(Author: David Sher, Vol. 72, No. 3, Chanukah 2017)
In the Rosh Hashanah 2017 issue of Jewish Affairs, I provided a brief history and present-day description of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, in the course of which I touched on the crucial support provided by Sir Isaac and Lady Wolfson and Maurice and Vivienne Wohl. Given their seminal involvement in the creation of, it is apposite to provide some background to these two key philanthropic families.
Sir Isaac and Lady Wolfson we r e unusually devoted to Jewish causes, as the following account by Ambassador Yehuda Avner illustrates. Sir Isaac had been contacted by Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who upon entry to office had been importuned by Rabbi Raphael Levin, son of the saintly Rabbi Aryeh Levin (1885-1969). He had requested that the Prime Minister assist him in keeping Rabbi Aryeh Levin’s Yeshiva financially viable:
Begin’s phone buzzed. “Sir Isaac! How glad I am to have found you.” He paused to listen to what Sir Isaac had to say. “B’ezrat Hashem our new government will do good things for Israel and for the Jewish people,” he responded….After this, he wrapped up with an appeal that came from the bottom of his heart: “Sir Isaac, I would not be troubling you now did I not sincerely believe that saving Reb R aph a el’s yeshiva is a mitzvah. And knowing of your charity I thought you may want to have a share in it.” The philanthropist’s response was so generous, it brought a blush of pleasure to Menachem Begin’s cheeks and over and over again he responded with his thanks.”1
Born in Glasgow, Sir Isaac Wolfson was the founder of the Wolfson Foundation, established in 1955. According to Alan Bullock, “He brought to the work of the Foundation the same acumen and experience in investing in projects, people and institutions, to which he owed his success in business.” Sir Isaac’s projects included fifty synagogues across Israel. In England the Wolfsons were patrons of many key British institutions and Oxford’s Wolfson College, Cambridge’s Wolfson College and the Lady Edith Wolfson Room in Trafalgar Square’s National Gallery owe their presence to the family. Sir Isaac became President of the United Synagogue (United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire). He was immensely respectful towards Jewish rabbinic leadership and gave Chief Rabbis Sir Israel Brodie and Lord Immanuel Jakobovits the fullest leeway to uphold Halakha, most clearly during the notorious ‘Jacobs Affair’. In 1958 he bought the Haifa oil refinery from the Shell and British Petroleum companies. His chief motive, it was widely believed, was not profit but maintenance of Israel’s fuel supply at a time of Arab boycotts.2 Other examples of his generosity included a chair in criminology at Cambridge and one in metallurgy at Oxford, and a Wolfson School of Nursing and the Wolfson Institute at London Postgraduate Medical School.
Sir Isaac was once praised by the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, for his ‘princely generosity’. He was made a baronet in 1962. By the time Queen Elizabeth bestowed his baronetcy, by a series of audacious takeovers – including Burberry in 1955- he had built his chief company, Great Universal Stores, into what was said to be the largest mail-order concern in Europe. It was then also operating about 2200 stores in Britain dealing in men’s, women’s and children’s wear and numerous other items. Characteristically, the Wolfson Foundation once contributed $280 000 to buy a Goya painting of the Duke of Wellington back from an American collector and keep it in England. To date the Wolfson Foundation has donated over £800 million in grants since its establishment (£1.7 billion in real terms).3
Sir Isaac Wolfson, 1897-1991
At the entrance to the Jerusalem Great Synagogue is the Wohl Entrance Hall, named by the donors and founding members of the Great Synagogue, Maurice and Vivienne Wohl of London. The Wohls and their philanthropy were described as “A unique partnership of dedication and grace; for whom living was giving” by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Emeritus Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth.
Maurice’s father was a pious Orthodox rabbi who officiated voluntarily at an old age home for 27 years. That spirit of giving was imbued in Maurice as he grew up. When he and his sister Ella questioned their mother as to how their parents knew that those people they assisted were truly needy, she responded, “If you give to twelve and only one is genuine then it is still worthwhile.” Maurice was educated at the Grocer’s Company School in Hackney and then at the City of London school, whilst his father entered the property business. Despite his humble beginnings, by 1973 Maurice was listed as one of the top five property developers in the UK although he had established the United Real Property Trust in 1948. Some of his more famous buildings included Reed House in Piccadilly and the imposing State House in High Holborn.
