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Congregation Data |
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Name: |
Hendon Synagogue,
and more recently generally known as Hendon United Synagogue
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Former Name: |
Hendon Hebrew Congregation,
until about 1935(i)
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Address: |
18 Raleigh Close, Wykeham Road, Hendon, London NW4 2TA .
The Synagogue, designed by architect, Cecil Jacob Eprile, FRIBA,(ii)
cost £20,000 to erect.
The foundation stone was laid by Sir Robert Waley Cohen on 7 April 1935 and
the synagogue was consecrated on 15 September 1935 by Dayan Dr. Asher Feldman. The land (which was previously a derelict site known as ‘the Gravel Pit’)
is held on a lease from the trustees of All Souls College, Oxford for a
term of 99 years at the annual rental of £100.(iii) |
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Previous Address: |
Previously the synagogue was at 128 Brent Street, Hendon, London NW4 (just northwest of the junction with the North Circular Road) from 1928 to 1935.(iv)
The plot (which included six cottages) was purchased for £2,150 and a
temporary building was constructed in 1928 at a cost
of £1,000 (known to its congregants as "The Hut"). It was the first purpose built
synagogue in Hendon and
could seat about 360 congregants. It was consecrated by Chief Rabbi Dr. J. H. Hertz on 30 June 1929.(v) The building was
sold in 1940 to Hendon Adath
Synagogue for £2,700 (excluding the cottages) and the cottages were
sold in 1942 for £600.(vi) |
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Status: |
Active |
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Date Founded: |
The congregation dates its founding to 1928,
with the building of the first synagogue - it formally celebrated its
Golden Jubilee in 1978. However, prior to the acquisition of the
synagogue, religious services had been held since at least 1925, when
high holy day services were held in the house of Mr. H. Berman.(vii)
At a meeting held on 26 September 1926, it was resolved that a synagogue
be obtained for Jewish inhabitants of Hendon.(viii)
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Ritual: |
Ashkenazi Orthodox |
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Affiliation: |
Initially independent, although there was an arrangement with the
United Synagogue
from 1929 regarding burial facilities.(xi)
Although the congregation did not formally joined
the United Synagogue until 1935, it was effectively part of the United
Synagogue network from 1932. This three-year interim period reflected
concerns by the Golders Green Synagogue about the close proximity of
Hendon's Brent Street synagogue to their own synagogue. The congregation
became a District Synagogue of the United Synagogue in 1935, becoming a full
(Constituent) member the same year.(xii) |
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Website: |
http://www.hendonsynagogue.com |
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Ministers:
(To view a short profile of a minister
or chazan whose name appears in blue - hold the cursor over his name.) |
Rev. Benjamin B. Wykansky
- from about 1928 until 1929(xv)
Rev. Joseph Herman
- from 1929 until 1936(xvi)
Rev. Hyman Isidore Alexander
- from 1937 until 1943(xvii)
Rev. Abraham Berman
- from 1941 until 1943 (temporary)(xviii)
Rev. Maurice Landy
- from December 1943 until 1945 (temporary)(xxi)
Rev. Leslie Henry Hardman
- from December 1946 until 1980(xxii) and subsequently emeritus
Rabbi Sidney Silberg
- from 1981 until 1997(xxiii)
Rabbi Mordechai
S. Ginsbury
- from 1999 until present (January 2025)(xxiv) |
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Assistant or Associate Rabbis: |
Rabbi Leo Dee
- from 2000 until 2011(xxviii)
Rabbi Johnny Hughes
- from 2011 until 2013(xxix)
Rabbi Yisroel Binstock
- from 2014 until 2019(xxx)
Rabbi Zvi Portnoy
(& Rebbetzen Orly Portnoy)
- from 2019 until present (January 2025)(xxxi)
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Notable Chazanim (Readers) |
Rev. David Koussevitzky
- from 1937 until 1949(xxxv)
Rev. S. Shine - in about 1949/50 (temporary)(xxxvi)
Rev. Simon Hass
- in about 1949/50 (temporary)(xxxvii)
Rev. S. B. Taub
- from 1950 until 1958(xxxviii)
Rev. Moshe M. Korn
- from 1960 until 1985(xxxix)
Rev.
(later Rabbi) Shmuel Neuman
- from 1981 until 2006(xl) |
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Honorary Officers: |
The Wardens and Financial
Representatives of the Congregation from 1926 to 1978 are
listed in
Appendix I of the The History of the Hendon Synagogue 1928-1979 by
Geoffrey Alderman (online on JCR-UK). |
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Honorary Secretaries:
(to 1950s) |
S.J. Levine - from about 1925 to
about 1935(xlv)
Simon Wilsack - from about 1935 to
about 1954, except for war years(xlvi)
(Rev. Abraham Berman
- acting secretary from 1941 until 1943(xlvii))
(C. Goldstein - acting secretary from about 1943 to
about 1945(xlviii))
P. Cohen - from about 1955 to
about 1956(xlix)
V. Wagner - from about 1957 to
about 1959(l)
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Beadles (Shammeses): |
Lionel Rosenthal - from 1937 to
1966(li)
Moshe Steinhart - from 1967 to
2005(lii)
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Membership Data: |
General
Membership figures for 1942 and annual membership figures for 1949 to 1977 are
provided in Appendix II of the
The History of the Hendon Synagogue 1928-1979 by
Geoffrey Alderman (online on JCR-UK).
United Synagogue
(male seat-holders)(liv)
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1940 |
1950 |
1960 |
1970 |
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561 |
1015 |
1,270 |
1,357 |
National Reports & Surveys(lv)
1977 - 1,271 male (or household) members and 730 female members
1983 - 1,202 male (or household) members and 825 female members
1990 - 1,484 members (comprising 1,425 households,
21 individual male and 38 individual female members)
1996 - 1,339 members (comprising 1,183 households,
85 individual male and 71 individual female members)
2010 & 2016 - listed as having 750 to 999 members (by household) |
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Locality & Local Government District: |
Hendon, a residential suburb in north west London with a
large Jewish population, is in the London Borough of Barnet,
and was
(until 1965) in the former Municipal Borough of Hendon
(incorporated as a borough in 1932).(lvi) |
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Registration District: |
Barnet(lvii) -
Link to Register Office website |
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Cemetery Information |
For
United Synagogue cemeteries, see Cemeteries of the United Synagogue.
. |
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Notes & Sources - These now appear towards the foot of this page,
instead of the foot of this box. However, the note can also still be viewed in a pop-up box when the cursor is held over the note number. |
