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Revision as of 08:46, 22 May 2015 by Internetwikier (talk | contribs) (Undid revision 662723778 by Yobot (talk))(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For the American Conservative synagogue association, see United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
United Synagogue is a union of British orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central orthodox movement in Judaism. With 63 congregations, comprising 80,000 members, it is the largest synagogue body in Europe. The spiritual leader of the union bears the title of Chief Rabbi of Britain and the Empire - a title that bears some formal recognition by the Crown, even though his rabbinical authority is recognized only by slightly more than half of British Jews.
History
The United Synagogue was mandated by an act of Parliament in 1870, granting formal recognition to a union of three London synagogues forged by Nathan Marcus Adler, who bore the title of Chief Rabbi of Britain. Leaders of the organization included Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, who served as president in 1910.
At the time of its inception, the United Synagogue was the dominant force in Jewish communal and religious organization. With mass migrations of Jews from Eastern Europe starting in the 1880s, the United Synagogue lost some of its hegemony. The immigrants brought with them strains of Hassidic Judaism, as well as Reform Judaism and secularism.
In 1887, Jewish community leader Samuel Montagu created the Federation of Synagogues, which worked to unite orthodox synagogues of Russian and other eastern European migrants in the Jewish slums of London. Today, the Federation serves 21 synagogues, compared to the United Synagogue's 63. There are also numerous orthodox synagogues in Britain, including Haredi, Chabad, and others, unaffiliated with United Synagogue. In addition, there are congregations of Reform, Conservative and progressive Jews that are not included in the United Synagogue; so that, today, the organization represents about 30 percent of all British congregants. Since 1990, central orthodoxy has declined from 66 percent to 55 percent of total congregants, though this decline has flattened out in recent years.
Activities
United Synagogue provides a number of religious services to the orthodox community, including:
- The "Tribe" youth movement, which offers after-school programs, programs for toddlers, and trips to Israel for youth.
- Young US, programs for young adults.
- Certification of Kashrut.
- a Beit Din, religious court to decide halakhic matters.
- Burial services, including the maintenance of several cemeteries.
- Educational material provided by We Believe in Israel, an initiative of Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (BICOM), a pro-Israeli lobby group in Britain.
Activities are financed from dues paid by member synagogues, as well as from revenues from the organization's GBL 250 million in assets (mostly synagogue buildings).
Support for Israel
United Synagogue is an active supporter of Israel. The organization sponsors trips to Israel for members and youth, distributes information packages about Israel from its website, and offers courses in Israeli history and politics and Hebrew. In October 2014, the organization led its pre-Yom Kippur appeal with a call to members to oppose a proposal in Parliament to recognize the state of Palestine. Its active support for Israel has engendered some criticism. British playwright Harold Pinter was instrumental in founding Independent Jewish Voices, an organization that explicitly sought to be a liberal counterbalance to the position of the United Synagogue and other pro-Israeli Jewish organizations.
See also
Notes
- Rocker, Simon (February 19, 2015). "Time to change: we must adapt say shul leaders". The Jewish Chronicle Online. Retrieved 2015-04-27.
- Graham, David; Vulkan, Daniel (13 May 2010), Synagogue membership in the United Kingdom in 2010, Institute for Jewish Policy Research, archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011, retrieved 3 April 2011
- "United Synagogue". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1909. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
- "The Federation of Synagogues". Retrieved 2015-04-28.
- Graham, David; Vulkan, Daniel. "Synagogue Membership in the United Kingdom in 2010".
- "United Synagogue". theus.org.uk.
- "Wake-up call over UK Palestine vote". thejc.com.
References
- Apple, Raymond (August 2009). Apple, Raymond (ed.). "Nathan Marcus Adler—Chief Rabbi, by Rabbi Raymond Apple". OzTorah. Retrieved July 2012.
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- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Abrahams, Israel (1911). "Synagogue, United". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 292.
External links
- United Synagogue web site
- List of Congregations of the United Synagogue on Jewish Communities and Records – UK (hosted by jewishgen.org).
- Tribe web site
- KLBD web site
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