Vivienne Horowitz, born in 1945, worked at Maurice’s offices. Maurice had known her since she was a child as he was on cordial terms with her parents. Vivienne inspired him when one day, as they walked together down London’s Bond Street and Maurice handed a few coins to a beggar, she asked him to give a more considerable sum and take it off her wages. They were married in Jerusalem in 1966 and their name soon became synonymous with charity.
In 1965, with his father’s backing, Maurice established the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation so he could engage in philanthropy as he accrued money. Extraordinarily, he would read in the newspaper of an ill person requiring urgent medical treatment and then track the individual down to cover their costs. Sadly, Vivienne died from cancer in 2005, aged 59, but not before she and her husband decided to establish the Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Philanthropic Foundation. Maurice died in 2007, aged 90. He was buried in Jerusalem beside his devoted wife.
Maurice was both a Zionist and a faithful Jew passionate about his religion. For him, it was a priority to build religious institutions and promote Jewish education. He was particularly supportive of four yeshivoth. The famed Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, the institution of Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, benefitted immensely when he supplied funds for the establishment of a new Torah Centre, Yad Wohl. In fact Chief Rabbi Kook served as Maurice’s sandek in London during 1917. At Yeshivat Beth Abraham Slonim in Jerusalem’s Meah She’arim, Maurice funded the building of the Wohl Torah Centre Complex; this building is almost unique in Hasidic structures in that it features stained glass windows in the main sanctuary. Maurice’s father had been on cordial terms with the Rabbi of Slonim, Rabbi Berzovsky and his brother-in-law Rabbi Weinberg. There is a plaque at the yeshiva recording the memory of the many members of the Wohl family who were murdered during the Shoah.
After the Six-Day War Maurice, with Vivienne, assisted in the construction of Yeshivat HaKotel in the Old City opposite the Western Wall. Later, he founded the nearby Wohl Archaeological Museum after ancient artefacts testifying to Jewish presence in Israel for millennia had been unearthed during building work for Yeshivat HaKotel. Maurice and Vivienne also gave a substantial annual sum to Yeshivat Ohel Torah. Following Maurice’s death, his legacy foundation provided necessary funds for Yeshivat Ohel Torah to move to a new building to further its activities.
The synagogues Maurice built were nearly always embedded within a community and often served the specific needs of institutions such as schools or old-age homes. The Miriam Rachel Wohl Hall at the Golders Green Beth Hamedrash (commonly known as Munks) on The Riding was one of Maurice’s earliest projects and was named for his late mother. It is situated in the heart of Golders Green’s most staunchly Hirschian congregation, with most of the customs and synagogue layout based on the German-Jewish rite.
The Wohl Synagogue standing today in Tel Aviv was built after the mayor of Tel Aviv approached the Wohls to build a synagogue in a new part of the city. The Wohl Synagogue at Jewish Care’s Lady Sarah Cohen House (named after the wife of Tesco supermarkets’ Jewish founder) and the Wohl Synagogue at the Jews’ Free School (incidentally the alma mater of Barney Barnato), the largest Jewish school in the world, are magnificent buildings which serve as an inspiration to those worshipping there. The JFS Synagogue provides one of the most potently religious experiences the predominantly traditional student body is likely to encounter. Lord Michael Levy once declared how “through their practice of religion and their wish that Yiddishkeit and a love of Judaism remains part of the fabric of our Jewish life” both Vivienne and Maurice Wohl had really made a difference in life. “They believed in making sure that there were synagogues everywhere, whether in schools to help youngsters develop their roots, or for the elderly to make sure that they remember their roots.”
The Wohls also actively supported medical research assisting humanity and in Great Britain, the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at the Hammersmith Hospital was provided with the financial means to establish the Maurice Wohl Clinical Research Laboratories in the early 1980s, the Maurice Wohl Cardiovascular Laboratories in 1990, and the Maurice Wohl Unit of Immunological Medicine in 1991. King’s College London was assisted by the Wohl Foundation’s benevolence and the Maurice Wohl General Dental Practice Centre began life in 1987. Several years later the Wohl Molecular Biology Laboratory, Liver Unit and the Students’ Residence made their appearance. At the 1992 ceremony making Maurice Presentation Fellow, the college speaker discussed the choices that aff luent individuals have to make with their bounty; “We are honoring today someone who has faced that choice honestly, who has known success and who has made a sincere attempt to heal some of the world’s ills and help celebrate some of its glories.”
