Foundation for Jewish Heritage has an exciting new initiative for the UK’s historic synagogues. Find out more with Chief Executive, Michael Mail MBE.
Born and raised in the Glasgow Jewish community, Michael Mail began his career with a Law degree at Strathclyde University before focusing on Jewish communal studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Brandeis University.
After working as a volunteer leader at ICOMOS (the International Council onMonuments and Sites), Michael realised there was no international organisations focused on preserving Jewish-built heritage, which led him to creating Foundation for Jewish Heritage: “At the beginning of the 20th century, nine out of 10 Jewish people lived in Europe, today it’s one out of 10. The demographic shift that came from migration, expulsion, and the Holocaust has meant that there’s an incredible legacy left behind, including synagogues that are no longer being used and are in danger.”
The Foundation’s mission is to ensure that important Jewish architectural sites, monuments, and places of cultural significance in danger are preserved and re-imagined for a sustainable future. In the beginning, the team worked with the Centre for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to map the 3,347 historic synagogues in Europe: “We rated each one according to their significance and condition to identify the ones most in danger – just under a quarter were deemed to be at risk, being in either poor or very bad condition.”
Education is an important facet of the Foundation, and the team are passionate about teaching about Jewish people, history, traditions, culture, and faith. In a climate where antisemitism is rising, Michael believes their work is more important than ever: “In creating understanding and empathy, we’re combatting ignorance and prejudice and there’s a certain power to these buildings.”
There are currently three UK-based historic synagogue projects: Sandys Row in London, Middle Street in Brighton, and Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. After conducting a feasibility study at Sandys Row, the Foundation is testing the idea of creating a heritage centre on the legacy of the Jewish East End. The proposed Middle Street concept – which was the playground of the Anglo-Jewish aristocracy in the 19th century, with links to the Rothschilds, Sassoons, and Montefiores – is to transform the synagogue into a cultural and educational venue.
While mainly working with owners of the synagogues to restore them, the case of Merthyr Tydfil was different: “We bought the building in 2019 as nobody was working locally on saving it. We want to turn the building into a Jewish heritage centre for Wales to tell a 260-year-old story.” For this, £1.7 million has been secured from the Welsh government, £350,000 from trusts and foundations, and £4 million has been applied for through the National Lottery – something Michael believes will be successful.
The Foundation’s latest initiative ‘Preserving Jewish Heritage, Promoting the Hidden Jewish Story’ will receive a potential £1.4 million from the National Lottery over six years: “We want to ensure the long-term survival of historic synagogues across the UK. We’re going to work nationwide with those facing challenges by helping them with building preservation issues, educational and outreach work, governance, and sustainability. Those outside the biggest Jewish communities have witnessed their memberships shrink dramatically, reducing their capacities, so we want to help.
“We’ll also be creating a historic synagogues heritage route and help document and preserve artefacts and give out small grants to help with survey work or feasibility studies.”
“Our work is a race against time to preserve historic synagogues in danger. We want to ensure that they’re preserved and repurposed as necessary to ensure their long- term viability, being a place of education, and contributing to the strengthening of society,” expresses Michael on his hopes for the Foundation’s legacy. On the subject of a pretty impressive legacy, Michael received an MBE at the beginning of the year for services to heritage and charity: “Some people might see the work of the Foundation as niche, therefore gaining state recognition was really important – it was obviously also very nice for me personally!”
