Jews and Judaism in North East England
Encyclopedia
The Jewish presence in north east England
is focused on a number of important towns.
is the home to a small community of Haredi
Jews, acclaimed for its higher educational institutions. Talmud
ic students from many countries come to Gateshead to attend its yeshiva
s and kollel
s. Young Jewish women come to study at the Teacher Training College and Beis Chaya Rochel.
Based in the Bensham area, the community includes a few hundred families.
The community was established at the end of the 19th century when Eastern Europe
an Jewish refugees, Eliezer Adler
and Zachariah Bernstone chose to leave the Newcastle upon Tyne
congregation, whom they viewed as too lenient in religious matters, and crossed the river to set up a new synagogue. Following the Holocaust
, Gateshead became home to the largest Orthodox Jewish education complex in postwar Europe, and the most significant outside of the United States and Israel
. This can partly be attributed to the arrival of Orthodox
Jewish refugees who were fleeing the European mainland during the Nazi
era. As a result, Gateshead became an important centre of Torah Judaism
.
The Gateshead Talmudical College
is an important and well known Haredi
advanced yeshiva
in Gateshead attracting students from all over the world.
Pictures of Jewish institutions in Gateshead
before 1830 although there is a tradition that the community dates from 1775. It is thought, however, that over 500 years prior to this Jews resided in Silver Street (formerly known as Jew Gate).
On October 8, 1832, the congregation was formally established. The cathedral bells were rung when the first synagogue, in Temple Street, was officially opened on July 13, 1838. The Newcastle Courant published a headline in Hebrew.
By 1845 the congregation had grown to 33 adults and 33 children. Through the course of time nearly all the original founders either died or had left the city, but the influx of Polish and Russian immigrants had more than replaced this loss.
An imposing stone building was erected in Leazes Park Road in 1880 and consecrated by the Chief Rabbi
. At that time the number of Jews in Newcastle was about 750. The congregation was in being until 1978
Sir Israel Brodie
, the first Chief Rabbi to be knighted, was born in Newcastle in 1895.
There were many more developments and synagogues in Newcastle during the 20th century: Corporation Street Synagogue (1904–1924), Jesmond Synagogue
(1914–1986), Ravensworth Terrace Synagogue (1925–1969), and Gosforth and Kenton Hebrew Congregation (1947–1984)
With the drift of population from the West End of Newcastle, Jesmond synagogue was consecrated in 1914 leaving the oldest, the Leazes Park Road Synagogue in the centre of the city. A third synagogue was built in Gosforth
, the Gosforth and Kenton Hebrew congregation. Eventually the running of the three Orthodox Congregations was considered as being uneconomical and with a declining population in other parts of the town a new purpose built Community Centre and Synagogue was built in Gosforth at Culzean Park in an area in which the majority of Jews resided. A new Reform
movement Synagogue was built in 1986 nearby and continues to flourish.
. Rabbi Shmaryahu Yitzchak Bloch
ministered in Sunderland in the early 20th century.
At the 2001 census, 114 people of Jewish faith were recorded as living in Sunderland, a vanishingly small percentage. There was no Jewish community before 1750, though subsequently a number of Jewish merchants from across the UK and Europe settled in Sunderland. The Sunderland Synagogue
on Ryhope Road (opened in 1928) closed at the end of March 2006.
The Sunderland Beth Hamedrash was established in Villiers St in about 1890. In 1930 it moved to a purpose-built building in Mowbray Road. It closed in 1995.
The Sunderland Talmudical College
, a Haredi
yeshiva
founded in the city in 1945, relocated to Gateshead in 1990.
The North-East Joel Intract Memorial Home for Aged Jews was opened in Sunderland in 1963 and closed in 1998.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
is focused on a number of important towns.
Gateshead
GatesheadGateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
is the home to a small community of Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
Jews, acclaimed for its higher educational institutions. Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic students from many countries come to Gateshead to attend its yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s and kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
s. Young Jewish women come to study at the Teacher Training College and Beis Chaya Rochel.
Based in the Bensham area, the community includes a few hundred families.
The community was established at the end of the 19th century when Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an Jewish refugees, Eliezer Adler
Eliezer Adler
Eliezer Adler, born in 1866, was the founder of the Jewish Community in Gateshead, England. In honor of his historical importance, his seat in the Gateshead synagogue remains vacant....
and Zachariah Bernstone chose to leave the Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
congregation, whom they viewed as too lenient in religious matters, and crossed the river to set up a new synagogue. Following the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, Gateshead became home to the largest Orthodox Jewish education complex in postwar Europe, and the most significant outside of the United States and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. This can partly be attributed to the arrival of Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Jewish refugees who were fleeing the European mainland during the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
era. As a result, Gateshead became an important centre of Torah Judaism
Torah Judaism
Torah Judaism is an English term applied to a number of Orthodox Jewish groups to describe their Judaism as being based on an adherence to the laws of the Torah's mitzvot as expounded in Orthodox Halakha...
.
The Gateshead Talmudical College
Gateshead Talmudical College
Gateshead Talmudical College , popularly known as Gateshead Yeshiva, is located in the town of Gateshead in England. It is the largest yeshiva in Europe and considered to be one of the most prestigious advanced yeshivas in the Orthodox world. The student body currently numbers 350...
is an important and well known Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
advanced yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
in Gateshead attracting students from all over the world.
