Page:The Dalston Synagogue-an historical sketch.djvu/7

 A. Rosenberg, S. Trenner, M. Cohen, and Rev. M. H. Myers. Messrs. Isaacson and Goldman were furthermore appointed Trustees. A collection which was made among the members present towards the cost of the erection totalled close on £100.

Even in those early days, the members of the Dalston Synagogue showed that they were keenly alive to the primary obligation which rests on every responsible Congregation to provide for the religious instruction of the children. Almost immediately after the conclusion of the High Festivals, an Education Committee, consisting of the President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer, and Mr. A. M. Marks, was appointed, and charged with the duty of establishing Religion Classes. When formed, the conduct of these classes was entrusted to the Rev. M. H. Myers, who gave his services gratuitously.

In the winter of this year, the nascent Congregation received a welcome addition to its ranks by the accession of Mr. Marks Manus, who joined hands with it, together with a Minyan which he had formed at his residence in Clephane Road.

Now that the Congregation was getting well under weigh, and a capable cleric in a double sense of the word had been obtained in the person of the Rev. M. H. Myers, Mr. Morris Duparc, who had hitherto discharged the duties of Hon. Secretary, considered that the time had arrived for his retirement. Having gracefully tendered his resignation, the Committee took the opportunity to place on record their keen appreciation of his valued services at a critical period in the Congregation's history.

The movement to establish a permanent Synagogue was pushed on with zest and vigour. On December 27th, 1874, a sub-Committee, consisting of Messrs. Manus, M. Cohen and M. Marks, was appointed to negociate for the acquisition of a suitable building. At a meeting of the Committee held on May 2nd, 1875, the Hon. Sec. reported that an agreement for the leasing of a plot of ground in Newington Green Road was awaiting their ratification. Having given their approval, the arrangements for the leasing of the ground were concluded by the Building Committee on the following 20th May, an action which was endorsed by the seat-holders at a general meeting held on June 6th. Mr. M. A. Rozelaar, who now appears for the first time in the records of the Congregation, was elected Treasurer of the Building Fund. Donations towards the cost of the erection, amounting to £150 4s., were announced at this meeting.

All promised well, but the sanguine young Congregation had reckoned without the North London Synagogue. Perceiving with unerring intuition the danger of permitting a synagogue to be erected in such close propinquity to Highbury New Park, which with its environs formed the most fertile recruiting ground for members for the North London Synagogue, the executive of that place of worship initiated a vigorous opposition to the movement. A heated discussion broke out in the Jewish Press; anonymous pamphlets were written, acrimoniously denouncing the promoters of the projected Synagogue, and Mr. E. Cohen was accused of threatening a secession from the Chief Rabbi, should he refuse his countenance and support to the projected building. To pour oil on troubled waters, Dr. Adler sum-