I guess most locals know Moses Montefiore built a mausoleum
in Ramsgate and that is where he and his wife are buried.
Here is the link to the news article http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/78569/moses-montefiore-may-be-reburied
The mausoleum will be open on Sunday as part of the weekend
of heritage building openings, here is the link to information about the
opening http://thanetpress.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/montefiore-synagogue-open-day-sunday.html
I may write some more about this, I guess it is a complex issue
with implications for the synagogue in Ramsgate.
Visit Open Day tomorrow, open from 9.30am to 2.00pm, and sign protest against removal of Sir Moses and Judith Montefiore remains from Ramsgate.
Visit Open Day tomorrow, open from 9.30am to 2.00pm, and sign protest against removal of Sir Moses and Judith Montefiore remains from Ramsgate.
I suspect he must be turning in his grave - his old home demolished by the council and the grounds used as a giant dog toilet.
ReplyDeleteDevelopers will be salivating at the thought of getting their hands on this site once Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore are gone. In the light of this is there any chance of their mauseleum and the synagogue surviving?
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to forgive me if I say that this seems a little churlish. Sir Moses was a devout Jew and is actually buried in soil brought from Jerusalem. I'm not Jewish but I suspect that being buried in Jerusalem is pretty important to a Jew. So this petition is really about denying this to him.
ReplyDeleteIs this not more about the Mausoleum than the person? Maybe it would be more constructive to seek Listed status rather than deny a reburial which I'm sure would have been his wish.
Tim,
DeleteI agree. I do not consider that Sir Mose and Lady Montefiore should be denied reburial in Jerusalem. I was unaware of the existence of a petition.
Sir Moses lived to be nearly 101. From now on it's chicken soup for me.
For the record I am a gentile.
Oops! I've just spotted the petition.
DeleteThe building is already Grade 2* Listed
Deletehttp://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1051632&searchtype=mapsearch
This is good to hear.
DeleteTim, John, you don’t think that a wealthy person who could certainly have been buried anywhere in the world they wanted to, choosing a site and building themselves an expensive mausoleum to be buried in, is something of an indicator that this is where they wanted to be buried then?
ReplyDeleteNot being a Jew I feel at something of a disadvantage commenting here, but I do know that Ramsgate has a particularly strong Jewish community dating back to the 1700s.
I also understand that Ramsgate is one of the very few towns in Kent to have a rabbi and that it is the local Jewish community that have started the petition to keep his remains in Ramsgate.
I think that Moses Montefiore is seen as something of a symbol both of multiculturalism and the Anglo Jewish community in the UK, and that his decision to be buried in the UK is widely regarded as an important factor in his position as the leading Anglo Jew.
Michael,
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is not for me as a gentile to come down on one side or the other. This is a matter for the local Jewish community to decide on the evidence.
Personally, I would Like Sir Moses and Lady Judith Montefiore to stay with us in Ramsgate. But if they do leave then I certainly do not want the philistines to grab and demolish their Synagogue and Mausoleum.
I spent my early years living and going to school in what was a mainly a Jewish part of London. Our family had many Jewish friends. Of course in those days we knew nothing of the 'religion' of multiculturasim, whatever that might be. We just liked and respected our friends. Sir Moses Monterfiore was a good man.