Two Memorbuchs, London:1863, 1905

Two volumes. 14 + 12 leaves (11 3/8 x 9 1/8 in.; 289 x 232 mm). Written in brown (vol.I) and black (vol.II) inks on parchment in square Hebrew and calligraphic English scripts; paper leaves added (two in vol. I and one in vol. II.) Very lightly soiled from use; some browning to paper leaves. Vol. I: black cloth. Vol II: decorated endpapers. Contemporary red morocco, gilt-stamped border, worn.

The tradition of memorbuchs survives as a legacy of the medieval period. After the persecutions of the First Crusade, affected communities recorded the names of those who had perished, incorporating these lists of names into the liturgy. Memorbuchs take their name from either the almemar (platform), upon which the reader kept the book while reciting from it, or from the Latin word memoria, meaning memory. Many memorbuecher also contained some of the prayers to be recited on Sabbath morning between the Shaharit and Musaf services.

The earlier of these two memorbuch manuscripts was penned by Moses Aaron Lorie. It was presented to the Hand in Hand asylum by the scribe's brother, Saul Tzvi (S.H.) Lorie in 1864, in memory of their recently deceased mother. More than 40 years later, the same S.H. Lorie, now bereaved of his father and wife as well as his mother, donated a nearly identical volume to the Brighton Hebrew Congregation. The calligraphy and style of the manuscript suggest that it too, was the work of Lorie's brother, Moses Aaron.

London's Hand in Hand Asylum was established in 1840 for the purpose of clothing, maintaining and providing asylum for the "aged and decayed tradesmen" in the Jewish community.  In 1884, the asylum merged with the Widows' Home Asylum and subsequently with the Jewish Home, forming the Home for Aged Jews.

Brighton's Hebrew congregation began holding services in its own building in 1792, relocating in 1808, 1823 and 1874. Though the town's Jewish population was relatively stable, the constant expansion was necessary to accommodate the growing numbers of Jewish visitors to the seaside resort, including the Goldsmid and Sasoon families.