A RABBI’S RELOCATION IN WARTIME SOHO

Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Ferber, a Lithuanian-born Torah scholar, became the spiritual leader of a nominally Orthodox community in London’s West End in 1913—a position he held for over 50 years. His tenure was marked by frequent tension with the community’s lay leadership and fellow employees, many of whom were irreligious and Jewishly uneducated. In contrast, Rabbi Ferber was a strictly observant, no-nonsense Orthodox rabbi of the old school and a highly acclaimed Torah scholar, whose published works earned him recognition far beyond his own community.

For much of his time as the congregation’s rabbi, Rabbi Ferber lived in apartments above or near the synagogue. As a result, each time the synagogue relocated, he was forced to move as well. In this excerpt from his two-volume memoirs, he describes moving to his fourth home during Chanukah in the winter of 1940. The Second World War was already underway, but the full extent of the devastation and the murder of European Jewry had not yet emerged.

Many parts of Rabbi Ferber’s memoirs were written in real time, resulting in abrupt shifts between past and present tense, as well as frequent transitions between autobiography and diary. Although clearly intended for publication, the text was never formally edited and is presented here raw and unpolished. The translation is not strictly literal, as some obscure rabbinic references and rhetorical flourishes have been adapted for clarity.

In Kislev 1940, around Chanukah time, the community closed a deal for the acquisition of a new synagogue building. This will be the fourth “exile” during my rabbinic career here. When I first arrived, the synagogue was on Brewer Street; afterwards it moved to Berwick Street. Later on, for many years, we were on Manette Street. Now we are moving to 21 Dean Street, Soho, and hopefully, now that we own the title, with God’s help we will remain there for a long time.[1]

The move meant that I was forced to pack up my furniture and all of my books in a very short amount of time. Everyone capable of manual labor was extremely busy at that time, as all the young men had been drafted into the army to fight in the war. Consequently, it was impossible for us to find helpers to assist with the move, even for money. This caused me terrible health problems, and my son,[2] who helped me a tremendous amount, has also suffered with his health as a result.

The physical work was so overwhelming that it actually caused me to become ill. Meanwhile, the mean-spirited community leadership, all of them individuals emotionally detached from anything sacred, have not even dreamed of offering me any kind of assistance.

My books stayed scattered around on the floor for weeks, and my published works were left out on the street, until eventually, after countless weeks had gone by, I managed to organize them, and I found a carpenter to build shelves against the walls so that the books could be properly displayed. Some board members also arranged an office for me in the synagogue, which lifted my spirits, and to my great relief I was able to get the secretary to allow me to use the basement as storage for some of my published works, ‘Kerem HaTzvi’ etc.

When we moved into the new synagogue I thought to myself, perhaps this change of location will mean a change of fortune, and I have therefore decided to cease criticizing the disgraceful behavior of the cantor[3] and the secretary, despite the fact that their conduct has deteriorated exponentially. The synagogue secretary publicly and flagrantly desecrates the Sabbath, and even did so during the half a year he lived in a room at the synagogue. He never attends the services, and the cantor similarly never attends any prayer services during weekdays.

Meanwhile their criminal behavior with regard to the administration of the cemetery has proliferated. Despite great efforts on my part [to thwart their influence], they have succeeded in getting the elected leadership of the congregation to cooperate in their criminal activities with their sly words, and indeed they were the ones who ensured who was elected to stand at their side, and they are all in collusion together in the criminal activity. Moreover, they all cover for each other – the leadership for the employees, and employees for the leadership, and there seems to be nothing the board can do about it.

My objections against the evil actions of these employees would only cause me harm and unpleasantness, and without any hope of rectifying matters, especially now that we have moved into the new facility and the intention is to create a new set of “guidelines” aimed at influencing gullible fools to use the synagogue for wedding and barmitzva celebrations.

We have not yet consecrated the new building – which will give them another opportunity to torment me, and I am totally isolated here. I have no strength to battle these deceitful fraudsters, although, if push came to shove, I could launch my own burial society and cemetery, which would generate a large profit and provide a livelihood for my son and son-in-law. But I am already too old, and I can no longer fight.

