Montefiore Synagogue

{{short description|Orthodox historic synagogue in Kent, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Use British English|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Montefiore Synagogue | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Montefioretomb.jpg | image_upright = 1.4 | alt = | caption = Montefiore Synagogue and mausoleum, {{circa|1906}} | religious_affiliation = Orthodox Judaism | tradition = | sect = | district = | prefecture = | province = | region = | deity = | rite = Spanish & Portuguese Sefardi | festival =  | organisational_status = Synagogue | ownership = Montefiore Endowment | governing_body = | leadership = | bhattaraka = | patron = | consecration_year = | functional_status = Active {{small|(by appointment)}} | religious_features_label = | religious_features = | location = Honeysuckle Road, Hereson, Ramsgate, Kent, England CT11 8AA | locale = | municipality = | cercle = | state = | country = United Kingdom | map_type = UK England Southeast | map_size = 250 | map_alt = | map_relief = 1 | map_caption = Location of the synagogue in Kent | grid_name = | grid_position = {{gbmapping|TR3883865734}} | sector = | territory = | administration = | coordinates = {{coord|51|20|26|N|1|25|40|E|region:GB_type:landmark|display=it}} | coordinates_footnotes = | heritage_designation = | architect = David Mocatta | architecture_type = Synagogue architecture | architecture_style = Regency | founded_by = Sir Moses Montefiore | creator = | funded_by = Sir Moses Montefiore | general_contractor = | established = | groundbreaking = | year_completed = 1833 | construction_cost = | date_demolished =  | facade_direction = | capacity = | length = | width = | width_nave = | interior_area = | height_max = | dome_quantity = | dome_height_outer = | dome_height_inner = | dome_dia_outer = | dome_dia_inner = | minaret_quantity = | minaret_height = | spire_quantity = | spire_height = | site_area = | temple_quantity = | monument_quantity = | shrine_quantity = | inscriptions = | materials = | elevation_m =  | elevation_footnotes = | nrhp = | designated = | added = | refnum = | delisted1_date = | website = | module = {{Infobox historic site | embed = yes | designation1 = Grade II* | designation1_offname = Synagogue and adjacent Outbuilding | designation1_type = Listed building | designation1_criteria = | designation1_date = 12 August 1968 | delisted1_date = | designation1_partof = | designation1_number = 1051632 | designation2 = Grade II | designation2_offname = Entrance gates with gatepiers to north west of the Montefiore Synagogue | designation2_type = Listed building | designation2_criteria = | designation2_date = 12 October 1999 | delisted2_date = | designation2_partof = | designation2_number = 1378741 | designation3 = Grade II | designation3_offname = Ramsgate Gentlemans Toilet at Montefiore Synagogue and Mausoleum | designation3_type = Listed building | designation3_criteria = | designation3_date = 9 September 2003 | delisted3_date = | designation3_partof = | designation3_number = 1390615 }} | footnotes = <ref name=jcr>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishgen.org/JCR-UK/Community/than2/index.htm |title=Montefiore Synagogue |work=Jewish Communities and Records - UK |publisher=JewishGen and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain |date=6 May 2024 |access-date=12 May 2024 }}</ref><ref name=NHLE>{{NHLE |num=1051632 |desc=Synagogue and adjacent Outbuilding |grade=II* |date=12 August 1968 |access-date=12 May 2024 }}</ref><ref name="NHLE 1378741"/><ref name="NHLE 1390615"/> }} The '''Montefiore Synagogue''' is the private Orthodox Jewish synagogue and adjacent mausoleum of the late Sir Moses Montefiore, located on Honeysuckle Road, Hereson, in Ramsgate, Kent, England, in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1051632&resourceID=5 |title=Listed Buildings Online |publisher=Heritage Gateway |accessdate=2013-12-11}}</ref>

The private synagogue was completed in 1833 and, together with the mausoleum, was listed as a Grade II* building in 1968.<ref name=NHLE/> The synagogue and mausoleum are cared for and maintained by the Montefiore Endowment, that also maintains the nearby Ramsgate Jewish Cemetery.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.montefioreendowment.org.uk/ |title=Home |website=montefioreendowment.org.uk}}</ref>

