Join us for a walk through Central London and the Jewish East End mapping the history of Jewish followers of Jesus from 1232 to the present day. We follow the route from the first Domus Conversorum (“Home of Converts”) established by King Henry III, to where the Beni Abraham (Sons of Abraham) met in 1813 in Spitalfields. We walk up Brick Lane, the heart of the historic Jewish East End. We visit the site of Palestine Place in Bethnal Green where hundreds of Jewish disciples of Jesus lived, worked and worshipped. We pass by Synagogues, Hebrew Christian institutions and famous Jewish landmarks, catching the flavour of the bustling East End of today. This tour is an ideal way to learn about the history of the Jewish people, Jewish-Christian relations and Jewish disciples of Jesus.

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Details

• Dates: May 3, 31, June 10 or contact us for upcoming dates (Midweek or Sundays on request – not all sites open on each date)
• Duration: approx. 6 hours (including food stops and a tea debrief). Shorter tours of 1, 2 and 4 hours available.
• Walking level: About 5 miles at relaxed pace; several short walks plus two short bus trips
• Start: Chancery Lane underground station (Maughan Library)
• Finish: Bethnal Green (near Town Hall Hotel / Cambridge Heath Road)/ or /Liverpool Street Station
• Cost: pay-your-own food + TfL fares
• Guide: Richard Harvey, PhD, student of Messianic Jewish history and theology
• Booking: send a message with preferred dates
• Voluntary contribution: £20 suggested (or £10 concession) to support research, planning, and future tour resources

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Schedule (estimated timings)

10:00 Meet and welcome – coffee and bagels at Garbanzos (61 Fleet St, Temple, London EC4Y 1JU) (open Monday-Friday)

10:30–11:15 Stop 1: Domus Conversorum (Chancery Lane / Maughan Library)

11:15–11:45 Bus to Liverpool Street / walk into Jewish East End

11.45 Stop 2: Artillery Street / Sandys Row Synagogue/Hebrew Christian Prayer Union

12.15 Lunch (Ottolengis (contemporary Israeli)/Beigel Bake (traditional)

13.15 Stop 3: Christchurch Spitalfields (open Sundays and 10-3 Mondays/Tuesdays) for memorial plaques)

13.30 Stop 4: Beni Abraham (now Brick Lane Mosque)

14.00 Walk up Brick Lane (bookshop, Jewish buildings) and bus to Bethnal Green  

14.45 Stop 5: Site of Palestine Place (and of Mildmay Mission to the Jews, Messianic Testimony, etc)

15:15–16:00 Tea + debrief (in Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel next to site of Palestine Place)

16:00 Close + onward travel – if travelling from Liverpool Street Station, Stop 6 – Kindertransport memorial

(We keep the pace gentle and allow time for questions, photos, and short pauses.)

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The route stops

Stop 1 — Domus Conversorum (Chancery Lane / Maughan Library area)

What stood here and why it matters: The Domus Conversorum (founded 1232) was a dedicated institutional home for Jewish “converts” to Christianity—an early English attempt to formalise Jewish-Christian transition within the life of Church and Crown.

What remains / what you can see today: The medieval house is gone apart from an arch, but the chapel building in the Maughan Library, Kings College remains open as it became the headquarters of the Public Record Office, known as the ‘strong-box of the [British] Empire’

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Stop 2 — Artillery Street / Sandys Row Synagogue neighbourhood (Spitalfields)

What stood here and why it matters: This district became a focal point for early 19th-century Hebrew Christian activity, and in the 1880s was surrounded by East European Jewish immigrants who created a vibrant Jewish life and culture in the East End.
What remains / what you can see today: We stand in the lanes around Sandys Row Synagogue, the oldest Ashkenazi Synagogue in the United Kingdom, and many other buildings with Jewish and Messianic Jewish connections.

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Stop 3 — Christ Church Spitalfields (Commercial Street)

What stood here and why it matters: Christ Church was an Anglican anchor in a neighbourhood repeatedly transformed by migration—Huguenot, Jewish, and later Bangladeshi. Inside the church (open Sundays) there are important plaques commemorating pioneers such as Lewis Way, Alexander McCaul and Michael Solomon Alexander
What remains / what you can see today: The church’s towering presence speaks of the concern of Evangelicals in the 19^th century to reach out with shelter, aid and witness, as it does today in the multicultural environment of the area.

