Liverpool Jewish Community

[Kev]

Some of the famous Liverpudlian Jewish people are:

· Brian Epstein, manager of the 60s legends the Beatles.

· David Lewis Levy, who started department store Lewis' in the mid 19th century.

· Prof Sir Henry Cohen, from a poor immigrant family, who became one of the Queen's doctors.

A Number of Firsts:

The first sermon to be delivered in English in a synagogue took place in Liverpool in the early 19th century.

The first provincial representative to the Board of Deputies of British Jews was elected by Seel Street Synagogue in 1839.

The first Hebrew Day School (now King David Primary School) outside London set up in 1841.

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More info please.

[Howie]

The Liverpool Jewish Community (http://www.liverpooljewish.com/) website is currently unavailable. Hopefully it will return shortly and provide some of the information you are looking for. Keep checking the link. ;)

[Howie]

Princes Road Synagogue

http://www.princesroadsynagogue.org/syn_princes_road.jpg

www.princesroadsynagogue.org

[Kev]

A CELEBRATION of the contribution of Liverpool's Jewish community to the city was being held at the town hall today. more (http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/liverpoolecho/news/echonews/tm_headline=jewish-community-in-town-hall-date%26method=full%26objectid=18299828%26siteid=50 061-name_page.html)

[sweetpatooti]

and a Happy Chanukkah to all our Jewish friends.:celb (23):

[Sloyne]

I was a Sabath Goy when I was a kid. I would light the fires on a Saturday in a number of Jewish homes. I would get a tanner a fire except Mrs Banawitch (pronounced Banavitch) never did get around to paying me. She always claimed that she would give it to my Gran after "Shabath" but never did. I once had a girlfriend named Libba Cohen who lived on Paddington, she was the least othordox of any Jew I have known, eating pork, ham and bacon and was definitely none kosher. She joined the Israeli army. Go figure.

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi all

Here is an image of an 1886 cartoon of Liverpool-born Samuel Montagu, MP for Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, who made a fortune in banking and was related to the Liverpool jewellers Samuel and Son (see separate thread on Samuel Montagu, First Lord Swaythling (http://www.yoliverpool.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2571)).

Chris

[marky]

P. Galkoff, Pembroke Place.

[PhilipG]

P. Galkoff, Pembroke Place.

It's a shame they've hidden most of it away.
I've got a 1980s shot, somewhere - it had been closed for years even then.

[theninesisters]

If you've not seen this:

http://galkoffs.tripod.com/

[Roscoe]

I hear the wonderful Galkoff`s Kosher Butcher`s shop in Pembroke Place, Liverpool 3 has finally been listed by English Heritage after resusing to do so twice. A well deserved pat on the back to the young man who has been struggling for nearly 20 years to preserve and protect the property....and he is apparently not even Jewish. These Liverpudilians don`t give up do they.

http://galkoffs.tripod.com/

[marky]

There are some information hoardings around Galkoffs at the moment. There were too many cars whizzing past to take any pics, but the hoardings duplicate the distinctive tiles which are on the building. I read recently in the Echo that the hoardings give a history of Jews in Liverpool.

[ChrisGeorge]

Nice to hear the building will be protected. I'll wait to hear more. :handclap:

Chris

[Howie]

Film about city's Jewish community
Dec 14 2007
by Catherine Jones, Liverpool Echo

A FILM about Liverpool’s Jewish community has inspired a new exhibition at St George’s Hall.

Chicken Soup and Scouse tells the story of the city’s Jewish population, from the 1700s to the present day.

It is based on a 75-minute documentary of the same name by Liverpool filmmaker Michael Swerdlow and his brother-in-law Arnold Lewis, with financial assistance from the Culture Company’s Creative Communities fund.

The documentary examined how and why Jews came to Liverpool, and how the community became one of the most successful and influential in the UK.

Liverpool’s Jewish community can trace its ties with St George’s Hall back over 100 years.

In February 1874 the community held a three-day bazaar in the Great Hall, which was secured for the sum of £67.

The hall was also hired later that year for a grand banquet to mark the opening of Princes Road Synagogue.

Cllr Warren Bradley, leader of Liverpool council and deputy chairman of the Liverpool Culture Company, said: “Liverpool is a city famed for its religious and ethnic diversity, and it is important that we recognise the role that our many communities have played in shaping the vibrant and cosmopolitan Liverpool that we see today.”

