Page:The Dalston Synagogue-an historical sketch.djvu/5



HIS utterance of the pious Bildad the Shuhite seems singularly applicable to the Dalston Synagogue, in view of its remarkable history. Few of those who, some thirty-six years ago, gathered together in Dalston for the purpose of prayer, could have anticipated that the tiny rivulet which they started going would within a decade have grown into a stream whose waters are now the most considerable that quicken the religious life of North London Jewry. Till the seventies, the number of Jews resident in the district converging on Kingsland Road was extremely small. A vigorous impetus was given to this number, however, by the demolition of many old streets in the East End, which sent multitudes away from that region to find a new home in Dalston. As the North London Synagogue—the nearest house of worship to the Jewish inhabitants of Dalston—was much too distant, the desire for a local Synagogue soon began to be felt, and only required the zeal and energy of an enthusiast to give it actuality and form. Such an enthusiast was found in the person of Mr. Elias Cohen, who had not long previously moved to Dalston from the City. Born in Chatham in 1820, the son of the minister of the local Jewish congregation, Mr. Cohen had inherited much of his father's piety and religious ardour. It was not long after his arrival in the North of London that the movement for the formation of a new Congregation began to take practical shape. On May 3rd, 1874, a date of considerable importance in the annals of Dalston Jewry, the first meeting was held for the purpose of taking measures for the erection of a Synagogue for the Jewish inhabitants of the Dalston and Hackney districts. In response to an appeal issued by Mr. E. Cohen, about a dozen gentlemen foregathered at 12, Richmond Road, Dalston, the residence of Mr. J. Euphrate.