| Bevis Marks is a Sephardi ( Spanish & Portuguese ) synagogue.
The is a Torah cloak made from the wedding dress of Judith Montifiore
( wive of Moses ! );
Wooded beams from a ship commisioned by queen Ann.
Candles all over the place which are white except on Tisha B'av, when they
put black ones in.
Samuel Pepys ( of the famous diaries ) passed there once during
Simchat Torah, and wrote something to the effect that he couldn't understand
how these people could be religeous but drunk !
Since that day, Simchat Torah has been *boring* there !!!
No kidding, the elders took it really seriously.
Uhm, what else ?
If you go for services, it is more observant than conservative but I wouldnt
label it as super-religious either ( i.e. no black hats, peyot etc.) .
The 'officials' of the synagogue wear top hats ( how British ) , and
there are other assorted minhagim that have their roots in the Marrano
heritage of the community.
-- more info if interested, but I have a heck of time accessing the world
beyond New York. Computers ! Ha !
/Jeff
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