History

Hear, O Israel! The lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (The Shema – Deuteronomy 6:4,5)

Jews are the longest established religious minority community in Northern Ireland. Some originally came in the seventeenth century, but the first synagogue was established in Great Victoria Street, Belfast, in the 1840's when German Jews began to settle in the region to facilitate their work in the linen trade. In the late nineteenth century many Jews came to Belfast to escape persecution in Tsarist Russia, and a new synagogue had to be built to accommodate the growing community. Throughout the years Jewish communities have existed in Londonderry, Downpatrick and Lurgan. Sadly, however, the community has declined numerically since the mid-20 th century, partly due to emigration to Israel and perhaps also partly due to the influence of the Troubles. There are currently only about 200 active members of the synagogue, based almost entirely in Belfast, although there are others with Jewish affiliation or with a Jewish family background living in Northern Ireland. The present synagogue (built in 1964), on the Somerton Road in North Belfast, hosts religious services, annual festivals, and various educational and social activities for the Belfast Hebrew Congregation.