BM 
 295 
 C33A23 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL 
 SYNAGOGUE
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 The History of 
 
 he Central Synagogue. 
 
 18551905. 
 
 Rev. MICHAEL ADLER, B.A. 
 
 Reprinted from THE JEWISH CHRONICLE, April 14th and 21st, 1905, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 "JEWISH CHRONICLE" OFFICE, 
 2, FINSBUBY SQTJABB, B.C. 

 
 The Library 
 University of California, Los Angeles 
 
 The gift of Mrs. Cummings, 1 963
 
 BM 
 
 C33/4Z3 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL 
 SYNAGOGUE, 1855-1905. 
 
 BY THE KEY. MICHAEL ADLER, B.A. 
 
 On the 10th of Nisan of this year, the congregation of the Central 
 Synagogue will have reached the jubilee of its existence. The present 
 building is the second in which the congregation has worshipped. It was 
 consecrated in the year 1870. The first synagogue was opened in the year 
 1855. The history of these fifty years is the story of the migration of 
 Jewish families from the East to the West of London, and the provision of 
 houses of worship to satisfy the new requirements. 
 
 In the year 1848, the authorities of the Great Synagogue realised that 
 the removal of many of their most influential supporters to the western 
 districts would become a source of danger, unless a synagogue were estab- 
 lished in the locality. This necessity was made the more urgent by the 
 consideration that in Burton Street, Euston Road, the Reformers had built 
 their first synagogue, in the year 1842, and were attracting to their ranks 
 many of the residents of the neighbourhood. In the year 1848 also, Sir 
 Isaac Lyon Goldsmid laid the foundation-stone of a new Reform Synagogue 
 at Margaret Street, Great Portland Street. In the programme issued by 
 the authors of the reform movement, the early reformers, most of whom 
 lived west of Holborn Circus, ascribe the neglect of attendance at synagogue 
 " to the distance of the existing synagogues from the place of our 
 residence, to the inconvenient hours at which they are opened, to the 
 unimpressive manner in which service is performed, and to the absence of 
 religious instruction in our synagogue." In order to counteract the 
 activity on the part of the " seceders," and, at the same time, to meet some 
 of the objections raised by them, the Great Synagogue set itself to establish 
 a branch in the West End. At a meeting of the Committee of the Great 
 Synagogue, held on November 7th, 1848, the following resolution was 
 adopted: 
 
 That it being considered of the utmost importance that a place of worship in con- 
 nection with this Synagogue be established at the West End of the Metropolis, this 
 Committee do take the subject into consideration at the next meeting 
 
 The Committee which passed this resolution consisted of: Mr. Lewis 
 Jacobs, President; Sir Anthony de Rothschild and Mr. Dennis M. Samuel, 
 Vice-Presidents ; Mr. Joshua Alexander, Overseer; Mr. Samuel Moses, 
 
 2071425
 
 Treasurer; Messrs. 8. L. de Symons, Simon Samuel, Morris Emanuel, Mark 
 Woolf, and S. B. Worms. 
 
 As will be seen later, the question of the modification of the ritual was 
 also raised in connection with the proposed new synagogue. From the 
 first, the Committee of the Great Synagogue were determined that any new 
 synagogue established in the West should be erected under their own 
 auspices. 
 
 There existed at this time a treaty between the three City Synagogues, 
 the Great, New, and Hambro', on the one side, and the Western Synagogue, 
 St. Albans Place, on the other. This agreement, which was made in the 
 year 1808, stipulated, inter ah'a, that the City congregations should undertake 
 to prevent any other West End congregation from being established within 
 six miles of Denmark Court, Strand, where the Western Synagogue was 
 then situated.* In a very short time, the Western Synagogue broke the 
 treaty, so that it was no matter of surprise that the City Synagogues felt 
 themselves absolved from the conditions of this agreement. In addition to 
 this, the Western Synagogue had completely estranged itself from its 
 brethren in the City by its bold refusal, in the year 1841, to read in the 
 Synagogue the declaration of the Chief Eabbi, Dr. S. Herschell, and the 
 Haham Meldola, denouncing as schismatic the newly formed Congregation 
 of British Jews. 
 
 A Sub-Committee was accordingly appointed in January, 1849 by the 
 Committee of the Great Synagogue "to report their views as to the 
 eligibility of the establishment of a place of worship in the West End of 
 the metropolis in connection with this congregation." The Sub-Committee 
 reported favourably on the proposal, having taken some ten months to 
 consider the matter, and the report was, in accordance with the law, 
 ordered to be submitted to the Vestry .t This latter body met three days 
 later, on October 18th, and confirmed the resolution of the Committee. On 
 January 13th, 1850, a special meeting of the Vestry was summoned, in view 
 of the importance of the new departure, and was attended by twenty-nine 
 members, an unusually large number. It was resolved unanimously: 
 
 That it is highly necessary that a branch Synagogue in connection with this Con- 
 gregation should, without delay, be established in the West End of the Metropolis 
 in order to afford the numerous members of this Synagogue and their families, residing 
 in that locality, the means to attend a place of Divine worship. 
 
 The Committee, on February 24th, 1850, as in duty bound, considered 
 the recommendation of the Vestry, and decided that the proposed new 
 synagogue should be a quarter of a mile west of Regent Circus (quite near 
 to the Reform Synagogue in Margaret Street). The Honorary Officers, 
 together with Mr. Simon Samuel and Mr. S. L. de Symons, were requested 
 te look out for an eligible site for the synagogue, and the sum of 6,000 
 
 "See Jeirtafc Chronicle, October 22, 1897. 
 
 fThe Great Synagogue, until the formation of the Union in 1870, was governed by 
 
 a Committee of the six honorary officers and seven Elders, and a larger body 
 
 called the Vestry.
 
 was voted for the erection of the building. Three weeks later, the Com- 
 mittee decided to invite the co-operation of the New and Hambro' Syna- 
 gogues in the work, and, as they had resolved that seats should also be let 
 in the proposed new synagogue to members of the Portuguese community, 
 they asked the Sephardi Congregation in Bevis Marks to aid the movement. 
 As representatives of this latter body, Sir Moses Montefiore, Mr. Joseph I. 
 Brandon, and Mr. Joseph Montefiore were nominated delegates. 
 
 In response to these invitations, a special meeting was held, at which 
 each of the four congregations was fully represented. In addition to those 
 members of the Committee of the Great Synagogue mentioned above, there 
 were also present Baron Lionel de Rothschild and Mr. Louis Cohen, on 
 behalf of the Great Synagogue; Sir Moses Montefiore, Mr. Joseph Monte- 
 fiore, and Mr. Nathaniel Lindo, on behalf of the Portuguese Synagogue; 
 Mr. Louis Lucas and Mr. Alderman Salomons represented the New 
 Synagogue, and Mr. Aaron Solomon the Hambro' Synagogue. The 
 delegates decided that their respective congregations should be asked to 
 consider the matter forthwith, with a view of falling in with the suggestions 
 of the Great Synagogue. The first to signify their assent were the Com- 
 mittee of the New Synagogue, who, whilst reminding the Great Synagogue 
 of the treaty between the three City Synagogues, which had hitherto worked 
 so harmoniously, offered their support in the new movement on condition 
 that the synagogue should be a branch of all the City 
 synagogues, and not of the Great Synagogue alone. As might have been 
 expected, the Elders of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue did not see 
 their way to co-operate in the work. They pointed out that: 
 
 They were animated by an equal desire with that of the Wardens and the Com- 
 mittee of the Great Synagogue to promote so important an object as affording to the 
 numerous residents of the West End of the Metropolis in connection with the City 
 Synagogues the opportunity of attending a place of worship in their locality, but that 
 there were insuperable difficulties in regard to the differences of ritual, and the 
 usages, customs, and practices of the Synagogues, which the members of both 
 communions must be equally anxious respectively to preserve. Under the circum- 
 stances, the Elders are reluctantly compelled to decline the invitation given them, and, 
 in doing so, deem it due to the Wardens and Committee of the Great Synagogue 
 unreservedly to state (and to assure them) that if, in the interests and future welfare 
 of their ancient synagogue, they should feel themselves called upon to take steps 
 similar to those contemplated by the Great Synagogue, those steps will be taken, not 
 in a spirit of rivalry, but in that of a friendly and cordial union with them and the 
 other City synagogues, and with the view to contribute their aid in supplying the 
 spiritual wants of the Jewish community in the two existing Minhagim. 
 
