Bevis Marks Synagogue

Website: http://bevismarks.org.uk

Yesterday ABJ and I visited the Bevis Marks synagogue, the oldest surviving synagogue in the UK. It's been operating for 308 years, ever since its completion in 1702.

We'd investigated visiting times on their fancy website but yesterday the site was down and was replaced with a very basic one with little information. We finally ended up phoning them and were told the opening hours were 10.30am-12.30pm on Sundays. We hurried across London and arrived at about 11am.

We were greeted by a tough-looking Polish bouncer. He charged us the student admission of £2 each before letting us in. Excitingly I had to cover my head with a yarmulke picked from a basket near the entrance. This was the first time I'd worn anything like this.

Entering the synagogue I found it was smaller than I'd expected. For a building with such an illustrious history I was expecting a huge cavernous interior. Instead it was the same size as a medium/small church.

Apparently there'd be a tour shortly so ABJ and I spent the time exploring. We examined the original English-oak furniture which has been used for hundreds of years. Unfortunately we exhausted the interior in about 5 minutes so sat down and watched the other visitors.

Eventually a walking tour group arrived and a man emerged from a side-door to give them the tour. We tagged along and all sat on the centre benches. The tour guide was a friendly man in his 50s who'd been associated to the synagogue for a long time (he said he'd been in the choir when he was 6!).

We heard how the synagogue was built by Spanish and Portuguese Jews who'd fled the Spanish inquisition to Amsterdam before travelling on to London. We heard about how the seven chandeliers represented the seven days of the week with the largest one for the Sabbath. The guide explained that a lot of the building and carpentry was done by people who built churches. He pointed out features of the synagogue which were identical to English churches of the same period and even, he suggested, completed in the same workshops!

The guide told us about some famous Jews associated with the synagogue including Prime Minster Benjamin Disraeli and rich philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore (who is so respected his seat is roped off as a memorial). When the guide had finished we left the synagogue, dropping of my yarmulke on the way. While waiting outside we heard the leader of the walking tour referring to the synagogue guide: "He's a very nice man and it's all very interesting but he doesn't half go on a bit...!"Summary: A small taste of London Jewish history.