JCR-UK

Colchester and District Jewish Community

Colchester, Essex

 

 

 

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Town of Colchester

The historic town of Colchester, which styles itself as the oldest town in England, is situated in southeast England about 55 miles to the northeast of London and has a population of about 160,000. The present boundaries date back to 1974, when the municipal borough of Colchester was merged with surrounding areas to form the local government district (later Borough) of Colchester within the county of Essex.

Colchester Jewish Community

There was a medieval Jewish community in Colchester, which existed from at least 1185 until the Jewish expulsion in 1290.

In the late eighteenth century and the nineteenth century, there was a small number of Jews in Colchester and a synagogue appears to have been established, about which little is known.

The current community really dates from World War II, when several Jewish families were evacuated to the town, who, together with local families and Jewish service personnel (from the UK, US and the Commonwealth), commenced holding Jewish religious services, although a congregation was not formally established until the late 1950s.


Congregation Data

Name:

Colchester and District Jewish Community

Address:

The Synagogue, Fennings Chase, Priory Street, Colchester CO1 2QB.(ii)

The Synagogue was built in 1969 on land purchased from the Spiritualist Church.(iii)

Founding and Predecessor Association:

The congregation was formally founded in 1957,(iv) although the synagogue was not acquired until 1969.

However, services had been held locally since World War II, and the congregation appears to have developed, in part, from an earlier Colchester and District Jewish Association, founded in 1952, which met monthly and held services on the high holy days.(v)

Current Status:

Active

Ritual:

Traditional Ashkenazi Orthodox(viii)

Affiliation:

The congregation is independent and although members may be affiliated to the United Synagogue for burial puroses, the congregation does not receive any direct financial assistance from the United Synagogue, nor is it required to make any financial contribution to the United Synagogue.(ix)

Ministers:

None listed

Lay Officers (to 1962):

Wardens

1957-1961 - B. Glasman(xii)

1961-1962 - H. Cohen(xii)

Treasurers & Hon. Secretaries

1957-1961 - G. Kane(xiv)

1961-1962 - Mrs. M. YoungJ. Goldstein(xv)

Subsequently, but prior to 2000 (date uncertain), Alex Bennet served as chair, warden and treasurer of the congregation and also conducted services.(xvi)

Website:

http://cdjc.org.uk/

Membership Data:

National Reports and Surveys:(xviii)

1977 - 59 male (or household) members and estimated 11 female members

1983 - 60 male (or household) members and estimated 15 female members

1990 - 70 members (comprising 53 households, 1 individual male and 16 individual female members)

1996 - 91 members (comprising 73 households, 2 individual male and 16 individual female members)

2010 & 2016 - listed as having 50 to 99 members (by household)

The Community is reinforced by staff and students from Essex University, with whom it has a special relationship.

Charitable Status:

Colchester and District Jewish Community (with 'CDJC' as an alternative working name) is a registered charity (no. 281498), standard registration, registered on 29 March 1965.(xix)

Eighteenth Century Congregation:

In the late eighteenth century a synagogue appears to have been established in Colchester. An article in the Ipswich Journal in June 1791 described in some detail the marriage of Samuel Levi, late of Bury, to Kitty, daughter of Isaac Abrahams of Colchester in the Synagogue - yard, in Angel Lane, the site of their earlier occupation. "The bridegroom led by the bride's father, preceded by the Rabbi and friends with a band of music, were followed by the bride clad in white and veiled with her mother and grandmother. Under a canopy supported by four men, the form of solemnisation in Hebrew was read and at the conclusion after the bride and groom had each drunk part of a glass of wine he threw it to the ground to denote that as the glass could never be made again, so difficult would it be for them to be separated in this life. A public feast followed and the day concluded with the highest festivity and decorum ....... the strictest propriety prevailed throughout the whole of the ceremony."(xx)

Registration District:

Essex (since 1 February 2010)(xxi) - Link to Register Office website

Cemetery Details:

The congregation has its own cemetery in Colchester:

Colchester Cemetery, Jewish Section, Mersea Road, Colchester CO2

This was established in 2011 and has both an orthodox and a non-orthodox section.(xxii)

(For additional information, see also IAJGS Cemetery Project - Colchester)

Notes & Sources ( returns to text above)

  • (i) Reserved.

  • (ii) Listed as the congregation's address in Jewish Year Books commencing 1970.

  • (iii) The congregation's website, accessed January 2017

  • (iv) Jewish Year Book 1958.

  • (v) Listed in Jewish Year Books from 1953 through 1961.

  • (vi) and (vii) Reserved.

  • (viii) The congregation uses the Singer's Prayer Book - Congregation's website.

  • (ix) Congregation's website accessed January 2017.

  • (x) and (xi) Reserved.

  • (xii) Listed as warden in Jewish Year Books 1958 through 1961.

  • (xiii) Listed as warden in the Jewish Year Book 1962.

  • (xiv) Listed as treasurer and hon. secretary in Jewish Year Books 1958 through 1961.

  • (xv) Listed as joint treasurers and hon. secretaries in the Jewish Year Books 1962.

  • (xvi) Jewish Chronicle report. To view a short profile of Alex Bennett, hold the cursor over his name.

  • (xvii) Reserved.

  • (xviii) Reports on synagogue membership in the United Kingdom, published by or on behalf of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and which can be viewed on the website of the Institute of Jewish Policy Research. Click HERE for links to the various reports.

  • (xix) Charity Commission website, accessed November 2023. Clicking the charity number will take you to the charity's registration on the website.

  • (xx) Congregation's website, accessed January 2017.

  • (xxi) The former Registration District was Colchester from 1 July 1837 to 1 February 2010. Any registers would now be held by the current register office.

  • (xxii) Congregation's website, accessed January 2017.

 


Search the All-UK Database

The records in the database associated with Colchester include:

1851 Anglo Jewry Database (updated 2016)

Individuals in the 1851 Anglo Jewry Database who were living in Colchester during the 1770s (1 record), 1780s (1 record), 1790s (5 records), 1800s (4 records), 1810s (3 records); 1820s (15 records), 1830s (11 records), 1840s (14 records), 1850s (15 records), 1860s (11 records) and 1870s (5 records).

 

Online Articles and Other Material
relating to the Colchester Jewish Community

on JCR-UK

 

Colchester Jewish Population Data

1952

75

(The Jewish Year Book 1953)

1954

45

(The Jewish Year Book 1955)

1957

57

(The Jewish Year Book 1958)

1970

100

(The Jewish Year Book 1971)

1985

150

(The Jewish Year Book 1986)

1990

100

(The Jewish Year Book 1991)

1994

175 familie

(The Jewish Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv)

2013

95 families

(Community's website)

 
Jewish Congregations in Essex

Jewish Communities of England home page

 
Page created: 13 February 2006
Page enhanced and notes added: 1 December 2023
most recently amended: 3 December 2023

Research and formatting by David Shulman


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