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Stop 4 — Brick Lane Mosque ( “Beni Abraham” / Episcopal Jews’ Chapel)

What stood here and why it matters: This site, original a Huguenot church that could seat more than 1,000 people, was the site of the first gathering of Jewish followers of Jesus in modern times (access with permission)
What remains / what you can see today: The building on Brick Lane is now a mosque, entry by permission. The exterior is unchanged.

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Stop 5 — Palestine Place (Bethnal Green / Cambridge Heath Road area)

What stood here and why it matters: Palestine Place, headquarters of the London Society for the Promotion of Christianity Amongst the Jews (now CMJ) was the most significant 19th-century hub for Jewish missions and Hebrew Christian organisations—with a school, factory, residences and chapel in its grounds.

What remains / what you can see today: The original religious-and-institutional footprint is largely absorbed into later development, but we stand on the site and reconstruct what was here—and why it mattered—for the story of Messianic Jewish presence and witness in London.

Stop 6 — Kindertransport Memorial, Liverpool Street Station (Hope Square / main forecourt)

What stood here and why it matters: Liverpool Street was the arrival point for thousands of Kindertransport children (1938–39), and in my ongoing research I’m also tracing 200+ publicly documented cases of survivors and descendants who later identified as Jewish disciples of Jesus—showing how rescue, displacement, faith, and identity can converge across generations.

What remains / what you can see today: We stop at the Kindertransport memorial sculpture group (“Kindertransport – The Arrival”) on the station forecourt (Hope Square), and—time permitting—also point out the related “Für das Kind” memorial inside the station concourse.

Estimated costs (typical ranges)

• TfL travel: usually Zones 1–2 for most of the day (depends on your starting point and taps)
• Breakfast: ~£8–£15 (depending on choice)
• Lunch: ~£5–£12 (depending on fillings/drinks)
• Tea: ~£4–£10

Voluntary contribution

• Suggested contribution: £20 per person (£10 concession)
  This supports research time, route development, and building a growing “Messianic Jewish London” resource base (maps, notes, and future tours). Food and travel are separate.

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What to bring

• Comfortable shoes + a light rain layer (this is London)
• Contactless/Oyster for TfL
• Water bottle
• A notebook if you like capturing references and names
• Curiosity—and a willingness to let the city tell the story slowly

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Accessibility & pace

We walk at a moderate pace with frequent pauses. If you need a slower pace or more sitting breaks, tell me in advance and I’ll adjust the rhythm.

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Tone, etiquette, and respect

This tour touches sensitive histories: Messianic Jewish identity, conversion, mission, contested memories, and multi-faith neighbourhood life. We approach the day with truthfulness, humility, and respect—especially around active places of worship and local communities.

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Booking / interest

If you’d like to join the next date, send a message to messianicwalkingtours@gmail.com with

• how many people,
• any mobility/access needs,
• and whether you’d prefer a weekday or Sunday.

(If there’s enough interest, I’ll offer two versions: a “full day” as above, and a shorter 90-minute Spitalfields/Brick Lane core.)

Happy New Year to all our readers!

As “On this day in Messianic Jewish history” steps into its 12th year, with 750+ posts behind us, I’m grateful for a growing community of readers who care about the often-hidden story of Jewish followers of Yeshua—past, present and future. We trace significant events, people, institutions, and turning points, asking: How have the histories of the Church and the Jewish people shaped Jewish expressions of faith in Yeshua? And how do those legacies shape the contemporary Messianic movement today? How do Jewish disciples of Yeshua impact Jewish-Christian relations, the communities of the Church and Israel, and the realities of the world we live in?

Looking back on 2025

This past year has been marked by grief, uncertainty, and strain—especially under the long shadow of the Israel–Gaza war, and the way it has deepened fear, polarisation, and pain across communities. At the same time, we have also seen signs of growth and maturation in the global Messianic movement: more visibility, more serious theological work, more congregational stability in some places, and a renewed sense that Jewish faithfulness to Yeshua must be lived with integrity, humility, and responsibility.