 The latter part of this communication from the Sephardi community 
 referred to the intention of their leaders to build a West End synagogue also, 
 which was carried into effect by the opening of a small synagogue in 
 Wigmore Street, three years later. The Hambro' Synagogue approved the 
 suggestion of the Great Synagogue. The Chairman of the meeting of 
 delegates, Mr. Lewis Jacobs, stated that " the Great Synagogue was per- 
 fectly agreeable to the suggestion that the proposed synagogue in the West 
 should be a branch of the united congregations, and, with this object in
 
 view, the Great Synagogue proposed that one quarter of the expense should 
 be contributed by the New and Hambro' Synagogues respectively, and 
 one half by the Great Synagogue." This definite suggestion as to the cost 
 does not appear to have been welcomed by the New and Hambro' Syna- 
 gogues. The Hambro' Synagogue held a general meeting of its seatholders 
 on the subject, and whilst pointing out that the establishment of a West 
 End synagogue, in connection with one of the City synagogues only, would 
 be a proceeding of much danger to the existence of the other City syna- 
 gogues, not only from a pecuniary, but also from a religious, point of view, 
 made no offer to pay the suggested quota of the expense. Ultimately, it 
 became perfectly clear that if a branch synagogue was to be established at 
 all, the Great Synagogue would have to bear the burden of it alone. 
 
 A new topic of interest in connection with this matter now arose. Many 
 of those members of the Great Synagogue, who had already left the City, 
 were probably acquainted with the improvements effected in synagogue 
 worship by the Reform comunity, and were desirous of introducing some 
 change in the ritual of the new orthodox synagogue. The 
 Chief Rabbi, the Rev. Dr. N. M. Adler, was, therefore, 
 approached, and asked to set forth in detail the ritual of 
 the contemplated branch synagogue in the West " with a view to the 
 alteration of the present mode as regards the times and length of worship." 
 It is interesting to note here that this was the first of the two important 
 movements connected with the Central Synagogue (the second being that 
 of 1879), which had as their object the removal of some of the objectionable 
 portions of the orthodox synagogue service. 
 
 The Chief Rabbi gave careful consideration to the request of the Great 
 Synagogue, and, in his reply, dated November 3rd, 1850, he gravely warned 
 his congregation against introducing reforms which would be sure to be 
 imitated by other congregations. His experience of thirty years in Germany, 
 
 Where the greatest variety of innovations had been introduced in the mode of 
 worship proved that the organic changing of the ritual throws a fire-brand into the 
 Congregation, which not only weakens the bond of union, but rends asunder the most 
 sacred ties of relationship, and plunges the rabbis or ministers from the moment 
 they leave the rabbinical precept into the greatest inconsistencies, and forces them to 
 proceed from reform to reform until it leads them to the undermining of those pillars 
 on which the whole edifice rests, and moreover it is far from advantageous to 
 Judaism at large, as the places of worship, after the first charm of novelty had 
 subsided, were deserted. 
 
 The Chief Rabbi admits, however, that there were certain special 
 reasons for adopting slight reforms in the new branch synagogue. The 
 service should be carried on with becoming solemnity and the introduction of 
 a choir should be permitted, at least at the Musaf service, to lead the singing. 
 He proposed that the number of "|~Q ! 2' 'D should be curtailed, and that all 
 financial matters not belonging to the service should, as much as possible, 
 be removed. He conceded the division of the service, the first Sabbath 
 morning service to commence at 8 o'clock, and to last not longer than 1 
 hours, the second to commence at 11 o'clock, and to last not longer than
 
 two hours. After giving various details of the service on other important 
 days, including the omission of most of the Piyutim, and promising a 
 response in a future communication as to which of those repetitions and 
 those objectionable passages which are not read in other congregations may 
 be omitted, he expresses the hope " that the various views on this important 
 matter will be reconciled by his propositions, and that whatever contra- 
 dictory feeling may be existing, all will give way to the paramount 
 necessity of maintaining concord and union amongst our community." 
 
 The reply of the Chief Rabbi does not appear to have given complete 
 satisfaction, and it was not until February, 1851, that any further steps were 
 taken in the matter. It is a striking coincidence that, whilst the thorny 
 subject of the ritual was being discussed, and the Committee of the Great 
 Synagogue attacked as being a party to the reform agitation, there appeared 
 in London a man who was destined to play an important role in the future 
 of the contemplated branch synagogue. The Rev. Aaron Levy Green, who 
 had already distinguished himself in Bristol, was elected Second Reader 
 of the Great Synagogue in February, 1851. 
 
 No action was taken on the reply from Dr. Adler, and the movement 
 seemed to be at a standstill for some time. However, on February 9th, one 
 of the Wardens, Mr. Dennis M. Samuel, gave notice of motion that he 
 would propose, at the next meeting of the Committee, that no further delay 
 be permitted in view of the imperative necessity of establishing a branch 
 synagogue, and that the ritual required for the service for the new synagogue 
 should be " based upon the true principles of our faith, congenial to the 
 rising generation." To this end, the surpluses of the Synagogue accounts 
 of each year should be set apart to meet the expense of building a syna- 
 gogue, " which was to be conducted upon a revised orthodox foundation." 
 For some reason or other, the motion of Mr. Samuel was not proceeded with 
 at any subsequent meeting, and in the following month the Vestry asked 
 the Chief Rabbi to confer with the Committee of the Synagogue "with a 
 view to the removal of those difficulties which have hitherto prevented the 
 establishment of a branch synagogue." Accordingly, on June 17th, the 
 Chief Rabbi attended a meeting of the Committee at which there were 
 present, amongst others: Sir Anthony de Rothschild, Baron Lionel de 
 Rothschild, Messrs. Joshua Alexander, S. L. de Symons, Louis Cohen, and 
 S. B. Worms. Dr. Adler agreed to reconsider his suggestions for a revised 
 ritual. In his second letter on the subject, the Chief Rabbi modified some 
 of his former proposals slightly, and urged upon the Committee to hasten 
 the erection of the new synagogue. In comparing the two sets of proposals 
 laid before the Committee by the Chief Rabbi, one is struck by the com- 
 paratively small difference between them. The main features of the service 
 upon which the Great Synagogue appear to have laid stress, and which were 
 only conceded in the Chief Rabbi's second letter, are the addition of 713', 
 the 84th Psalm, and JTITDT D'ntf to the second Sabbath Morning Service, 
 which was to commence at 10.30 or 11. Although Dr. Adler's letter was 
 written on July 8th, 1851, the Committee did not discuss it until the 2nd 
 December of the same year, when the delay of twelve months, brought about
 
 8 
 
 by the question of the ritual, was concluded by the acceptance of the Chief 
 Rabbi's revised proposals. The sum of 6,000 was forthwith voted from the 
 funds of the congregation towards the establishment of the new synagogue. 
 