So I am just keeping quiet, and putting my hand over my mouth. Of course the synagogue employees are currently on good terms with me [because I’m not saying anything about their criminal activity]. As a result, the board president, who despises Torah scholars and certainly hates the rabbi [i.e., Rabbi Ferber], being conscious of the fact that the rabbi is fully aware of his deviousness and degeneracy, is unable to cause me any harm without the assistance of his employees, those villains. My only recourse is to believe in God, and whatever being clever cannot accomplish will in any event be achieved over time.

For I have seen wicked tyrants and cruel people with incredible power, whom I imagined would remain [in their positions] for years and years, and yet they have been obliterated and have disappeared without trace. Suddenly their demise is upon them and they fall, never to recover. Therefore, I must never abandon hope nor have a grievances against God. His anger endures and He always collects his debts.

Although now I am in the midst of misery, as I have not yet found a husband for my daughter Chaya,[4] who is ready for marriage, and a bride for my only son, who is also ready to get married. And I myself have been alone since 22 Iyar, 1933, waiting for God’s salvation.

[1] West End Great Synagogue was formed in 1910 as a merger of the West End Talmud Torah of 9 Green’s Court, Soho, West London, which was founded in 1880; and Bikkur Holim Synagogue of 41 Brewer Street, Soho. After a brief stint in Berwick Street, in 1916, the shul moved to 14 Manette Street, Charing Cross Road, in Soho, where it remained until the end of 1940.

[2] Eliezer Yaakov “Jack” Ferber (1909-1998), chaplain to the RAF, and rabbi in various communities in the UK. Jack was born in Žagarė, Lithuania, birthplace of his mother’s great-uncle, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter (1810-1883), founder of the Mussar movement. He was brought to England as an infant, when his father became a community rabbi in Manchester. From 1942 to 1944, he served as Rabbi of the Cheltenham Hebrew Congregation, followed by his tenure at the Hounslow and District Synagogue from 1945 to 1952. In addition, he served as Officiating Chaplain to the Royal Air Force at Uxbridge and Ruislip Stations, as well as Hounslow Barracks. Later, he became the Minister of East Ham, Manor Park, and Ilford Synagogue, as well as the Wanstead and Woodford Synagogue. He inherited his father’s extensive library, which included the memoirs from which this extract is taken.

[3] Rabbi Ferber devoted considerable attention in his memoirs to his long-standing and often contentious relationship with the chazan at his synagogue, Reverend Alexander Amias. Born in 1880 in Kiev, Ukraine, Amias initially worked in the garment industry in London’s East End while serving as a part-time chazan in various synagogues. In 1919, he was appointed as the full-time chazan of Rabbi Ferber’s synagogue in Soho, a position he held until his retirement in 1959. Amias was remembered by many as vain and conceited, often favoring wealthy congregants while demanding payment from those of limited means for officiating at life-cycle events. Rabbi Dr. Raphael “Ronny” Posner (1932-2010), Rabbi Ferber’s successor who later lived in Jerusalem and edited the Encyclopedia Judaica for Youth (1975), recalled that during the High Holydays, when Amias recited “ki choteh u-posheya ani” (“for I am a sinner and transgressor”), Rabbi Ferber audibly remarked in Yiddish, “er hot recht, er hot recht” (“he’s right, he’s right”). Although Amias was knowledgeable in Tanach, his approach reflected maskilic tendencies, and he was not a shomer Torah u’mitzvot. His manner of dress, which resembled that of a Protestant clergyman, earned him the nickname “Bishop of Soho” among locals. He died in 1965, a year before Rabbi Ferber’s passing.

[4] Chaya “Anne” Ferber (1907-1989) never married, and took care of her father until his dying day. She is buried at the West End Great Synagogue’s community cemetery in Streatham, South London, known as the West End Chesed V’Ameth Burial Society, not far from her mother, Freida Ferber (1884-1933). Rabbi Ferber, who left specific instructions not to be interred at the Streatham cemetery, is buried at the Adath Yisrael cemetery in Enfield, North London, next to Rabbi Yeshaya Fuerst (1856-1943), leading disciple of the Ktav Sofer and the Shevet Sofer in the Pressburg Yeshiva, and later the spiritual leader at Kehal Adass Yisrael (Schiffshul) in Vienna.