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Edinburgh Synagogue

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Coordinates: 55°56′18″N 3°10′28″W / 55.93822792856555°N 3.1745465796842764°W / 55.93822792856555; -3.1745465796842764
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Edinburgh Synagogue
The Edinburgh Synagogue, in 2012
Religion
AffiliationOrthodox Judaism
RiteNusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organisational statusSynagogue
OwnershipEdinburgh Hebrew Congregation
LeadershipRabbi David Rose
StatusActive
Notable artworksStained-glass windows by William Wilson
Location
Location4 Salisbury Road, Newington, Edinburgh, Scotland
CountryUnited Kingdom
Edinburgh Synagogue is located in Scotland
Edinburgh Synagogue
Location in Scotland
Geographic coordinates55°56′18″N 3°10′28″W / 55.93822792856555°N 3.1745465796842764°W / 55.93822792856555; -3.1745465796842764
Architecture
Architect(s)James Miller (1932)
TypeSynagogue architecture
StyleByzantine Revival
Date established1816 (as a congregation)
Groundbreaking
  • 1817 (Richmond Court)
  • 1868 (Park Place)
  • 1898 (Graham Street)
  • 1932 (Salisbury Road)
Construction cost£20,000
Specifications
Capacity1,000 worshipers
Dome(s)One
MaterialsRed brick
Website
ehcong.com
Listed Building – Category B
Official name4 SALISBURY ROAD, SYNAGOGUE CHAMBERS INCLUDING GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS
TypeListed Building
Designated29 March 1996
Reference no.LB43172

The Edinburgh Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 4 Salisbury Road in the Newington area of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1816 as the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, the congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.

The current synagogues building was opened in 1932, that replaced a converted chapel on Graham Street which had served as its synagogue since 1898.[1]

The Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation is a mainstream Orthodox congregation under the auspices of the Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue.[2] Rabbi David Rose has served as rabbi since 2003.[3]

Early history

Synagogue at Richmond Court

The Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation, the city's first synagogue, was established in 1817 at Richmond Court for a congregation of 20 families. In 1868, the congregation had grown and so they moved the shul to a larger accommodation at Park Place. They moved again in 1898 to Graham Street.[4]

Between 1881 and 1914, immigrants arrived in large numbers to Edinburgh. They brought different religious traditions with them. As a result, other congregations began to form.[4] Some of these Jews migrated from within Britain. In 1879, Hasidic Jews from Manchester who had come to work in the Caledonian Rubber Works on Fountainbridge established a synagogue in the Dalry area on Caledonian Crescent. This synagogue served about 35 families.[5][4] However, a majority of the migrant population came from the Pale of Settlement in Eastern Europe. In 1890, the Eastern European migrants established Edinburgh New Hebrew Congregation in Richmond Court. It was eventually moved to Roxburgh Place in 1916.[4]

Current building

In 1918, the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation and the Edinburgh New Hebrew Congregation unified on paper but continued to worship in separate places given their different practices.[5]: 63–64  Rabbi Dr. Salis Daiches, who arrived the next year, worked to make these communities into a more unified whole.

Under Rabbi Daiches' influence, in October 1926 the community formed a committee with the aim of raising funds to build a new synagogue large enough for the entire community to worship together. In November 1928 the site at 4 Salisbury Road, Newington was purchased, this being near the heart of the principal area of Jewish settlement in Edinburgh. The Roxburgh Place synagogue finally closed in March 1929 and a "Beth Hamedrash" (literally House of Study) opened in an existing house on the site. Construction of the new synagogue eventually cost £20,000. This was a hard campaign given the small community, its waning interest in religious matters, and the difficult economic situation due to the Great Depression. In the end, a bank loan of £6,000 was required in order to complete the project.[5]: 68–69 

Building began on 3 May 1931 when Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted laid the foundation stone.[6] The synagogue took 15 months to complete and was opened on 11 September 1932 by Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz.[5]: 68  It was designed by the renowned Glasgow architect James Miller, most noted for his commercial buildings in Glasgow and Scottish railway stations; the synagogue is one of only two buildings he designed in Edinburgh.[7] He was asked to make a prestigious building that would contribute to Edinburgh's architecture and provide a focal point for local Jewish life. The purpose-built synagogue could house 1,000 people and also had a mikveh on the premises.[8] Faced in red brick it is built in a simplified Byzantine Revival style with a large central dome suspended from the flat roof by steel hangers which floods the building with light.[7] The Ark containing the Torah scrolls is of French walnut and bears an inscription from the Book of Proverbs: (3:6) "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths".

From the beginning, the synagogue was large for the number of congregants attending. In 1981, Michael Henderson of Dick, Peddie & McKay was hired to reduce the interior. While the mikveh was in disuse by this point, it was retained. Then in 2003, it came back into use when the synagogue was renovated again with the help of a £300,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.[8]

The synagogue was listed in 1996 as a grade B listed building.[6]

William Wilson stained glass window

Stained glass windows

The synagogue houses six stained windows by the distinguished Scottish stained glass artist William Wilson, RSA. These richly coloured works combine Jewish religious symbols with abstract and floral motifs with one depicting the act of Creation.[9][10]

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ "Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation". JCR-UK. 7 May 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Edinburgh Jewish Community: Home". Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2023.[self-published source?]
  3. ^ "Rabbi Rose". Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation. 1 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.[self-published source?]
  4. ^ a b c d "North Richmond Street". Edinburgh Jewish Studies Network. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Holtschneider, Hannah (2019). Jewish Orthodoxy in Scotland: Rabbi Dr Salis Daiches and Religious Leadership. Edinburgh University Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4744-5259-5. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctvs32qt4.
  6. ^ a b "4 SALISBURY ROAD, SYNAGOGUE CHAMBERS INCLUDING GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS (LB43172)". portal.historicenvironment.scot. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b Sloan, Audrey (1993). James Miller 1860 - 1947. Edinburgh: Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. p. 47. ISBN 1-873190-15-8.
  8. ^ a b Kadish, Sharman (2015). "Jewish heritage in Scotland". Jewish Historical Studies. 47: 201–203. ISSN 0962-9696. JSTOR 43855751.
  9. ^ Smith, Bobbie (Summer 2014). "Seeing the Light". NADFAS Review Supplement: 8–9.
  10. ^ Bentley, William W. (February 2003). "The Stained Glass of William Wilson, OBE, RSA". The Edinburgh Star (Magazine of the Edinburgh Jewish Community) (44): 12–13.
  11. ^ Daiches, David (1987). Two worlds: an Edinburgh Jewish childhood. Canongate classics (1. publ ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Publ. ISBN 978-0-86241-148-0.
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