Joseph Marcus Cohen

Born in Veszprem, Hungary, Joseph Marcus Cohen was the first minister at the North London Beth Hamedrash (House of Study) on the borders of Islington and Stoke Newington. It was the predecessor of the Adass Yisroel Synagogue in Stoke Newington, which was consecrated in 1911 and in due course became the parent synagogue of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, which is the body overseeing strict-Orthodox congregations.

Joseph’s marriage in 1879 to Annie Landeshut was conducted at the bride’s home at 71 Oakley Road, Canonbury by the Chief Rabbi. This gives some idea of the esteem in which Cohen was already held as a young man. Whether the Chief Rabbi would have any idea at the time that Cohen would soon help to form a breakaway group from Britain’s traditional Orthodox community is not known. The independent-orthodox movement was just beginning to take shape around then, stimulated by the growing influx of traditionally-minded Jews from Eastern Europe. Many of these were shocked by what they considered to be lax observance of Jewish law among the existing British-Jewish community, and in particular by failings in the production of kosher meat and milk.

The North London Hamedrash began life in 1886 in premises at 127 Newington Green Road, and Joseph and his family lived ‘above the shop’. Three years later, it moved to Ferntower Road in Highbury, with Cohen its librarian and main teacher. It remained there until 1905, when with demand continuing to grow, it moved again, now into Hackney, in Burma Road, Stoke Newington, where the building can still be seen. Shortly afterwards it was upgraded to a synagogue in its own right, the Adass Yisroel, with Hungarian-born Dr Avigdor Schonfeld (1880-1930) as its first rabbi. Since 1957, its premises have been at 40 Queen Elizabeth’s Walk in western Hackney, adjacent to Clissold Park.