Rev. Jacob Fürst (Courland, Latvia 1844 – Edinburgh 1918) came from Middlesborough in 1879. He served Edinburgh’s Jews for forty years bringing continuity and stability to the community. He is also noted for his challenging of prejudice, a legacy which was continued by Rabbi Dr Salis Daiches.
Based at the Park Place Synagogue until the shul in the converted church in Graham Street was consecrated in 1898, Fürst preached at the synagogues catering for the Dalry community as well as at the synagogues of the New Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation on Roxburgh Place and North Richmond Street.
Fürst, with Miss Salmon, directed the first recorded Hebrew School in Edinburgh in 1880.
(Image courtesy of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre.)
Edinburgh Jewish Studies Network 