Yet alongside these developments has been a sharp reminder that the question of the Jewish people’s safety is never abstract. Antisemitism has continued to increase in the UK, and events such as the Manchester Synagogue attack on Yom Kippur have left many shaken and watchful. And beyond the UK, the horror of violence against Jews—such as the reported Bondi Beach attack in Sydney during Chanukkah—has again shown how quickly celebration can be turned into terror. In such a climate, “remembering” (zikaron) is a spiritual discipline and an act of communal faithfulness. We call to mind the Almighty’s faithfulness to Israel, the covenant that is not revoked, and the promised renewal of all creation.

An exchange of support: 1 January 1897

As we begin this New Year, we remember a small but significant act of faithfulness that still speaks powerfully today—between Hudson Taylor, pioneer missionary to China and leader of the China Inland Mission, and John Wilkinson, founder of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews in London.

On the first day of each year, Hudson Taylor sent a donation to Wilkinson’s mission, writing on the cheque: “To the Jew first.” And Wilkinson, moved by this gesture, responded in kind—sending his own cheque to Taylor’s work with the words: “And also to the Gentile.”

Mrs Hudson Taylor records that this “helpful interchange of sympathy” continued year after year, with each later doubling the amount. It was more than polite philanthropy. It was a living parable of Romans 1:16—not as a slogan, but as a shared commitment to honour the Almighty’s purposes for Israel and the nations, each refusing to boast over or replace the other.

Not everyone has accepted Romans 1:16 as implying an ongoing covenantal, ecclesial, eschatological and missional priority. But whatever one’s framing, this much remains unavoidable: followers of  Yeshua have a responsibility toward the Jewish people that includes repentance, reconciliation, practical solidarity, and clear, humble witness to Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel and Lord of all nations.

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Prayer for the coming year

English
Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as we enter this new year, crown it with Your goodness. Strengthen Your people Israel; comfort the grieving; protect the vulnerable; and turn hearts from hatred. Teach us to walk in humility and truth, to seek peace with justice, and to bear faithful witness to Yeshua the Messiah. Bless this work of remembrance, that many may see Your faithfulness across the generations.
In Yeshua’s name, Amen.

Hebrew
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, אֲנַחְנוּ נִכְנָסִים לְשָׁנָה חֲדָשָׁה—עַטֵּר אוֹתָהּ בְּטוּבֶךָ.
חַזֵּק אֶת עַמְּךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל; נַחֵם אֶת הָאֲבֵלִים; שְׁמֹר עַל הַחֲלָשִׁים; וְהָשֵׁב לֵבָבוֹת מִשִּׂנְאָה.
לַמְּדֵנוּ לָלֶכֶת בַּעֲנָוָה וּבֶאֱמֶת, לְבַקֵּשׁ שָׁלוֹם עִם צֶדֶק, וּלְהָעִיד בֶּאֱמוּנָה עַל יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ.
בָּרֵךְ אֶת מְלֶאכֶת הַזִּכָּרוֹן הַזֹּאת, לְמַעַן יֵרָאֶה נֶאֱמָנוּתְךָ בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר.
בְּשֵׁם יֵשׁוּעַ, אָמֵן.

Transliteration
Ribbono shel olam, anachnu nichnasim le-shanah chadashah—atter otah be-tuvecha.
Chazek et amcha Yisrael; nachem et ha-avelim; shmor al ha-chalashim; ve-hashev levavot mi-sin’ah.
Lammedenu la-lechet ba’anavah u-ve’emet, levakesh shalom im tzedek, u-leha’id be’emunah al Yeshua ha-Mashiach. Barech et melechet ha-zikaron ha-zot, lema’an yera’eh ne’emanutcha be-khol dor va-dor.
B’Shem Yeshua, amen.