List of yeshivas in Gateshead
- Beer Hatorah
- Tiferes Ya'akov
- Gateshead YeshivaGateshead Talmudical CollegeGateshead Talmudical College , popularly known as Gateshead Yeshiva, is located in the town of Gateshead in England. It is the largest yeshiva in Europe and considered to be one of the most prestigious advanced yeshivas in the Orthodox world. The student body currently numbers 350...
- Sunderland YeshivoSunderland Talmudical CollegeThe Sunderland Talmudical College , popularly known as Sunderland Yeshiva, was founded in the city of Sunderland in the United Kingdom during the 1940s. It re-located to Gateshead in June 1988, albeit keeping its original name. In its early years it catered for students from North Africa. The...
List of seminaries in Gateshead
- Beis Chaya RochelGateshead Jewish Academy for GirlsGateshead Jewish Academy for Girls , is a two-year post-secondary school college founded in Gateshead, England in 1998. Its principal is Rabbi Avrohom Katz, an author and columnist....
- 'Old Sem'-Jewish Teachers Training College
Pictures of Jewish institutions in Gateshead
Newcastle
No records exist of Jews being resident in Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
before 1830 although there is a tradition that the community dates from 1775. It is thought, however, that over 500 years prior to this Jews resided in Silver Street (formerly known as Jew Gate).
On October 8, 1832, the congregation was formally established. The cathedral bells were rung when the first synagogue, in Temple Street, was officially opened on July 13, 1838. The Newcastle Courant published a headline in Hebrew.
By 1845 the congregation had grown to 33 adults and 33 children. Through the course of time nearly all the original founders either died or had left the city, but the influx of Polish and Russian immigrants had more than replaced this loss.
An imposing stone building was erected in Leazes Park Road in 1880 and consecrated by the Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
. At that time the number of Jews in Newcastle was about 750. The congregation was in being until 1978
Sir Israel Brodie
Israel Brodie
Sir Israel Brodie KBE was the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth 1948–1965.He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. He served as a Rabbi of Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Australia from 1923-1937, was evacuated from Dunkirk, and finished the War as Senior Jewish Chaplain...
, the first Chief Rabbi to be knighted, was born in Newcastle in 1895.
There were many more developments and synagogues in Newcastle during the 20th century: Corporation Street Synagogue (1904–1924), Jesmond Synagogue
Jesmond Synagogue
The Jesmond Synagogue is a former synagogue in the Jesmond neighbourhood of Newcastle upon Tyne, in northeast England.The synagogue, on Eskdale Terrace in Jesmond, was built in 1914-15 by Marcus Kenneth Glass in an Art Deco interpretation of Byzantine Revival style. The porch has a triple arcade...
(1914–1986), Ravensworth Terrace Synagogue (1925–1969), and Gosforth and Kenton Hebrew Congregation (1947–1984)
With the drift of population from the West End of Newcastle, Jesmond synagogue was consecrated in 1914 leaving the oldest, the Leazes Park Road Synagogue in the centre of the city. A third synagogue was built in Gosforth
Gosforth
Gosforth is an area of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom, to the north of the city centre. Gosforth constituted an urban district from 1895 to 1974, when it became part of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne. It has a population of 23,620...
, the Gosforth and Kenton Hebrew congregation. Eventually the running of the three Orthodox Congregations was considered as being uneconomical and with a declining population in other parts of the town a new purpose built Community Centre and Synagogue was built in Gosforth at Culzean Park in an area in which the majority of Jews resided. A new Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
movement Synagogue was built in 1986 nearby and continues to flourish.
Sunderland
The first Jewish settlement in Sunderland was in 1755 and the first congregation was established in about 1768. The Sunderland Congregation was the first regional community to be represented on the Board of Deputies of British JewsBoard of Deputies of British Jews
The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jews. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish communities in London, it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish...
. Rabbi Shmaryahu Yitzchak Bloch
Shmaryahu Yitzchak Bloch
Rabbi Shmaryahu Yitzchak Bloch was a rabbi and Talmudist in Russia and England.There is very scant information about Rabbi Bloch's life...
ministered in Sunderland in the early 20th century.
At the 2001 census, 114 people of Jewish faith were recorded as living in Sunderland, a vanishingly small percentage. There was no Jewish community before 1750, though subsequently a number of Jewish merchants from across the UK and Europe settled in Sunderland. The Sunderland Synagogue
Sunderland Synagogue
The Sunderland Synagogue is a former synagogue building in Sunderland, England.The synagogue, on Ryhope Road , was designed by architect Marcus Kenneth Glass and completed in 1928. The synagogue was listed as a Grade II historic structure in 1999. The congregation ceased meeting in 2006...
on Ryhope Road (opened in 1928) closed at the end of March 2006.
The Sunderland Beth Hamedrash was established in Villiers St in about 1890. In 1930 it moved to a purpose-built building in Mowbray Road. It closed in 1995.
The Sunderland Talmudical College
Sunderland Talmudical College
The Sunderland Talmudical College , popularly known as Sunderland Yeshiva, was founded in the city of Sunderland in the United Kingdom during the 1940s. It re-located to Gateshead in June 1988, albeit keeping its original name. In its early years it catered for students from North Africa. The...
, a Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
founded in the city in 1945, relocated to Gateshead in 1990.
The North-East Joel Intract Memorial Home for Aged Jews was opened in Sunderland in 1963 and closed in 1998.