointed minister of Hampstead Synagogue, London (1946-1965). He was awarded an OBE in 1953. Rabbi Levy was national vice president of both AJEX and the Council of Christians and Jews. He left the ministry to become full-time director of JNF in the UK (1965-1977). Author of "Now I Can Tell - Middle East Memories" about his experiences as Middle East chaplain, and "Witness to Evil - Bergen Belsen 1945". (Obituary in The Guardian, 18 May 2005, "The Hampstead Synagogue 1862-1967" by Raymond Apple, 1967 and Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History (2011), pp.579/580.)

Rev. Israel Aaron Levy
(March 1824 - 24 March 1915)

London-born, Rev. Levy (m. Rosa Hyams) was the son of Dayan Aaron Levy. He learnt under Chief Rabbi Dr. S Hirschell. His first known post is as a preacher and secretary of the Manchester New Hebrew Congregation from 1846. He was therefore amongst the earliest Jewish ministers employed to preach in English. From 1850, Rev. Levy served at St James's Synagogue (later known as the Western Synagogue), St Albans Place, Westminster, London. Rev. Levy became the first regularly appointed preacher of the Sunderland Hebrew Congregation in 1871. In 1881 he was appointed minister of Hull (Old) Hebrew Congregation, then in Robinson Row, Hull, serving until about 1903, when he was appointed minister of the Hull Western Synagogue (but described as its least paid official). He died in Hull in 1915 having been blind for a number of years. According to a former pupil of his, Rev. A.A. Green, Rev. Levy was "a born orator. His flow of language was natural and easy and his English was perfect," and he was an outstanding Talmud scholar and Bible teacher. Green described Rev. Levy's relatively obscure and badly paid career as "among the many tragedies of the Anglo Jewish clergy." He is buried in Hedon Road cemetery, Hull. (JYB listings; Arnold Levy, Sunderland Jewish Community pp.86-87 quoting from the Sunderland Daily Post of 5 February 1877; JC obituary and tributes 2 and 9 April 1915.)

Rev. Jacob Barnett Levy
(17 February 1871 - 11 February 1944)

Polish-born Rev. J.B. Levy served as minister/reader of the Newport Hebrew Congregation, Monmouthshire (1894-1901) and was visiting minister to the small Brynmawr Hebrew Congregation, south Wales, in at least 1901. He subsequently served as minister of Wellington Road Synagogue, Stoke Newington, (which later became the West Hackney Synagogue), north London (1901-1924). (JC reports; online reserach.)

Rev. Joseph Levy

Rev. Joseph Levy was from Lissa, Poland, and arrived in Plymouth in about 1795. He served as beadle, shochet and teacher (and, according to one source, also reader) to the Plymouth Hebrew Congregation, Devon, from at least 1800 until some time prior to 1810. He is believed to be the beadle and shochet, referred to by Rabbi Susser as Joseph ben Judah, who in 1802 was recognized as sufficiently learned to conduct marriage services, his wages at the time being £40 per annum. (Rabbi B. Susser's thesis, "The Jews of South-West England", Chapter 6; Helen Fry's "The Jews of Plymouth", pp.139/140.)

Rev. Joseph Leonard Levy, BA, DD
(24 November 1865 - 26 April 1917)

London-born Rev. J.L. Levy (m. Henrietta Platnauer, 1889) studied at Jews' College, London and at University College, London, Bristol University and, later, the Western University of Pennsylvania. He served as a minister of Bristol Hebrew Congregation (1885-1889) before leaving for the United States, where he served B'nei Israel Congregation, Sacramento, Philadelphia (1893-1901) and Rodeph Shalom Congregation, Pittsburg (from 1901 until his death in 1917). (Jews in Bristol by J. Samuel, 1997, pp.93/4; JC tribute 11 May 1917.)

Rabbi M. Levy

Rev. M. Levy (Rabbi M. Levy from about 1924) was minister of the Wallasey Hebrew Congregation, Wirral, Cheshire (now Merseyside), (1915-c.1932). He previously served the Burnley Hebrew Congregation, Lancashire, possibly in about 1913. (JYB listings; and JC report.)

Rev. Montague Levy
(b. c.1925)

London-born Rev. Levy was educated at Etz Chaim Yeshiva, London and Gateshead Talmudic College and also attended the Guildhall School of Music in London. He held posts at Leyton and Walthamstow New Federated Synagogue (1945), Woolwich and Plumstead Synagogue and Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Synagogue (all in London) and at Northampton Hebrew Congregation (1947-c.1949). In the early 1950s he served as "Minister to the Jewish communities" in the British zone of Germany, based at Cologne. Subsequently he served as minister to the Llandudno Hebrew Congregation, North Wales (c.1952-c.1953). He was the brother of Rev. Raphael H. Levy and Rev. A.A. Levy. (JC report 25 April 1952 and JYB listings.)

Rev. Moses Horowitz Levy
(d. 1837)

Rev. Moses Horowitz (or Horwitz) Levy (also known as Moses Horowitz or possibly Moses Horowitz haLevi), born in Danzig, Germany (now Gdansk, Poland), was the first known, and longest serving, minister of Exeter Synagogue, Devon. He arrived in Exeter in 1792 and served as minister/reader until his death in 1837. He was buried in Exeter's old Jewish cemetery. (The Jews of Exeter by Helen Fry, 2013.)

Rev. Moss Barnett (Benjamin) Levy
(1824 - December 1873)

Educated at Jews' College, Rev. M.B. Levy served as chazan at the Brighton Hebrew Congregation, Sussex (1853-1851), later describing himself as young and inexperienced, his first lecture to the congregation was said to have been "highly creditable to him as a Hebrew scholar and as evincing a respectable acquaintance with the English language". In 1851 he left for the Western Synagogue, St Albans Place, Haymarket, where he established himself as one of the most prominent ministers in London. In 1860 he was put forward by the Chief Rabbi and Sir Moses Montefiore to be minister of the Sydney Hebrew Congregation, Australia, but appears not to have taken up the post, and served for 23 years as the Western synagogue's senior minister until his death. He was for many years secretary to the Westminster Jews' Free School. Rev. Levy not only read prayers and frequently lectured in his synagogue, "but led his own choir, which he took great trouble to train, and which was very successful". Never marrying, his congregation arranged for a monument to be placed on his grave at Brompton Jewish cemetery, Fulham Road. (JC obituary 12 December 1873 and various reports.)

