The presence of Jews in this industrial city in northern England is relatively recent. At the end of the 19th century, Zachariah Bern from Newcastle-upon-Tyne created the impetus for the establishment of a community in Gateshead.

Creation of Gateshead’s yeshiva

In 1929, his son-in-law, Moshe David Freed, along with other students such as David Dryan and David Baddiel, established a  yeshiva  in the city.

Under the direction of Rabbi Nachman Landinski and his assistant Eliezer Kahan, it welcomed students from all over Europe fleeing Nazism. E.G. Dessler founded a kolel there.

Development of jewish studies

Other structures made it possible to expand the yeshiva and its reception capacities.

So, in 1966, the Gateshead Foundation for Torah was created to promote Jewish literature.

The yeshiva has since become a national and even European benchmark.

At the turn of the century, there were 1,500 Jews in Gateshead. The yeshiva has nearly 300 students from all over the world.