The History of the Federation of Synagogues

The History of the Federation of Synagogues
In 1887 Lord Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron of Swaythling (1832-1911) founded the Federation of
Synagogues.
1 Montague, the Member of Parliament for Whitechapel between 1885-1900, was a
champion of the impoverished Jewish migrants, spending much of his time and own money
working to improve the conditions of the inhabitants of the East End. Involved in almost all
aspects of Jewish communal life, Montague was involved, in addition to the Federation of
Synagogues, with the Board of Guardians, the Shechita Board, the Poor Jews’ Temporary
Shelter and many others.
2 By the end of Montague’s lifetime, the Federation represented 51
congregations, making it the largest synagogal organisation in the United Kingdom.
3
Very few high profile Anglo-Jews supported the mass migration of Eastern European Ashkenazi
Jews to Britain during the 1880s. The Board of Deputies between 1880 to 1914 repatriated
around 50,000 people. In 1884 Anglo-Jewish advertisements in the Russian and Romanian
Jewish press sought to propagate fear within prospective migrants, stating that the Board would
offer nothing to assuage difficulties during the initial six months after migrating.
4 This reluctance
to accept the migrants as a new community within the fabric of Anglo-Jewry was the overall
sentiment of the established community. However, these views were not universally shared, with
those who aligned themselves more closely with Orthodox Judaism being able to relate to the
new, poverty stricken communities. These figures included the Vice-President of the Federation
Hermann Landau (1844-1921), the philanthropist and Montagu’s brother-in-law Ellis Abraham
Franklin (1822-1909) and Montague himself.
5 6
There were several factors which resulted in the formation of The Federation. Firstly, there was
the overall reluctance from the established Anglo-Jewry to accept the migrants. Secondly, the
Anglo-Jewish community and its customs were also rejected by the migrants; the concepts of
6 Alderman, Modern British Jewry, p. 116.
5 Geoffrey Alderman, The Federation of Synagogues, A New History (London: The Federation of
Synagogues, 2018) p. 19.
4
Ibid, p. 114-115.
3 Alderman, Modern British Jewry, p. 162.
2 Cecil Boom, ‘Samuel Montagu and Zionism’ Jewish Historical Studies, Vol. 34 (1994-1996) 17-41 (pp.
17-18).
1 Geoffrey Alderman, Modern British Jewry, (Oxford: Clarendon, 1992) p. 154.
the United Synagogue, a Chief Rabbi and opulent synagogues were entirely alien to the Eastern
European Jews accustomed to modest shtiebels (small, informal synagogues). The migrants
were also incredulous regarding the abilities of the appointed rabbis and dayanim (judges) of
the United Synagogue, who appeared to the migrants to have the appearance of hierarchical
clergymen rather than figures respected for their Torah and the Talmudic knowledge.
Affordability was another issue. The Federation’s Burial Society, established in 1890,
demonstrates the contrast between the United Synagogues’ charges and conditions and those
of the Federation. Montagu, significantly affected by the plight of distressed impoverished
parents unable to afford to bury their infants,
7purchased two acres of land from the Western
Synagogue Cemetery in Edmonton in 1889 for the Federation Burial Society. This provided
affordable burial desperately needed for the poor of the East End. The fee for the Burial Society
for members of Federation synagogues was one and a half pence a year.
8 The United
Synagogue, who in 1888 agreed to lower their charge to £3 for “second class” funerals, refused
to lower the charge for infant burials. When considering that the infant mortality rate was
extremely high, the Federation Burial society would have been the first choice for poor Jews.
9
Additionally, as well as the cost of funerals, immigrant Jews found the Federation appealing due
to the sense of unity it exhibited as well as being established by Montagu, a prominent member
of the House of Commons, who was also an Orthodox Jew and sympathetic to the Eastern
European Jewish migratory cause. It also allowed the migrants to have, through the founding
members,a voice in the policy making of Anglo-Jewry.
10
Not all of the Federation’s synagogues were built in the 1880s. The oldest, Prescot Street
Synagogue, was founded in 1748, while others were pre existing synagogues which had been
refused consecration by the United Synagogue, such as Sandys Row, founded by Dutch
working-class migrants in 1851.
11 Between 1887-1899, Sandys Row was the largest
congregation within the Federation of Synagogues and to this day, the synagogue is the oldest
functioning Ashkenazi synagogue in London and the only Ashkenazi synagogue in Spitalfields.