Rabbi Natan Levy

US-born Rabbi Levy holds an MA in Jewish studies from King’s College, London, and received semicha from Rabbi Brovender and Rabbi Riskin in 2006. He was environmental liaison to the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, and interfaith consultant to the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and his (now former) wife, Ariella, served as the Jewish chaplaincy couple for the Bristol and the West of England, based at Bristol University, until 2007. He and rebbetzen Ariella also served as rabbinic couple (part-time) at Shenley United Synagogue (2007-2010). He is the Head of Operations for Faiths Forum for London. (Congregation's website and on-line profile.)

Rev. Naphtali Levy
(1836 (or 1840) - 1894)

Rev. Levy was born in Kolo (now in Poland), son of Rabbi Pinchas Wolf Levy, dayan in Kolo, so came to England in 1874 and was naturalised as a British citizen in 1885. He had been a minister and shochet in London and moved to Southport, Lancashire, for health reasons, where he acted as a shochet (as well as being a boot manufacturer) and helped to found the Southport Hebrew Congregation in 1893. He was a a respected rabbinical scholar and became the congregation's first treasurer. He died in Southport and is buried in West Ham Cemetery, London. ("Philanthropy, Consensus and Broiges...a history of the Southport Jewish Community" by John Cowell, p.600; History on the congregation's website.)

Rev. Raphael Henry Levy, MA
(30 August 1916 - 1985)

London-born Rev. R. Levy (m1. Celia Deborah Gamzu, daughter of Rev. Elkan Gamzu; m2. Stella Rosenberg) studied at Etz Chaim Yeshiva, London, Gateshead Yeshiva, the University of Manchester and Manchester Royal College of Music. He served as reader at Princes Road Synagogue, Liverpool, (1934-1938) and as minister/reader at Preston Synagogue, Lancashire, (1938-1946). During World War II, he served as Jewish Chaplain to the West Lancashire Units of the Army Cadet Corps. From 1946, he was reader at the New West End Synagogue, London, serving also as minister from 1979. In 1954, he conducted the service for the induction of Rabbi Louis Jacobs, by Chief Rabbi Israel Brodie, to the post of rabbi at the Synagogue.  He retired in 1984. He was also an examiner of full-time chazanut students at Jews' College, London for twenty-five years. He is buried at Bushey United Synagogue Cemetery, Hertfordshire. He was the father of Rev. Elkan David Levy and the brother of Rev. Montague Levy and Rev. A.A. Levy. (JC listings and Who's Who; online research; and Jolles's Encyclopaedia.)

Rev. S. J. Levy

Rev. S. J. Levy served as chazan and shochet of the Sunderland Hebrew Congregation until May 1888, when he left the congregation on being appointed to a similar post in Leeds, where in 1894 he and his choir conducted a service at the New Briggate Synagogue, St John's Place. He subsequently served the Hanley Synagogue (later known as Stoke-on-Trent Hebrew Congregation), Staffordshire, from about 1898 until about 1922, initially as minister and from about 1901 as reader. (Arnold Levy, Sunderland Jewish Community, p.91; JC reports; and JYB listings.)

Rev. Solomon Levy
(d.1887)

Rev. Solomon Levy was appointed reader of the Borough Synagogue, south London, in 1862, probably serving until his death, and in 1873, he was also serving as secretary of the Polish Synagogue, Carter Street (later Clothier Street), Cutler Street, Houndsditch, in London's East End. He was also a mohel and served as the secretary of the Initiation Society. He was a officer or committee member of a number of charitable organisations, including the Jewish Workhouse, the Jewish Widows' Home Asylum, the Jewish Soup Kitchen, the Sabbath & Festivals Meal Society and the "Sir Paul Pinder" Society. He was the father of Abraham Levy, headmaster of the Old Castle Street Board School, Rev. Myer Solomon Levy, minister of an number of congregations in California, and Rabbi Joseph Leonard Levy. (Jewish Directory for 1874; Jolles's Encyclopaedia.)

Rabbi Mendel Lew

Manchester-born Rabbi Lew (m. Rivky) studied at the Lubavitch Yeshiva in Tsfat, Israel and Hamline University, St Paul, MN and was awarded semicha in 1987. He served as minister of St Annes Hebrew Congregation, Lancashire (1992-1996), Southend & Westcliff Hebrew Congregation (1996-2006) and Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue, London (2006 to present - May 2021). (LinkedIn account and "Stanmore Ahead of the Game" - article from "Jewish Weekly" 18 May 2017.)

Rev Wolf Lewi
(23 November 1895 - 15 April 1984)

Born in Lodz, Poland, Rev. Lewi (m. Rachel Niman), after his family had moved to Germany, studied at the Academy of Chazanut in Berlin and his first ministerial appointment was at the Ahavas Achim Synagogue, Berlin. He was later appointed oberkantor of the leading congregation in Mannheim, southwest Germany. Rev. Lewi left Germany in 1933, the year the Nazis took power, to take up the position of first reader at the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation, Singers Hill, where he officiated until his retirement in 1965. He was then appointed emeritus minister. (JC obituary 11 May 1984.)

Rev. Abraham Isaac Lewin
(c.1892 - 1960)

Rev. Lewin served as the first and founding minister of Enfield and Winchmore Hill District Hebrew Congregation, London (c.1950-c.1961), having the title hon. minister from about 1953, as he did not seek remuneration for his services. The three-storey house that was to become the synagogue in 1949 was the private home of Rev. Lewin since the 1930s. When the Kindertransport began he and his wife housed more than 20 youngsters. Shortly following his death in 1960 the congregation bought the house. His name is perpetuated by the Abraham Lewin Room in the synagogue and in 1986 a B'nai Brith Lodge in Enfield was also named in his honour. (JC obituary 12 August 1960, letter 12 July 2019; JYB listings; Jewish News report.)

Rabbi Dr. D. Lewin

Dr. D. (or K.) Lewin, an ordained rabbi and himself a refugee from Nazi Germany was the spiritual leadership the Welwyn Garden City Jewish Community, Hertfordshire, during World War II, having served as warden of a Refugee Childrens’ Hostel at Sherrards, Welwyn.  Dr. Lewin was a power of strength right from the inception of the community, visiting most people regularly, canvassing for new members, organising religious withdrawal classes from local schools, collecting weekly contributions and conducting services with great efficiency and dignity. (Welwyn Garden City Synagogue website.)

