AdminHistory | Benjamin Schewzik, born c1852; educated Kovno; rabbi at Pskov, Russia; Professor of Talmud, Judith Lady Montefiore College, Ramsgate; in the 1890s he complained when Moses Gaster conferred the rabbinical diploma on two students whom he deemed unworthy, precipitating the 'Ramsgate affair'; while at Ramsgate he travelled to London to conduct services, usually at the Great Assembly Hall, Mile End, for the benefit of mainly immigrant Jews who did not belong to a synagogue; a powerful preacher, he attracted large numbers of worshippers; disappointed in his hope of being appointed Principal Rabbi of the Federation of Synagogues, in 1892 he agitated unsuccessfully for the United Synagogue to establish a new synagogue in Whitechapel; he ran the Russian Vapour Baths in Brick Lane, used by Orthodox men. Publications include a short treatise in Hebrew on cremation. |