Etz Chaim is a vibrant and dynamic Synagogue located in the heart of North Leeds.
When stepping into Etz Chaim, you’ll instantly feel the warmth as you are welcomed into the friendly congregation.
Dayan Shalom Kupperman was born in the Soviet Union in 1963. The anti-religious persecutions didn’t stop his parents from clandestinely keeping a vibrant Jewish home; through home-schooling, they also ensured that their children received ample Jewish education.
After many struggles with the communist authorities, in 1973, the Kupperman’s finally received permission to leave the USSR for Israel. The Torah home-schooling that Shalom received from his parents enabled him to seamlessly continue his education in Israel’s religious educational system.
He received his rabbinic education in Yeshivat Beit Hatalmud where he studied for some 17 years, and in Communal Kollelim in Chile and Canada where he combined his studies with outreach work.
Dayan Kupperman received Rabbinical Ordination from the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yitzchak Kolitz and Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Shalom Meshash. He also received a special Rabbinic Ordination from the Head of the London Beth Din, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu ztl in which he expressed his confidence in Dayan Kuppermans’ ability to serve as a communal spiritual leader. Dayan Kupperman also received a special Rabbinical Ordination from Dayan Moshe C. E. Padwa from London for making decisions regarding the Laws of Family Purity.
Over the years Dayan Kupperman taught in various Yeshivas for students without religious backgrounds as well as for teenagers from religious families who dropped out of the mainstream system.
Dayan Shalom Kupperman served in the IDF, doing the basic training and later serving in the army Rabbinate.
From 1998 to 2005, Dayan Kupperman served as the “Rosh Chaburah” – the Head of Studies in the Gibraltar Communal Kollel. His duties included directing the students of the Kollel and supervising their progress, liaising between them and the community, and organising educational programs for the community. Under his leadership, the members of the Gibraltar Kollel successfully completed their Semicha programme – a course of studies for Rabbinical Ordination.
In 2005 Dayan Kupperman became the Rabbi of the Etz Chaim Synagogue. Dayan and Rebbetzin Rikki Kupperman deliver regular lectures and sermons, as well as creating and delivering special educational programmes. They attend to the emotional and spiritual needs of the members of the community, being with them together at their Simchas as well as at their difficult times.
Soon after coming to Leeds, Dayan Kupperman began studying psychotherapy, and in 2011 he completed his MA in Psychotherapy & Counselling at the University of Leeds. Ever since his graduation, he combines his rabbinical work with a career in psychotherapy. Dayan Kupperman’s clients come from all backgrounds, races and religious affiliations. Currently, he is conducting a PhD research project about Jewish religious psychotherapists.
In June 2021, Dayan Kupperman was appointed as the Head of Leeds Beth Din.
Dayan Kupperman is married to Rivka (Rikki) nee Weichselbaum. Dayan Shalom and Rebbetzin Rikki are proud parents of five wonderful children and even prouder grandparents of an undisclosed number of wonderful grandchildren.
Rabbi Anthony Gilbert was born in Leeds in April 1956. He received his formal education in various schools in Leeds, and attended the Leeds Talmud Torah. He then studied Talmud and Shulchan Aruch under the tutelage of the Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Zevulun Gould z”l and Rabbi Dovid Ezagui.
Despite his depth of knowledge in all matters relating to Judaism, Rabbi Gilbert nevertheless graduated with an honours degree from The University of Leeds in 1983.
He was appointed as Chazan Rishon of NCVS in 1977 and as Senior Shomer and Registrar of Leeds Beth Din with the approval of Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu Rosh of London Beth Din in February 1986. He became President of Bnai Brith in Leeds in 1985, President of LJEB in 1997 and Chairman of Leeds Visitation Hospitals and Prisons in 1998.
Rabbi Gilbert was appointed Minister and Chazan Rishon of Etz Chaim in January 2005 and obtained Semicha from Yeshiva Pirchai Shoshanim in 2013.
He is married to Rochelle Gross in January 1985 and is blessed with six children and many grandchildren.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the service in an Orthodox synagogue, we hope you will find this little booklet useful and informative:
Our aim is to help you understand what happens, how you should dress for the occasion and what to do when you get here. And remember, if you are not sure, please ask one of our Rabbis or wardens who are more than happy to help you.
