When telling my friend about my trip to Plymouth in October last year, he was perplexed: "You went all the way to Plymouth”, he asked “just to see the graves of your 200 year-dead ancestors?!" Indeed, one might say, who cares what your ancestors did or didn't do? All that matters is that you are here today, living your own life! The truth is, however, that the feeling of stepping in the footsteps of your forefathers and mothers, standing on the soil that they were laid to rest and discovering how they lived their lives is remarkable. My grandmother and I spent at least two hours in the Plymouth Hoe Cemetery, trying to decipher the ancient Hebrew engraved on the gravestones.
Even before the building of a synagogue, the acquisition of a cemetery is often the first communal act of a newly formed Jewish community. This was the case in Plymouth. In the 1740s a small number of Jews, probably including my seventh great grandfather, Matathias Chaim Ben Elijah Bellem, settled in Plymouth. At this time, a local Jew died, and it was not possible to carry the body to London, or the nearby established community, Portsmouth. Therefore, this individual was buried in a garden owned by the Sherrenbeck family, the founders of the Plymouth Hebrew congregation. This garden would become the cemetery for the Plymouth Jewish Community.
The Plymouth Hebrew Congregation has made a profound contribution to the rich history of Anglo Jewry. Having the oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in the English-speaking world, Plymouth's Jewish Community was self-sufficient, since its foundation. Unlike other countries in Europe such as France and Germany where Rabbis' wages were paid by the state as early as the nineteenth century, English Jews did not receive a fund from the state in which they could pay finances for building synagogues, paying synagogue officials and other requirements needed to maintain a community. So, how did Plymouth's Jews manage to sustain their community? It is no coincidence, that Jews call themselves "Am Yisrael", the People of Israel, rather than "Dat Israel", the Religion of Israel. The concept of peoplehood and Kehilla, which means community in Hebrew, is at the core of Jewishness. With regards to Plymouth's Jews more specifically, the concept of Kehillah manifests itself in the Plymouth Congregation's regulations of 1779. These regulations state that one who is called to read the Torah on Shabbat or on a festival must make three donations: synagogue, charity, and cemetery funds; each of a minimum of three pence. All donations and dues were meticulously recorded in Hebrew letters, in the Accounts Book. This was also common in other communities in the South-West such as Exeter. The concept of Kehillah, and Jews looking after one and other is how the Plymouth Jewish community managed to survive and prosper.
However, even though Plymouth's Jews were self-sufficient in maintaining the livelihood of their community for over 100 years, the 1800s saw the beginning of the decline of the Plymouth Hebrew Congregation. There were economic opportunities in London which Jews sought to pursue, prompting many to move to the capital. Take, for instance, my fifth great grandmother, Hannah nee Bellem, who was born in Dartmouth (a few miles from Plymouth) in 1805, according to the 1851 census. In 1827, likely under the auspices of the Plymouth Hebrew Congregation, she married a Jewish Dutchman who had immigrated to England; Isadore Assenheim. With their three children, in 1841 they moved to the East End of London, like many other South-Western Jews of their generation. The growing migration from the South-West to the capital gradually saw the decline of South-West Jewry, as a whole.
Notwithstanding the decline of South-West Jewry, the descendants of Plymouthian Jews continued to prosper in London, not just within their Jewish communities, but in Britain as a whole. Many of the Plymouthian Jews’ descendants fought courageously for Britain in the First and Second World Wars. My great grandfather, Lewis Harris is a good case in point. Being the third generation in London, a descendant of the Bellem family who are buried in the Plymouth Hoe Cemetery, he served in the 79th Armoured Division during the Second World War. He devoted his life to strengthen British-Israeli ties for which he was awarded an MBE.
The rich history of South-Western Jewry has been recorded in Rabbi Dr Bernard Susser’s definitive book on the subject, The Jews of South-West England. The book provides a vivid historical portrayal of the rise and decline of these medieval and modern communities. The relics of the oldest community can still be seen in Plymouth today. The impact of the community over generations is still present throughout the country, and has a significant imprint on who I am.
Reference
Susser, Bernard "The Jews of South-West England, The Rise and Decline of their Medieval and Modern Communities", University of Exeter Press, 1993.