May Their Memory Be For A Blessing

Mike O'Brien
Oct 4
3 min read

From Pilgrims of Hope, we wish to express our sympathy to all who have been affected by the heinous attack on the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester. We wish to extend our support to the wider Jewish community in Britain who are fearful at this time.

As we raise awareness about the Christian community in the Holy Land, we'd like to re-iterate our belief that supporting a strong Christian presence in the region is our small contribution to a lasting peace. We continue to support inter-community understanding in our own region and condemn all bigotry, antisemitism and islamophobia.

We'd like to dedicate this blog post to the memory of those who were murdered and to Britain's Jewish community by documenting the history of this community in our own city of Liverpool.

The History of Liverpool's Jewish Community

Liverpool's Jewish community, established in the 1740s, was the first in northern England. It seems probable that Jews settled in Liverpool before 1750 since, by 1752, there was a "Synagogue Court" off Stanley Street and a Jewish place of worship is confirmed by the Liverpool Memorandum Book of 1753. This early community consisted of Sephardi Jews, probably connected to the Sephardi community established in Dublin.

*A drawing of the Seel Street Synagogue*

By about 1760, they'd been joined by Ashkenazi Jews from Germany who built the first synagogue on Cumberland Street. Around 1780, the community reassembled in Turton Court near the customs house and the first permanent synagogue, on Seel Street, was consecrated in 1808 on land donated by Liverpool Corporation. This was the first UK synagogue to deliver English sermons, beginning in 1806 with Tobias Goodman. Internal differences led to a secession in 1838, resulting in a new synagogue at Hope Place in 1857. The community grew rapidly in the nineteenth century and by 1860, Liverpool’s Jewish population of 3,000 was Britain’s second largest after London.

Institutions flourished: a philanthropic society in 1811, Hebrew schools in 1840, and a pioneering welfare board in 1875. Charles Mozley became the city’s first Jewish mayor in 1863, followed by four others. The community's prosperity was expressed in the magnificent Princes Road Synagogue, consecrated in 1874. This Moorish Revival building is regarded as the UK’s finest of its type.

By the late nineteenth-century, waves of Russian and Polish refugees were arriving at Liverpool’s docks en route to America. Many stayed, reshaping Liverpool's Jewish community. Yiddish became the community's lingua franca, although Ladino was spoken, too, among a Levantine Sephardi community that flourished between 1892 and 1914.

The community peaked in 1971 with 7,500 members but has since declined. By 2001, the census recorded 2,698 Jews in Liverpool. Despite challenges, active synagogues at Childwall and Princes Road continue a proud heritage spanning nearly three centuries.

Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Interfaith Cooperation

Liverpool Jewish community have historically been pioneers of interfaith cooperation. Rabbi Malcolm Malits fostered Christian-Jewish dialogue for nearly fifty years. The Merseyside Jewish Representative Council, founded in 1944, continues to promote dialogue across Liverpool’s diverse faiths.

Liverpool's own history of intercommunal and sectarian violence was notoriously bloody. It involved the Catholic and Protestant communities predominantly and persisted well into the second half of the 20th Century. The 1976–1996 partnership of Archbishop Derek Worlock and Bishop David Sheppard shaped an interfaith climate that ensured sectarian violence would never return to the city. They were advised and supported throughout this process by leaders of Liverpool's Jewish community.

6th December 2023

The convener of Liverpool's Faith Leaders’ Group brought representatives of Liverpool’s Jewish and Muslim communities together at The Abdullah Quilliam Mosque, Liverpool, to strengthen dialogue between the faiths. Their statements are recorded here.

Max Marcus, Chair of the Merseyside Jewish Representative Council:

“We the Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities are united in our commitment to ongoing interfaith work as we know that with dedication we can continue to live and work in harmony as we have done, here on Merseyside, for generations.”

Ibrahim Syed from the Liverpool Region Mosque Network:

“Despite conflict in the Middle East and our opposing views, we are all committed to long-term peace, and mutual respect between our faiths both here and abroad. May God grant us peace, understanding and wisdom in finding this.”

The Revd Canon Dr Crispin Pailing, convener of the Faith Leaders’ Group:

“The conflict in Israel-Palestine has a real impact on people in Liverpool, but it is also important that we continue to talk and work together. There is a huge amount of goodwill and friendship between people of different faiths in this region, and that allows us to hear the pain which we all experience as well.”