2-791-369 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Election of Rabbi, at the Synagogue, Great St. Helen's, 1844. Scene at Bishopsgate Street, City of London, when the Reverend Doctor Nathan Marcus Adler was chosen as Orthodox Chief Rabbi of the British Empire. 'A multitude was present. A din of strange sounds saluted our ear...A strong eastern character was stamped on every countenance. Every man was recognised as a foreigner, and felt to be a Jew...every one spoke of Dr. Adler in terms of kindness. He was said to be a learned man, strongly given to philosophic inquiry, and more deeply affected with the spirituality of religious observances than is usual with the Jews. A revival and a change was therefore looked for, and in that hope we left the company, but not without fear, when, in parting, we learned that the new Rabbi, who lives at Hanover, is under the special patronage of King Ernest'. From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol I.