Maurice and Vivienne acknowledged their responsibility towards their spiritual homeland and brethren; in Israel, the Wohl Paediatric Ophthalmology and Blindness Prevention Centre in Petach Tikva was opened in 1992, as a division of the newly constructed Schneider Hospital. In 1996, the couple enabled the Sourasky Medical Centre’s purchase of an MRI machine and they sponsored the Wohl Institute for Advanced Imaging to house the new technology. Vivienne was deeply involved in communal work with London’s Stepney Jewish Day Centre, the Meals on Wheels organisation and she and Maurice assisted the financing of the f leet of ambulances operated by Hatzola North West, the Orthodox voluntary and rapid-response ambulance service.
Noticeable ventures were the Wohl Lounge and Wohl Garden Suite at the SAGE nursing home in Golders Green, London, and the closely positioned Wohl Lodge, a sheltered housing complex, encompassing residences with the innovation of temporary dwellings for relations.
In 1995, Maurice joined the board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), a large-scale Jewish humanitarian assistance organization. He would make sure to dutifully attend meetings, usually accompanied by Vivienne. In his will, Maurice set up an astonishing endowment, with the JDC as appointer, to fund the JDC alongside several other Israeli and international projects that would prove to be of immense benefit to Jews worldwide. The Wohl Foundation has recorded how the late JDC executive vice chairman Ralph Goldman said, “They quickly became involved in the Joint’s work in Israel, and deepened their involvement with us after we were permitted to return to the Soviet Union. I did not have to ask for their help. They saw how perfectly the Joint’s mission coincided with their own interests, and they generously offered their suppor t.”4
Maurice and Vivienne were responsible for creating some outstanding cultural landmarks both in Israel and in London. A well-known recreational centre is the Wohl Amphitheatre in Ganei Yehoshua, Tel Aviv, founded after an approach from Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat; it acts as a vibrant open-air performance space. Arguably the most famous landmark associated with the Wohl name is the 19-acre Wohl Rose Park, opposite the Knesset in Jerusalem, where some 400 varieties of roses were planted. Indeed one was named after Vivienne’s mother, and often visiting dignitaries are greeted here upon arrival in Jerusalem. Maurice and Vivienne would walk in the park on Fridays before the Sabbath. On one of these constitutionals Vivienne spotted a weed in the rose garden and plucked it out, only to be accosted by an irascible gardener. Instead of embarrassing him by explaining who she was, Vivienne apologised nd walked on. Incidentally, Vivienne’s Hebrew name was Chaya Shoshana, the latter name meaning rose in Hebrew and the rose park was her brainchild. “This Jerusalem with its troubled history is being turned to f lower and bloom, to be a city of peace and beauty, of tranquillity and charm. People of peace will come to the city of peace to enhance its beauty. May the Wohl-Rose Park of Jerusalem be an area of beauty and a source of inspiration. May generations walk the paths of this park in peace and solitude and enjoy the splendour of its surroundings” declared Maurice at its inauguration, with Vivienne standing beside him.5
A very well-known feature of academic life in Israel is the architecturally radical Wohl Centre designed by world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind at the Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan. This institution fuses the study of religious and secular academia.
The Wohls also established a permanent place for themselves on London’s cultural scene with the Wohl Room at London’s National Gallery and the Wohl Central Hall at the Royal Academy of Arts being important assets to these two quintessentially British institutions. Vivienne lead the establishment of the Wohl Central Hall at the Royal Academy, which showcases a broad range of art to a wide audience. The Wohl Room appeared after they were solicited by the National Gallery, which houses Britain’s collection of European art from the 13thto 19th Centuries. With its exquisite glass ceiling, it is a fitting home to the Gallery’s Venetian paintings. They were proud to support these two institutions as a way of showing gratitude to the realm that had offered their parents sanctuary during times of uncertainty. Maurice and Vivienne themselves collated a fabulous array of some 35 pieces executed by the foremost Les Nabis, Fauve and Expressionist masters. Many acquisitions were made in October, Vivienne’s birthday month. Instructions were left that after their deaths, the pieces should be auctioned and used to assist the disadvantaged. Christie’s auction house declared this act “a testimony to their shared passion for art and compassion for mankind.” As part of the Wohl Legacy Foundation’s 50th Anniversary, the trustees have decided to benefit these two institutions, alongside several organisations devoted to Jewish welfare.
