The Jewish Chronicle, 18 March 1955
Next week the Brondesbury
Synagogue, Chevening Road, London
- which has played an outstanding
role in the progress of London Jewry
- will celebrate its 50th anniversary.
On Sunday there will be a thanksgiving
service at the synagogue, at which the
officiants will be the Chief Rabbi, Dayan
H. M. Lazarus (who played a great part
in the progress of the congregation),
Rabbi Dr. A. Melinek (the present
minister), and the Rev. A. Elfand.
Throughout its 50 years, the Brondesbury congregation
has been in the forefront of all communal endeavour in
north-west London.
After the considerable influx of
Jewish people to the districts of Brondesbury and Willesden Green at the close of
the last century it became evident that a
synagogue would have to be built. A
site at Chevening Road, adjoining the
Maria Grey School was chosen. A dinner
in aid of the building fund was held under
the chairmanship of the then Lord
Mayor of London, Sir Marcus Samuel,
and £3,000 - nearly half the sum required - was raised.
In January, 1905. while the synagogue
was still being built, the acting committee
received permission from the Council of
the United Synagogue to appoint officials.
Mr. Harris M. Lazarus, then a student at
Jews' College, was appointed preacher
and reader and Mr. David Adler, beadle
and collector.
The synagogue was consecrated on
Sunday, April 9, Sir Marcus Samuel
unveiled the commemoration tablet and
Mr. Lionel de Rothschild, President, of
the United Synagogue, declared the building open.
The Chief Rabbi, Dr. Hermann
Adler, preached the sermon, and the
service was conducted by the Rev. E. Spero, of the Central Synagogue.
After taking up his duties, the minister
received help from the Rev. P. Palotz(?),
who offered his services voluntarily. The
Rev. A. A. Green, who, with his wife,
had greatly helped in the establishment of
the synagogue, and Dayan M. Hyamson
were the first visiting preachers.
Religion
classes, which had been under the direction of Mr. L. E. Israel since 1903 and
had 65 pupils, were established in the
synagogue hall with the Rev. H. M. Lazarus as Superintendent.
In the first elections held in 1905, Mr. S. Barnett and Mr. M. Duparc were
elected Wardens, and Mr. A. Van
Noorden, Financial Representative.
By 1910 the synagogue. managed to
overcome its financial difficulties, and
with its 550 members became a "Surplus
Synagogue". In that year, too, the Rev. H. M. Lazarus obtained his rabbinical
diploma. In 1913 the newly appointed
Chief Rabbi, Dr. J. H. Hertz, visited the
synagogue, and in the following year,
Rabbi Lazarus was appointed an
Assistant Dayan at the Beth Din.
During the First World War and later,
the synagogue owed a great deal to the services of
its Warden, Mr. Joseph Prag,
J.P.
Following the influx of Jewish
people alter the war the synagogue had
to be enlarged and partly reconstructed.
It was reconsecrated by Dr. Hertz in 1924.
In that year, too, the synagogue had
to deal with an important new development. The Board of Management
received a request to assist in the formation of a new synagogue in Cricklewood,
but decided to reject it. Later the Willesden Green and Cricklewood Congregation applied to the Council of the
United Synagogue for burial rights, and
the Brondesbury congregation decided not
to oppose the application.
Reader's Retirement:
After 25 years' distinguished service as
Reader and Secretary, the Rev. N. Peckar retired in 1931, and the Rev. A.
Elfand was appointed Reader.
The
silver jubilee of the synagogue coincided
with Dayan Lazarus's completion of 25 years of service to the congregation.
Brondesbury paid tribute to his and his
wife's outstanding work. In 1938, Dayan
Lazarus resigned his position as minister
on his appointment as Senior Dayan at
the Beth Din, but, at the request of the
United Synagogue, he continued to serve
the congregation in an honorary capacity
until 1941.
At the outbreak of the war
the United Synagogue decided that no
permanent appointments should be made
for the time being. The first temporary
minister was the Rev. A. Shapiro, who
was followed in 1941 by the Rev. I. Jakobovits (now Chief Rabbi of Eire),
who in turn was succeeded, in 1944, by
Rabbi N. Vengroff. In 1946 Dayan M. Swfft and the Rev. M. Wykansky were
appointed permanent ministers. Rabbi
Dr. Melinek was appointed minister in
1951, Dayan Swift having left for South
Africa and Mr. Wykansky having become
a minister in New York.
Throughout its history, the congregation has been
in the forefront of religious education, youth work, and
charitable endeavours. But it had to
tackle many grave difficulties. During
the war a large part of the synagogue
was damaged by enemy action.
Dayan Lazarus, with his great qualities,
was able to fashion the congregation into
one of the most religiously and
communally conscious in Anglo-Jewry.
He has been helped by such groups as the
Ladies' Guild in guiding the congregation
in its communal work. Many outstanding
members of the community such as
Rabbi Dr. S. Daiches, Dr. Mortimer
Epsteiin, and Mr. M. Gordon Liverman
were members of the synagogue. The
congregation has been lucky, too, in its
lay leaders who have given it much
devoted service.
The celebrations began last Sunday,
when children were entertained in
the synagogue hall. Apart from the
jubilee commemoration service this Sunday, the celebrations include a
M'lava Malka tomorrow (Saturday) night
and a symposium on Anglo-Jewish
education on Tuesday. The celebrations
will end with a dinner and ball on
March 27.
A history of the synagogue has been
written for the occasion by Rabbi
Melinek.