==History== Sir Moses Montefiore first came to Ramsgate in 1812 on his honeymoon with his wife Judith Cohen, sister-in-law to Nathan Rothschild. Ramsgate had had a small Jewish community since 1786. The synagogue was in the European tradition of great men having private chapels on their estates. Sir Moses Montefiore had the synagogue built immediately upon purchasing East Cliff Lodge in 1831. On the day the building was dedicated, Montefiore fulfilled the Jewish custom of marking such an occasion by giving charity to the poor by giving money to be distributed by the priests of the two neighbouring Church of England parishes.<ref name=Krinsky/> David Mocatta, a cousin, was hired to design the Synagogue. Mocatta estimated the cost at between £1,500 and £1,600 exclusive of the interior which was to cost from £300 to £400. The foundation stone was laid on the New Moon of Tammuz 5691 or 9 August 1831.

In 1869, Montefiore founded the Lady Judith Montefiore Theological College, a yeshivah. This was located to the rear of the synagogue; it was demolished in 1965. The work of the college is continued today in London, by the Montefiore Endowment. The site of the college is now owned by Ramsgate Town Council and maintained by volunteers as a dedicated woodland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.montefiorewoodland.org.uk/ |title=Home |website=montefiorewoodland.org.uk}}</ref>

East Cliff Lodge was demolished in 1954. The grounds are now the King George VI Memorial Park. The {{circa|1870}} entrance gates, gate-house and Italianate greenhouse are standing,{{efn|Located at {{coord|51|20|33|N|1|26|02|E}} {{gbmapping|cap=1|TR 39254 65977}}}} and were listed as Grade II building in 1999.<ref name="NHLE 1378741">{{NHLE |num=1378741 |desc=Entrance gates with gatepiers to north west of the Montefiore Synagogue |grade=II |date=12 October 1999 |access-date=12 May 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://new.italianateglasshouse.co.uk/ |title=Home |access-date=2 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103165641/http://new.italianateglasshouse.co.uk/ |archive-date=3 January 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> A mid-to-late 19th-century lavatory block was listed as a Grade II building in 2003.<ref name="NHLE 1390615">{{NHLE |num=1390615 |desc=Ramsgate Gentlemans Toilet at Montefiore Synagogue and Mausoleum |grade=II |date=9 September 2003 |access-date=12 May 2024 }}</ref>

In 2007 a general medical practice opened on the grounds of the former estate. The developer contributed funds to preserve the woodlands next to the historic synagogue.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/6279173.stm |title=Surgery on synagogue site opened |publisher=BBC News |date=2007-01-19 |access-date=2013-12-11}}</ref>

The Sephardi rite of the synagogue is that of the Bevis Marks Synagogue in the City of London. Regular services are no longer held due to a lack of a local Sephardi congregation.<ref name=jcr/>

==Architecture== The building is set on a knoll that, in Montefiore's day, overlooked extensive gardens.<ref name=Krinsky/>

The synagogue is a noted example of ecclesiastical Regency architecture.<ref name=Kadish>{{cite book |author=Kadish, Sharman |author-link=Sharman Kadish |title=Jewish Heritage in England: An Architectural Guide |publisher=English Heritage |year=2006 |pages=58–62 |isbn= }}</ref>{{rp|59}} The building was the first purpose-built synagogue in Britain designed by a Jewish architect.<ref name=Kadish/>{{rp|59}}<ref>Segev, Tom. [https://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/909590.html "Written out of history"]{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''Haaretz'', 11 October 2007. Accessed 30 June 2009. ''"The building in Ramsgate is the Montefiore Synagogue. It is the only synagogue in England standing on private land, and the first one that was designed by a Jewish architect."''</ref> The stucco-covered masonry building is rectangular with canted corners and a semicircular apse to accommodate the Torah Ark. The small vestibule contains the stairway of the women's gallery. The façade features a clock, which is the only example in an English synagogue. The clock bears the motto, ''Time flies, virtue alone remains.'' The Montefiore coat of arms was a later addition to the façade.<ref name=Kadish/>{{rp|58-61}}

