A. Links & Company, Limited

A. Links & Company, Limited, created at the beginning of the twentieth century and registered at Companies house in 1938 was set up by Abraham Links an important Glasgow Zionist activist. Today it is run by his descendants who remain Zionist activists.

Reardon's Southside American Pool and Snooker in Shawlands, Pollokshaws, Glasgow. Part of the business of A. Links and Company, Limited and Reardons New City Limited. owned by the Zionist Links family

A. Links & Company, Limited, opened in Glasgow in 1907. Source: Kenneth E. Collins, Second City Jewry. 1990.

Incorporated on 29 December 1938. The Nature of business (SIC) is now listed as 93120 - Activities of sport clubs. A Links and company is listed in Glasgow business directories as being based at Reardons Southside 1060 Pollokshaws Road Glasgow G41 3EB. This is a snooker and pool hall above the Co-operative in Glasgow's Southside. Reardons appears to be owned by another Links family firm called Reardons New City Limited.

Abraham Links and Zionism

The school obviously posed some competition for the Talmud Torah whose roll during the 1911-1912 session had dropped to about 250, made up mostly of poor children, and as we shall see precipitated a real crisis in Jewish education in Glasgow. The Zionist orientation of the Hebrew Higher Grade School set it apart from the Talmud Torah and the congregational and private Hebrew classes, or chadarim, but the popularity of the concept of Hebrew language teaching spread to the other local Jewish educational institutions. In particular, with local Zionist support the Talmud Torah adopted Irit b Irit as its own teaching method. With increasing divisions in Jewish education, Abraham Links, for many years one of the leading figures in Glasgow Zionism, quickly espoused the cause of the Higher Grade Hebrew School urging parents to support it and help it achieve its aim of becoming a day school. Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Links had been the hosts at a meeting in February 1912, chaired by Rev. E.P. Phillips and addressed by Jacob Fox to give some publicity to the early achievements of the school. By 1912 there were some new names in the leadership of the Glasgow Zionist movement: Zevi Golombok, whose later entry into the local Jewish press was designed to lend support to the Zionist cause, Barnet (Berl) Shenkin, Abraham Haase and Herzl Shulman. A new immigrant to Glasgow from Bukovina in Rumania, Nachman Louvish soon set the scene for activities involving Zionist culture with a politically progressive view. In February 1913 Louvish founded a new society HaEvria which made Hebrew culture, with Hebrew songs and lectures, a central feature and set up yet another Irit b'Ivrit school. It was Zevi Golombok who opened the meeting, attended by over 1,200 Jews, in the Dixon Halls in February 1913 addressed by Nahum Sokolow, one of the great Zionist leaders. Jacob Fox from Liverpool chaired the meeting and it is possible that his visit coincided with some difficulties faced by the Higher Grade Hebrew School to which no further reference can be found.

The question of accepting all that the Glasgow School Board would permit, namely using the hour at the start of the school day arose again in 1917. A committee headed by H.M. Langman, [Louis Daets] and Abraham Links organised a meeting at the Jewish National Institute in January 1917 where Rabbi Katz of Queens Park presided. Ministers, teachers and representatives of various communal meetings were present and agreed to organise Jewish religion and Hebrew classes in the Gorbals schools. H.M. Langman quickly arranged with Adelphi Terrace to start classes there on a trial basis. As there was no statutory basis to these classes there could be no compulsion in obtaining a full attendance and Langman could only express his hope that parents would encourage their children to attend. Rev. Plaskow, the assistant minister at the Queens Park Synagogue was appointed headmaster of the classes and in April 1917 a Jewish Education Aid Society was formed.

Despite Nathaniel Jacobs' public anti-Zionist sentiments Glasgow Jewry's commitment to the Zionist movement and its ideals was solid and the only opposition could be found in certain circles at Garnethill, led by the Heilbronn family. Although the Glasgow Bnei Zion had been somewhat eclipsed during the war years the leadership in the Zionist movement in Glasgow passed to a new organisation the Jewish National Movement Committee which had been founded in January 1915. The flagging of the Bnei Zion prompted the Zionist friendly society, the Order of Ancient Maccabeans, to convene a conference in Glasgow presided over by Abraham Links and to wnich Dr. Fox from Liverpool was invited to strengthen the organisation of Zionist activity in the city.

The Jewish National Movement Committee took a major initiative in May 1916 when it decided to rent the former building of the Hutchesons' Girls Grammar School which had moved to larger premises nearby in Kingarth Street. The former school building in Elgin Street, at the southern edge of the Gorbals, had been considered by other Jewish organisations such as the Talmud Torah but it seemed at the time to be outwith their financial ability. The building, renamed the Jewish National Institute and rented for the annual sum of £170, contained a full range of classrooms and meeting rooms as well as a hall and library facilities. It was therefore ideal for use by the Zionist organisations and gave them the opportunity of setting up their own literary section and Bet Sepher, or Hebrew language school.

People

• Brian Israel Links | Melanie Sara Links | David Samuel Links (born 4 July 1946)

Nathan Links | Abraham Links

See also

• Links Charitable Trust SC002837, registered between 01/01/1992-02/06/2012
• Links family

Contact

Registered office address 3 Dava Street, Glasgow, G51 2JA