The details are recorded by Mrs Hudson Taylor here:

And her last gift to the Rev. John Wilkinson expressed the deepest interest in his work among the Jews. Work among God’s ancient people occupied a special place in the prayerful sympathy of both Mr. and Mrs. Taylor ; and Mr. John Wilkinson, founder of the Mildmay Mission to the Jews, recalled an interesting phase of their long friendship. Taking advantage of a New Year’s Day spent at home (1897), Mr. Taylor went round to Mr. Wilkinson’s house with a brotherly note enclosing a gift for the Mission. ” To the Jew first,” were the words with which the cheque was accompanied. Mr. Wilkinson’s warm heart was touched, and he immediately wrote a brotherly reply, enclosing his own cheque for the same amount, with the words : ” And also to the Gentile.” This helpful interchange of sympathy was kept up ever after, the only change being that each doubled the amount of their contribution.

http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/hudsontaylor/hudsontaylorv2/hudsontaylorv240.htm

On this day Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley (born Sampson Gideon, 10 Oct 1744), died in Brighton. A banker-politician of Jewish descent who became a Tory MP (1770–1802) and Irish peer (1789), Eardley was also a notable early patron of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews (LSPCJ, today CMJ). He donated the organ for the new Episcopal Jews’ Chapel at Palestine Place, Bethnal Green—opened in July 1814 as the first purpose-built place of worship in Britain for Jewish disciples of Yeshua.

Eardley’s story embodies the complex crossings of Jewish ancestry, Anglican establishment, and evangelical mission in Georgian Britain. His support for Palestine Place linked elite philanthropy to the emerging Hebrew-Christian (proto-Messianic Jewish) movement and helped root a dedicated worshipping community in London’s East End. The wider project took visible shape when the Duke of Kent laid the foundation stone of Palestine Place on 7 April 1813, before a crowd of more than 20,000 people; the chapel opened the following year, with Lewis Way, the main financial backer, also present.

Early photo of Palestine Place

Born Sampson Gideon, son of the Sephardi financier Sampson Gideon (1699–1762), he was educated at Tonbridge and Eton and was created a baronet in 1759 while still a schoolboy; later he took the surname Eardley and was raised to the Irish peerage as Baron Eardley in 1789, being elected FRS the same year. He sat in Parliament (1770–1802) for Cambridgeshire, Midhurst, Coventry, and Wallingford, and in civic and fraternal life served as Provincial Grand Master for the Cambridgeshire Freemasons from 1796. He died on 25 December 1824, and the monument in Erith to his father also records his death.

Monument to Eardley and his father at St John the Baptist Church, Erith

Palestine Place & the Jews’ Chapel

The LSPCJ established Palestine Place as its Bethnal Green hub with chapel, schools, printing office, and residences. The foundation stone was laid by the Duke of Kent (1813); the chapel opened July 1814. Contemporary and later histories note that the chapel contained an organ donated by Lord Eardley—a tangible sign of aristocratic backing for a dedicated congregation of Jewish Christians.

Hundreds, if not thousands, passed through the schools and factories, leading Jewish institutions such as JFS (the Jewish Free School) to follow its example. Boys, girls, young men and women learned English, trades and professions, some also becoming disciples of Yeshua.

Eardley’s renowned generosity to both Jewish and Christian causes, and his willingness to identify as Jewish despite the antisemitic attitudes of his day, mark him as a pioneer in the modern movement of Jewish disciples of Jesus, as as an example of generosity and willingness to support others less fortunate. May we echo his example today.

Prayer (English)
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
we thank You for the legacy of Lord Sampson Eardley—
for his generosity toward Jewish believers in Jesus
and his support for worship and witness at Palestine Place.
Let the good he began bear fruit in our day:
strengthen congregations, raise up faithful servants,
and deepen love and peace between the Church and the people of Israel.
May his memory inspire courage, compassion, and steadfast hope.
In the name of Yeshua the Messiah. Amen.