 An attempt was now made from another quarter to defeat the plans of 
 the Great Synagogue. The Committee of the Western Synagogue, St. Albans 
 Place, asked to be heard in opposition to the scheme. In a letter addressed 
 to the Wardens (24 Dec., 1851), they stated that they had learnt, with much 
 concern, of the contemplated new synagogue. They pointed out that not 
 only would such a step seriously injure them, but that there was " no want 
 of spiritual accommodation at this end of the metropolis, there being 
 upwards of 120 vacant seats in this synagogue, and ample space for a still 
 larger number, if required." The Great Synagogue replied rather curtly 
 that they regretted that no purpose would be served by a discussion with 
 the Western Synagogue upon the subject as they were determined to com- 
 plete their plans as soon as possible. About the same time, the Maiden 
 Lane Synagogue, probably in fear of extinction through the establishment 
 of the Branch Synagogue, sought to effect an amalgamation. The authorities 
 of the Great Synagogue, whose hostility to the Western Synagogue on 
 account of their action during the reform movement has already been 
 referred to, received the overtures of the Maiden Lane Synagogue in a more 
 friendly spirit, but could come to no satisfactory arrangement. Regula- 
 tions for the new institution were at once drawn up. It was necessary, 
 in thus opening a synagogue in a new district, that care should be exercised 
 that the Great Synagogue should neither infringe its treaties with the 
 New and Hambro' Synagogues nor inflict any injury upon itself. It was, 
 therefore, decided that members of the New and Hambro' Synagogues should 
 be allowed to take seats under certain conditions. An appeal 
 for funds was issued to the community, and steps were taken to find a 
 suitable site for the building. Considerable difficulty was experienced in 
 selecting a position and several months again were wasted. The Great 
 Synagogue authorities were resolved to adhere to their plan of locating their 
 branch in the immediate neighbourhood of the Reform Synagogue in 
 Margaret Street, and not far from the proposed Portuguese Synagogue in 
 Wigmore Street. In the month of August, 1852, the Vestry gently reproached 
 the Committee of the Synagogue for not having as yet obtained a site for 
 the building, and urged them to persevere in their exertions and to complete 
 the arrangements for the new building with all speed. As the Penitential 
 days were drawing near, it was suggested that a temporary building should 
 be opened in which the members of the Great Synagogue residing in the 
 West should be enabled to worship. 
 
 A discovery was then made that there was a warehouse at 120. Great 
 Portland Street that might answer the purpose of a temporary synagogue, 
 and on July 14th, 1853, these premises were visited by fifteen members of 
 the Vestry, headed by Mr. Lewis Jacobs, Mr. Louis Nathan, Mr. S. L. de 
 Symons, Mr. Z. A. Jessel (father of Sir George Jessel), Dr. Barnard Van 
 Oven, and Mr. Aron Joseph, most of whom resided in the West End. It 
 was agreed to recommend that the premises be taken on a lease, subject to 
 the possibility of raising the roof of the warehouse. It was further sug-
 
 gested that this building would be suitable for a permanent synagogue, and 
 it was. therefore, decided that a lease for forty-two years should be taken 
 of the premises, determinable at the end of each seven years. The repre- 
 sentatives of the Great Synagogue whose names appear in the lease are: 
 Mr. Lewis Jacobs, Sir Anthony de Eothschild, Mr. Joshua 
 Alexander (father of Mr. D. L. Alexander, K.C.), and Mr. 
 Louis Nathan. A sum of 350 was voted for the purchase of the lease. 
 A small committee was appointed to make the necessary arrangements for 
 adapting the building to its sacred purpose, and buying the fittings. The 
 plans and furniture were ordered to be submitted to the Chief Rabbi for 
 his sanction. The prices for seats in the new synagogue were fixed at four 
 guineas, six guineas, and eight guineas each, and for ladies, One guinea 
 and two guineas each. It was arranged that only one "P3C? *ft, besides the 
 offerings to the four communal charities, should be made by any seatholder 
 called to the Law. 
 
 It was now necessary to elect the officials of the new synagogue, to 
 consist of a Chazan, a Second Reader 01 B'OtJ', and a Beadle. Not the slightest 
 hesitation was displayed in choosing a gentleman to fill the first of these 
 three posts. The Rev. A. L. Green had been in office at the Great Synagogue 
 since the early part of 1851, and had become very popular. His work as 
 Hon. Secretary in connection with the movement to found Jews' College 
 had brought him into contact with the heads of the community, who had 
 learned to appreciate his zeal and conspicuous ability. His devotion to his 
 duties had marked him out as the most suitable person to take spiritual 
 charge of the new synagogue. His reputation as a student and a scholar 
 was already established. As a striking instance of the far-sighted wisdom 
 of the authorities, the following incident may be here related. In 
 November, 1853, Mr. Green made a formal application to the Committee of 
 the Synagogue " to be excused from the performance of certain of his duties 
 for the purpose of study," and the Committee readily granted his applica- 
 tion. Without going through the form of inviting candidates for the post, 
 Mr. Green was unanimously appointed First Reader of the Branch Syna- 
 gogue, being at that time (1853) thirty-two years of age. The post of Second 
 Reader was filled by the election, after a keen contest, of the Rev. Samuel 
 Lyons, at that time a teacher in the Jews' Free School, whilst an entry on 
 the Minutes in the month of August, 1854, mentions that Mr. Philip 
 Vallentine was admitted as a candidate for the office of Beadle. Two other 
 applicants for the same post failed to win the favour of the Committee. 
 Mr. Vallentine was accordingly elected unopposed, and is now in the 
 unique and happy position of having faithfully served his congregation 
 throughout the whole period of the fifty years' existence of the Central 
 Synagogue.}: Authority was also given for the appointment of a small 
 choir consisting of a leader and not less than six youths. The total expense 
 was not to exceed 100 per annum. At the same time, Mrs. Vallentine was 
 
 +As will be easily understood, the reminiscences of the veteran Beadle of the Syna- 
 gogue have been of incalculable value in the compilation of this history, and I 
 herewith tender my most cordial thanks to Mr. Vallentine for the assistance he 
 has rendered me in the work.
 
 10 
 
 appointed to assist her husband in his duties, and for thirty-five years took 
 her part in the work of the synagogue, winning the respect and esteem of 
 all who knew her. 
 
 The hope of the Committee that the building would be ready for the 
 New Year Festival was destined to disappointment. Mr. Samuel Moses, 
 one of the Wardens, reported, on August 31st, 1854, that he had visited the 
 Synagogue recently, and it was found that the walls were not sufficiently dry 
 to open it with safety to the health of the congregation on the ensuing New 
 Year. Further delay also ensued owing to the failure of the contractor. At 
 length, after a delay of six and a half years from the date (November, 1848) 
 when the ^subject was first mooted, the Committee were able to appoint 
 March 29th, 1855, for the consecration of their Branch Synagogue. Mr. 
 Neumegen, of Gloucester House, Kew, wrote a Hebrew ode in honour of 
 the occasion, which was published in the Jewish Chronicle, but was not 
 sung at the consecration service. In this ode, occur the following stanzas : 
 
 WDn.rueKJ wo v "i? man 'nn pa yin n?tf>D rwn nssnipn *i 
 
 " O exalt this holy branch like a tree in a well- watered garden ; may it flourish for 
 ever, for from a faithful stock it is sprung." 
 
 A plea for the Reformers that they might return to the fold was also 
 made by the poet. 
 
 :on n:tf> wn pn ovsn iD'inn? fco ^ 'D?ro -porn DJK nimx oarwn DJ 
 
 " O lead in thy lovingkindness also those who have forsaken the old paths, for 
 their desire is not to anger Thee, but they do err in their heart." 
 
 At the opening service, the Rev. Simon Ascher, the celebrated Chazan 
 of the Great Synagogue, officiated, assisted by the Rev. A. L. Green, and 
 among the lads to strew flowers before the procession of the Scrolls, as was 
 then the custom, was David L. Alexander, the present President of the 
 Board of Deputies. Before the service began, the following proclamation 
 was read out from the reading-desk : 
 
 Notice is hereby given that this building now about to be consecrated is a Branch 
 of the Great Synagogue, situate in Duke's Place, in the parish of St. James', Aldgate, 
 in the City of London. 
 