Rabbi Alan Lewis

Rabbi Lewis (m. Miriam - an educator in Gateshead, Jerusalem and London) was born and brought up in Manchester and gained semicha at the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. His first post was as minister of Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation (1988-1989). He then served as minister at Wanstead & Woodford Synagogue, London (1990-2006) and Yeshurun Synagogue, Edgware, London (2006 until present - May 2021). He also serves as the Registrar of the Federation Bet Din. (JYB listings; JC reports; and Federation of Synagogues website.)

Rabbi Dovid Y. Lewis, MA

Manchester-born Rabbi D.Y. Lewis (m. Nachi Segelman, a seminary graduate and qualified teacher) studied at yeshivot in England and at Kfar Chabad, Israel, and received semicha in Israel in 1999, after which he moved to the Crimea for 18 months where he opened and ran the first Jewish day school. He has a BA with Hons. from Jews College and SOAS as well as an MA from Durham University. Following his service as youth director at the Chigwell and Hainault Synagogue, Essex, he served as a minister of the Newcastle United Hebrew Congregation from 2005 before he and Rebbetzen Lewis were appointed as the rabbinic couple at South Manchester Synagogue in Bowden in 2011, where they continue to serve (as of March 2024). (JYB listings; JC reports.)

Rev. Moses Lewis
(c.1842 - 21 September 1922)

A Rev. Moses Lewis served as shochet, and probably second reader, at the Plymouth Hebrew Congregation, Devon, for less than a full year from 1884 until 1885. It is uncertain whether this is the same Rev. Moses Lewis (m. Gertrude), born in Sakery, Poland, who served as chazan of the Cardiff Hebrew Congregation from about 1873 to about 1887 (although possible not continuous). He was then elected president of that the Cardiff synagogue and honorary minister. There is reference to a Rev. M. Lewis, who in 1885 was appointed shochet and mohel in Cardiff at £70 per annum and it is believed that this refers to the reappointment of the Rev. M. Lewis, first appointed in 1873, but this is not certain. Rev. Lewis subsequently moved to London and as a member of the Brondesbury Synagogue, frequently officiated at services. He was buried at Willesden United Synagogue cemetery. One source also refers to a Rev. I. Lewis being given six months' notice to quit in 1878 by the Cardiff congregation "unless he conducts the service with more devotion". It is not known whether this is the same man as Rev. M. Lewis. (Rabbi B. Susser's thesis, "The Jews of South-West England", Chapter 6; Helen Fry's "The Jews of Plymouth", p.46; Jolles's Encyclopaedia, pp. 686/7; Cardiff congregation's website.)

Rabbi Theodore (Teddy) Lewis
(1915 - 2010)

Irish born Rabbi Lewis studied at Mir yeshiva in Poland from 1935 to 1939 and obtained an MA degree from Trinity College Dublin. He served as minister to the Dublin Hebrew Congregation (1944-1948) and was the first Irish born minister to be appointed by an Irish synagogue. He left Dublin in 1949 and became minister at the historic Truro Synagogue, Newport, Rhode Island (1949-1985) becoming an American citizen in 1959. In 1959 Rabbi Lewis appeared as a guest in an episode of the popular American television game show To Tell the Truth which enabled him to tell his story of becoming the only Irish born rabbi in America. (Television show, with transcript.) (JC various reports; JYB listings.)

Mr. Lawrence J. Libgott

Mr. Libgott was assistant at the Birmingham Hebrew National School from 1899, having come from the Jews' Free School in London. He succeeded Moses Berlyn as headmaster on 1 August 1904. At that time he was the youngest headmaster of a large school in the country, more than 700 children were in attendance. He retired in December 1941. (JC report 12 December 1941.)

Rev. Bernard (Barnett) Lichtenstein
(20 June 1844 - 19 June 1892)

Born at Neustadt, Prussia (today Wejherowo in northern Poland), Rev. Lichtenstein (or Liechstenstein) was minister at Bath Synagogue, Somerset, (c.1867-c.1871). He was then appointed chazan and shochet to the Nottingham Hebrew Congregation (c.1871-1874). In 1875 the Nottingham congregation presented him with a purse of £44 on his departure for Dunedin, New Zealand. In his first year at Dunedin he opened a Jewish school with 49 children on the roll, and in 1880, as Rabbi Lichtenstein, he conducted the service of laying the foundation stone of the new synagogue. He died in Dunedin, a day before his 48th birthday, leaving a widow and nine children. (JC obituary 19 August 1892; various reports; Nelson Fisher, Eight Hundred Years, The Story of Nottingham's Jews; and online research.)

Dayan Yisroel Yaakov Lichtenstein

Dayan Lichtenstein grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and studied at a number of yeshivot in the United States and Israel before moving to Britain. He has served as Rosh Beis Din of the Federation of Synagogues and rav of the Hendon Beis Hamedrash, London from 1988 to present (July 2020). (Federation of Synagogues website.)

Rabbi Dr. Isaac Emil Lichtigfeld
(1894 - 1967)

Rabbi Lichtigfeld was born in Burstyn, Galicia, and his family having moved to Germany he served in the German army during World War I. He practised as a lawyer in Dusseldorf and sought refuge in Britain in about 1933. Having studied at Jews' College he served as minister of Cricklewood Synagogue, London (1939-c.1946). After the war, the Chief Rabbi's Religious Emergency Council sent him to the British Zone in occupied Germany to investigate the needs of Jewish refugees and he made a similar investigation about Jewish detainees in Cyprus. He later served as rabbi in Frankfurt and Land Rabbi of Hessen (1954-1967). He was chair of the Conference of Rabbis in Germany and was president of Germany's United Jewish Appeal. (The Lost Synagogues of London by P. Renton, 2000, p 153; and JC obituary 5 January 1968.)

