Jewish Community of Liverpool and District

City of Liverpool

Liverpool, with a population of about 440,000 is major city and port lying on northeast bank of the river Mersey estuary in Northwest England.  Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was a county borough from 1888 until 1974, when it became metropolitan district within the then newly formed metropolitan county of Merseyside.  Liverpool became a unitary authority in 1986 when Merseyside lost its administrative status, becoming purely a ceremonial county.

Adjoining Liverpool are a number of other metropolitan boroughs within Merseyside, including Knowsley, formed in 1974 by the merger of the Huyton-with-Roby Urban District Council and several local authorities. Details of any Knowsley congregations are included in the list below.  For other communities in, or closely connected with, Merseyside, see under Sefton (for Bootle, Crosby and Southport), Wirral (for Birkenhead, Hoylake and Wallasey) and Widnes (for Widnes in Halton).

The Jewish Community

The earliest organized Jewish community in Liverpool was in about 1740, of Sephardi Jews, probably connected to the small Sephardi community that had been established in Dublin. This community did not survive and a new Ashkenazi was founded in about 1780, although little is known of its early history. 

Synagogues in Liverpool

The following congregations are, or were, considered to be part of the Liverpool & District Community

• Allerton Hebrew Congregation*⁽³⁾

• Ayin Jacob Synagogue, Crown Street

• Central Synagogue

• Childwall Synagogue*

• Devon Street Congregation

• Fairfield Synagogue

• Fountains Road Synagogue, Kirkdale

• Great Synagogue, Grove Street

• Greenbank Drive Synagogue*

• Hope Place Hebrew Congregation (now incorporated into Greenbank Drive Synagogue)

• Huyton-cum-Roby Hebrew Congregation

• Kehal Chassidim Synagogue

• Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation*

• Liverpool Reform Synagogue*

• New Beth Hamedrash

• Nusach Ari Synagogue & Beth Hamedresh, Crown Street

• Nusach Sfard Congregation (incorporated into Nusach Ari Synagogue)

• Sefton Park Hebrew Congregation (now incorporated into Greenbank Drive Synagogue)

• Shaw Street Congregation (incorporated into Fairfield Synagogue)

• Ullet Road Synagogue

• West Derby Street Synagogue

• Zeirie Israel Synagogue

*   Denotes active congregation
⁽³⁾  Pages with press reports on the coongregation.

Alternative Names for Liverpool's Synagogues

The following are former or alternative names of the above congregations:

• Arundel Avenue Synagogue - see Ullet Road Synagogue

• Beth Hemedresh - see Nusach Ari Synagogue & Beth Hamedresh

• Crown Street Beth Hemedresh - see Nusach Ari Synagogue & Beth Hamedresh

• Crown Street Synagogue - see Ayin Jacob Synagogue

• Great Grove Street Synagogue - see Great Synagogue, Grove Street

• Hope Place Synagogue (until 1930's) - see Hope Place Hebrew Congregation

• Hope Place Synagogue (1940's to 1962) - see Liverpool Reform Synagogue

• Kirkdale Synagogue- see Fountains Road Synagogue

• Liverpool Liberal Jewish Congregation - see Liverpool Reform Synagogue

• Liverpool Liberal Synagogue - see Liverpool Reform Synagogue

• Liverpool New Hebrew Congregation - see Hope Place Hebrew Congregation

• Liverpool Progressive Synagogue - see Liverpool Reform Synagogue

• Laurel Road Synagogue - see Fairfield Synagogue

• New Central Synagogue - see Shaw Street Congregation

• Nusach Ha'ari Beth Hamedresh - see Nusach Ari Synagogue & Beth Hamedresh

• Pride of Israel Synagogue - see Ullet Road Synagogue

• Prince's Road Synagogue - see Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation

• Rossette Avenue Synagogue - see Ullet Road Synagogue

• Russell Street Synagogue - see Nusach Sfard Congregation

• Seel Street Synagogue - see Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation

• Walnut Street Synagogue - see Ullet Road Synagogue

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