Autograph Letter Signed to Louis Cohen

MONTEFIORE, MOSES

East Cliff Lodge

13th May, 37th Omer

Sir Moses Montefiore conveys that he just received a “Sepher Torah” written in Jerusalem, which he had the good fortune to commence when last in the Holy City. He requests the pleasure of his friend's presence at East Cliff on the occasion, adding: “I shall never forget the assistance you gave at the opening of the Synagogue.”

East Cliff Lodge was the Montefiore home in Ramsgate; the synagogue alluded to is without doubt that maintained by Montefiore in Ramsgate. Louis Cohen (1799-1882), a commanding figure in the Anglo-Jewish community, acted for many years as warden of the Great Synagogue and later as a life-member of the Council of the United Synagogue. A nephew of Sir Moses' wife Judith (neé Cohen) and a banker by profession, Cohen ardently supported Sir Moses in many of his undertakings. See S. and V.D. Lipman, The Century of Moses Montefiore (1985), pp. 16, 57; JE, Vol. IV, p. 152; Vol. VIII, pp. 668-670; EJ, Vol. XII, cols. 270-275