United Synagogue

For the American Conservative synagogue association, see United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

United Synagogue

United Synagogue logo
Abbreviation	The US
Formation	1870 (1965 as a registered charity)
Founder	Nathan Marcus Adler
Registration no.	242552
Headquarters	305 Ballards Lane, North Finchley, London, N12 8GB
Membership	64 synagogues; 40,000 members
Key people	Stephen Pack (President) Jeremy Jacobs (Chief Executive)
Revenue	£35,095,000
Expenses	£30,656,000
Staff	637
Volunteers	1,000
Website	{{#property:P856}}
Source: UK Charity Commission

The United Synagogue is a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central Orthodox movement in Judaism. With 64 congregations, comprising 40,000 members, it is the largest synagogue body in Europe. The spiritual leader of the union bears the title of Chief Rabbi of Britain and the Empire - a title that bears some formal recognition by the Crown, even though his rabbinical authority is recognized only by slightly more than half of British Jews.

History

File:NathanMarcusAdler.jpg

Nathan Marcus Adler, Chief Rabbi and founder of the United Synagogue

The United Synagogue was mandated by an Act of Parliament in 1870, granting formal recognition to a union of three London synagogues forged by Nathan Marcus Adler, who bore the title of Chief Rabbi of Britain. Leaders of the organization included Nathan Rothschild, 1st Baron Rothschild, who served as president in 1910.

At the time of its inception, the United Synagogue was the dominant force in Jewish communal and religious organization, though the organization lost some of its hegemony in the 1880s with mass migrations of Jews from Eastern Europe, who brought with them strains of Hassidic Judaism, Reform Judaism and secularism.

In 1887, Jewish community leader Samuel Montagu created the Federation of Synagogues, which worked to unite Orthodox synagogues of Russian and other eastern European migrants living in the slums of East London. Today, the Federation serves 21 synagogues, compared to the United Synagogue's 64. There are also numerous orthodox synagogues in Britain, including Haredi, Chabad, and others, unaffiliated with United Synagogue. In addition, there are congregations of Reform, Masorti and Liberal Jews that are not included in the United Synagogue; so that, today, the organization represents about 30 percent of all British congregants. Since 1990, central Orthodoxy has declined from 66 percent to 55 percent of total congregants, though this decline has flattened out in recent years.

Activities

United Synagogue provides a number of religious services to the Orthodox community, including:

• The Tribe youth movement, which offers after-school programs, programs for toddlers, and trips to Israel for youth.
• Young US - programs for young adults.
• A Beit Din (the London Beth Din) - a religious court to decide halakhic matters.
• Certification of Kashrut under the auspices of the London Beth Din.
• Burial services, including the maintenance of several cemeteries.
• Educational material provided by We Believe in Israel, the grassroots initiative of BICOM.

United Synagogue is an active supporter of Israel. The organization sponsors trips to Israel for members and youth, distributes information packages about Israel from its website, and offers courses in Israeli history and politics and Hebrew. In October 2014, it urged its members to lobby members of Parliament to oppose a motion to recognize the State of Palestine.

Activities are financed mostly from charitable donations and gifts, and from dues paid by member synagogues. Some revenues are generated from some £80 million in assets and investments (mostly synagogue buildings).

Jewish community

United Synagogue is one of 29 members of the Jewish Leadership Council, a British umbrella organization. It also elects deputies to the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

See also

• List of chief rabbis of the United Kingdom
• History of the Jews in England