Queen's Park Hebrew Congregation

Land in Lochleven Road, donated by Sir John Stirling Maxwell for a nominal sum, was to become the Queen’s Park Synagogue. Plans were put on hold during World War I. A ‘tin Shool’ of concrete with a corrugated metal roof was constructed temporarily. Surviving plans show a simple building with pitched roof covered with asbestos tiles. The official Queen’s Park synagogue opened in the mid-1920s. It was designed by McWhannell & Smellie, with a red-painted and rendered Romanesque artificial stone façade. It was closed in 2003 and was converted into flats. The synagogue’s stained-glass windows by the Scottish glassmaker John K. Clark, made to mark Glasgow City of Culture in 1989, were moved to Giffnock Synagogue, and the Ark was salvaged and re-used in a new-build synagogue in Manchester.

Jews first settled in the Battlefield, Langside and Queens Park areas of Glasgow in the early years of the 20th Century. Queens Park Hebrew Congregation was established at the home of Rabbi Mordechai Katz in Battlefield Road in 1906, and in 1915 moved to a temporary building - the Tin Shul (Tin Synagogue) in Lochleven Road. A permanent Queens Park Synagogue was built in nearby Falloch Road and was in use from 1927-2002. In the 1990s, new stained-glass windows were installed by John K. Clark. When the synagogue closed in 2002, due to the sharp decline in the local Jewish population, the windows were relocated to Giffnock and Newlands Synagogue.

Clergy over the years included Rabbi Mordechai Katz, Rev. Samuel Arkush, Rabbi Isadore Goodman, Rabbi Kopul Rosen, Rabbi Adrian Jesner and Rabbi Michoel Fletcher. However, the dominant figure for over a quarter of a century was Rabbi Dr Wolf Gottlieb, who also served as Av Beth Din (leader of the religious court). The last chazan (cantor) was Rev. Zoltan Szirmai.

Timeline

• 1949 - The Hon. Treasurer's Report, which was presented by Mr Joseph Woolfson, showed a total income for the year of £4,967. Expenditure amounted to £4,865. The surplus assets as at 17th November, 1948, amounted to £2,901. Last year it had been decided to feu a piece of ground adjoining the synagogue and it was the intention of the Council to provide a suitable communal hall and classrooms.

Mr Woolfson deplored the absence of the younger members at the annual general meeting. It was unfair of members to expect the burden of Executive work to be carried on by the same small handful of people and he expressed the hope that the younger generation would take heed and participate in the manifold duties involved in connection with the running of the synagogue.

Thanks were expressed by Mr Woolfson to the members for their assistance in forwarding their dues by post. In conclusion the treasurer thanked the various members of the Committee and Executive for their co-operation and assistance. Mr L. Daets, J.P. and Mr I. Lazarus associated themselves in paying tribute to the Honorary Treasurer who had been doing a good job of work most efficiently. Mr Joseph Woolfson intimated that he had received a preliminary report from Dr M. Friedlander, who had taken over the responsibility of looking after the Hebrew Classes.

Dr. Friedlander had come to the conclusion that a radical re-organisation was necessary. They had a most competent and responsible set of teachers, but there was a tendency to take on too much, and Dr Friedlander had suggested that the syllabus be completely re-organised. There had been a fair amount of absenteeism which had a contagious effect on the morale of the children. A resolution was passed that the same amount as the previous year £525 be donated to the Joint Palestine Appeal from the synagogue funds and that a grant of £100 be made to the Talmud Torah. A proposal by Mr H. Levy M.A., that the prayer for the State of Israel be intoned in Sephardic was accepted. The election of office-bearers resulted as follows: — Chairman, L. Daets, J.P; President, I. Lazarus: Vice-President, Rosin : Hon Treasurer, J. Woolfson; Joint Hon. Secretaries, L. Peshkin, H. Ferris: Council, B. Robinson, H. A. Berger, J. Mandel, M. Cina, N. L. Gerber, H. Levy, MA, J. Sevi, Dr Zuckerman, J. Bennett, I. E. Green, N. Woolfson, Dr I. Burton. Mr I. Lazarus and Mr N. L. Gerber were elected as delegates to the Board of Deputies.

People

• Philip Woolfson - co-founder

See also

• Queens Park Charitable Trust
• https://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/glasgow08-qp/index.htm
• https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/efb1eba0-910a-3a70-ada3-d3f5d9251260