Tayside and Fife Jewish Community
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According to Harvey Kaplan of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre (SJAC)[1]in an address in 2012[2]:
- From about 1840, Jewish agents from Hamburg and elsewhere in the German states came to Dundee to purchase cheap linens and packing cloths and the first Jews to settle in the city were flax, linen and jute merchants. They quickly integrated and assimilated.
- The community grew in the late 19th century with the arrival of East European immigrants and established 2 congregations in late 1880s – small prayer room in Ward Street opened by Lithuanian Jewish immigrants – and another offshoot in Bank Street. Both Ward St and Bank St congregations petitioned the Chief Rabbi in London to send them a schochet in 1883 – he sent Hirsch Levi to the Ward St congregation – he fell out with them and defected to the Bank St congregation – case went to the small debtors court -but the 2 congregations eventually merged. By 1885, there were about 50 Jewish families in Dundee.
- In 1889, 10-month-old Isabella Nathan became the first Jew to be buried in the Eastern Cemetery in Arbroath Road, which has served as the Jewish cemetery up to the present day. SJAC has list of 163 Jewish burials in Dundee, 1889-2012 – also set of about 110 photos taken of individual Jewish tombstones c2001
- In 1901, there were around 130 Jews in Dundee, and the synagogue had 30 seatholders. The synagogue Hebrew School (established in 1893) had 29 scholars: 22 boys, two girls and five infants. In 1920, the Dundee synagogue was moved to 13 Meadow Street. The premises, which accommodated 70-100 people, were gifted by Sir Maurice Bloch. The future Prime Minister Winston Churchill, then a Dundee MP, had been one of the contributors to the Synagogue Building Fund in 1919.
- It is estimated that there were 20 to 30 Jewish families in Dundee in the 1930s and there was a cheder under Rev Franks. In 1938, when the minister was Rev. M Isaacs, a Dundee Zionist Society was formed. The community was at its peak after the Second World War, with about 35 to 40 families and a minister, Rev. M Segal. In the late 1940s, the tiny community still boasted a burial society, a Benevolent Society, the Ladies' Holy Vestment Society, Bnei Akiva, WIZO and JNF.
- By 1970, there were only 30 to 40 Jews left in Dundee. The synagogue was demolished in 1973 because of the redevelopment of that area of the city centre, and the city council paid for the erection of a new building, opened in 1978. Dr Albert Jacob, who now lives in Beersheba, Israel, was leader of the Dundee Jewish community in the 1970s/80s has written his story of the political difficulties of that period – twinning with Nablus/ anti-semitic daubings on the synagogue etc . His book entitled “The Day It Hit the Fan – Memoirs of a Reluctant Politician is available on Amazon.[3]
See also
- Dundee Hebrew Congregation
- Dundee Dorshei Zion and Literary Society - founded by 1905[4]
- Dundee Zionist Society - founded by 1913[5]
- Dundee Jewish Literary Society - founded by 1925[6]
- Dundee JNF Commission - founded by 1927.[7]
- Dundee WIZO - founded by 1955(lxxxii)[8]
- Dundee University Jewish Society - founded by 1979[9]
Notes
- ↑ https://www.sjac.org.uk
- ↑ https://www.scojec.org/communities/tfjc/docs/hanukah_2012.pdf
- ↑ http://www.amazon.com/The-Day-Hit-Fan-Politician/dp/097485249X
- ↑ First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1905/6.
- ↑ First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1914.
- ↑ First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1926.
- ↑ First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1928.
- ↑ First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1956.
- ↑ First listed in the Jewish Year Book 1980.