HART

HART, English family, sons of Hartwig (Naphtali Hertz) Moses, formerly of Breslau, later of Hamburg. The elder son AARON HART (Uri Phoebus; 1670–1756) first studied and taught in Poland. After 1705 he was appointed rabbi of the Ashkenazi community in London in succession to Judah Loeb b. Ephraim Anschel. The appointment was largely due to the influence of his wealthy brother Moses. Aaron was implicated in a dispute concerning the divorce of a member of the community, in defense of which he published his Urim ve-Tummin (1707), the first book printed entirely in Hebrew in London and his only literary production. He continued as rabbi of the Great Synagogue until his death. His authority was recognized in the Jewish communities that were springing up in the provincial towns, and he may be regarded as being informally the first chief rabbi of Great Britain. Edward Goldney, an English conversionist, engaged in a disputation with him in the last years of his life. His brother MOSES (1675–1756) emigrated to England about 1697. Partly through the assistance and support of his cousin, the magnate Benjamin Levi, he amassed a fortune as a broker. In 1722 he rebuilt the Ashkenazi synagogue (later the Great Synagogue) at his own expense and continued to control it until his death. He was highly regarded in government circles and was partly responsible for British diplomatic efforts at intervention at the time of the expulsion of the Jews from prague in 1745. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. Roth, History of the Great Synagogue (1950), index; Busse, in: JHSET, 21 (1968), 138–47; Kaufmann, ibid., 3 (1899), 105ff.; Adler, in: Papers… Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition (1888), 230–78; E. Goldney, Friendly Epistle to Deists and Jews (1759). ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online for Aaron Hart and Moses Hart; Katz, England, 205–22, index; T. Endelman, Jews of Georgian England, index. (Cecil Roth)