 The Chief Rabbi delivered a sermon to a large congregation, in which 
 he referred to the necessity of the extension of the sphere of the Great 
 Synagogue, and impressed upon his hearers the obligation of keeping the 
 Branch in close touch with the parent Synagogue. As the little sanctuary 
 mentioned by the prophet Ezekial was to be the image of Zion's Temple, 
 so should the Branch (well styled *pJ HE^) in every respect resemble the 
 parent establishment. Dr. Adler compared the parent synagogue to an 
 ancient oak, which had weathered many a storm, overtopping all neigh- 
 bouring trees, and said it would ill become the branch to follow another 
 direction. True, there would be some slight alteration in the branch 
 inasmuch as the morning services on Sabbaths and Festivals were to be 
 separate, as rendered necessary by the vastness of the metropolis, and the
 
 It 
 
 distance which many members lived from the sanctuary. This alteration 
 he had sanctioned with reluctance, being filled with apprehension that this 
 would lead to the neglect of the mna> (the first portion of the service;. 
 He warned his congregants against the introduction of reforms, which be 
 compared to the flame of a candle. With a little trimming, the candle 
 burnt brightly; when too closely trimmed, it went out altogether. The 
 Choir, which had been trained by Mr. J. L. Mombach, the Choirmaster of the 
 Great Synagogue, concluded the service by singing an ode composed by 
 the Eev. D*. Herschell, and Psalm cl. Whilst Mr. Mombach played the 
 serafina (a kind of harmonium), the Choir was conducted by Mr. Isaac 
 Samuel (now the Rev. Isaac Samuel, of the Bayswater Synagogue). 
 
 The curtain in front of the Ark was the gift of Mrs. Barnett Joseph. 
 It was said that it had taken nine months to make by the firm of Mr. Victor 
 Abrahams. Among the other earliest presents given to the new Synagogue 
 were a silver cup from Mr. Charles Moseley, a mantle from Mrs. S. I. 
 Joseph, two silk mantles from Baroness Lionel de Rothschild, and a curtain 
 from the same lady on the occasion of the marriage of her daughter Leonora 
 to Baron Alphonse de Rothschild. The Press of the day state that the 
 building was very handsome and tasteful. " There is an airiness and grace- 
 fulness in the proportions which is most pleasing." 
 
 The Architect, Mr. J. Clarke, described his handiwork as follows: ** 
 
 The interior of the Synagogue is about 40 ft. square, with a lofty dome in the 
 centre 20 feet in diameter, richly ornamented with emblematic designs in bold relief, 
 supported by four Corinthian columns. The remaining portion of the ceiling is 
 groined. The light is introduced by means of a lantern of stained glass in the dome, 
 and also by windows over the ends of the gallery, which latter runs round three 
 sides of the building. Under the dome is the reading platform. The principal feature 
 of the building is the Ark, the effect of which is very striking and novel. It is elevated 
 on a platform of veined marble, and approached by three steps of the same material. 
 On each side of the Ark are Corinthian columns which support a canopy. The recess 
 in which tho Ark stands has a domical ceiling, elaborately painted and gilt, with the 
 light radiating from above through painted glass. On each side of the Ark arc 
 marble pedestals sustaining costly and gigantic candlesticks. The doors of the Ark 
 are of rich damson wood, with gold mountings. The Synagogue contains 212 seats 
 in the body, and 144 in the gallery. 
 
 The Synagogue thus commenced its career under the shadow of the 
 Great Synagogue. No weddings were conducted within its walls. It was 
 not allowed to have separate Honorary Officers or Committee, and the 
 Honorary Officers of the Great Synagogue occupied the posts of honour 
 whenever they visited the building in Great Portland Street. At this time, 
 the Honorary Officers of the Great Synagogue were Mr. Z. A. Jessel, 
 Mr. Samuel Moses, Mr. Joshua Alexander, and Mr. Ephraim Alex, the 
 founder and first President of the Board of Guardians. As, therefore, it 
 was uncertain when the Synagogue would have one of the Honorary Officers 
 
 **It may be here mentioned that this building, of which a photograph taken recently 
 is reproduced above, is still in existence being No. 43, Great Portland Street 
 and forms the concert hall of the German Athenaeum, the resort of the cultured 
 German professional classes in London.
 
 12 
 
 Interior of the building which, fifty years ago, was Portland Street 
 Branch Synagogue. 
 
 in attendance, a sub-committee was appointed to look after the conduct of 
 the services at the Branch Synagogue. This naturally consisted of those 
 members of the Great Synagogue who, at that time, lived in the West, 
 namely, Baron Lionel de Rothschild, Messrs. S. L. de Symons, Lewis 
 Jacobs, Benjamin Cohen (father of Mr. Arthur Cohen, K.C., who was for 
 many years a representative of the Central Synagogue at the Council), and 
 Aron Joseph. The elections for the Committee and Vestry were held on the 
 same day at St. James's Place and at Great Portland Street, it being the duty 
 of Mr. Phflip Vallentine to carry the ballot boxes to the City for the counting. 
 
 The existence of the Synagogue in the West now served as a magnet 
 to draw families from the City, and so it soon came about that the ruling
 
 Interior of the Central Synagogue at the present day. 
 
 authorities of the Great Synagogue were, for the greater part, selected from 
 those who attended the services of the Branch Synagogue. The Great 
 Synagogue, therefore, began to suffer, because it was governed by gen- 
 tlemen who did not worship in Duke's Place. From the year 1855 to the 
 year 1870, when the United Synagogue was founded, almost all the Wardens 
 of the Great Synagogue resided in the West. They were as follows: Sir 
 Anthony de Rothschild, Professor Jacob Waley, M.A. (father of Mrs. N. L. 
 Cohen), Messrs. S. L. De Symons, Louis Nathan, David M. Davidson, E. 
 Alex, S. A. Jonas, Lionel Louis Cohen (elected Overseer in 1862 and Warden 
 in 1864), and H. L. Beddington. 
 
 As will be seen, this government of the City Synagogue by those who 
 lived in the West gradually led to the formation of the United Synagogue, 
 in which work of union the Central Synagogue played a prominent part.
 
 14 
 
 Wilhin six months of its consecration, the new Synagogue had let 81 
 seats to gentlemen and 60 ladies' seats. In addition 51 gentlemen anl 
 Cl ladles had transferred their seats from the Great Synagogue to the 
 Branch. It was estimated that the total possible income of the Synagogue 
 would amount to about 1,416, and it was arranged that the sum of 200 
 from the surplus revenue of each year should be allowed to accumulate in 
 order to pay off the debt to the Great Synagogue. The divided service, the 
 second commencing at 10.30, was found to meet the convenience of the 
 congregation, although the Kev. A. L. Green was always opposed to this 
 arrangement, and succeeded in abolishing it when the present synagogue 
 was opened in 1870. Efforts were made by the New Synagogue, Great St. 
 Helen's, in 1855, to obtain the sanction of the Chief Rabbi to a divided 
 service, but in vain. 
 
 Numerous members of the New and Hambro* Synagogues now desired 
 to attach themselves to the successful synagogue, and the Great Synagogue 
 arranged with these synagogues to let seats to their members 
 at the rate of five guineas, eight guineas, and ten guineas per annum, and 
 to ladies at 26s. and 2 12s. per annum. It was essential that any person 
 desiring to occupy a seat at the Branch Synagogue should be also a member 
 of the New and Hambro' Synagogues, and any offerings they might wish 
 to make should be paid over to their respective synagogues. It was not 
 until the year 1866 that the privilege of standing J3D was extended to the 
 members of the New and Hambro' Synagogues. 
 