Rev. Bernaman (Benjamin) Benas Lieberman
(1889 - August 1976)

Rev. B. Lieberman (initially spelled Liebermann) (m. Irene Cohen) was educated at Jews' College and was Hollier Hebrew scholar at the University of London. He was awarded the Albert Lowy Prize and the Alfred Cohen Scholarship which took him to Oxford University and he also acted as minister at the Oxford Synagogue for a time (in and about 1910). In 1914, he was appointed minister of the Higher Broughton Synagogue, Manchester, and in 1915 Rev Lieberman became minister of the Brighton Hebrew Congregation (later renamed the Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation), Sussex. He raised funds for wartime refugees and visited wounded soldiers at four local hospitals. At the end of 1916 Rev Lieberman received permission from the Congregation to become a chaplain to the forces, and he served in France. After the war, he resumed congregational duties at Brighton until 1930, when he entered the legal profession. He had been called to the Bar some time in the 1920s and in 1930 joined his brother, Reuben, as a practising solicitor in London. He served as a warden of Cricklewood Synagogue for several years during the 1930's and 1940s and was later acting chair to the Board of Deputies of British Jews in about 1948, became its treasurer, and in 1955 was elected the Board's Vice President. He was the author of the History of the Cricklewood Synagogue (1956). (JC obituary 3 September 1976, report 3 January 1930. His war-time record is set out here. See also report of his time at Oxford in H. Pollins's Ministers in Oxford.)

Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Lieberman
(b. 1960)

Chicago-born Rabbi Liberman (m. Feigy) had studied at yeshivot in Philadelphia, Israel, New York and Montreal, where he received his rabbinic semicha. He moved to Britain in 1985 and served as minister of Kingston, Surbiton & District Affiliated Synagogue, London, (1985-1990) before becoming rav of Edgware Adath Yisroel Congregation, London (1990 to present - May 2021). (Profile on Edgware Adath Yisroel Congregation's website; JC report of 6 April 1990.)

Rabbi Naftali Lifschitz

Gateshead-born Rabbi Lifschitz studied at Jerusalem’s Mir Yeshivah and at Gateshead Yeshiva, where he received rabbinical semicha. He is a qualified therapist and has served as part-time minister at the Hull Hebrew Congregation (2012-2019) and Glasgow's Newton Mearns Synagogue (2019 to present - April 2020). (JC reports, on-line professional profile and Newton Mearns website.)

Cantor Lima (Shimshon bar Lima or Lima ben Ze'ev)

Cantor Lima (m. Sheincha, d. 1793) was appointed (second) reader to the Plymouth Hebrew Congregation, Devon, in 1786 and served until at least 1816. His name is given as Shimshon bar Lima in the congregation's Pinkas, where he is referred to a "Chazan Rishon" (First Cantor or Reade, ralthough at the time Rev. Jacob Judah ben Benjamin was still first reader). Rabbi Susser refers to him as Lima ben Ze'ev, second cantor. His salary was £25 per annum in 1796, 3 guineas per month (£37.80 per annum) in 1800, £42 per annum in 1802 and £50 per annum in 1816. (Rabbi B. Susser's thesis, "The Jews of South-West England", Chapter 6; Helen Fry's "The Jews of Plymouth", p.138.)

Rabbi David Lincoln

London-born Rabbi Lincoln (m. 1965 Susan Redom, d.2017), the son of Captain F. Ashe Lincoln, Q.C., R.N.V.R., a distinquished naval officer, barrister and Jewish communal leader, and the grandson of Rev. Reuben A. Tribich (Lincoln), was educated at Gateshead Yeshiva and Yeshiva Kol Torah in Jerusalem. He studied law in London. He served as minister of the Portsmouth and Southsea Hebrew Congregation from 1965 until late 1967, during which period he received semicha. His semicha was obtained from Etz Chaim Yeshiva in London and in Israel. He then pursued a career as a Conservative rabbi in the United States, serving for 18 years in Kansas City and Chicago, then at Congregation Beth Hillel at Wilmette Illinois, and from 1987 at the leading Conservative congregation at Park Avenue Synagogue, on New York's Upper East side. (JC profile 2 July 1965, Interview New York Jewish Week 13 August 2008.)

Rev. Arnold Linden
(c.1927 - October 1956)

Rev. Linden (m. Anne) and his father were the only family members to survive the Holocaust. He studied chazanut at Jews' College, London and became reader at North Finchley and Woodside Park District Synagogue, London (1954-1956). He also taught at the Hebrew classes at Mile End and Bow District Synagogue. Rev Linden, aged 27, was tragically killed in a road traffic accident while returning from a funeral at Rainham cemetery. (JYB listing, JC obituary 2 November 1956 and reports.)

Rev. Jacob Lindiner
(b. c.1826)

Hungarian-born Rev. Lindiner (aka Linder) was reader (chazan) of Bristol Hebrew Congregation (1851-1854) and also served short term at the Hull Hebrew Congregation, Robinson Row, Hull. (Jews in Bristol by J. Samuel, 1997, p.87; Jolles's Encyclopaedia.)

Rev. Benjamin Lipkin
(1860 - 20 April 1943)

Born in Vitebsk (today in Belarus), Rev. Lipkin (m. Rebecca Dembo) served as minister of the South Shields Synagogue, Co. Durham, from about 1890 until about 1900. In 1903 he conducted High Holyday services at the Waterloo Synagogue, Manchester. He became minister at Boksburg, South Africa, around 1911 and later served in Johannesburg. Author of Meditations on Many Subjects, published in Johannesburg in 1943, the year that he died. ("The Jewish Communities of North-East England" by Lewis Olsover (1980), pp.256-260, JC various reports, JYB listings and internet research.)

Rev Goodman (George) Lipkind
(1878 - 1 May 1973)

Born in Whitechapel, London, Rev. Lipkind (m. Charlotte Harris in New York in 1915), was a graduate of Jews' College and St Johns College Cambridge. His only known posts in the UK were briefly as assistant minister, second reader and teacher at Brighton Hebrew Congregation, Sussex, (1898-1899) and as assistant Jewish chaplain to Pentonville prison, London, in 1902. He was a guest preacher at many synagogues in London, as well as in Birmingham, Manchester and Northampton (1900), and a regular speaker at the Jews' College Society and to Jewish literary societies. From about 1906 Rev. Lipkind supported the Jewish Religious Union in London, out of which Liberal Judaism was founded. His shift away from Orthodoxy strengthened after he emigrated to the USA where he directed the Emmanu-El Brotherhood, a branch organisation of Temple Emanu-El, New York. Later in his career minister at Sinai Synagogue, Milwaukee, he accepted the call from the large United Hebrew Congregation of St. Louis, Missouri, which "though conservative in tendency, is ready to adopt Reform principles under its new Minister." He wrote several articles for the Jewish Encyclopedia (1906). He died at Long Beach, Nassau County, New York. Rev Lipkin is said to have inspired the fictional character, Joseph Strelitski, the rabbi who emigrated to America in Israel Zangwill's Children of the Ghetto. (JC report 4 August 1911 and internet research.)

