This is a photograph of the interior of the Bevis Marks Synagogue in London. The seat on the left beneath the candelabra was the seat of Sir Moses Montefiore, who was a leading member of the synagogue in the nineteenth century. Today this seat is marked with a velvet ribbon and is reserved for very distinguished people.
In the seventeenth century, during the rule of Oliver Cromwell, Jews from Spain and Portugal returned to England after an absence of more than 300 years. In 1657, a house was leased in the City of London and converted into a synagogue. The congregation thrived throughout the Restoration (the restoration of the English monarchy after Cromwell’s rule), and in 1699 a nearby site was obtained for the building of a new synagogue in a secluded courtyard off a street called Bevis Marks. The building contract was given to a Quaker named Joseph Avis, who, according to Quaker tradition, refused to take financial gain from building a house of God and returned whatever profit he had made to the congregation. It is said that Princess Anne, later to become queen, presented an oak beam from one of the Royal Navy ships to be incorporated in the roof. The congregation of the Great Synagogue in Amsterdam donated the largest of the synagogue’s seven chandeliers.
The synagogue is still an active community, situated in the City of London. Above the entrance to the synagogue is carved in Hebrew: “Kahal Kadosh Sha’ar HaShamayim” (Holy Congregation, the Gates of Heaven) and the date of its establishment in 1701. The entrance has heavy dark doors with the original iron locks. The wooden Ark is of a classical style and is said to have been influenced by the famous London architect Christopher Wren. The synagogue has many of its original decorations and furnishings including wooden benches and candelabras that still hold candles on special occasions. The design of the building is based on Jewish symbolism with twelve pillars representing the twelve tribes holding the women’s section, ten large brass candlesticks representing the Ten Commandments, and seven hanging candelabras representing the seven days of creation.
Today, the traditions of this ancient synagogue are still preserved in this historical site, although only a few descendants of the original Sephardi community attend the services, as most of the Jewish population of London migrated to the north of the city.
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Moses Montefiore - Moses Montefiore was born on October 24, 1784 in Livorno, Italy while his parents were visiting their Italian family. The Montefiore family returned to London where Moses grew up, was educated, and began his career in business. He became one of the twelve “Jew Brokers” – Jewish merchants who had the right to trade on the London exchange. In 1812, he married Judith Cohen, whose sister was married to Nathan Mayer Rothschild. The two brothers-in-law became successful business partners, until in Moses retired from business in 1824 and began a civic career. After retiring from business, Montefiore devoted his life to philanthropy. He invested much money and effort helping Jews throughout the world, travelling to Syria, Italy, Russia, Morocco, and Romania to protect Jews from blood libels, pogroms, and other troubles. He was president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 1835–1874 and a member of London’s Bevis Marks Synagogue. In Israel, he is perhaps best known for building Mishkenot Sha’ananim, the first Jewish neighbourhood outside the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem. He also donated large sums of money to the promotion of industry, education, and health among the Jewish community of Palestine. One of these projects was the building of a windmill that still stands next to the Yemin Moshe neighbourhood that was named after him. Sir Moses Montefiore died in 1885 at the age of 100.
