Salis Daiches

[1] Daiches went on to complete a transitional qualification at Kneiphöfisches Gymnasium in Königsberg, East Prussia before spending a semester studying philosophy at Alberts University.

During his time at Leipzig, Daiches also began to learn English in order to complete his dissertation on the works of David Hume.

[4] These committees were meant to address issues caused by the recent mass migration of Eastern European Jews to the United Kingdom by providing suggestions on how to reorganise regional Jewish communities.

[5] During these conferences, Daiches also advocated for the reform of the London Beth Din, which had halakhic authority over the British Empire.

[9] Daiches, his wife, Flora, and his three children, Lionel, David, and Sylvia first moved to Lonsdale Terrace where they stayed as guests of some of the congregants.

He quickly began working on uniting the congregation, striking a balance between encouraging assimilation and respecting immigrant traditions.

[13] The next year Daiches began a fundraising campaign to build Salisbury Road Synagogue which was meant to house the entire community, British and immigrant.

[23] He also continuously petitioned Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz for the creation of a Scottish Beth Din so that he could better enforce halakhic and civil law.

Though he was repeatedly denied, he was given enough power that he was sometimes referred to as the “Chief Rabbi of Scotland.”[24] He was often consulted by congregations from other cities or would intervene when there were halakhic issues.

In 1938, he founded a Jewish-Christian Fellowship Movement with Reverend Magnus Nicholson of Fountainbridge Church in order to promote dialogue between the two communities.