Lubavitch.co.uk information on Lubavitch communities in the UK.
Title
Chabad-Lubavitch UK
Description
Before the Second World War the only Lubavitch presence in the UK was in the form of a number of Synagogues which had an association with Chabad-Lubavitch. Two were in Manchester and one in Old Castle Street in East London. There was also a Beis Hamedrash in Stamford Hill, run by a Lubavitch chassid, Rabbi Binyaminson. A leading figure in this informal fellowship was Mr Solomon Perrin.
In 1948 the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, sent his devoted follower Rabbi Benzion Shemtov to London with the task of organising a Chabad-Lubavitch presence in order to strengthen Jewish education throughout the UK.
Greeted warmly by Mr Perrin, Rabbi Shemtov chose Stamford Hill as the centre of his activities, although he also travelled tirelessly throughout the country. His home in Cranwich Road became a Cheder, run by his wife and daughter Fradel, (later to be the wife of Rabbi Nachman Sudak). Rabbi Shemtov organised other Chadorim in Stamford Hill and in the East End. At the same time he was joined by dedicated personalities such as the late Rev. A.D. Sufrin and libodel lechaim Rabbi Shraga Faivish Vogel, who were to be leading figures in Lubavitch UK.