תפילה (Hebrew)
רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם,
אָנוּ מוֹדִים לְךָ עַל הַיְרוּשָּׁה שֶׁל הָאָדוֹן סַמְפְּסוֹן אֵאַרְדְלִי—
עַל נְדִיבוּתוֹ לְטוֹבַת מַאֲמִינִים יְהוּדִים בְּיֵשׁוּעַ
וְעַל תְּמִיכָתוֹ בַּתְּפִלָּה וּבְעֵדוּת בְּפָלֶסְטַיְן פְּלֵיְס.
יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁמַּעֲשָׂיו הַטּוֹבִים יַעֲשׂוּ פְּרִי גַּם בְּיָמֵינוּ—
חַזֵּק קְהִלּוֹת, הָקֵם מְשָׁרְתִים נֶאֱמָנִים,
וְהַעֲמֵק אַהֲבָה וְשָׁלוֹם בֵּין הַכְּנֵסִיָּה וְעַם יִשְׂרָאֵל.
יְהִי זִכְרוֹ לְבְרָכָה וּלְהַשְׁרָאַת אֹמֶץ וְחֶסֶד וְתִקְוָה.
בְּשֵׁם יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ. אָמֵן.

Transliteration
Ribbono shel olam,
anu modim lecha al hayerushah shel ha-Adon Sampson Eardley—
al nedivuto le-tovat ma’aminim Yehudim b’Yeshua
ve-al t’michto ba-tefillah u-ve’edut b’Palestine Place.
Yehi ratzon she-ma’asav ha-tovim ya’asu p’ri gam b’yameinu—
chazek kehilot, hakim m’shartim ne’emanim,
ve-ha’amek ahavah v’shalom bein ha-k’nesiyah v’am Yisrael.
Yehi zikro livrachah u-l’hashra’at ometz, chesed v’tikvah.
B’shem Yeshua ha-Mashiach. Amen.

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Further reading / sources

• History of Parliament biography: “Eardley (formerly Gideon), Sampson (1745–1824).” (Context on his political career and reputation.) (Provincial Grand Lodge of Cambridgeshire)
• Wikipedia overview (useful dates and offices; cross-check with primary refs). (Wikipedia)
• Curtis, R. “Evangelical Anglican Missionaries and the London Jews’ Society: Palestine Place at Bethnal Green…” Jewish Historical Studies (2019). (On 1813–14 building/opening.) (UCL Press Journals)
• Michael Darby, chapter on the emergence of the Hebrew Christian movement (notes the organ donated by Lord Eardley). (Brill)

In this week’s unprecedented ecumenical moment in Rome, King Charles III of Great Britain and Pope Leo XIV stood and prayed together. This moment in the Sistine Chapel was the first joint act of worship between an English monarch and a Catholic pontiff since the 16th century—set amid the Vatican’s commemorations for the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate (28 Oct 1965).

Nostra Aetate (“in our time”) expressed a ground-breaking change in the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish people. Jews were no longer to be seen as perfidious “Christ-killers”, hypocrites, self-justifying “Pharisees”, money-lovers, guilty of the crime of deicide, but as “elder brothers”, “beloved for the sake of the fathers” and continuing covenant-partners with the Almighty, whose “gifts and calling are irrevocable”. So much has changed, but there is still much work to be done.

Since the 1965 declaration, a flood of new teaching on how to read the Scriptures, relate to the Jewish people and navigate the complexities of the Vatican’s relationship with the State of Israel has emerged. Especially noteworthy of how the Catholic-Jewish relationship has matured is the 2015 reflection, The Gifts and the Calling of God Are Irrevocable, which urges Jews and Christians to be a blessing together through humanitarian action and stewardship of creation. “One ancestor, one family, many nations, many religions—but one humanity,” it stressed—then named the practical work of dialogue, service, and learning side-by-side.

A needed next step: include Messianic Jews in the dialogue

As Jewish–Christian relations enter a seventh decade after Nostra Aetate, a crucial but challenging next step is to welcome Messianic Jews to this conversation. Their presence helps both Jews and Christians alike to grapple theologically—and charitably—with the ongoing Jewish confession of Yeshua within the people of Israel. The Vatican’s anniversary events and the royal visit generate a rare public window to highlight this need clearly and constructively.

