London School of Jewish Studies

Origins

Jews' College, now known as the London School of Jewish Studies, was opened in Finsbury Square, London as a rabbinical seminary in 1855 with the support of the then Chief Rabbi Nathan Adler and of Sir Moses Montefiore, who had had the idea for such a venture as early as 1841.

Growth

The college quickly established itself as a place where high quality rabbinical training was available and its alumni and staff often became prominent in Anglo-jewry

Many leading figures in British Jewry have been associated with the College, including Michael Friedländer, Principal from 1865 to 1907; Isidore Epstein, Principal 1948–1961; Louis Jacobs, Moral Tutor 1959–1961; and in recent years Jonathan Sacks, Principal 1984–1990.

First move

In 1881, the College moved to larger premises in Tavistock Square, close to University College, where it was envisaged that Jews’ College students would be able to combine their religious studies and university sudies to degree level. As early as 1904, the University of London granted an Honours degree in Hebrew and Aramaic, all of the candidates being from Jews’ College.

econd move

In 1932, with the building of Woburn House, a centre for Anglo-Jewry, still in Tavistock Square, Jews' College moved again.

During the Second World war, despite the bombing of London, the College kept its doors open. Apart from the rabbinical studies and degree course, Chazzanut courses and teacher training programmes were now offered.

Third move

In 1954, the College moved, yet gain, to larger premises in Montague Place.

Fourth move and change of name

The building in central London was sold and the College operated from temporary premises at Finchley Synagogue for a number of years, under the leadership of Rabbi Dr Nachum Rabinovitch. Under the auspices of Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks, later to become Chief Rabbi, and with the financial backing of Stanley Kalms, Chairman of Dixons, the College relocated to its current building, now known as Schaller House, in Hendon, North-West London, close to the hub of London’s Jewish community in the 1980s.

In 1998, the University of London announced that it would be terminating the "Associated Institute" status that the College and three other small institutions enjoyed. Jews' College was forced to seek an academic partner within the University in order to be able to continue its degree programmes. Without the freedom to determine its own curriculum and the financial security that came from student fee income, it became increasingly difficult for the College - known since 1999 as the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS) - to survive in its previous form. Rabbinic training was also uneconomic as many able students looked to the Torah centres of Israel and America for their education and the number of available rabbinic posts in the UK decreased.

In 2002, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) decided to terminate its relationship with LSJS, precipitating a crisis which was nearly fatal. A small team of young community leaders and educators, led by Marc Weinberg, presented the then Chair of Council, Howard Stanton, with a radical proposal to use the human and financial resources actually available to refocus the School's activities and to secure a vibrant future as hub of academic study and lifelong learning, catering to a wide spectrum of the community and attracting world-class Rabbis and educators.

Under the leadership of Dr Raphael Zarum and Dr Tamra Wright, LSJS has been rejuvenated, welcoming hundreds of students each week to a wide range of academic and popular courses and events.

External links

* [http://www.lsjs.ac.uk/ Website of the London School of Jewish Studies]