Josef "Joe" Lobenstein (April 1927 – 28 June 2015) was a spokesman for the

Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations The Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations is an umbrella organisation of Haredi Jewish communities in London, and has an estimated membership of over 6,000. It was founded in 1926, with the stated mission "to protect traditional Judaism", and ha ...

and a former Conservative politician in London.

Career

Lobenstein managed an electrical wholesale business, started in a back room of a house on Fairholt Road in 1949. It is now based in the old Metal Box premises in Grosvenor Way, Clapton.

Political career

Lobenstein entered local politics in 1962 as a member of the former

Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington The Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington was a metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965 when it became part of the London Borough of Hackney. Formation and boundaries Predecessor authorities The borough was the succ ...

. In 1968 he became a councillor for the London Borough of Hackney. Mr. Lobenstein served in many capacities, as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

from 1971 to 1974 and as chair of the Planning and Highways Committee from 1970 to 1971. Lobenstein, served as a Councillor in Hackney for more than thirty years. For many years, he was the only non-Labour party councillor in Hackney. He was the Mayor of Hackney Borough Council four times in a row. He was the leader of the Conservative group of Councillors until 1997.

Jewish Community Leader

Lobenstein was the president of the Adath Yisroel Synagogue. In 2012 Joe Lobenstein was appointed as President of the Stamford Hill Shomrim, a Jewish volunteer Neighbourhood Patrol Group. He was formerly the vice-president of the Orthodox Hebrew Congregation and chairman of their external affairs committee.

Awards

In 1980, Lobenstein was awarded an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

honour for his outstanding political and social activities in the London Borough of Hackney. In 1997, he was awarded Freedom of the Borough in honour of his eminent service to the Council and the borough.

Personal life

In 1939, Lobenstein, along with his family, fled from

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

to escape the Nazis. He and his wife Bella had eight children. Lobenstein died in London at the age of 88 on 28 June 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lobenstein, Joe 2015 deaths Councillors in the London Borough of Hackney Conservative Party (UK) councillors Jewish British politicians People from Stamford Hill 1927 births English Orthodox Jews Mayors of places in Greater London Members of the Order of the British Empire Members of Stoke Newington Metropolitan Borough Council