| AdminHistory | Nelson Street Sfardish Synagogue, later the East London Central Synagogue, 30-40 Nelson Street, Whitechapel.
Built in 1923 by Digby Lewis Solomon of Lewis Solomon & Son for the Federation of Synagogues, to serve a Ahkenazi Jewish congregation originating from Eastern Europe.The builder was J E Whiter.
Closed in 2020.
Received Grade II status and added to the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest by Historic England, 10 September 2026.
History on the listed entry: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1497126?section=official-list-entry
"The synagogue now known as the East London Central Synagogue was built in 1923 as the Nelson Street Sfardish Synagogue under the auspices of the Federation of Synagogues, an umbrella organisation founded in 1887 to support the small Orthodox congregations of the East End. The Federation offered a traditionalist alternative to the United Synagogue (formed in 1870) which represented established congregations and was seen as being Anglicised, expensive, and far removed from the religious practices of the newer immigrants. The Federation set standards for the renovation, conversion, and construction of synagogues, and advanced loans for building work, under the direction of Honorary Architect, Lewis Solomon (1848-1928); Solomon was also Architect-Surveyor to the United Synagogue from 1904. From the 1890s, Solomon developed a series of small-scale Model Synagogues for the Federation (the term was coined by the Jewish Chronicle, see Kadish 2018 p 11). Some were newly built but more were conversions, often set behind existing buildings, accessed through passageways and lit from above. Their plans followed the traditional Ashkenazi arrangement, with a centrally-placed Bimah surrounded by seating and a gallery for women on three sides; where space allowed, a subsidiary entrance gave access to the gallery in the traditional manner. Provision of a room which could serve as a Beth HaMedrash (religious study hall) was desirable. From around 1920, Lewis Solomons son Digby Lewis Solomon (1884-1962) took over his father's role within the Federation, and the other work of the practice.
The Nelson Street Sfardish Synagogue was one of the last of the model synagogues built by the Federation in the East End. Constructed on an empty plot, the synagogue was unusual in being entirely purpose-built, fronting the street. The modest street elevation recalls that of James Spiller's 1790 Great Synagogue, the Ashkenazi synagogue in Dukes Place, London (destroyed in the Second World War); inside, the Ionic columns, large round-headed windows, clerestory lights set into coved ceiling, and the Ark set within an arched apse all recall the influential earlier building. The pews and Bimah are said to have been made by a cabinet maker who was a member of the congregation.
By tradition, the Nelson Street Sfardish Synagogue was constructed to serve a group of immigrants from the town of Berdichev in what is now Ukraine, historically a major centre of Jewish life, particularly within the Hasidic tradition; the Hebrew name of the synagogue is understood originally to have been Ohr HaChaim Dbnai Berdichev (The Light of Life of the Sons of Berdichev).
The word Sfardish in the synagogues original name refers to the nusach (rite or form of service) used by the Ashkenazi congregation. The Nusach Sefard is a variant of the Ashkenazi nusach, incorporating some elements from the Sephardi rite; the Nusach Sefard is generally used by Hasidic groups. Sermons at the Nelson Street Sfardish Synagogue were spoken in Yiddish into the 1950s.
During the Second World War some damage was caused to the Ark by an incendiary bomb; the exterior rendering of this part of the synagogue may be a consequence of this event. In the years following the war, large numbers of Jews moved to other areas of London, largely suburbs to the north-east and north-west, leading to a rapid decline in the Jewish population of the East End; the Federation provided synagogues in these areas of secondary settlement. Many East End synagogues closed, or were amalgamated with others. As many as 20 neighbouring congregations became part of the Nelson Street Sfardish Synagogue from the mid-C20. Restored and reconsecrated as the East London Central Synagogue in 1975, the building was one of the East End's last functioning synagogues.
In 2020 a portion of the synagogues ceiling collapsed; the building has since been unused." |