JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

several Jews have since followed him. In 1890 religious restrictions
on virtually every political position and dignity were removed
and Jewish emancipation became complete.
Considerable changes had meanwhile been taking place
within the community. There was a gradual movement toward
greater cohesion. The Sephardi community had to yield pride
of place to the Ashkenazim before the end of the 18th century.
Solomon *Hirschel, son of R. Hirschel *Levin (Hart Lyon),
was appointed rabbi of the Great Synagogue in London in
1802, in succession to David Tevele *Schiff of Frankfurt. His
authority was recognized by the other Ashkenazi congregations
in London, who were induced by him to enter into a
closer union. His successor, Nathan Marcus *Adler, who was
elected to office by the delegates of the London congregations
in association with those of the major provincial communities,
may be considered the first chief rabbi. The extension of
his authority is indicated in the Laws and Regulations for all
the Synagogues in the British Empire which he issued in 1847.
He was followed as chief rabbi in 1891 by his son, Hermann
*Adler, who had been acting as his father’s delegate for some
years. He was succeeded by Joseph Herman *Hertz.
COMMUNAL EXPANSION. During the 19th century Anglo-
Jewry took the lead in measures for the protection of the Jews
and the amelioration of their position in every part of the
world. In this they were assured of the assistance of the British
government, which was now identified with a strikingly
protective policy toward the Jews, especially of Palestine and
the Muslim countries of the Middle East – partly because of
the absence of closely allied Christian bodies on whose behalf
the exertion of political influence could ostensibly be based, as
was the case with the rival Russian and French governments.
The Board of Deputies increased in scope of activity and in
importance. Sir Moses *Montefiore, backed up by the British
government, acted as the ambassador for the whole of Jewry,
in the event of persecution, from the *Damascus Affair of 1840
onward. In 1871 the *Anglo-Jewish Association was founded to
collaborate in the work of the *Alliance Israélite Universelle,
prejudiced by the enmities aroused through the Franco-Prussian
War; and in 1878 the Joint (Conjoint) Foreign Committee,
which it formed in conjunction with the Board of Deputies,
came into being as an agency for safeguarding Jewish interests
abroad. The *Jewish Chronicle, the first permanent Anglo-Jewish
periodical (now the oldest continuing Jewish publication
in the world), was established in 1841. In 1855 *Jews’ College
was founded in London – the first theological seminary for the
training of Anglo-Jewish ministers of religion. It was followed
four years later by the Jewish Board of Guardians (since 1964
known as the Jewish Welfare Board), a model London organization
for the relief of the poor, which was widely imitated
in provincial centers. The loose union for certain charitable
and other purposes of the Ashkenazi synagogues in London,
which had been in existence since the beginning of the century,
became consolidated in 1870 by the establishment, under
authority of an act of Parliament, of the United Synagogue
england
which is today one of the most powerful Jewish religious organizations
of its sort in the world.
The basis of the community had meanwhile been broadening,
though it remained overwhelmingly centered in London.
The industrial developments of the 19th century led to a
widening of the area of Jewish settlement, important communities
based largely on German immigration being formed or
expanded in provincial centers such as Manchester, *Bradford,
etc. All were Ashkenazi, except at Manchester, where a
Sephardi community was also organized in the second half
of the century, mostly composed of newcomers from the Levant.
With the recrudescence of persecution in Russia in 1881,
immigration increased immensely. A majority of the refugees
settled in London; the communities of Manchester, Birmingham,
and other places were similarly reinforced while
that of *Leeds, wholly based on the tailoring industry, proportionately
attracted the greatest number of all. The congregations
in all the more important industrial towns and seaports
throughout the country – including *Scotland, *Wales,
and *Ireland – now grew to important dimensions. However,
at the same time, some of the older country centers, such
as Canterbury or Penzance, were decaying. The newcomers
largely settled in urban districts and entered one or two specific
trades; the ready-made clothing industry was virtually
created as a result of their efforts. The characteristically English
Trade Union and Friendly Society movements rapidly acquired
a stronghold. The tide of immigration was, however,
checked by the Aliens Immigration Act of 1905, passed after
a long agitation which at one time assumed something of an
antisemitic complexion.
The Federation of Synagogues was established in London
by the first Lord *Swaythling in 1887 to coordinate the many
small congregations set up by the Russian-Polish immigrant
elements – partly in rivalry with the “aristocratic” United
Synagogue. The Reform movement had been introduced into
England, in spite of strenuous opposition, in 1840, when the
West London Synagogue of British Jews was founded. It was
long confined almost entirely to the capital. Branch congregations
were set up before the end of the 19th century only in
Manchester and in Bradford. A more radical movement was
begun by the foundation at the beginning of the 20th century,
under the auspices of C.G. *Montefiore, of the Jewish Religious
Union, which in 1910 established the Liberal Jewish
Synagogue. This also showed in the mid-century a considerable
measure of expansion. The vast mass of English Jewry,
however, remained attached to the compromising Orthodoxy
represented by the United Synagogue.
SCHOLARSHIP AND CULTURE. The most eminent Jewish
scholars associated with England have been immigrants from
abroad, such as David *Nieto, Ephraim *Luzzatto, Michael
*Friedlaender, Solomon *Schechter, and Adolf *Buechler.
The most eminent native-born scholars have been humanists
rather than talmudists, such as David *Levi, an able polemicist
and translator of the liturgy, and (in more recent years)
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6 415