The Western Marble Arch (WMA) Synagogue is a Jewish place of worship in central London. The WMA is the result of a merger between the Western and the Marble Arch Synagogues, with the former congregation dating back to 1761. The current building is in

Great Cumberland Place Great Cumberland Place is a street in the City of Westminster, part of Greater London, England. There is also a hotel bearing the same name on the street. Description The street runs from Oxford Street at Marble Arch to George Street at Bryan ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. It is a leading

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...

synagogue and offers religious and social activities to its members and the wider community.

History

Western Synagogue

The Western Synagogue was founded in 1761 in

Great Pulteney Street Great Pulteney Street is a grand thoroughfare that connects Bathwick on the east of the River Avon with the City of Bath, England via the Robert Adam designed Pulteney Bridge. Viewed from the city side of the bridge the road leads directly to t ...

. The congregation, formally named, in the transliteration of the era, ''Hebra Kaddisha Shel Gemillith Hassadim, Westminster'' (Holy Congregation of Acts of Charity, Westminster) first met in the home of Wolf Liepman, a prosperous immigrant merchant from

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. A series of leased spaces followed until 1826 when the congregation built an elaborate synagogue in St. Alban's Place,

Haymarket (London) Haymarket is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, London. It runs from Piccadilly Circus in the north to Pall Mall at the southern end. Located on the street are the Theatre Royal, Her Majesty's Theatre, New Zealand Ho ...

and renamed itself ''The Western Synagogue''.Lindsay, Paul, ''The Synagogues of London'',

Vallentine Mitchell Vallentine Mitchell is a publishing company based in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. The company publishes books on Jewish-related topics. One of its earliest books was the first English-language edition of ''The Diary of Anne Frank''. From ...

, London, 1993, p. 66

Spiritual leadership

* Rabbi Lionel Rosenfeld * Rabbi Sam Taylor * Sir

Samuel Montagu Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling (21 December 1832 – 12 January 1911), was a British banker who founded the bank of Samuel Montagu & Co. He was a philanthropist and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1900, a ...

MP (Lord Swaythling) * Sir Stuart Samuel * Viscount

David de Stern David Jacob de Stern, Viscount de Stern (1807 – 19 January 1877) was a German-born British banker and senior partner of the firm of Stern Brothers. Life and career Stern was born in Frankfurt am Main to the prominent Stern banking family. In ...

Constance, Lady Battersea Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea (30 August 1843 – 27 November 1907) was a British Liberal politician and patron of art. Background and education Flower was the third of 18 children (the second of 12 sons) of Philip William Flower, of Furze ...

, wife of

Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea Cyril Flower, 1st Baron Battersea (30 August 1843 – 27 November 1907) was a British Liberal politician and patron of art. Background and education Flower was the third of 18 children (the second of 12 sons) of Philip William Flower, of Furze ...

Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery (''née'' de Rothschild; 27 July 1851 – 19 November 1890) was the daughter of Mayer Amschel de Rothschild, Baron Mayer de Rothschild and his wife Juliana (''née'' Cohen (surname), Cohen). After inh ...

*Harold Pasha * Barrington Black * Lord David Gold * Sir

Gerald Ronson Gerald Maurice Ronson, CBE (born 27 May 1939) is a British business tycoon and philanthropist. He became known in the UK as one of the 'Guinness Four' for his part in the Guinness share-trading fraud of the 1980s as a result of which he was conv ...

CBE *

Anthony Yadgaroff Anthony H Yadgaroff (born 1949) is the founder of Allenbridge Group PLC, which is based in Old Jewry, London. Allenbridge was acquired by MJ Hudson, the asset management consultancy, and constitutes its investment advisory arm. Its CEO is Odi La ...

Bibliography

* Picciotto, ''Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History''

References

External links