Velho Beth Haim of Bevis Marks (Mile End)

These pictures were taken on May 23 2000, when the Bevis Marks morning minyan visited the Velho Beth Haim at Mile End (opened 1657)

by Evan Millner


These photos contain views of parts of the grounds. Three hundred years of leaf fall have raised the ground level, so stones that originally sat on low plinths are now at ground level. The matsebot of the hahameem have been raised up.Some of these matseboth are shortly going to be restored. Unfortunately, acid rain has obliterated most of the workmanship on the stones.
 To get a good idea of the high standard of craftsmanship and the beauty of these old stones, a visit to the Ancient Beth Haim in Bridgetown, Barbados would be in order, or one or another of the Ancient Spanish and Portuguese cemeteries in the Carribean.
 Most, if not all the stones in the Bridgetown cemetery, were manufactured in London, as were most of the stones in Jamaica. These stones are in immaculate condition, many looking as good as the day on which they were cut. This is because of the low level of pollution in the Carribean atmosphere.


The congregants arrive at the Beth Haim.

Some general views of the cemetery.

Mssrs. Samuels, Slonim and Augustus de Mesquita recite the tehileem.

Reciting the hashcabah and tehileem at the graves of the Hahameem. Visible are Louis Dias, Dayyan Toledano, Rev. Halfon Bennaroch, and the former Shamash de Sancta Synagoga, Mr Henri Valier-Grossman.