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| copyright © J.Middleton
The synagogue was photographed in April 2013 and the stained glass
windows can be clearly seen
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Background
The nucleus of the congregation met in a small room in a house in Third Avenue, and when Rabbi Erwin S. Rosenblum arrived at Hove in 1956, the congregation numbered 20 people. In 1958 they moved to 65 Holland Road, the premises having previously been occupied by a Dr Barnado’s Home. By 1967 there were 500 families.
Rabbi Rosenbloom arrived in Britain in February 1939 from his native Czechoslovakia with precisely £2 in his pockets. He spent three years studying at the Talmudical College in Manchester. His parents, two sisters, and a brother were all killed in Auschwitz.
Lewis Cohen, later Lord Cohen of Brighton, owned a corner site in Palmeira Avenue called Sleepy Hollow. He sold it to the synagogue for £2,500, which was the same price he had paid for it twenty years previously. When plans for a new synagogue were submitted to Hove Council, they were turned down by one vote. No doubt the petition raised by local residents helped to swing the vote. Nothing daunted, Rosa Rosenblum and Zelma Burkeman knocked on doors bearing a petition in favour of building a new synagogue, and soon enough they had gathered more signatures than there were on the first petition. At the next council meeting, the plans were passed.
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The foundation stone was laid
on 17 July 1966, and the synagogue was consecrated in September 1967
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Rabbi Rosenblum laid the foundation stone at Palmeira Avenue on 17 July 1966 (29 Tammuz 5726). Lewis Cohen never lived long enough to see the project completed because he died on 21 October 1966. Rabbi Rosenblum took the funeral service in the old Holland Road premises. But so many people wanted to pay their last respects that the service had to be relayed to the next door Baptist church hall where the overflow congregation were accommodated.
Derek Sharp was the architect of the new synagogue, which cost £100,000 and was dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews who died in concentration camps. Although the design was modern, there were echoes of the past, particularly in the roof, which is reminiscent of the three domes traditional in the Middle East. The synagogue was consecrated in September 1967 in a service taken by Rabbi Van der Zyl and Rabbi Rosenblum.
There are steps leading to the entrance, which faces east, and the main synagogue is situated on the first floor. A choir gallery runs along the west side. There are around 200 seats made of oak, and the walls are lined with panels of Sapele wood, These panels can be folded back on High Holy Days, and more chairs brought forward so that there is accommodation for between 400 and 500 people.
Stained Glass Windows
The stained glass windows are in the east wall above the Ark and Bimah; they are the work of John Petts (1914-1991) a famous wood engraver and stained-glass artist. The windows were dedicated to the victims of the holocaust. The windows on either side of the central window are in many shades of blue and purple with some lighter tones. The central window repeats the colours on either side but the central motif is a tree of life ablaze in yellow with flames of orange, pink and red. It is stated that the windows were created from 1,800 separate pieces, and stretch in a marvellous 40-ft width.
The windows contain not just abstract shapes but also depict scenes or allusions to Jewish history and traditions. In the left window the ram’s head represents the ram caught in a thicket that provided a burnt offering for Abraham, instead of his son Isaac; there is Jacob’s ladder with wings in the background for the angels ascending and descending it; the dove of peace from Noah’s ark; water gushing from a rock in the desert after Moses struck it; a vine leaf and a bunch of grapes; a menorah; a star of David; two bells representing the bells on Aaron’s robe; a High Priest, and a stylised tree to represent the festival of Succoth.
In the right window the Scrolls of the Law rise above broken chains. Broken barbed wire is also a motif to symbolize the liberations of the Jews from the concentration camps.
The windows were presented by Lewis Gordon in memory of his parents Rabbi Joshua and Marie Gordon, Lewis Harrison in memory of his parents, and Arthur Samson in memory of his wife.
(John Petts received many commissions during his lifetime, both secular and religious. His best known windows are at the 16th Street Baptist Church at Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated in 1965; they depicted a black figure of Christ, crucified by Sharpeville bullets, and the hoses of the Fire Department. They replaced windows smashed in a racist incident in 1963 when four young girls were killed.)
The Ark is shielded by stained-glass doors, and they were presented by George Slavouski in memory of his wife Beatrice Nina.
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At the back of the synagogue there is a frame containing small brass plaques, around 6-in by 4½-in, commemorating various people. At the top of the stairs are larger plaques commemorating important members of the congregation such as the following:
Sydney Bellman (1902-1962) founder member
Julian Flexer (1923-1996) and Arthur Monickendam (1924-1987) both founder members and life presidents.
Other windows in the building are protected by screens of cement roundels that look as attractive from the inside as they do from the outside. Unfortunately, local pigeons deemed them a tailor-made roosting spot, and the upper roundels had to be protected with fine mesh at considerable expense.
The complex includes small rooms for teaching purposes, offices, and a small synagogue on the ground floor. The communal hall was dedicated on 30 June 1968. Major General J. A. d’Avigdor Goldsmid was guest of honour; he is the highest ranking Jewish officer in the British Armed Forces. The hall was called Ajex Hall after the Association of Jewish ex-servicemen and women who gave their lives in two world wars.
In 1969 a mayoral service was held at the synagogue for Norman and Dorothy Freedman, Mayor and Mayoress of Hove.
In 1981 Rabbi Rosenblum celebrated the 21st anniversary of serving as a Rabbi at Hove. By this time there were around 800 families associated with the synagogue. Rabbi Rosenblum retired in 1983, and Rabbi Collick was there by 1985.
On 23 June 2002 Ivor Caplin MP formally opened the Ajex Centre. The hall had been renovated and adapted in order that it might be used as a self-contained centre with the advantage of an adjoining commercial kosher kitchen that laid claim to being one of the best kosher kitchens in the country. Attention has also been given to the disabled with better access and new toilets.
The synagogue is now known as the Brighton & Hove Reform Synagogue.
Recent Developments
In August 2023 the general public was informed that the synagogue was at risk of demolition, although it was stated that the stained glass would be saved. Earlier this year the congregation of the Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue (BHRS) voted by a majority that new plans should be implemented. It seems that the present structure does not meet modern requirements, especially with regard to accessibility for disabled people; but the plans also included a block of eighteen flats, and were first proposed in 2017.
Meanwhile, art lovers have been desperately trying to save the building intact. For example, the Twentieth Century Society (TCS) endeavoured to have the synagogue granted listed building status, but this was turned down by Historic England in 2018.
Today more voices are being raised about the importance of the building. Coco Whittaker, senior caseworker at TCS, said that if the building were demolished ‘it would represent an extraordinary loss to the nation; it must be prevented.’
The art historian, Dr Alison Smith, stated that the synagogue is unique because it serves both as a memorial as well as a place of worship, and it was meant to last for generations. Indeed, she thought there was no other Holocaust memorial in the whole of the United Kingdom of this quality and scale. She was also of the opinion that the Petts windows were one of the great religious works of art of the 20th century, comparable to the stained glass in Coventry Cathedral by John Piper.
It seems that Historic England are now reviewing the listed building bid, and there is a committee to consider how the plans would affect the stained glass, and nothing can be done until this matter is resolved. (Argus 23/8/23)
Sources
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Evening
Argus
Copyright © J.Middleton 2023
page layout by D. Sharp