Rev. Nathan Lipman
(1847 - 4 July 1921))

Rev. Lipman (m. Leah), born in Suwalki, was the son of Rabbi Marcus Lipman. He was educated at Slabodka Yeshiva and received semicha from both Rabbi Paltrowitz of Novgorod and Rabbi Chaim Berliner (although he did not initially use the title Rabbi in Britain). He arrived in Britain at the age of 22 and was appointed Maggid of the Chevra Mikra, in London's East End. He entered the study circle of Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler at his house in Finsbury Square. He served as minister at the Falmouth Hebrew Congregation, Cornwall, between about 1871 and 1875. He was appointed Rosh Hashochetim (Chief Shochet) in about 1874, serving for more than 40 years until he retired in 1918. He was buried in Willesden Jewish Cemetery. ("The Lost Jews of Cornwall" edited by Keith Pearce and Helen Fry, pp. 167/8; Jolles's Encyclopaedia.)

Rev. S.H. Lipschitz
(b. c.1871)

Rev. Lipschitz was born in Timkowitzki. In 1905, he conducted the Passover service at the Hull Central Synagogue, Yorkshire, immediately afterward which he was elected reader by the congregation. (JC reports)

Rabbi Aaron Lipsey, MA

Rabbi A. Lipsey (m. Miriam) was educated in Manchester and studied at Chabad yeshivot in London, Kfar Chabad (Israel), and New York. He was full-time rabbi of the Sale and District Hebrew Congregation, Greater Manchester from 2004 until 2011, when he was appointed rabbi of the Newcastle United Hebrew Congregation, serving until the present (March 2024).  Rabbi Lipsey is student chaplain for Durham, Newcastle, Teesside and Northumbria universities. He obtained a Masters degree in Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester in 2016. (Newcastle Uniter Hebrew congregation website.)

Rev. David Lipsidge
(b. c.1925)

From Glasgow, Rev. Lipsidge (m. Judith) served in Liverpool before being appointed minister/reader of the Swansea Hebrew Congregation (1961-1962). He was later minister to the Northampton Hebrew Congregation (1966-1969) and left for Salford. (1980 souvenir brochure of the Swansea congregation, pp.55/63; A Short History of the Jews of Northampton by Michael Jolles, Appendix 3 List of Ministers at Northampton; and JYB listings.)

Rev. Solomon Lipson
(c.1878 - 19 November 1959)

Sheffield-born Rev. Lipson (m Tilly daughter of Rev. H. Shandel, chazan of the Ramsgate Synagogue) studied at Jews' College, London. He was for eight years headmaster of the Notting Hill Talmud Torah and, under the Jewish Religious Education Board, superintendent at the St Mary's and Brick Lane schools in London's East End. From 1903 till 1909 he was minister of the North-West London Synagogue, Kentish Town, then minister and superintendent of the religion classes at Hammersmith and West Kensington Synagogue (where he served for almost 30 years, from 1909 until 1938 and thereafter in an emeritus capacity). During World War I, Rev. Lipson was a senior chaplain to the British Forces (serving as visiting minister of the Aldershot Military Synagogue c.1917-c.1918 and as temporary visiting minister for much of the 1920s) and was mentioned in dispatches. He was for 47 years chaplain to the County Asylums and particularly Friern Hospital, Colney Hatch. For a time as an Established Officer in the Mental Hospitals Department of the London County Council, he also had responsibility for hospitals in Epsom, Banstead, and Coulsdon, in Surrey. On the occasion of his retirement as Jewish chaplain to the Mental Health Service in 1953 (when he pointed out that there were at the time over 600 Jewish patients at Friern Hospital), he was presented with an illuminated address by the medical staff expressing the esteem in which he was held (see text). In 1958 he became Chaplain to the Mayor of Southgate, Mrs. Ruth Winston, his daughter. He served as President of the Union of Anglo-Jewish Preachers. Rev. Lipson was the grandfather of Lord Winston of Hammersmith, professor, medical doctor, scientist and television presenter. (JC obituary 27 November 1959; The History of the Hammersmith Synagogue by Rev. Adler; Tribute in The Brook No. 26.)

Rabbi David Lister, MA

Manchester-born Rabbi Lister (m. Rachie) studied for rabbinical semicha in Sha'arei Torah Yeshiva in Manchester and Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem and received his MA in Jewish Education from the University of London. He served as minister of Reading Hebrew Congregation (1997-2000), Muswell Hill Synagogue, London (2000-2007) and Edgware United Synagogue, London (2008 to present - August 2023). He is the father of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lister. (Rabbi Lister's profile on Edgware Synagogue's website.)

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lister

Jerusalem-born Rabbi M. Lister, the son of Rabbi David Lister, grew up in London, where he attended the Hasmonean High School. On leaving school he returned to Israel to study at Yeshivas Bais Yisroel and the Jerusalem Kollel, where he received semicha in 2021 under the auspices of Rabbi Yitzchok Berkovits. Rabbi Lister and his wife, Melbourne-born Miri (née Koppel), were then appointed as the assistant rabbinic couple at Bushey United Synagogue, Hertfordshire, serving until present (August 2023). Profile on Bushey Synagogue website, last accessed August 2023.)