 There can be but little question that the establishment of the Branch 
 Synagogue in the West kept a large number of wealthy families from 
 drifting from the community. The influence of the Rev. A. L. Green, his 
 amiable personality, his powerful and witty preaching, the decorous ren- 
 dering of the service, drew a crowded attendance every Sabbath. Mr. 
 Green, in addition to being an excellent Chazan, delivered a sermon every 
 week, and, as a rule, preached extempore. A story is told that, on a certain 
 Sabbath, he had promised one of his congregants to preach upon a special 
 subject. An eminent Christian had arranged to be present in order to hear 
 this sermon, but, at the last moment, was prevented from coming. During 
 the early part of the service, intimation of this fact was conveyed to Mr. 
 Green, and he at once extemporised a sermon, and delivered the prepared 
 one upon another Sabbath. He was especially successful with his appeals 
 for charitable funds. On a certain occasion, an explosion of gun-cotton at 
 the Canal at Regent's Park, that had occurred early on a Friday morning, was 
 attended by loss of life and property, and the next morning Mr. Green made a 
 most moving appeal to his congregation, which resulted in a collection of 
 2,000 being raised for the sufferers. Mr. Green took a keen personal 
 interest in the establishment of the Jewish Board of Guardians in 1859, in 
 which work Mr. E. Alex and Mr. Lionel L. Cohen (the first Hon. Secretary 
 of the Board) played such important parts. It can truly be said, that the 
 Central Synagogue owed its prominence in the community as much to the 
 remarkable personality of its minister as to the social status of its worship- 
 pers. No man of his generation was more intimately connected with all the
 
 15 
 
 interests of English Judaism than Mr. Green. Education, religious culture, 
 the state of the poor, the revival of Hebrew literature, the closer union of 
 Jews with each other, whether at home or abroad, the uplifting of the 
 religious tone of the community all these and a thousand other subjects 
 engaged his attention, and found in him an enthusiastic and energetic 
 worker. He gathered around him all the principal communal leaders, so 
 that there was scarcely an institution, charitable or educational, whose 
 honorary officers did not belong to the Branch Synagogue. Reference 
 should also be made to the personal relations existing between the minister 
 and his congregants. These were of the most cordial nature. Of especial 
 interest were the receptions held in the private Succah at No. 4, Charlotte 
 Street, when Mr. and Mrs. Green entertained the members of the con- 
 gregation. Among those who regularly attended the services in those days 
 are the following, whose names are taken from the ledgers of 1855-60 : 
 
 E. Alex, Joshua Alexander, David Benjamin, Dr. H. Behrend, Ignace Cahn (still 
 a member of the Synagogue), Louis Cohen, S. L. de Syhions, Samuel H. Ellis, David 
 Hyam (another of the present members), Ellis A. Franklin, Saul Isaac, Henry Jessel, 
 George Jessel, Aron Joseph, Isaac A. Joseph, H. L. Keeling, Sampson 
 Lucas, Louis O. Lumley, Assur H. Moses (afterwards the first Treasurer of the 
 United Synagogue and a present member of the Central Synagogue), Samuel 
 Montagu, S. Oppenheim (the Secretary of the Great Synagogue), Alderman Benjamin 
 S. Phillips, Barons Nathaniel, Meyer and Lionel de Rothschild, Sir Anthony de 
 Rothschild, Baron de Samuel, Alderman David Salomons, Sampson Samuel, Charles 
 Samuel, Dr. B. Van Oven, Baron S. B. Worms, Jacob Waley, and Joshua Wagg. 
 
 By the year 1872, the Synagogue included among its members five 
 M.P.'s, six Barons, two Aldermen of the City of London, the Solicitor- 
 General (Sir George Jessel), and one R.A. (Professor S. A. Hart). 
 
 The form of service at the Branch Synagogue seemed to exercise the 
 minds of a Special Committee appointed to revise the Laws of the Con- 
 gregation in the year 1855, over which Dr. Barnard Van Oven presided. 
 It was pointed out that the modifications sanctioned by the Chief Rabbi 
 at Great Portland Street raised serious doubts as to what was properly 
 comprehended under the definition P?1Q JruC 1 . The Committee also state 
 that they would have liked to have made it a law that a minister should 
 preach a sermon at stated intervals, but that the privileges of the Chief 
 Rabbi and the laws regulating his office rendered this impossible, " yet the 
 Committee cannot help expressing the strong conviction that pulpit 
 instruction should be in future regular and continuous." The majority of 
 the members of this Revision Committee were attendants at the Great 
 Portland Street Synagogue, where the new practice of delivering weekly 
 sermons had become extremely popular. 
 
 In 1860, a movement was set on foot by Mr. Lawrence Levy, Mr. David 
 Benjamin, Mr. Lionel Lucas, and others, all seatholders of the Branch 
 Synagogue, to establish a synagogue in Bayswater, which should be a 
 branch of the Great and the New Synagogues combined. This synagogue 
 was opened in the year 1863, and took away a consider- 
 able number of members from the Branch Synagogue who
 
 16 
 
 lived in the Bayswater district. In one of his letters of a later date, 
 " Nemo/' (the nom-de-plume under which Mr. Green wrote the famous series 
 of letters to the Jewish Chronicle on events of the day), alluded to the fact 
 that the Bayswater Synagogue had taken " a whole congregation away from 
 the Branch Synagogue, but that the vacant seats were filled within a couple 
 of weeks." It is interesting to note in this connection that the authorities 
 of the Bayswater Synagogue introduced a new principle into communal 
 politics to the effect that it was not necessary to have a seat in the parent 
 synagogue in order to become a member of a Branch Synagogue. 
 
 In the year 1861, Mr. Green addressed a long letter to the Great 
 Synagogue proposing an alteration in the system of offerings. He 
 anticipated in all its details the system which is at present in vogue at the 
 New West End Synagogue, and which recently Mr. Joseph Trenner, when 
 Warden, sought in vain to introduce at the Central Synagogue. Nothing, 
 however, came of these proposals. 
 
 In 1862, Mr. Mombach, who taught the choirs both at the Great and 
 the Branch Synagogues, found the work too much for him, and Mr. Green 
 was requested to take charge of the choir. This he did for four months, at 
 the end of which he asked to be excused from performing these duties. 
 
 After the synagogue had been in existence seven years, the question of 
 the renewal of the lease arose, and it was decided to take into consideration 
 the desirability of erecting a new building. A sub-committee was appointed 
 consisting of Messrs. Joshua Alexander, S. L. de Symons, L. Lazarus, and 
 the Honorary Officers (Prof. Jacob Waley, L. L. Cohen, E. Alex, and H. L. 
 Beddington). On November 29th, 1866, this sub-committee reported in 
 favour of a block of leasehold houses being taken in Great Portland Street 
 (where now the Synagogue stands) for a period of eighty years, and upon 
 which area a building could be erected fully equal in size to the Great 
 Synagogue. This ambitious scheme was stimulated by the extraordinary 
 success of the Branch Synagogue that even in the first few years of its 
 existence threatened to overshadow the parent Synagogue entirely. In the 
 year 1866, the income of the Great Synagogue amounted to the sum of 
 2,920, and its surplus was 1,024, whilst the income of the Branch 
 Synagogue had reached a total of 2,809, and its surplus 1,176. All the 
 seats in Great Portland Street were let and applications for more than fifty 
 seats had been refused during the past twelve months. 
 
 Early in 1868, Sir Anthony de Rothschild who, at all times, showed a 
 keen interest in the Synagogue, presided over a public meeting held at the 
 Westminster Jews' Free School, in Greek Street, Soho. The meeting 
 approved of the project of building a new synagogue, which was 
 to continue to be a Branch of the Great Synagogue. It also 
 passed a resolution that all members of the synagogue be 
 placed upon a footing of equality. (This referred to the status of the 
 DTQ *?1D, privileged members, that had been much discussed, involving, as 
 it did a distinction in synagogue membership which was finally 
 abolished in May, 1880.) The public meeting, moreover, expressed its
 
 17 
 
 satisfaction " with the endeavours now being made by the Executive for 
 the general fusion of the London Synagogues." 
 
