IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 LMA/4071
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: WESTMINSTER SYNAGOGUE
Date(s): 1902-2005
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 11.26 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Westminster Synagogue
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The congregation was founded by Rabbi Harold Reinhart in 1957. Rabbi Reinhart resigned from his position as Senior Minister of the West London Synagogue and, accompanied by some eighty former members of that synagogue, established the New London Synagogue, shortly afterwards to be renamed the Westminster Synagogue.
The congregation's earliest services were held at Caxton Hall. In 1960 the congregation acquired Kent House opposite Hyde Park in Knightsbridge. The building provided room for a synagogue, accommodation for congregational activities and a flat for the Minister.
Westminster Synagogue has, in religious terms, remained largely in tune with the Reform movement in Britain. The congregation has been served by the Reform Beth Din and has links with the West London Synagogue's burial facilities. The congregation does not have a system of seat rentals and aims to give equality to all members. Women play a full part in congregational life.
Rabbi Reinhart died in 1969. He was succeeded by Rabbi Albert Friedlander in 1971. Rabbi Friedlander combined his ministry for some years with his post as Director of Rabbinical Studies at the Leo Baeck College. Rabbi Friedlander retired in 1997.
The ministers and congregation of Westminster Synagogue have been closely involved in the Czech Memorial Scrolls Centre which is located on the top floor of Kent House. The scrolls were confiscated by the Nazis from Jewish communities in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia during the Second World War and acquired by a British art dealer in 1963 (the small Czech Jewish community lacking the resources to maintain them). Rabbi Reinhart accepted the 1,564 scrolls on the understanding that Westminster Synagogue could provide a responsible and non-commercial home for them. The scrolls were catalogued and, where possible, repaired and many were passed on to be used in synagogues throughout the world. A small museum was set up in Kent House to display the work of the Centre and tell the history of the scrolls.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Westminster Synagogue, 1902-2005. The records consist of minutes of the Council, Executive Committee, Search Committee, House and Building Committee and Annual General Meetings; correspondence; publications and printed material, reports and newsletters; and papers of Rabbi Harold Reinhart, Rabbi Albert Freidlander and Rabbi Thomas Salamon.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English and German.
System of arrangement:
The archive has been arranged into the following sections: LMA/4071/01 Administration; LMA/4071/02 Ministers; LMA/4071/03 Building; LMA/4071/04 Finance; LMA/4071/05 Publications and printed material.
Conditions governing access:
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information may be subject to access restrictions.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to these records rests with the depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Deposited in 1998 and 2005.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Publication note:
For further information please consult the LMA Information Leaflet: "Records of the Anglo-Jewish Community at London Metropolitan Archives"; available to download here: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/visitor-information/Documents/20-records-of-the-anglo-jewish-community-at-london-metropolitan-archives.pdf (URL correct Aug 2018).
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: Description prepared in March 2010, updated August 2018.