Tevet 28

Yahrtzeit of Rabbi David Nieto (1654-1728), leader of the Sephardic community in London. Rabbi Nieto came from Venice and was highly respected as both a rabbi and a medical doctor who wrote extensively on scientific topics. In 1698, Nieto became spiritual leader of the Bevis Marks Synagogue, the oldest Jewish synagogue in London that came to be regarded as the religious center of the Anglo-Jewish world. Today, the original building is still in use, and the synagogue interior retains its original furnishings. In the 1990s the synagogue was badly damaged by terrorist bombings in London; the structure has since been renovated and repaired.