 The Great Synagogue voted the sum of 6,000, and Mr. Nathan S. 
 Joseph was selected to be the Architect. In addition to the Honorary 
 Officers mentioned above, a Building and Finance Committee was appointed 
 of which Mr. Edward H. Beddington acted as Treasurer, and among those 
 who took part in the work were Alderman Sir B. S. Phillips, Samuel 
 Montagu, Alfred H. Beddington, and Baron Henry Worms (later Lord 
 Pirbright). 
 
 The style of the building adopted was the Moresque, and the original 
 idea of placing the choir above the Ark, behind an ornamented grille, was 
 rejected in favour of seats behind the reading-desk. At first it was pro- 
 posed to place the principal frontage in Charlotte Street, but, happily, this 
 idea was not accepted. Before any appeal was made to the general public, 
 the sum of nearly 12,000 was promised by the members of the synagogue. 
 
 In the work of collecting donations, Mr. Green worked enthusiastically. 
 He greatly desired that the Central should be the " Cathedral " Synagogue 
 of the Metropolis. When the Building Fund Account was closed, it was 
 found that the total cost, inclusive of the purchase of the Leasehold and of 
 the erection of two Ministers' houses and offices, amounted to 37,284, of 
 which 6,000 was the vote of the Great Synagogue, ,22,284 was subscribed 
 by the public, 7,800 was raised on Debentures, and 600 was derived from 
 the sale of life seats. The debentures were redeemed at the rate of 1,000 
 per year, and so prosperous were the early years of the new building that 
 at the end of 1878, the whole sum had been paid off, and the synagogue 
 voluntarily began to repay the contribution of the Great Synagogue 
 although this grant had been in the nature of a gift. 
 
 The interest attaching to the erection of the new building centred round 
 the fact that the scheme for the formation of the United Synagogue was now 
 well advanced. The Chief Rabbi had initiated this movement at a breakfast 
 given by him to the Honorary Officers of the Great Synagogue on the First 
 Day of Tabernacles, 1866. Three of the most regular attendants at the 
 synagogue in Great Portland Street were the prime movers in uniting the 
 London congregations, namely, Sir Anthony de Rothschild, Lionel Louis 
 Cohen, and Professor Jacob Waley. The new synagogue was, therefore, 
 regarded as the symbol of the union of the London community. 
 
 On Thursday, 18th March, 1869 (6th Nisan) the ceremony of laying the 
 foundation-stone was performed by Baron Lionel de Rothschild, M.P. The 
 foundation-stone bore the following inscription : 
 
 uaOinsa nirra iw n& n?an nu rua NTI o 11;? rrnn rwn nc?jnn psn 
 nftnp IKS? >:n fjwva rftvwn 'na p'p virr n? rains? 'r rrvan trurca 
 mi?n Dra noroa i^no&n jru -irrn iK>n p n? irrn IBTI rrv Y^N na 
 .ru pan -finx |ru mo ra ann DWTQI i 
 twin rut? ": "i 'n ova 
 
 This corner stone of the Central Branch Synagogue was laid on Thursday, the 
 6th day of Nisan, March 18th, in the year of the world 5629, in the 32nd year of Her
 
 18 
 
 Majesty Queen Victoria, by Baron Lionel de Rothschild ; Rev. Nathan Marcus Adler, 
 Chief Rabbi; Rev. Aaron Levy Green, Minister; Sir Anthony Rothschild, Bart, 
 Lionel Louis Cohen, Jacob Waley, M. A., Hyam Leopold Beddington, Wardens; 
 Moses Symons, Overseer; Nathan Solomon Joseph, Architect; John Perry and Co., 
 Builders. 
 
 The Rev. A. L. Green read out the following memorial in Hebrew and 
 English, which was placed in a glass bottle and fixed in a cavity of the 
 stone : 
 
 This building is erected as a Branch of the Great Synagogue, Duke's Place, and 
 is intended to supersede a smaller neighbouring edifice, whose dimensions were too 
 limited for the number of worshippers therein. When the stone enclosing this 
 memorial was laid, measures were in progress for the fusion of the principal London 
 Congregations under one management, and under the name of the United Synagogue, 
 and it is the earnest hope of those who are assembled around this stone that when this 
 building shall be opened for prayer it will no longer be the branch of any one con- 
 gregation, but be a constituent, and not the least important part of the United 
 Synagogue. 
 
 The speech of Baron Lionel de Rothschild on this occasion aroused 
 considerable interest by his giving utterance to the following sentiments: 
 
 He was proud to see that so many members of the community were in the 
 enjoyment of a great position on account of their talents and intellectual attain- 
 ments, and he was also gratified at the high municipal and Parliamentary offices to 
 which others had been elected. But these advantages would, indeed, be dearly bought 
 if they were not accompanied by increased attention to their Institutions and an 
 increased observance of their holy religion. 
 
 Exactly one year later, from the day of the laying of the foundation- 
 stone, on the 6th Nisan, April 7th, 1870, which was also the date of the anni- 
 versary of the consecration of the Great Synagogue, the new building was 
 consecrated by the Chief Rabbi. The Sabbath previous to the consecration, 
 the last Sabbath morning service was held at the old building. There was a 
 very large attendance, and Mr. Green delivered an eloquent farewell 
 sermon. He referred to the progress that had been made in the community 
 since 1855, and especially to the fact that the political disabilities had been 
 removed since the opening of that synagogue, and he trusted that they would 
 be as happy in their more beautiful synagogue as they had been in their 
 small House of God. He mentioned that in future the division of the 
 Sabbath morning services would terminate. 
 
 On the day of the Consecration, the Chief Rabbi and a number of the 
 principal members went to the old building and read the Afternoon Service. 
 The Chief Rabbi, who, on this day, had Jahrzeit, recited the last Kaddish 
 and the two Sephorim that had remained to the end were 
 removed from the Ark, and carried to the new building. The 
 Consecration Service attracted an enormous attendance, the whole 
 of the arrangements being in the hands of Mr. Lionel Van Oven and 
 Mr. N. S. Joseph. In the space in front of the Wardens' box, stood a 
 canopy held by four young men. They were Messrs. Joseph Lindo Alex- 
 ander, Nathaniel Louis Cohen, Louis Davidson, and George Solomon
 
 19 
 
 Joseph. The Ark was opened by Sir Moses Montefiore, then eighty-five 
 years of age. The Rev. S. Ascher, of the Great Synagogue, took part in 
 the service, and a Hebrew ode, which is now always sung at the consecration 
 of a synagogue, was for the first time heard at this service. It was the 
 composition of the Chief Rabbi himself. The English paraphrase in verse 
 which was distributed was the work of Michael Henry, then editor of the 
 Jewish Chronicle. A picture of the ceremony appeared in the Graphic. 
 Mr. Jacob Waley entertained at dinner the principal actors in the con- 
 secration service. 
 
 On the 14th July, of the same year, the Act bringing into existence the 
 United Synagogue received the Royal assent, and became part of the law 
 of the land. The Central Synagogue became the fifth constituent of the 
 United Synagogue and its intimate connection with the parent body, the 
 Great Synagogue, came to an end. In December of the same year, the first 
 election took place under the new law for officers of the synagogue. 
 
