Hendon Synagogue

Current Name:

Hendon Synagogue

Former Name:

Hendon Hebrew Congregation

Address:

18 Raleigh Close, Wykeham Road, Hendon, London NW4 2TA

The Synagogue cost £20,000 to erect and was consecrated on 15th 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.

Former 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.

The plot, which included six cottages) was purchased for £2,150 and a temporary building was constructed at a cost of £1,000 (known by 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. 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.

Current Status:

Active

Date Formed:

1928

Ritual:

Ashkenazi Orthodox

Affiliation:

Initially independent, although there was an arrangement with the United Synagogue from 1929 regarding burial facilities. The Congregation formally joined the United Synagogue in 1935 as a district synagogue, becoming a full member (constituent) synagogue in the same year.

Website:

http://www.hendonsynagogue.com

Membership Data:

1928  -    70 members (source)

Source: Congregation's website

1930  -   125 members (source)

Source: Congregation's website

1939  -   see  List of Seatholders of the Synagogue, issued March 1939

1940  -   561 male seatholders (source)

Source: The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 216/17

1950  - 1,015 male seatholders (source)

Source: The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 216/17

1960  - 1,270 male seatholders (source)

Source: The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 216/17

1970  - 1,357 male seatholders (source)

Source: The United Synagogue 1870-1970 by Aubrey Newman (1977), pages 216/17

1980  - over 2,000 members (source)

Source: Congregation's website

For detailed figures for membership until 1977 (in particular for 1942 and from 1949 to 1977), see Appendix II to Geoffrey Alderman's History of the Hendon Synagogue 1928-1978.

Ministers:

Rev. B. Wykansky  - 1928? to 1929

Rev. Joseph Herman  - 1929 to 1936

Rev. H. I. Alexander - 1937 to 1943

(Rev. H. I. Alexander - temporary minister 1941 to 1943)

(Rev. M. Landy - temporary minister 1943 to 1945)

Rev. Leslie Henry Hardman - 1946 to 1980

Rabbi Sidney Silberg - 1980 to 1996

Rabbi Mordechai Ginsbury - 1999 to Present (March 2015)

Notable Cantors (Readers):

Rev. David Koussevitsky - 1937 to 1949

Rev. S. B. Taub - 1950 to 1958

Rev. Moshe Korn - 1960 to 1981

Rev. (later Rabbi) Shmuel Neuman  - 1981 to ?

Honorary Officers:

For a list of all Honorary Officers of the Congregation from 1926 until 1978, see Appendix I to Geoffrey Alderman's History of the Hendon Synagogue 1928-1978.

Local Authority Districts:

Hendon, a residential suburb in Northwest London with a large Jewish population, is in the London Borough of Barnet, created on 1 April 1965, within the administrative area of Greater London.

Previously, Hendon was in the Municipal Borough of Hendon (which was an urban district until 1932) in the County of Middlesex, both of which entities were abolished in 1965.

Registration Districts:

From 1 July 1837 - Hendon
From 1 April 1999 - Barnet (which would now hold any registers)

• List of Seatholders of the Synagogue, issued March 1939

• Documents pertaining to the Golden Jubilee of the Synagogue 1978 including:

  • The History of the Hendon Synagogue 1928 - 1978 by Geoffrey Alderman (and reproduced with his kind consent)

  • Golden Jubilee Souvenir Brochure 1978

• VE-Day 40th Anniversary Cover Page (pdf file) to Order of Service for Special Service of Thanksgiving, 8 May 1985.

• In Memory of Rev. Moshe M. Korn (z"l), Chazan of the Synagogue (1960-1985), Cover Page (pdf file) to Order of Service, 25 November 1985.

JCR-UK is extremely grateful to Mrs. Lyn Fisher (formerly Ofstein),
a former member of the Hendon Synagogue,
for providing JCR-UK with copies of the above documents.