12
These earlier synagogues joined eight synagogues established after 1881, numbering at 13 in
total when the first meeting of the Federation took place in 1887. The Federation swiftly became
organised, with objectives to create ties with the United Synagogue on matters concerning
burial, the nurturing of ministerial relationships with the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation
and the United Synagogue and to gain representation on official boards, principally Shechita,
Deputies and Guardians. The latter two were secured swiftly, however it took 12 years to secure
a place on the Shechita board.
13
13 Alderman, The Federation of Synagogues, A New History, pp. 39-44.
12 Nial Finneran, Rachel Lichtenstein and Christina Welch, ‘Place Space and Memory in the Old Jewish
East End of London: an Archaeological Biography of Sandys Row Synagogue, Spitalfields and its Wider
Context’, in International Journal of Historical Archeology, 23 (2), 380-403 (pp. 380 & 385 - 386).
11
Ibid, p 39.
10 Ibid, pp. 37- 38.
9 Alderman, The Federation of Synagogues, A New History, p. 31.
8 Aviva Landau, Edmonton Federation Cemetery, A look at the lives of the prominent rabbonim and
communal leaders buried at this historic cemetery (London: The Federation of Synagogues, 2018) p. 6- 7.
7 Alderman, The Federation of Synagogues, A New History, p. 25 - 31.
By 1911 the Federation had affiliated synagogues in Stoke Newington, South Hackney,
Limehouse, Canning Town, Bow, Tottenham, Walthamstow, Woolich and Plumstead. During this
period the Federation had overtaken the United Synagogue in its representation of numbers,
having approximately 6,500 male members to the United Synagogues male membership of
around 5,200.
14 However, Samuel Montagu’s death in that year resulted in a significant change
in the Federation of Synagogues; his eldest son, Louis (1869-1927) was elected to the
Federation as second President. However, Louis did not share his father’s piety and nor did he
have the 1st Baron of Swaythling’s nature.
15
In 1925, the Federation’s Board of Delegates
forced his resignation. Nonobservant, anti-Zionist and a wealthy denizen of the West End, Louis
was not considered suitable for the position from anyone’s perspective, being appointed only out
of respect for his father. He was replaced by the man who organised his removal, the East End
Zionist and Labour politician Morry Davis (1894-1985).
16 Born in St George’s-in-the-East and
growing up in Lemon Street, the heart of the East End, Davis was a vocal member of the Labour
party, becoming the Vice–President of the Stepney Labour Party in 1922 after supporting Oscar
Tobin (1879-1957), the first Jewish Mayor of Stepney in November 1921. Through the 1920s
Davis was elected to be Chairman of numerous committees, making him a powerful figure within
Stepney politics.
17
Davis had been born in the culture of the Federation and would likely have always sought a
career within the Jewish community. He was a strong supporter of Zionism, becoming the
Vice-President of the Jewish National Fund in England. Davis was President of the Federation
between 1928 to 1944, his presidency operating during the period when the Federation reached
the height of its success in Anglo-Jewish affairs but also when its influence waned.
18
Davis was responsible for developing the reputation and impact of the Federation in Britain and
beyond. By 1931 the number of Federation members on the Shechita Board doubled, with
Davis becoming one of the Shechita Boards Vice Presidents. In 1929 the Federation gained
authorisation of the management of the Etz Chaim yeshiva, giving a grant to the academy which
by 1930 more than doubled. Other institutions benefited from the Federation’s prosperity and
generosity in the interwar years, such as the London Jewish Hospital, the Home for Aged Jews,
the Jews’ Temporary Shelter, the B’nai B’rith First Lodge of England, the Jewish Lads Brigade,
Jews’ College and the Beis Yaacov schools in eastern Europe and eighteen yeshivot in Poland.
The British Fund for Polish Jewry received a Federation grant in 1936 of £10,000. Zionist
institutions also benefited from this generosity, with money donated to the Hebrew University
and the Jewish National Fund. Following the Hebron Massacre of 1929 the Federation
established the Palestine Emergency Fund. Under Davis’ leadership, the Federation was one of
18 Ibid, pp. 249 & 254-255.
17 Geoffrey Alderman, ‘M.H. Davis: the rise and fall of a communal upstart’, in Jewish Historical Studies,
Vol. 31 (1988-1990) 249- 268, (p. 252).
16 Todd M. Edelman, The Jews of Britain, 1656 to 2000, (Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of
California Press) p. 221.
15 Ibid, p. 74-75.
14 Ibid, 48.
most vocal protestors of Nazi Germany, playing a leading part in the forming of the Jewish
Representative Council for the Boycott of German Goods and Services in 1933.