Rev. Israel Litovitch (or Litovitz)
(c. 1872 - 9 January 1936)

Rev. I. Litovitch (m. Sonia, d. 1937) served as minister and shochet of the Exeter Hebrew Congregation, Devon, from January 1895 until May 1897. He then served the Chester Hebrew Congregation, Cheshire, from 1898 for a short period, after which he moved to  London where he lived for several years. He subsequently served as minister of the South Shields Synagogue, Co. Durham, from about 1903 until about 1910, although he is believed to have been minister of the rival South Shields New Hebrew Congregation during the earlier part of this period, before the two congregations were reconciled. He served as reader, shochet and teacher of the Swansea Beth Hamedrash in the mid/late 1920s, leaving in about 1930. He later served as minister in Port Talbot in the 1930s, where he died. He is buried in Swansea Townhill cemetery (view details and image of gravestone). ("The Jewish Communities of North-East England" by Lewis Olsover (1980), pp. 256-260, JC report and JYB listings; Exeter Synagogue Archives - copy notice of termination of employment; 1980 souvenir brochure of the Swansea congregation, p.67.)

Rev. Asher Littenberg
(c.1877 - November 1966)

Rev. Littenberg, born in the district of Karlish in Poland, (m. Clara Milly Isaacs in 1902), was the son of Rev. Myer Hersh Littenberg of Slupca, Poland. He was appointed chazan at Povitz before his 17th birthday, arriving in the UK aged about 18. His first known post in Britain was as reader and later secretary of the Derby Hebrew Congregation (c.1899-c.1902), being the first known minister for that congregation. For almost a decade (c.1903-c.1912) he served the Bradford Hebrew Congregation, where he was also Hon Investigator of the Jewish Benevolent Society (investigating claims of hardship by Jews arriving in or travelling through Bradford). From 1912 Rev Littenberg's career was in London, where initially he was appointed second reader at the Great Synagogue, Dukes Place, and he then served as second reader of Bayswater Synagogue, London (c.1919-c.1923). In 1927 he was elected reader at Golders Green Synagogue, north west London. In both Bradford and Golders Green he was a colleague to Rev. I. Livingstone. He retired in 1934. (JYB listings and JC obituary 2 December 1966, profile 7 January 1927, and various reports.)

Rabbi James Littman
(c.1861 - 6 March 1937)

Polish-born Rev. (later Rabbi) Littman served as minister of the Aberdeen Hebrew Congregation (1893-c.1896) and briefly the Waterford Hebrew Congregation, Ireland (1890s). He came to London by the late 1890s and worked as a shochet for the Board of Shechita. On retirement he became active in the Orthodox community in South Hackney, giving shiurim and holding office in the Chevra Tehillim and Bikur Cholim societies. (Scottish Jewish Archives Centre and JC obituary 12 March 1937.)

Rev. Isaac Livingstone
(4 May 1885 - 24 September 1979)

Rev. Livingstone, born in Nottingham, was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, Aria College, Southsea, Jews' College and University College, London. He was appointed Jewish chaplain to the British Forces in Aldershot, Hampshire in 1907 and in 1909 he became minister to the Bradford Hebrew Congregation, Yorkshire. In 1916 he took up a "call" to the recently established Golders Green Synagogue, north west London, where he served until retirement in 1954 and afterwards as emeritus minister. From 1923 he was honorary secretary and treasurer of the Union of Anglo-Jewish Preachers and from 1925 honorary secretary of the Conference of Anglo Jewish Preachers. Rev. Livingstone is said to have held more offices in communal organisations than any other minister except the Chief Rabbi. He regarded himself as "a very English minister," but was keen to remain on good terms with all sections of the Jewish community. In retirement for about 25 years, he could be seen "in black canonicals in his special pew at the synagogue in Dunstan Road, he was the picture of a man at peace with himself". Known affectionately as the Bishop of Golders Green, he was often called by the Chief Rabbi to represent the community on national and Church based organisations, such as the London Churches Group. Author of Jewish Life Interpreted (1939). (JC reports, and obituary and tributes, September 1979; and online research. Picture at right courtesy of Lynne Fertleman from her article: The Establishment of Golders Green Synagogue.)

Rabbi Reuben Livingstone

Rabbi (Major) Livingstone, LLM, CF, is Jewish chaplain to HM Forces and honorary chaplain to the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women (AJEX) and from time to time served as visiting chaplain to a number of congregations and communities. (Internet research.)

Rabbi Chaim Shmuel Lopian
(1909 - 29 November 1998)

Rabbi Chaim Lopian (m. Lieba, daughter of Rav Ephraim Tzvi Bloch, c.1936) was born in Kelm, Lithuania, a son of HaRav Elyahu Lopian ("Reb Elya") and came to Britain in about 1929, where he studied for a while in the Etz Chaim Yeshiva of London, where his father was rosh yeshiva. During World War II, he evacuated to Letchworth, Hertfordshire, together with his father. Later, after his marriage, he moved to Gateshead, joining the recently-founded Gateshead Yeshiva, which  functioned in his home. In 1948, he was appointed to the position of ram (rosh mesivta- senior lecturer) of the Etz Chaim Yeshiva in Montreux, Switzerland, and afterward as ram in Sunderland Yeshiva. In 1979, he emigrated to Israel and at the time of his death was the rosh kollel of Aliyos Eliyahu - Tiferes Yitzchok, Jerusalem, name in memory of his father. (Online obituary.)

Rabbi Elyahu Lopian (Reb Elya)
(1876 - 21 September 1970)

Reb Elya Lopian was born in Grajewo, Poland, (m. Soroh Leah Rotman, d. 1934) and studied at the yeshiva in Lomza and at the Kelm Talmud Torah of Simcha Zissel Ziv. He was considered a leading rabbi of the Mussar Movement. In 1928, he emigrated to Britain, where he was the rosh yeshiva of the Etz Chaim Yeshiva in the East End of London, working for many years alongside Rabbi Nachman Shlomo Greenspan. In 1940, he self evacuated to Letchworth, Hertfordshire, together with many members of his family, but later returned to London. For many years, Reb Elya had wanted to make his home in the Israel, and in 1950 he left the Etz Chaim Yeshiva and emigrated to Israel. Reb Elya initially refused to lead mussar seminars in Israel and sought to occupy himself with teaching and private moral work. However with the blessing of Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz (the "Chazon Ish"), he agreed to teach and served as Mashgiach Ruchani at the Knesses Chizkiyahu yeshiva, Zichron Ya'akov (and later Kfar Hasidim). During this period, he became a magnet for young religious men from all over Israel, and beyond. Reb Elya had 13 children, including Rabbi Simcha Zissel Lopian of Yeshivat Toras Emes, London; Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Lopian, United States; Rebbetzin Liba, the wife of Rabbi Leib Gurwicz; Rabbi Chaim Shmuel Lopian of Sunderland Yeshiva; Rabbi Leib Lopian of Gateshead Yeshiva; Rabbi Eliezer Lopian of Yeshivat Toras Emes, London; Rebbetzin Pearl, wife of Rabbi Barney Klein, of London and Jerusalem; Rabbi Benzion Lapian, of London and Hong Kong; Rabbi Zvi Hershel Lopian (murdered in the Holocaust); Rebbetzin Rochel Vilenski, Jerusalem; and Rebbetzin Chaya Pinski, Jerusalem.  He died in Israel and was buried in the Mount of Olives Cemetery, Jerusalem. A street was named in his honor in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem. (Discussions with family members.)