Jesus — the Messiah of Israel? Messianic Judaism and Christian Theology in Conversation (Crossroad, 1 Oct 2025 – English translation of Jesus – der Messias Israels? Messianisches Judentum und christliche Theologie im Gespräch)

A timely resource for this very conversation is the new volume edited by Jan-Heiner Tück, Mark S. Kinzer, and Thomas Schumacher (with James Earle Patrick). Originating in a Vienna (2022) symposium under Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the book gathers Messianic Jewish and Christian theologians to ask how the Jewish confession of Yeshua belongs within the Church’s self-understanding and Israel’s story. Contributors include, among others, R Kendall Soulen, David Rudolph and Markus Tiwald—with essays and responses that press beyond supersessionism toward covenantal partnership. The collection’s significance lies in modelling a conversation between Messianic Jews, Catholic and Protestant theologians, and Jewish Catholics, with academic rigour and ecclesial sensitivity and inter-confessional sensitivity.

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Prayer

God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
You make peace and build the world in mercy.
Teach us the way of peace between Catholics and Protestants, Jews and Christians, and all humanity – made in Your image

Bless King Charles and Pope Leo, and all spiritual leaders,
to work together for justice, compassion, and care of creation.
Open a richer dialogue between Jews and Christians,
and bring Messianic Jews to the table as faithful witnesses to Israel’s hope.
May we be a blessing to the world. Amen.

Prayer

Hebrew
אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם, יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב
אַתָּה עוֹשֶׂה שָׁלוֹם וּבוֹנֶה עוֹלָם בְּחֶסֶד
הוֹרֵנוּ דֶּרֶךְ שָׁלוֹם בֵּין קָתוֹלִיקִים וּפְרוֹטֶסְטַנְטִים, בֵּין יְהוּדִים וְנוֹצְרִים
וּבֵין כָּל הָאֱנוֹשׁוּת שֶׁנִּבְרְאָה בְּצַלְמֶךָ

בָּרֵךְ אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ צַ׳רְלְס וְאֶת הָאַפִּיפְיוֹר לֵאוֹ, וְאֶת כָּל הַמַּנְהִיגִים הָרוּחָנִיִּים
לַעֲבוֹד יַחַד לְמַעַן צֶדֶק, רַחֲמִים וּשְׁמִירַת הַבְּרִיאָה
פְּתַח דִּיאָלוֹג עָשִׁיר יוֹתֵר בֵּין יְהוּדִים וְנוֹצְרִים
וְהָבֵא אֶת הַיְּהוּדִים הַמְּשִׁיחִיִּים אֶל הַשֻּׁלְחָן כְּעֵדִים נֶאֱמָנִים לְתִקְוַת יִשְׂרָאֵל
וִיהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁנִּהְיֶה בְּרָכָה לָעוֹלָם. אָמֵן

Transliteration
Elohei Avraham, Yitzḥak ve-Ya‘akov,
Atta oseh shalom u-voneh ‘olam be-ḥesed.
Horeinu derekh shalom bein Katolikim u-Protestantim, bein Yehudim ve-Notzrim,
u-vein kol ha-enoshut she-nivre’ah be-tsalmekha.

Barekh et ha-Melekh Charles ve-et ha-Apifiyor Leo, ve-et kol ha-manhigim ha-ruḥaniyim,
la‘avod yaḥad le-ma‘an tzedek, raḥamim u-shemirat ha-beriyah.
Petaḥ dialog ‘ashir yoter bein Yehudim ve-Notzrim,
ve-have et ha-Yehudim ha-Meshiḥiyim el ha-shulḥan ke-edim ne’emanim le-tikvat Yisra’el.
Ve-yehi ratzon she-niheyeh berakhah la-‘olam. Amen.

