| AdminHistory | Born London, the sixth of ten children of Samuel Montagu (n Montagu Samuel, later First Baron Swaythling), Liberal MP for Whitechapel, and his wife Ellen Cohen, 1873; educated at Doreck College and by private tutors; established the West Central Jewish Girls' Club, 1893, where she led brief Sabbath services in English, and addressed contemporary issues and concerns through sermons and selected traditional prayers; led similar services for children at the New West End Synagogue, 1890-1909; influenced by Claude Montefiore, scholar and proponent of Liberal Judaism, and inspired by the growth of Reform Judaism in Germany, she established the Jewish Religious Union (later the Jewish Religious Union for the Advancement of Liberal Judaism), 1902, becoming one of its Vice-Presidents; JP, 1920-; helped found the World Union for Progressive Judaism, administering the organization's daily affairs from 1926 to 1959, President, 1954, honorary Life President, 1959; founder and lay minister (1928-1963) of the West Central Liberal Jewish Congregation; OBE, 1937; President, Jewish Religious Union, 1938-1961; Chairman, Chelsea Juvenile Court, 1942-45; formally ordained a a lay minister, 1944; CBE 1955; honorary DHL, Hebrew Union College; helped form Liberal Jewish congregations throughout Great Britain, frequently serving as their chairman or president; connected with the Women's Industrial Council and the National Council of Women for many years; still adhered to some aspects of Orthodoxy such as the dietary laws; died 1963. Publications include: 'The Spiritual Possibilities of Judaism Today' (1899); 'The Faith of a Jewish Woman' (1943); 'My Club and I' (1943); 'Letters to Anne and Peter (1944). Many of her writings appear in 'Lily Montagu: Sermons, Addresses, Letters, and Prayers' (ed. E.M. Umansky, 1985). |