The Wohl Foundation continues Maurice and Vivienne’s legacy; on Golders Green Road in London, many are struck by the magnificent and modern Maurice & Vivienne Wohl Campus (2010). This 160 000 sq. ft. site consists of a community centre, a 54-bed nursing and dementia care home and 45 independent living apartments with priority space for survivors of the Shoah. A multi-media library and computer training centre exists on site along with a hairdresser, kosher restaurants and landscaped surrounds. In 2011 the Wohl Wing opened at Nightingale House. It features a unit to raise the standard of living for dementia sufferers and reduce their anxiety. In 2013 the Maurice Wohl Clinical Science Institute was opened at King’s College, London. This unit will be at the forefront of research and treatment of Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and motor neuron disease.
Before the Institute opened, in Jerusalem, the last project Maurice approved of before his death was the Maurice Wohl Surgical Complex and the Vivienne Wohl Paediatric Surgical Centre at Sha’are Zedek Medical Centre. His funding enabled renovating the operating theatres to state-of-the-art design and allowed for the latest life-saving surgical techniques to be employed.
Together Maurice and Vivienne were both founding members of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue. Jaffe. Maurice Wohl served as President of the Synagogue for twenty years, from 1987 until 2007.6 The couple always spent the Days of Awe there and upon arrival, Maurice would go directly to his seat while Vivienne would first circulate in the entrance hall and ensure that anyone needing to speak to him would be attended to later.
The Wohl Entrance Hall at the Great Synagogue consists of a marble cladded space with the Mezuzah collection upon the two walls leading to the staircases; five chandeliers light the space. On the left of the Hall is the Wohl Legacy Room, which contains computer screens and artefacts displaying the Wohls’ philanthropy. Many medals from the cities of Jerusalem, London and Tel Aviv line the walls.
Maurice’s Commander of the British Empire Medal, inscribed “For G-d and the Empire”, and the letter attesting to this and signed by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh,is on display alongside a large photograph of Maurice in morning dress and Vivienne in a dapper outfit holding the medal outside Buckingham Palace in 1992. Maurice also received the Médaille de la Ville de Paris from former French President Jacques Chirac. A certificate attesting to his appointment as Companion of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is just another document portraying his wide ranging altruism. Maurice was one of the first three to hold this title; Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was the first. He was extremely proud to receive the title Ne’e m a n Yerushalayim (Freeman of the City), which he proudly noted means Faithful One of Jerusalem. For all this Maurice and Vivienne shunned the trappings of wealth; Maurice would drive around in an old Humber, determined to use money to help people instead of using it on extravagances.7
David A. Sher, a regular contributor to Jewish Affairs, is studying for his rabbinical ordination at the Jerusalem Kollel.
NOTES
- Y. Avner, The Prime Ministers, An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership, 4th edn,New Milford, The Toby Press, 2012, pp. 368-369.
- E. Pace, ‘Sir Isaac Wolfson, Philanthropist and Business Leader, Dies at 93’, New York Times, 22 June, 1991.
- The Wolfson Foundation: Sixty Years of Philanthropy, London, Published by the Wolfson Foundation, printed by The Bartham Group, 2015, p55.
- American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), [website] http://www.wohl.org.uk/a-lifetime-of-giving/american-jewish-joint-distribution-committee-jdc/(Accessed 16 October 2016).
- Ibid.
- A plaque in the Wohl Entrance Hall of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue attests to this fact.
- Leaflet entitled Maurice and Vivienne Wohl, published by The Wohl Legacy; The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation, The Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Philanthropic Foundation and The Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Charitable Foundation, 2012, distributed at the Wohl Legacy Room, Jerusalem Great Synagogue Jerusalem. Versions extant in both Englishand Hebrew.