The typically Regency interior features an octagonal dome with a lantern to admit daylight, and a window over the Torah Ark. The interior was originally of whitewashed plaster. The pink, grey and cream marble and granite walls and much of the furniture were added by Montefiore's heirs in 1912. Oak furniture and iron gallery supports were added in 1933.<ref name=Kadish/>{{rp|58-61}} Windows on the northeast and southeast walls with stained glass were also added in 1933.<ref name=Krinsky>{{cite book |author=Krinsky, Carol Herselle |author-link=Carol Herselle Krinsky |title=Synagogues of Europe; Architecture, History, Meaning |publisher=MIT Press |year=1985 |edition=revised (1986); Dover reprint (1996) |page=127 |isbn= }}</ref>

The synagogue is illuminated by candles in the original chandeliers. The gallery is curtained by an old-fashioned, tall latticework. It retains Lady Montefiore's original seat, no. 3. Sir Moses' seat is on the ground floor. In 1933, the original wooden board with the prayer for the Royal Family was moved to the synagogue in Bristol.<ref name=Kadish/>{{rp|58-61}}

In the lobby there is a memorial to a member of the family, Captain Robert Sebag-Montefiore who was killed in Gallipoli during World War I.

==Mausoleum== {{Infobox cemetery | name = Montefiore Mausoleum | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Ramsgate Montefiore Mausoleum-geograph.org.uk-2847126.jpg | image_size = 250 | alt = | caption = The Montefiore Mausoleum,<br/>built as a replica of Rachel's Tomb | pushpin map = | map_type = | map_size = | map_caption = | mapframe = | established = | abandoned =  | location = Honeysuckle Road, Hereson, Ramsgate, Kent, England CT11 8AA | country = United Kingdom | coordinates = | type = Jewish family | style = Mausoleum | owner = Montefiore Endowment | size = | graves = | interments = 2:<br/> {{bulleted list|Sir Moses Montefiore|Judith, Lady Montefiore}} | cremations = | leases = | website = | findagraveid = | politicalgeo = | footnotes = | nrhp = | embedded = }} Next to the synagogue is the tomb which is the final resting place of Sir Moses and Judith, Lady Montefiore. Built as a replica of Rachel's Tomb on the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the Montefiore mausoleum is cube surmounted by a dome. It has an open, arched porch. The interior has a stained glass skylight but no other decoration. The two graves are marked by identical chest tombs of Aberdeen marble.{{clarify|date=March 2010}} The graves face east, towards Jerusalem. The floor is made of Minton tile. The porch features ironwork grills in intricate Moorish patterns.<ref name=Kadish/>{{rp|62}}

Above the porch of the Mausoleum is the following inscription. It is taken from the last verse of the Hebrew hymn ''Adon Olam'': "Within Thy hand I lay my soul / Both when I sleep and when I wake. / And with my soul my body too, / My Lord is with me, I shall not fear".

Beyond the tomb there is a short, Roman pillar of Egyptian porphyry. The pillar was a gift from Mehmet Ali (1768-1849), khedive of Egypt, with whom Montefiore established friendly relations. It was placed there by Lady Montefiore to indicate where she wished to be buried. Lady Montefiore died in 1862.

Montefiore was granted permission by the Ottoman Empire to restore Rachel's Tomb during an 1841 visit to the Levant.<ref name=Kadish/>{{rp|62}}

In August 1973, it was reported that the Israeli government had tried to have the remains of Sir Moses moved to Israel.<ref>''East Kent Times'', 15 August 1973</ref>

== See also == {{stack|{{portal|England|Judaism}}}} * History of the Jews in England * List of synagogues in the United Kingdom

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * [http://www.montefioreendowment.org.uk/sirmoses/ramsgate/ The Montefiore Endowment] * {{YouTube|f3LYXztapiM|Montefiore Synagogue Ramsgate Open Day 2007 (virtual tour)}}

Category:19th-century synagogues in the United Kingdom Category:David Mocatta buildings Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Kent Category:Grade II* listed religious buildings and structures Category:Grade II listed buildings in Kent Category:Grade II listed religious buildings and structures Category:Jewish mausoleums Category:Mausoleums in England Category:Monuments and memorials in Kent Category:Ramsgate Category:Regency and Biedermeier synagogues Category:Religious buildings and structures in Kent Category:Sephardi synagogues in the United Kingdom Category:Synagogues completed in 1833 Category:Synagogues in England