JCR-UK is a genealogical and historical website covering all Jewish communities and
congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.
Sealand
Sealand
is a community in the extreme northeast of Wales on the edge of the
Wirral peninsula. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border
and lies just 4 miles west of the English city of Chester and is
some 15 miles north of Wrexham.
Sealand was within
the old historic county of Flintshire until 1974, when Flintshire was merged with
neighbouring areas to form the new administrative county of Clwyd
and Sealand became part of the district of Alyn & Deeside within Clwyd. In
1996, Clwyd was abolished and replaced, in part, with the new,
somewhat smaller, county of Flintshire, now a unitary authority.
RAF
Sealand was active from 1916 until 1951, when the station was taken
over by the United States. It was returned to British control in
1957, and later became a Ministry oF Defence (MOD) facility.
Synagogue at RAF Sealand |
Formation and Chaplains: |
The synagogue was consecrated in February 1945, for the use of Jewish personnel stationed at RAF Sealand.
Councillor A. Moss, JP, of Manchester,
declared the synagogue open, and the consecration service was conducted by
Rabbi Israel Brodie,
then Senior Jewish Chaplain to the Forces, assisted by the
Rev. Dr. Barnett Joseph,
Area Jewish Chaplain, and the
Rev. Ruben Abenson, Jewish Chaplain, RAF.
In his address, Rabbi Brodie said that this was the fourth [RAF] station
synagogue he had had the pleasure of consecrating
during the past year....The synagogue has seating accommodation for 75.
The sifrei torah were lent by the
Higher Crumpsall and Higher Broughton Synagogue
of Manchester.(ii)
|
Activities: |
Friday evening services and communal suppers were held at the RAF
Sealand synagogue, the communal meal provided through the Forces
Hospitality Committee. On Monday evenings, literary and social meetings
of the Jewish group were held.
In May 1945 the first official RAF
language course, in modern Hebrew, was commenced. It was run by the
President of the congregation, Cpl. A. Grabman, with the help of the
Joint Emergency Committee for Jewish Religious Education.
Rev. Israel Chazen
of Macclesfield visited the
station and the near-by Chester Hebrew
Congregation provided assistance.
|
Officers:(iii) |
At the 1945 annual meeting of the RAF Sealand Synagogue,
the following were elected: Cpl. I. Claitman - Chairman;
L.Ac. P. Cowan - Secretary; and Sgt. L. Jackson
- Treasurer |
Closure: |
The synagogue
presumably ceased to function in the late 1950s as National Service was phased out. |
Registration District (BDM): |
Flintshire, since
18 April 2005(iv)
-
Link to Register Office Website. |
Notes &
Sources (↵
returns to text above)
|
List of Synagogues at RAF Stations
Jewish Congregations in the historic county of Flintshire
Jewish Congregations in the former county of Clwyd
Jewish Congregations in Wales, listed according to current unitary authorities
Jewish Communities & Congregations in Wales home page
Page created: 14 August 2024
Page most recently amended:
1 September 2024
Based upon research by Steven Jaffe
Formatting
by David Shulman
Explanation of Terms |
About JCR-UK |
JCR-UK home page
Contact JCR-UK Webmaster:
jcr-ukwebmaster@jgsgb.org.uk
Terms and Conditions, Licenses and Restrictions for the use of this website:
This website is
owned by JewishGen and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain. All
material found herein is owned by or licensed to us. You may view, download, and
print material from this site only for your own personal use. You may not post
material from this site on another website without our consent. You may not
transmit or distribute material from this website to others. You may not use
this website or information found at this site for any commercial purpose.
Copyright © 2002 - 2024 JCR-UK. All Rights Reserved