The exhibition will run for an indefinite period in the new heritage centre, which is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Admission is free.

For more information visit www.chickensoupandscouse.com.

Source: Liverpool Echo (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2007/12/14/film-about-city-s-jewish-community-100252-20247972/)

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi Howie

Sounds great, Howie. Thanks for posting this. :PDT11

Chris

[Howie]

Heritage boost for historic art deco synagogue
Jan 31 2008
by Catherine Jones, Liverpool Echo

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/liverpoolecho/jan2008/1/4/D05D0329-90A3-6174-896A7B7066EDC9D5.jpg

AN historic city synagogue which closed after 70 years has been saved for future generations.

The building on Greenbank Drive, Sefton Park, shut for good on January 8 after its congregation dwindled to fewer than 40, with only one service being held a week.

But its survival is now assured after its listed building status was upgraded to Grade II*, putting it on a par with Croxteth Hall and the Cunard and Port of Liverpool buildings.

English Heritage agreed the change after a plan emerged to convert the concrete, steel and brick building into apartments.

The organisation’s report described the synagogue as “one of the finest art deco synagogues in the country”.

It added: “It has an important socio-historic significance as an inter-war synagogue of 1936-7 that represents one of the last free cultural expressions of European Jewry before the Holocaust.”

The upgrading from grade II to II* status puts the former synagogue in the top 5% of all listed buildings in the country.

English Heritage moved quickly to approve the change, even though the apartment proposal is in its initial stages and Liverpool council has not yet received a planning application.

Cllr Berni Turner, executive member for heritage, said: “This upgrading reflects the wide range of important and diverse buildings we have in the city and the fact we have a unique collection of places of worship for people of all faiths.

“It is particularly appropriate this should happen at a time when Liverpool has recently hosted the National Holocaust Memorial Day.”

All listed buildings have a level of protection, but anyone wanting to redevelop the synagogue will now have to satisfy even tougher tests, showing how they plan to maintain its historic nature.

Greenbank synagogue was built in 1936 to a design by architect Alfred Ernest Shennan and consecrated on August 15,1937. It became a refuge for homeless families in the Blitz.

catherinejones@liverpoolecho.co.uk

Source: Liverpool Echo (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/01/31/heritage-boost-for-historic-art-deco-synagogue-100252-20416646/)

[A.D.W]

Pembroke Place - Monday 4th February 2008.

http://www.liverpoolviews.co.uk/lime/pembroke/2008/bpem0402085.jpg

http://www.liverpoolviews.co.uk/lime/pembroke/2008/bpem0402086.jpg

http://www.liverpoolviews.co.uk/lime/pembroke/2008/bpem0402087.jpg

[Kev]

Cheers AD :handclap:

[A.D.W]

Seel Street - 22nd February 2008.

http://www.liverpoolviews.co.uk/hanover/seel/seel22020837.jpg

[Partsky]

Anyone know if there are any plans to sort out the disgraceful state of Deane Road Jewish Cemetery and also the one off Rice Lane? It seems so sad that so many distinguished and philanthropic people lie in dilapidated places, particularly Deane Road. I appreciate it is land locked and has been cleared once or twice but its another part of our heritage falling to dust

[taffy]

Anyone know if there are any plans to sort out the disgraceful state of Deane Road Jewish Cemetery and also the one off Rice Lane? It seems so sad that so many distinguished and philanthropic people lie in dilapidated places, particularly Deane Road. I appreciate it is land locked and has been cleared once or twice but its another part of our heritage falling to dust

Plans are afoot.

See http://www.deaneroadcemetery.com/

[Howie]

Help us find our missing minarets
Mar 13 2008
by Catherine Jones, Liverpool Echo

THE public are being asked for help to track down missing minarets from the top of Liverpool’s most historic synagogue.

Princes Road Synagogue was this month given Grade I Listed status making it one of the most important historical buildings in the country.

It was also handed a £112,000 heritage grant to help carry out urgent repairs to the roof.

But now synagogue leaders are hoping someone may be able to solve the mystery of the missing minarets which used to be on top of the building.

Rabbi Zvi Solomons said: “We have 80ft towers on the synagogue and there used to be six minarets which added another 20ft on to them.

“They were taken down in 1960 because of structural problems.

“And we suspect they may have been put in the back garden of one of the synagogue’s wardens, but there’s no record of their location.

“I’d love to find them again.