Dayan Gershon Lopian
(1936 - 30 January 2014)

Portsmouth-born Dayan Lopian (m. Judy Saberski) was the eldest son of HaRav Leib Lopian, rosh yeshiva of the Gateshead Yeshiva, and a grandson of Rav Elya (Elyahu) Lopian. Dayan Lopian studied at Gateshead Yeshiva, at Kfar Chassidim, Israel (under his grandfather), at the Chevron Yeshiva, Jerusalem and at the Sunderland Kollel; and received semicha from Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, as well as Rav Chanoich Henach Padwa and Rav Moshe Feinstein. He served as minister of Yeshurun Synagogue, Edgware, London from 1976 until his retirement in 2006 and remained rav emeritus of the congregation until his death. (JYB listings and obituary in Hamodia.)

Rabbi Leib Lopian
(15 July 1908 - 30 August 1979)

HaRav Leib (or Aryeh Leib) Lopian (m. Sarah Leah Rotman) was born in Kelm, Lithuania, a son of HaRav Elyahu Lopian ("Reb Elya"), and studied at Telz yeshiva. He joined Gateshead Yeshiva in 1947 and served its Rosh Yeshiva until his death in 1979, for much of the time jointly with his brother-in-law, Rabbi Leib Gurwicz. He died in Gateshead and is buried in the Gateshead Old section of the Hazelrigg Jewish cemetery, North Tyneside (view image of gravestone). He was the father of Dayan Gershon Lopian. (The Jewish Communities of North-East England by Lewis Olsover, 1980; Gateshead Yeshiva Alumni website; online reserach.)

Rev. Jonathan D. Lorraine

London born Rev. Lorraine (m. Sandra) was an architecture student and laboratory technician in the United States before attending Jews' College, London. Prior to 1969 Rev. Lorraine was assistant chaplain to Rev. Malcolm Weisman as visiting minister for the small communities and universities. He served as minister of Barking & Becontree Affiliated Synagogue, London (1969-1973) and at Portsmouth and Southsea Hebrew Congregation (1973-c.1975). He was subsequently minister of Loughton Synagogue, northeast London, for over 30 years, from about 1976 until retiring at the end of March 2007, when he was appointed emeritus minister. Later in 2007 he was engaged on a part-time interim basis at the Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation. (JYB listings; and JC various reports.)

Rabbi Dr Simeon Lowy
(1921 - May 2008)

Czech born Rabbi Lowy moved with his family to British Mandate Palestine in 1934, where he attended yeshiva before graduating from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a degree in rabbinics, Jewish philosophy and history, and a teaching diploma. A high school teacher, Rabbi Lowy fought in Israel's war of independence. He was minister to the Jewish community in Manila, the Philippines (1952-1957). He then came to England to take up a Fellowship at the Institute of Jewish Studies and from 1960 until 1987 he taught at the University of Leeds. He received semicha from Jews' College, London, in 1961. In about 1979 he became part-time minister and reader to the the Harrogate Hebrew Congregation, Yorkshire, while still teaching at Leeds University. He was a Fellow of Jews' College, London and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Jewish Studies at University College London. He retired in 1987 and moved to Israel. (JYB listings; and online biography.)

Rev. Isidore Lubetzki
(c.1883 - 15 April 1950)

Rev. I. Lubetzki (also spelled Lubetsky) served as the last minister of Stroud Synagogue, Gloucestershire (c.1905-c.1907) and as reader, shochet and teacher to the Chester Hebrew Congregation (1907-c.1908). In 1914, he was the teacher in the Hebrew religion classes in Dunfermline, Scotland. He is buried in Glenduffhill Cemetery, Glasgow. (View SJC image of gravestone and burial records.) (JYB listing and JC reports.)

Rev. Lazarus Lubetzki
(22 September 1865 - 1 October 1954)

Rev. L. Lubetzki was born in Touretz (now in Belarus) and studied for eight years at the famous Volozhin Yeshiva (located in what today is Valozyn, Belarus). He was minister of the Northampton Hebrew Congregation during a pastoral visit by the chief rabbi in 1893 and appears to have served that congregation until at least 1894. He was then shochet of the Brighton and Hove Hebrew Congregation, Sussex, from 1897 and was still serving the community when he died there in 1954. According to his obituary, Rev. Lubetzki "campaigned for kashrut and he considered it his mission to inspire others to understand its importance in Jewish life. His shiurim attracted the youth as well as the older people, for he possessed the ability to explain the ancient pages of the Talmud in a lucid and logical manner". (A Short History of the Jews of Northampton by Michael Jolles; JC obituary, 1 October 1954.)

Rev. Abraham Lubin
(b. 1937)

London-born Rev. Lubin (m. Sandy) spent part of his childhood in British Mandate Palestine. He returned to the UK and studied at Etz Chaim yeshiva and Jews' College, London, where he trained as a chazan. He also received the Associate of the London College of Music Diploma (A.L.C.M.). In 1955 a Rev A Lubin, formerly of Leeds, was first reader of the South Broughton Synagogue, Manchester (but it is unclear whether this is the same person). At seventeen Rev. Lubin was chazan at the Jubilee Street Zionist Synagogue in London, and at nineteen he became chazan at Bayswater Synagogue, London where he served for about eight months (1957-c.1958). Rev Lubin emigrated to the United States in 1958, and served for ten years with the Beth Abraham Synagogue in Dayton, Ohio, then at Congregation Rodfei Zedek and Anshe Amet Synagogue in Chicago and from 1990 until his retirement in 2011 at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, Maryland. He obtained further qualifications in music, edited the Journal of Synagogue music, and was President of the Conservative Cantors Assembly in the USA (1995-1997). (JYB listing; JC reports 9 September 1955 and 20 April 1962; internet research. Video clip in which Rev Lubin explains his role as cantor.)