19
Despite this prominence, during the interwar period the United Synagogue became the
predominant body of synagogues, with several Federation synagogues deciding to join the
United Synagogue. The Federation, predominantly successful in the East End, endeavoured to
expand its reach into North West London, an ambition which ultimately proved mostly
unsuccessful as the hegemony of the United Synagogue was too great to contend with.
20
However, since the outbreak of the Second World War the Federation had congregations in
Stamford Hill and Tottenham in North London, Bermondsey and Woolwich in the south,
Shepherds Bush and Notting Hill in the west and Forest Gate in the eastern suburbs. The
Federation also bought more burial ground, acquiring 106 acres in Rainham, Essex in 1936,
consecrated in 1938. The heart of the Federation remained in the East End, however Jews were
moving out of the East End already by the 1930s. Older and smaller synagogues encountered
financial difficulties and discussions of amalgamating synagogues are recorded in the General
Council of 30th June 1938.
21
The most significant challenges the Federation faced post Second World War was the
large-scale destruction of the East End synagogues and the communities who were the most
steadfast congregations. Many important synagogues, such as Bethnal Green Great, Lambeth,
Stepney Orthodox, Wellington Road and the Spital Square synagogues were completely
destroyed, while others, including Edmonton and Rainham cemeteries, suffered damage.
Additionally, Stepnay’s Jewish population plummeted from 60,000 in 1940 to 30,000 in
1945.Closure of synagogues were unavoidable and amalgamations were more apparent and
common.
22
After the short presidencies of both Aaron Wright and Jack Goldberg, Morris Lederman
(1908-2001) assumed the presidency in 1951.
23 Community growth occurred through the 1950s
and 60s in Ilford, Edgware, Croydon & Putney, Clapton, Springfield, Tottenham and West
Hackney. The 1960s saw the Federation’s situation improve from the setbacks of WWII, with the
formation of the Beth Din of the Federation in 1966
24 cemented the Federation’s place in
Anglo-Jewish life.
By 1987 only four Federation synagogues remained in the East End and in 1989, the year of
Lederman’s retirement, the old headquarters were sold with the Federation buying new
premises twice the capacity of the former.
25 The Federation under the Presidency of Arnold
Cohen (1936-2016) entered into a period of greater prosperity, with the construction of new
25 176.
24 156-160, 165.
23 Ibid, 137-138.
22 Alderman, The Federation of Synagogues, A New History, pp. 112-113 & 129-131.
21 Alderman, The Federation of Synagogues, A New History, pp. 102-103.
20 William Rubinstein, “The Decline and Fall of Anglo Jewry?”Jewish Historical Studies, Vol. 38, (2002),
pp. 13-21 (p. 18).
19 Alderman, The Federation of Synagogues, A New History, pp. 98-101.
synagogues in Greater London, the refurbishment of Rainham cemetery and the Beth Din
becoming respected internationally.
26
Today the Federation comprises 17 constituent and 11 affiliated communities.
27 Because of its
small size in comparison with organisations such as the United Synagogue, The Federation
provides greater participation for its members in communal affairs than other authorities,
allowing each congregation to, within the framework of Halacha, to shape the daily structure of
their synagogues according to their own traditions and customs.
28 Led by the New Jersey born
Rabbi Shraga Fievel Zimmerman, former Rov of the Gateshead Jewish Community
29 and
previous student of Dovid Soleveitchick (1921-2021),
30
the Federation of Synagogues is a stable
and established component of Anglo-Jewish communal life, with an illustrious and fascinating
history and strong sense of tradition and continuance.
30
‘Matzav’, Rav Shraga Fievel Zimmerman Appointed AV Beis Din of London Federation Bais Din, Set to
Depart Gateshead
<https://matzav.com/rav-shraga-feivel-zimmerman-appointed-av-bais-din-of-london-federation-bais-din-se
t-to-depart-gateshead/> [accessed 12 May 2025].
29 Cnaan Lipschitz, ‘Jewish Telegraphic Agency’, Why Orthodox Jews are Flocking to this Gritty English
Town <https://www.jta.org/2017/10/03/global/why-orthodox-jews-are-flocking-to-this-gritty-english-town >
[accessed 12 May 2025].
28 Alderman, The Federation of Synagogues, A New History, p. 191.
27
‘Kehillas Federation’, History, <https://www.federation.org.uk/history/ > [accessed 12 May 2025]}

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