 The Honorary Officers of the Great Synagogue, Sir Anthony de 
 Rothschild, Lionel Louis Cohen, Jacob Waley, Hyam Leopold Beddington, 
 Joseph Lazarus, and Moses Symons published a notice in the Press to the 
 effect that, having held office for so many years at the Great Synagogue, 
 they were resolved not to accept re-election, but would willingly join the 
 Committee of either the Great or the Central Synagogue. This action on 
 the part of the men who had been instrumental in bringing the United 
 Synagogue into existence aroused considerable feeling, and a widely-signed 
 requisition was promoted by the Central Synagogue, asking them to alter 
 their decision. The members of the Central Synagogue went further, in 
 spite of their self-denying ordinance, and elected Professor Jacob Waley 
 and Mr. Lionel Louis Cohen head of the poll for the posts of Wardens. 
 These two gentlemen, however, remained firm in their resolve not to accept 
 office, and the next two names on the list were declared elected as the first 
 Wardens of the Central Synagogue: Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild and 
 Mr. Barnett Meyers. There were thirty candidates for the five seats on 
 the Board of Management, those elected being: Sir Anthony de Rothschild, 
 Messrs. Lionel Louis Cohen, Jacob Waley, S. L. Miers, and H. L. Bed- 
 dington. Sir Anthony de Rothschild, having been elected first President 
 of the United Synagogue, retired from the Board of Management, and Mr. 
 Moses Symons was elected in his place. There was an equal keenness to 
 represent the synagogue on the General Council, there being thirty-eight 
 candidates for the seven seats. The Central Synagogue gave to the new 
 Council its President and one of its two Vice-Presidents, Mr. Lionel Louis 
 Cohen. Among other members of the Central Synagogue who have done 
 yeoman service for the Council of the United Synagogue may be mentioned 
 Mr. Noah Davis, Mr. N. L. Cohen, Mr. N. S. Joseph, Mr. Assur H. Moses, 
 Mr. Solomon Schloss, Mr. Felix A. Davis, Mr. Lionel L. Alex- 
 ander, Mr. David Davis, and Dr. A. Asher. The synagogue soon 
 became very prosperous. At the end of its first complete 
 year of existence (1871), 365 seats were let on the ground floor 
 and 269 in the gallery, and the total income was 4,904, the balance being 
 916, in addition to which the sum of 312 was paid as interest on
 
 debentures, and the sum of 1,000 paid off for ten debentures. The Auditors 
 of the first balance-sheet of the new building were Messrs. Ellis A. Franklin 
 and Alfred H. Beddington. 
 
 The fixtures of the old synagogue at 43, Great Portland Street, were given 
 to the Brighton and Stepney Synagogues and the building transformed into 
 a concert-room. Very shortly after the opening of the present synagogue, 
 an offer of the gift of a pulpit was made, but declined by the Board of 
 Management. A lectern that ran on wheels was dragged out from the side 
 of the Ark, and placed at the top of the steps whenever a sermon was 
 delivered. In the year 1880, a carved wooden pulpit was installed until the 
 present handsome marble pulpit was presented in 1901 by Mr. Asher Isaacs, 
 the Financial Representative. 
 
 On the Intermediate Sabbath in Passover, 1871, there was a formal 
 interchange of pulpits between the ministers of the Bayswater and the 
 Central Synagogues the Rev. A. L. Green delivering a sermon at the former, 
 and the Rev. Dr. Hermann Adler at the latter. At the time, the incident 
 (the first of its kind) occasioned much interest. The first three Honorary 
 Officers were Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, Mr. Barnett Meyers, and 
 Mr. S. L. Miers, who, in the year 1872, presented the Chupah which is still 
 in use. The first wedding solemnised was that of Mr. Asher Wertheimer, 
 followed very shortly afterwards by the marriages of Mr. Charles Davis and 
 Mr. Louis Davidson. 
 
 An interesting visit was paid to the synagogue on 3rd July, 1872, by 
 Dom Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil, when a prayer-book and an illuminated 
 scroll, upon which was written a prayer offered up for his Imperial Majesty, 
 were presented to him by the Board of Management. 
 
 In February, 1873, a proposal was made to utilise the tower of the 
 synagogue for the purposes of a Hebrew library, but nothing resulted from 
 this project. By the year 1875, every seat in the building was let, and forty 
 new seats were added. In the following year the building was completely 
 redecorated, at a cost of 1,300, which sum was raised by the congregation. 
 The Roman pavement was placed in front of the Ark, and Mr. Frederick 
 Davis, at that time Warden of the Synagogue, beautified the Ark by present- 
 ing twenty-five Italian marble columns. 
 
 The question of the position of the pulpit arid the choir was from time 
 to time a subject of much discussion. At one time it was proposed to 
 introduce an organ into the synagogue, but the suggestion met with such 
 strenuous opposition that the project was abandoned, as was also a pro- 
 posal to have ladies on the choir. 
 
 The subject of improvements in the form of service engaged the 
 attention of the Board of Management in May, 1379, when a Sub-Com- 
 mittee, consisting of Messrs. Frederick Davis, Alfred H. Beddington, Jonah 
 Jonas, J. A. Joseph, and Henry J. Kisch, was appointed to consider the 
 matter. It was well known that the Rev. A. L. Green was strongly in 
 favour of a modified service, including the reading of the Law in cycles of
 
 21 
 
 three years, and it was due, no doubt, to his initiative that the movement 
 was set on foot. The co-operation of the other London synagogues was 
 invited in drawing up a series of proposals to be laid before the Chief Rabbi. 
 With the exception of the Hambro' Synagogue, the eight constituent 
 synagogues, including the recently opened East London and New West End 
 Synagogues, accepted invitations to a Conference which held its first 
 meeting at the offices of the Central Synagogue on October 23rd, 1879. 
 Mr. Lionel L. Cohen was appointed Chairman and Mr. Henry J. Kisch 
 Honorary Secretary, with the Rev. S. Lyons to assist him. Numerous 
 meetings were held, and in May, 1880, the Chief Rabbi published his reply 
 to the requests of the Conference in which many of the alterations of the 
 ritual that had been solicited were officially sanctioned. 
 
 A Sabbath Religion Class for children was instituted in the same year 
 by Mr. Green on the lines of the classes held in the city under the auspices 
 of the Jewish Association for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge, 
 in which body Mr. Green always took a deep interest. Under Mr. 
 Fay, these classes were held on Sundays, and are continued to the present 
 day. The month of January, 1881, was noteworthy for the visit to the 
 synagogue of His Majesty the King, then the Prince of Wales, to attend 
 the marriage of Mr. Leopold de Rothschild, the register of the marriage 
 showing the signature of " Albert Edward P." The second occasion on 
 which His Majesty visited the synagogue was in December, 1898, at the 
 service in memory of the late Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. 
 
 On Sunday, the llth of March, 1883, a severe blow befell the synagogue 
 in the death of its beloved minister, the Rev. A. L. Green, which took place 
 under painfully sudden circumstances. On the morning of that day Mr. 
 Green had officiated at the setting of the tombstone to the memory of his 
 old friend, Mr. Ephraim Alex. In the afternoon, he attended a public 
 meeting at the Jewish Working Men's Club, Great Alie Street, in aid of the 
 Building Fund of the Jews' Free School, where he made a most effective 
 speech, full of characteristic witticisms. As he was proceeding down 
 Cornhill on his way home from the meeting, he was seized with an 
 apoplectic fit, and died. The whole community united to mourn the loss 
 of se prominent a figure in English Jewry, but nowhere was his death felt 
 so sincerely as at the synagogue where he had officiated for a period of 
 twenty-eight years. He had been so closely identified with the fortunes of 
 the Central Synagogue almost all the congregation had grown up with 
 him that the idea of the synagogue without his guidance seemed almost 
 unthinkable. 
 