“But if we can’t, I’m looking to see if we can find a way to replace them, possibly in fibreglass with a steel frame.”

Princes Road Synagogue was built between 1872-74.

catherinejones@liverpoolecho.co.uk

Source: Liverpool Echo (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/03/13/help-us-find-our-missing-minarets-100252-20615104/)

[Howie]

Plaque to mark Liverpool's kosher history
Jul 5 2008
by Greg O'Keeffe, Liverpool Echo

A plaque is being unveiled on Monday by a Freeman of the City solicitor Rex Makin to mark the site of Liverpool’s first synagogue. He tells Greg O’Keeffe why it is so important

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/icliverpool/jul2006/7/0/7BB325BA-BC26-9B18-45F3BD1CCB9DAF0B.jpg

I AM currently the only living Jewish Freeman of the City and only the third person ever to have the honour.

My predecessors were men like Benn Wolfe Levy and Lord Cohen of Birkenhead who was one of the founding fathers of the NHS. It makes me very proud and humbled to be unveiling this plaque and to be in that distinguished group.

My wife is a local historian so we were able to discover a lot of interesting background detail about Liverpool’s Jewish community.

The first mention of a Synagogue in Liverpool was in 1753 on the site which is now the Metquarter. This was used until about 1775.

The second Synagogue was in Turton Court, the third in Frederick Street, the fourth (the first purpose built one) was in Seel Street. This was opened in 1807. It has now been commemorated by a plaque on the wall of the BT premises.

Liverpool’s first Jewish settlers were hawkers who eventually opened shops in the area of the Old Custom’s House.

The first recorded Jewish birth is in 1765.

In the 1790 directory, 19 householders were Jewish. Their occupations were ‘broker, bookseller, silversmith, bead merchant, itinerant dealer, hardwareman, wholesale watchmaker and slop seller.’

In 1798 Jews were among the founders of the Athenaeum. Living on the main route of immigration, Liverpool was the main artery for Canada, the United States and was a major staging post for refugees from poverty and persecution in Russia, Austria and Romania.

In the early 19th century most Jews, like the general population, were illiterate and extremely poor, but a few were affluent. The community was a role model for charitable and educational institutions in the provinces.

In 1819 Elias Joseph left £400 in his will to be used for educating Hebrew children in the borough.

He was the first of many worthies who created The Philanthropic Society, the Jewish Ladies Benevolent Society, the Liverpool Hebrew Provident Society, the Hebrew Free Loan Society and the Liverpool Jewish Board of Guardians. In many ways it was an early model of the welfare state.

In the 19th century 5,000 Jews remained in Liverpool where they created in Brownlow Hill and Islington the equivalent of London’s East End.

In 1780 there were approximately 100 Jews in Liverpool and as the city expanded as a port of international standing in the late 18th century and early 19th century, further Jewish immigrants were attracted from Germany and Holland.

Some existing Anglo-Jews came from the South of England. By 1810 there were nearly 400 Jews here and nearly 1,000 by 1825. Between 1875 and 1914 they increased from around 3,000 to about 11,000.

Most of the newcomers were shopkeepers, mainly dealing in jewellery, clothing and ships stores. A few developed an early interest in banking and the overseas trade.

A community elite, founded by the Samuel, Yates, Mozley and Joseph families, formed strong links with the upper and middle ranks of the wider Liverpool society and participated in the administration of the borough.

The community’s progressive image was further enhanced by its reputation in the town. In 1863 Charles Mozley, then President of the Hebrew Education Institution, was elected Mayor. In modern days there have been a number of Jewish Lord Mayors.

In 1854 the Hebrew School was established in Hope Place and many thousands of Jewish children passed through its doors until 1964. It is now in Childwall as King David School.

The old building was taken over by John Moores University and is now the Joe H Makin Drama Centre.

The community has reduced from 11,000 and is diminishing all the time. The number of Synagogues has been reduced with the closure of Greenbank Drive, an Art Deco building of the 30s.

There are now no kosher butchers in Liverpool whereas formerly there were at least 16. The young people from the community leave for London and elsewhere and observance is not what it used to be.

There are many families whose forebears were Jewish who have been absorbed in the population. Sadly we probably have only around 3,000 Jews in Liverpool now and only three synagogues.

The most famous benefactor in the Jewish community was David Levy, otherwise known as David Lewis, the founder of Lewis’s, who left his entire fortune to the poor of Liverpool and Manchester.