Between 1881 and World War One, some 150,000 Jewish people settled in this country and more than 10,000 of them settled in Leeds – chiefly Litvaks, coming from Lithuania and surrounding parts of the north of the Russian Pale of Settlement.
When they arrived here, they set up Shuls, or Chevrahs, which they often named after the towns and shtetls they hailed from – like Mariempol, Lokever, Shilele, Sesmer and Vilna – all places in present day Lithuania.
The relatively small number of long-established members of the community had their own synagogue, Belgrave Street, which was very anglicised. Many of its congregants were English born, as was the minister Reverend Moses Abrahams. His sermons were naturally in English and neither he, nor a fair and growing proportion of his members, could speak or understand Yiddish – the language of the immigrants.
The Burial Society became perhaps the largest such society in Anglo-Jewry and with increasing size there was need for a larger synagogue.
Wintoun Street, a church building previously belonging to the Baptist Church, was purchased in 1923 at a cost of £5,000 by Chairman at the time, Joseph Shepler (grandfather of Ted Gould) who served as leader of the organisation for some 15 years. As an aside, that church’s history was published some years ago which showed it to have been a very fractious congregation. Schisms and disputes amongst its members eventually led to its closure.
The resulting new synagogue seating 700 opened in 1924 under the name of The New Central Synagogue, although this wasn’t achieved without controversy.
The Vilna Synagogue had been founded as a Chevrah some time before 1885, but in September 1908 it was reported that the congregation had taken rooms in St. Luke’s Terrace. A few years later in 1919, it moved into premises in Camp Road at the corner of Exmouth Street, specially converted to a purpose-built synagogue.
In 1940, due to road widening and housing developments, Leeds City Council gave notice that the synagogue had to be demolished. With the increased membership and extra resources now available, a new synagogue in the new centre of Jewish settlement of Moortown could be considered. The Kingsway Cinema on Harrogate Road came up for sale and due to the initiative of President of the Societ, David Shiffer, it was purchased for £35,000 and converted to a synagogue with the rather unwieldy name of New Central Vilna – popularly known as ‘The Cinemagogue’ or just ‘The Vilna’.
Eventually, Leeds City Council decided to demolish the synagogue in Wintoun Street and pay realistic compensation for it – David Shiffer’s persistence and tenacity had paid off.
A plot of land adjacent to the Moortown Water Tower was given, together with a sufficient sum of money to erect a synagogue of the same capacity as The Wintoun Street, though built to modern standards. Building operations started in 1980.
The synagogue name of Etz Chaim was chosen by public competition, and it opened for Yomim Noraim in 1981 – the first synagogue in Leeds to be situated north of the Ring Road. Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovitz officially opened it the following December.
In 1982, Rabbi Michael Kanterovitz who had served The New Central Vilna and then Etz Chaim congregations for some years left for Israel and Rabbi Yeremi Angyalfi, who had been student chaplain in Leeds was appointed rav the following year – a post he held for 22 years.
Mention must here be made of Edward Gould who served as President for 20 years from 1976. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him as an Officer of the organisation. He devoted much time and effort to the synagogue, and society with great dedication, and oversaw the move to Etz Chaim.
He was in charge of the extensions to the shul which included a new mikvah donated to the Leeds community by Etz Chaim at a cost of some £90,000. He was later appointed Life President of Etz Chaim in recognition of his long service.
Mason Glass was elected President in 1996 when overdue constitutional changes were made which, among other things, limited tenure of the office and allowed for more female representation on the Shul Council. The momentum for these vital changes was bravely and successfully spearheaded by Freddy Apfel who also later held the Presidency for a short while.
Following Freddy, Hilton Lorie, Paul Gross, Neil Frieze and Malcolm Taylor have since served as Presidents.
In additional to Dayan Kupperman, Rabbi Anthony Gilbert has served the congregation for more than 35 years first as Chazzan and then as Chazzan and minister. Rev Harris, who has given a similar number of years’ service to the congregation, is now retired and was made Minister Emeritus some years ago.
Arising from unpromising beginnings, Etz Chaim can today proudly claim to be a major force in The Leeds Jewish Community as one of the major Orthodox Synagogues.
Etz Chaim is a vibrant and dynamic Synagogue located in the heart of the Jewish area in the north of Leeds.
This online version will give you a taster of what our community has to offer, and the services our organisation provides to our members.
Leeds Beth Din, for all matters of religious practice.
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