 The vacancy was not filled until some considerable time later. It was 
 felt to be impossible to find any minister in the community capable of com- 
 bining the remarkable many-sidedness of Mr. Green. It was, therefore, 
 resolved that a good Reader, in the first instance, should be engaged. A 
 proposal was also put forward that an arrangement should be made with the 
 Bayswater and New West End Synagogues whereby the ministers of those 
 synagogues, the Revs. Dr. Hermann Adler and S. Singer, should each deliver 
 a sermon once a month at the Central Synagogue. This plan was defeated
 
 22 
 
 at a general meeting of the members held in October, when it was decided 
 that a minister should be appointed especially attached to the Central 
 Synagogue. After having read the services for six months, the Rev. E. 
 Spero, at that time one of the Eeaders of the Hambro' 
 Synagogue, was elected unopposed to the post of Reader 
 (February, 1884), and the Rev. David Fay was selected, among 
 seven candidates, to fill the post of Preacher (in July, 1884). This 
 election possessed features of especial interest inasmuch as each candidate 
 had to undergo the ordeal of preaching thrice, and at the suggestion of 
 Mr. D. L. Alexander, K.C., and his brother, the late Mr. Lionel L. Alexander, 
 the contest was not decided by the ordinary ballot, but by a system of 
 exhaustive voting, whereby the electors were asked to signify the order in 
 which they preferred the various candidates. Mr. Fay had been Minister 
 to the Bristol Congregation, and, besides his synagogue work, performed 
 a considerable amount of communal work as Honorary Secretary of the 
 Committee of Visitors among the Jewish Poor, and also of the Jewish 
 Religious Education Board. He became also Secretary of the Central 
 Synagogue on the death of the Rev. S. Lyons in 1887. 
 
 From the year 1884 to 1887 there were three ministers at the synagogue, 
 when the death of the Rev. S. Lyons brought to a close a faithful service of 
 thirty-two years' duration as Second Reader and Secretary. 
 
 The death of Mr. Lionel L. Cohen (at this time a member of the House 
 of Commons) in the same year deprived the United Synagogue of a Vice- 
 President and of a leader with a genius for work and organisa- 
 tion who could not be replaced. The congregation in Great Portland 
 Street also lost an earnest worshipper, a sincere friend, a wise counsellor. 
 Mr. Cohen had remained a member of the Board of Management of the 
 Central Synagogue from the day of the foundation of the United Synagogue, 
 and the memorial windows, which were set up in the Synagogue at the 
 suggestion of Mr. Joseph Pyke, the then Warden, and which were unveiled 
 in 1897 by his son, Mr. Leonard L. Cohen, are a testimony of the profound 
 respect in which his memory will always be held. 
 
 In the year 1889, the first of the series of Special Services for Girls was 
 held. These services were organised by Mr. Fay, with the assistance of Mr. 
 Leonard L. Cohen, one of the Wardens, and have been continued by the 
 present minister. After eighteen years' splendid work on behalf of the 
 Synagogue and the community, Mr. Fay was compelled by ill-health to 
 resign his position. An illuminated address was presented to him on his 
 retirement, in which was inscribed the resolution adopted at a general 
 meetng held on November 9th, 1902. This ran as follows: 
 
 That this general meeting of seatholders of the Central Synagogue has learnt, 
 with deep regret, that owing to continued ill-health, the Rev. David Fay has found it 
 imperative to resign the office of Minister of the Congregation. The meeting desires 
 to place upon record its high appreciation of his zealous service and devoted labours 
 over a period of eighteen years, and tenders him its warmest sympathy in his enforced 
 retirement, with the expression of its earnest hope that the cessation of his con- 
 gregational, and communal work will, by Divine Grace, be the means of sparing him 
 to his family and friends for many years in renewed health and strength.
 
 23 
 
 In June, 1903, the Rev. Michael Adler, B.A., of the Hammersmith 
 Synagogue, was appointed in his place, and Mr. Lyon J. Salomons, who 
 had been Acting-Secretary for six years, was elected to the post of Secretary. 
 The election of Mr. Adler was carried out by an Advisory Committee, a novel 
 form of procedure that was successfully introduced by Mr. Joseph Trenner, 
 one of the Wardens. 
 
 The following is the complete list of those who have held the principal 
 offices in the synagogue since the year 1870: 
 
 WARDENS. Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, 1870-1871 ; Barnett Meyers, 
 1870-1877; L. C. Lumley, 1872-1874; Edwin L. Samuel, 1874-1875; Frederick 
 Davis (father of the present Warden, Mr. Edward P. Davis, and of Mr. 
 Felix A. Davis, Treasurer of the United Synagogue), 1875-1881 ; Alfred 
 H. Beddington, 1877-1879; Baron Henry de Worms, M.P., 1879-1881. (At the 
 end of one year of office Baron de Worms consented to his re-election as 
 Warden upon the condition that Mr. Frederick Davis should remain as his 
 colleague. The pressure of his Parliamentary duties was the cause of his 
 resignation in 1881); Jonah Jonas (father of the present Warden, Mr. M. J. 
 Jonas), 1881-1889; M. S. Oppenheim, 1881-1883; Samuel E. Moss, 1883-1904 
 (Mr. Moss thus served the post of Warden for 21 years, and had only been 
 on the Board of Management for one year when he was raised to the post of 
 Honorary Officer. His frequent re-election was a striking testimony on the 
 part of the congregation to the esteem and affection in which he was held. 
 His sudden death, three months after his resignation of office, evoked an 
 expression of deep sympathy. His portrait now hangs in the Council 
 Chamber); Leonard L. Cohen, 1889-1893; Joseph Pyke, 1893-1901; Joseph 
 Trenner, 1901-1903; and the present Wardens, Messrs. E. P. Davis, elected 
 1903, and M. J. Jonas, in 1904. 
 
 FINANCIAL REPRESENTATIVES. S. L. Miers, 1870-1873; "Frederick Davis, 
 1873-1875; Alfred H. Beddington, 1875-1877; Jonah Jonas, 1877-1881; J. 
 Benjamin, 1881-1883; Henry Isaacs, 1883-1885; Henry Simmons, 1885-1893. 
 In the latter year, Mr. Asher Isaacs, the present holder of the office, was 
 appointed Financial Representative, having already been a member of the 
 Board of Management since the year 1875. 
 
 Of the members of the present Board of Management, Mr. Leopold de 
 Rothschild was elected in 1883, and Mr. S. J. Phillips in 1882. Dr. M. 
 Friedlander, the respected Principal of Jews' College, joined the Board 
 in 1890. 
 
 Among the recent additions to the adornments of the Synagogue should 
 be mentioned the tablets at the side of the Ark containing the Prayer for the 
 Royal Family, which w^ere presented by an esteemed member of the con- 
 gregation, who desires to remain anonymous; and also the installation of 
 the electric light, which was carried out by Mr. B. Blaiberg in 1896. In 
 March of the present year a bronze and marble tablet to the memory of 
 the 116 Jewish soldiers who died in the South African War was affixed to 
 the exterior of the building in Great Portland Street. The ceremony of
 
 24 
 
 unveiling this memorial tablet was performed by Field-Marshal Earl 
 Roberts, K.G., this being the occasion of his second visit to the synagogue. 
 Earl Roberts had also been present at one of the Chanuca Military Service 
 held here in December, 1902, which service was further noteworthy for the 
 presence, in the Wardens' box, of one of the members of the Central 
 Synagogue, Sir Marcus Samuel, Bart., as Lord Mayor of London. 
 
 Reference should also be made to the most recent developments in the 
 activities of the Synagogue in the institution of monthly children's services, 
 the formation of a Ladies' Needlework Guild, the Literary and Debating 
 Society, and the Working Men's Club in Tottenham Court Road, which was 
 brought into existence by the efforts of Mr. Leopold de Rothschild, Mr. 
 Felix A. Davis, and the Rev. Michael Adler. 
 
 In concluding this survey of the fifty years' history of the Central 
 Synagogue, I desire to tender my cordial thanks to the Hon. Officers of the. 
 Central and the Great Synagogues for the facilities they have afforded me 
 in collecting the material for the subject. I also have to thank many 
 members of the synagogue, in addition to Mr. P. Vallentine, for the valuable 
 information they have furnished me with. In the fervent hope that the 
 Central Synagogue may flourish for all time, I echo the prayer inscribed 
 over the entrance to the synagogue, ntn 0'31 ~p^ i:jnnm WBnni "And 
 may they continue to pray and offer their supplication unto Thee in this 
 House." 
 
 *^ 1^9