Rev. Sidney Israel Lubin
(c.1916 - 23 January 1983)

Rev. Lubin, formerly Lubiner, (m. Sadie) was first reader at South Broughton Synagogue in Manchester. In the late 1950s he was minister to the small but international Hebrew Temple congregation in Manila, the Philippines. From 1961 to about 1962, he served as chazan at the Coventry Hebrew Congregation where, according to the congregation's historian, he brought "a note of theatricality and American showmanship" to the services. Rev. Lubin introduced the congregation's first Bat Mitzvah ceremony and set up a Jewish Friendship club. He is listed as rabbi of Congregation Agudas Israel in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1965. In 1977 Rabbi Sidney Lubin was described as the newly appointed rabbi in Jamaica. He died in Florida, USA. (JC 6 June 1958 regarding Rev Lubin's ministry in the Philippines. and various reports; JYB listings; Harry Levine, The Jews of Coventry 1970 p.45; and internet research.)

Rev. Morris Lubner
(c.1885 - 16 March 1930)

Rev. Lubner (m. Sophie, the daughter of Rev. Jacob Miller) served as reader and shochet at Swansea Hebrew Congregation for 17 years (1906-1922) and then moved to become reader and teacher at Garnethill Synagogue, Glasgow, from 1922 until about 1924. He then served as minister and reader at Walford Road Synagogue, Stoke Newington, London (1924-1930) until his sudden death, aged 45. He was an active supporter of the Zionist movement. He is buried in the Edmonton Federation cemetery, London N18. (JC obituaries and tributes 21 March and 4 April 1930, 1980 souvenir brochure of the Swansea congregation, p.49; and various reports.)

Alfred Lubran

Alfred Lubran (m. Beatrice Bennister, BSc) was first warden then principal of the Norwood Jewish Orphanage in south London from 1945 to 1950. In 1952 he was appointed headmaster to a new school at Meeting House Lane, Peckham, south London, for children with special needs. Four years later he was appointed principal to Irton Hall, a new residential school in Cumbria run by the National Spastics Society. (Various JC reports.)

Rabbi Jacob David Lurie
(1869 - 13 April 1957)

Born in the yeshiva town of Slabodka, Poland (today a neighbourhood in Kaunas Lithuania), where his father was a noted Talmudist, Rabbi Lurie (m. Ita Beila) was appointed Rosh Yeshiva in Bialystock when he was a young man. He came to Britain in 1907, serving as a rabbi in Hull in 1907, where he held classes for adults in all branches of Biblical and Talmudical knowledge. He worked among Jewish transmigrants who passed through Hull, and in 1908 he was appointed to supervise the newly opened kosher kitchen at the railway station to assist such transmigrants. Although he served as the Rav of the Hull Beth Hamedrash (c.1912-1916), he was held in high esteem throughout the Hull community. He gave farewell sermons in at least two of Hull's synagogue on his departure in 1916 to take up the appoinment as Rav at the new Machzikei Hadas Synagogue, Glasgow. In about 1923 (on the closure of Machzikei Hadas) he was appointed Rav of Glasgow's Chevra Kadisha Synagogue, where he served until his death in 1957. Rabbi Lurie was Av Beth Din in Glasgow for 30 years and was Hon. President of the Glasgow Yeshiva and of the local Sabbath Observance Organisation. He was a noted Talmudic scholar, yet widely recognised as a popular rabbi and a "man of the People". He is buried at the Chevra Kadisha cemetery, Glasgow. He was the father of Dr. Solomon Lurie who served for 25 years as president of the Hull Western Synagogue. (JC obituary 26 April 1957; "Second City Jewry" by Dr. K.E. Collins (1990); press report of 1 September 1916; and JYB listings.)

Rev. Samuel Lynn
(b. 1927)

Rev. Lynn was raised and educated in Kishinev (today capital of Moldova) and studied at the yeshiva there until 1940 when he moved to Jassy (today Iasy), Romania, to study at the Conservatoire of Music and Drama. In 1960 he and his family emigrated to Israel. He later came to Britain and in 1963 was appointed chazan to the Southport Hebrew Congregation, Lancashire. Apart from a short period when he returned to Israel he served at Southport until about 1965. ("Philanthropy, Consensus and Broiges...a history of the Southport Jewish Community" by John Cowell, p.671, JC profile 30 August 1963 and various reports.)

Chief Rabbi Hart Lyon
(1721 - 26 August 1800)

Rabbi Hirschel Ben Arye Löb Levin (m. Golda), better known in Britain as Rabbi Hart Lyon (and also known as Hirshel Löbel), was born in Rzeszow, (Reisha), Poland and was the son of Aryeh Loeb Loewensramn (also known as Saul Levin), a rabbi in Amsterdam. He was a distinguished Talmudist and was elected in 1756 to become Britain's second Chief Rabbi (the first to actually be appointed as Chief Rabbi), although he appears to have accepted such post only in 1758. He was also rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Dukes Place, London. He resigned in 1763, ostensibly following a disagreement with the wardens of the synagogue, but it appears that his resignation was occasioned primarily by what he saw as the neglect of Biblical and Talmudic studies by the Jews of London. He was the only rabbi of the Great Synagogue not to die in office and the only Chief Rabbi not to do so until the resignation of Rabbi Brodie in 1965, following the adoption of rules for compulsory retirement. Upon his resignation, he accepted an offer to become rabbi of Halberstadt, Germany and afterward became rabbi of Mannheim. In 1772 he was appointed chief rabbi of Berlin serving as such until his death. In 1802, his youngest son, Rabbi Solomon Hirschell became Britain's fourth Chief Rabbi. ("The Rabbinate of Hart Lyon, 1758-1764" in the History of the Great Synagogue, by Cecil Roth (1950);  "Jewish Encyclopedia" online article on Hirschel ben Aryeh Löb Levin.)

Rev. D. Lyons

Rev. D. Lyons of North Shields conducted services at Durham Synagogue in 1909. Subsequent Rev. D. Lyons served the South Shields Hebrew Congregation from about 1911 to 1912. (JC reports.)