Sources & further reading

• Rabbi Alexandra Wright, Parashat Noaḥ: King Charles, Pope Leo and the Sixtieth Anniversary of Nostra Aetate, sermon at LJS, 25 Oct 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSnMFQDwH8Q and transcript here
• Reuters: King Charles and Pope Leo pray together in Sistine Chapel (23 Oct 2025). (Reuters)
• Vatican News/Press and USCCB coverage of the royal visit and ecumenical prayer. (Vatican News)
• Vatican Press Office: Nostra Aetate 60th events this week in Rome. (press.vatican.va)
• Jesus — the Messiah of Israel? Messianic Judaism and Christian Theology in Conversation (Crossroad, 1 Oct 2025): catalog listings and description; Vienna symposium background; sample contributors. (Amazon)

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On this day in 1849, Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin) died in Paris at the age of just thirty-nine. The frail Polish genius, whose heart would later be returned to Warsaw and interred beneath the Church of the Holy Cross, left behind not only a treasury of music but a world transformed by the power of sound and emotion.

Chopin’s music—so intimate, so aching, so deeply human—remains one of the most enduring expressions of Romantic artistry. From his mazurkas and polonaises that breathed the soul of Poland into Western Europe, to the nocturnes and preludes that seemed to open the inner chambers of the heart, Chopin’s compositions continue to speak a universal language of longing and transcendence. Right now I am engrossed in the 19th International Chopin Piano Competition, where young pianists from around the world are competing before a panel of judges and performing a dazzling array of his music, with creativity, poetry and technical ability. Do listen!

https://www.chopincompetition.pl/en

Chopin and the Jewish Connection – Myth and Meaning

For many years, romantic tales circulated that Chopin, during his youth in Mazovia, was inspired by Jewish folk musicians—by the plaintive violin of a village “Żydek,” or little Jew, whose melodies stirred his imagination. Recent scholarship, particularly the meticulous study by Barbara Ann Milewski and B. Werb (Journal of Musicology, 2022), has shown that these stories are apocryphal. There is no historical evidence that Chopin directly drew on Jewish musical motifs.

And yet, these myths tell us something important. They reveal how deeply intertwined Polish and Jewish musical lives were imagined to be—and perhaps, how much listeners heard in Chopin’s idiom something that resonated with Jewish feeling: the same mixture of melancholy and hope, exile and yearning, that animated so much of Jewish experience in Eastern Europe.

As the great Jewish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer once observed, “Music is the only language that was never translated from another.” In that sense, Chopin’s music, though not Jewish in form, remains Jewish in spirit: a song of exile that finds home in beauty, a lament that turns to prayer.

https://www.chopincompetition.pl/en

A Spiritual Harmony

For Messianic Jews and all who seek God through the harmony of Israel and the nations, Chopin’s music offers a symbol of reconciliation—a reminder that the divine breath can inspire art that bridges boundaries of faith, nation, and culture. His melodies seem to echo the Psalms: grief transfigured into grace, silence transformed into song.

As we listen today—perhaps to the A-minor Mazurka, the C-sharp minor Nocturne, or the “Raindrop” Prelude—we might hear in them something more than Romantic nostalgia. We might hear the hidden music of redemption—the harmony that one day will unite Poland and Israel, Jew and Gentile, sorrow and joy, in the song of the New Creation.

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Prayer of Thanksgiving and Hope

English:
God of all beauty, who breathes harmony into chaos and melody into silence,
We thank You for the gift of Frédéric Chopin,
Whose music reminds us of the soul’s yearning for You.
Teach us to hear, in every note of beauty,
An echo of Your Spirit’s song.
May the music of the nations be joined one day with the song of Israel,
Until the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea.
Amen.

Hebrew:
אֱלֹהֵי הַיּוֹפִי וְהַנִּגּוּן, הַנּוֹתֵן מִזְמוֹר לַלֵּב וְתִקְוָה לַנֶּפֶשׁ,
אָנוּ מוֹדִים לְךָ עַל מַתַּת הַמּוּסִיקָה וְעַל כִּשְׁרוֹנוֹ שֶׁל פְרֶדֶרִיק שׁוֹפֶּן.
לַמְּדֵנוּ לִשְׁמוֹעַ בְּכָל נִגּוּן אֶת הַקוֹל שֶׁל רוּחֲךָ הַקְּדוֹשָׁה,
וְיַחַד נָשִׁיר שִׁיר חָדָשׁ – שִׁיר גְּאוּלָה וְשָׁלוֹם.
אָמֵן.

