Giffnock Synagogue
Encyclopedia
Giffnock
Giffnock is a wealthy, dormitory suburb of Glasgow in the East Renfrewshire Council area, within the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
, East Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire
East Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975 it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde...
(on the south side of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
), is the largest Jewish religious congregation in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
also features a religious day school
Day school
A day school—as opposed to a boarding school—is an institution where children are given educational instruction during the day and after which children/teens return to their homes...
for both children and teenagers.
Spiritual leadership
The congregation is led by RabbiRabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Moshe Rubin who originally hails from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
having joined the community in 1990, first serving as their Cantor
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
. He was asked to take over the pulpit upon the retirement of the previous Rabbi (Rabbi Philip Greenberg) in 1999 (Rabbi Greenberg retired in 1998). Giffnock's Cantor from 1964 to 1990 (then Emeritus Cantor) was the late Rev Ernest Levy OBE (d.August 2009). The Cantor
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
for the High Holydays since 2008 has been Chazan Russell Grossman, of London.
Brief History and Community
Founded in 1934 approximately, the synagogue stood at May Terrace in GiffnockGiffnock
Giffnock is a wealthy, dormitory suburb of Glasgow in the East Renfrewshire Council area, within the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
until 1968. The new current complex was erected on Maryville Avenue. Giffnock Synagogue is described as a "provincial synagogue". As an affiliate member of the United Synagogue
United Synagogue
United Synagogue is an organisation of London Jews that was founded with the sanction of an Act of Parliament, in 1870. , it remains the largest religious grouping within the British Jewish community and indeed in Europe, covering 62 Orthodox Jewish communities...
organization of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, it is under the aegis of the Chief Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks
Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, Kt is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His Hebrew name is Yaakov Zvi...
. It is the largest Jewish community in Scotland. Services are conducted in the Ashkenazi Orthodox ritual.
Membership
- 1938 - 350 seatholders (Jewish Year BookJewish Year BookThe Jewish Year Book is an almanac targeted at the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. It has been published every year since 1896 and is currently published by Vallentine Mitchell in association with The Jewish Chronicle and is edited by Stephen W...
1939) - 1950 - 400 seatholders (Jewish Year Book 1951)
- 1953 - 550 seatholders (Jewish Year Book 1954)
- 1957 - 750 seatholders (Jewish Year Book 1958)
- 2007 - 700 seatholders (approximation)
See also
- History of the Jews in ScotlandHistory of the Jews in ScotlandThe earliest date at which Jews arrived in Scotland is not known. It is possible that some arrived, or at least visited, as a result of the Roman Empire's conquest of southern Great Britain, but there is no direct evidence for this...
- Garnethill SynagogueGarnethill SynagogueGarnethill Synagogue is the historic cathedral synagogue of Scotland. It is located in Garnethill, Glasgow.The synagogue was designed by John McLeod and Nathan S. Joseph and built in 1879-81....
- Synagogues
- Synagogue architectureSynagogue architectureSynagogue architecture often follows styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. According to tradition, the Divine Presence can be found wherever there is a minyan,...
- JudaismJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
- Modern Orthodox JudaismModern Orthodox JudaismModern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
- Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...