He is buried in Deane Road cemetery, the burial place for members of the Old Hebrew congregation, which was housed in Seel Street and moved to Princes Road in 1874.

This cemetery was opened in 1837, the last regular burial was in 1904 and the last reserved plot was filled in 1929.

Deane Road cemetery has been revitalised by a group of volunteers headed by Councillor Louise Baldock and Saul Marks. It contains the graves of many Jewish worthies and others not so worthy.

There was recently an open day to view the striking gravestones and to show the work that has been done. It attracted 250 visitors and is part of our Liverpool heritage.

Source: Liverpool Echo (http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/07/05/plaque-to-mark-liverpool-s-kosher-history-100252-21265023/)

[Chris48]

I would like to learn more about the jewish faith as I think it's fascinating. Does anyone remember the synagogue in Clayton Square where the precinct is now?

[taffy]

I would like to learn more about the jewish faith as I think it's fascinating. Does anyone remember the synagogue in Clayton Square where the precinct is now?

I suppose you could start by reading the old testament and then speaking to a rabbi. Interestingly St Simon's Church ,Gloucester St, Liverpool was built for Christians who had converted from the Jewish faith.

[PhilipG]

1750: Cumberland Street (The first synagogue in Liverpool).
1780: Turton Street opened.
1789: Upper Frederick Street opened. (Cemetery behind opened 1789, closed 1801).
1807: Synagogue, Seel Street, built 1807. Demolished 1875 after opening of Princes Road..
1836: The Jews opened a Synagogue at 46 Hanover Street.
1838: Pilgrim Street opened.
1842: Hardman Street/Pilgrim Street opened. (The building survives as a fancy dress shop).
1843: The Synagogue at 46 Hanover Street was taken over by John Tyrer & Sons Ltd (wine merchants).
1857: Hope Place. Opened 9 September 1857. Architect: Thomas Wylie.
1863: Hope Place. The roof had to be rebuilt, so it closed, and was re-consecrated on 17 May 1863. The building is now the Unity Theatre.
1874: Princes Road Synagogue, Toxteth. Architects: W & G Audsley. Opened 1874.

[PhilipG]

Does anyone remember the synagogue in Clayton Square where the precinct is now?

If you mean the 1970s and 1980s it was a Roman Catholic church called The Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament.
The building had been a cinema, and the church is now in Dawson Street.

[Chris48]

I have a memory of it being Jewish. Presumably that is not the case?

[Roscoe]

Pembroke Place - Monday 4th February 2008.

http://www.liverpoolviews.co.uk/lime/pembroke/2008/bpem0402085.jpg

http://www.liverpoolviews.co.uk/lime/pembroke/2008/bpem0402086.jpg

http://www.liverpoolviews.co.uk/lime/pembroke/2008/bpem0402087.jpg

I hear through reliable sources the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine who own the adjoining property to Galkoffs wish to demolish it and not provide any support number 31 Pembroke Place currently provides. Conservation and EH are lobbying the LSTM to treat the "Only surviving tiled Kosher butcher`s shop" left in the United Kingdom with some respect but it appears it is falling on deaf ears. Not only our we to lose yet another Georgian property in the city but the future of Galkoff`s is now in doubt.

I believe the owner is currently appealing the matter though the civil courts but it does not look hopefull. Liverpool`s Jewish community should also lobby the LSTM to do whatever they can to preserve this important property as it would be a sad day for Liverpool, Liverpool historic Jewish history and heritage and for the London Road area..

Come on English Heritage, do what your name implies and put an end to this vandalism.

http://galkoffs.tripod.com/

For those who wish to comment or send a Christmas card appeal to the LSTM the please see the addresses below.

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Pembroke Place
Liverpool L3 5QA
UK

Tel:(0)151 705 3100
Fax: (0)151 705 3370

English Heritage

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConForm.128

Copy and paste this example into the contact form.

"Galkoff`s Kosher Butcher a listed building in Pembroke Palce Liverpool 3 is at risk because the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine who own the adjoining property to Galkoffs wish to demolish it and not provide any support number 31 Pembroke Place currently provides.

What is EH doing to stop this disgraceful cultural vandalism? Please contact the LSTM soon to encourage them to treat the property with some respect or prosecute them if they leave this building a risk by removing the only remaining support the building currently relies on."

Best wishes

Valerie.