Transliteration:
Elohei ha-yofi ve-ha-niggun, ha-noten mizmor la-lev ve-tikvah la-nefesh,
Anu modim lekha al matnat ha-musika ve-al kishrono shel Frederic Chopin.
Lamdenu lishmoa bekhol niggun et ha-kol shel Ruchakha ha-kedoshah,
V’yachad nashir shir chadash – shir geulah v’shalom.
Amen.

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Further Reading:

• Barbara Ann Milewski and B. Werb, “Chopin’s Żydek, and Other Apocryphal Tales,” Journal of Musicology 39:3 (2022), 342–370.
• Oskar Kolberg, Lud: Jego zwyczaje, sposób życia, mowa, podania, przysłowia, obrzędy, gusła, zabawy, pieśni, muzyka i tańce (The People: Their Customs, Speech, and Songs).
• Alan Walker, Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018).

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Chopin Recordings by Jewish Pianists — Streaming & Reference Guide

Pianist	Background	Notable Chopin Recordings	Streaming Links
Arthur Rubinstein (1887–1982)	Polish-Jewish, born in Łódź; one of the greatest Chopin interpreters of all time.	The Rubinstein Collection, Vol. 47: Chopin – Nocturnes, Mazurkas, Polonaises, Waltzes, Ballades.	🎵 Complete Nocturnes (YouTube) · 🎵 Ballade No. 1 (YouTube)
Ignaz Friedman (1882–1948)	Polish-Jewish virtuoso known for warm tone and rubato mastery.	Chopin Waltzes, Études, Mazurkas (1925–36, Naxos Historical).	🎵 Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4 (YouTube) · 🎵 Nocturne Op. 55 No. 2 (YouTube)
Solomon (Solomon Cutner, 1902–1988)	English-Jewish; admired for clarity and structural balance.	Solomon plays Chopin (Testament: Ballades, Polonaises, Preludes).	🎵 Ballade No. 4 in F Minor (YouTube) · 🎵 Polonaise in A-flat Op. 53 (YouTube)
Alexander Brailowsky (1896–1976)	Kiev-born Jewish pianist, naturalized French citizen; gave first complete Chopin cycle.	The Chopin Recitals (RCA / Columbia, 1940s–50s).	🎵 Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2 (YouTube) · 🎵 Complete Études (YouTube)
Vladimir Ashkenazy (b. 1937)	Russian-Jewish; his father, David Ashkenazy, was a Jewish pianist and composer.	Chopin: Ballades & Scherzos; Études; Complete Waltzes; Preludes.	🎵 Ballade No. 1, Op. 23 (YouTube) · 🎵 Complete Preludes, Op. 28 (Spotify) · 🎵 Études, Op. 10 (YouTube)
Daniel Barenboim (b. 1942)	Born in Buenos Aires to Russian-Jewish parents; Israeli-Argentine-Spanish conductor and pianist.	Chopin: Nocturnes (2009, Deutsche Grammophon); Ballades; Polonaises.	🎵 Complete Nocturnes (YouTube) · 🎵 Ballade No. 4 (Spotify) · 🎵 Polonaise in A-flat Op. 53 (YouTube)
Grigory Sokolov (b. 1950)	Russian pianist of partly Jewish descent (father Lipman Girshevich Sokolov).	Chopin: 24 Préludes, Op. 28; Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor.	🎵 Préludes, Op. 28 (YouTube) · 🎵 Sonata No. 2 (YouTube)
Ammiel Bushakevitz (b. 1986)	Israeli pianist active in chamber and art song; interprets Chopin in recitals.	Live Recitals: Chopin Nocturnes & Mazurkas (YouTube / Apple Music).	🎵 Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth. (YouTube)

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• Rubinstein – Nocturne in E-flat, Op. 9 No. 2
• Friedman – Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4
• Solomon – Ballade No. 4, Op. 52
• Brailowsky – Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2
• Ashkenazy – Étude in C minor, Op. 10 No. 12 “Revolutionary”
• Barenboim – Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. posth.
• Sokolov – Prelude in D-flat “Raindrop,” Op. 28 No. 15

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