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Scotland's First Jewish Community |
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Many of the members of the Community worked in professions related to the tailoring industry. As well as tailors there was a "silk hat and fur manufacturer" and a "umbrella and leather cap maker". There were also a number of jewellers and watchmakers. Three of the most prominent members of the early Community were Herman Lyon, Philip Levy and Jacob Ashenheim. Herman Lyon was a "dentist and corn-operator", and is best remembered for having petitioned for, and acquired, a burial plot for his family on Calton Hill. Philip Levy was a furrier, and in 1860 was granted a Royal Letters Patent for his invention of the "Wrapper whereby the Feet as well as the Knees are constantly kept warm and comfortable". Jacob Ashenheim was a jeweller and general merchant. His two sons, Lewis and Charles, both became medical doctors, Lewis being the first Scottish born Jew to graduate from a Scottish University when he graduated from St Andrews in 1839 and Charles being the first Scottish born Jew to graduate as a doctor from Edinburgh University in 1853.
© Scran |
The first tasks of the new Community were to acquire land for burial, establish a synagogue and a Jewish school. In 1820, Trustees of the Congregation of Jews obtained land at what is now Sciennes House Place, then Braid Place. In 1825, the Community converted a tenement in Richmond Court for use as a place of worship and learning. Prior to that, services were held in a room off Nicolson Street. The main part of the building was used as a synagogue, and other rooms were adapted to be used as teaching rooms. The Synagogue and Braid Place cemetery were in use for just over 40 years, the burial ground moving to Echobank in 1867 and the Synagogue to Park Place the following year. There was little growth in the Congregation in the intervening years, due in part to the low numbers of Jewish immigrants entering Britain as a whole. However, by 1844 when the Great Synagogue allowed provincial Congregations to participate in the election of a Chief Rabbi, the Edinburgh Congregation was sufficiently established to be able to raise the £5 donation to the Chief Rabbi's fund in order to participate.
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