Jewish SynagogueOrdinance 1878

Jewish Synagogue Ordinance 1878 2020 REVISED EDITION This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 An Ordinance to empower the Trustees of the Jewish Synagogue in Singapore to sell certain property, and for other purposes. [29 March 1878] Whereas by an indenture of lease dated 1 September 1841, the late Government of these Settlements demised on a pepper-corn rent a certain piece of land situated in Synagogue Street, in Singapore Town, estimated to contain 503.07 square metres, to Joseph Dewk Cohen, Nassim Joseph Ezra and Ezra Ezra Ezekiel, their successors, representatives and assigns, as trustees for the Jewish inhabitants of Singapore for the purpose of erecting and maintaining thereon for the use of the Jewish inhabitants a synagogue or place of Divine worship, with a proviso that the said piece of land should be resumed by Government in the event of the same being appropriated for any other purpose than that of Divine worship: And whereas a synagogue has been erected and maintained on the said piece of land till the present time; and whereas Nassim Joseph Ezra and Ezra Ezra Ezekiel have since died; and Joseph Dewk Cohen being advanced in years, and having long left Singapore, did by a deed dated at Aleppo, in the Turkish Dominions, on 2 February 1876, appoint Abraham Solomon, Joshua Raphael Joshua, Ezra Abraham Solomon, Salleh Menasseh and Menasseh Meyer to be trustees of the said piece of land and synagogue, and did assign to them the said Government lease for the purpose of the said trust: And whereas the said Abraham Solomon is aged and infirm, and desires to be relieved from the said trust; and whereas the other four trustees so appointed, namely Joshua Raphael Joshua, Ezra Abraham Solomon, Salleh Menasseh and Menasseh Meyer are willing to continue to act as trustees with Reuben Meyer, Sassoon Aaron Gubbay and David Aaron Gubbay, who have been requested by the Jewish community of Singapore to act as trustees with them: And whereas the place on which the synagogue stands on the said piece of land in Synagogue Street, Singapore Town, which synagogue has hitherto been used by the Jewish inhabitants of Singapore as a place of Divine worship, has from various causes become unfit for a place of Divine worship, and it is desirable that another synagogue should be erected in a more convenient place; and as doubts exist as to whether the said piece of land can be sold to advantage under the present title, and it is expedient for the purposes of religion that the said piece of land should be sold to the best advantage, and that the proceeds of sale thereof should be applied to the erection of a synagogue in a more suitable place: It is hereby enacted by the Governor of the Straits Settlements with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof as follows: Short title 1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Jewish Synagogue Ordinance 1878. Certain trustees may sell and convey land 2. The said Joshua Raphael Joshua, Ezra Abraham Solomon, Salleh Menasseh, Menasseh Meyer, Reuben Meyer, Sassoon Aaron Gubbay, and David Aaron Gubbay as trustees of the Jewish Synagogue of Singapore, or the survivors of them, or any 2 or more of such surviving trustees, who are for the time being resident within the Colony may sell and dispose of the said piece or parcel of land comprised in and demised by the hereinbefore recited indenture of lease made between the late Government of these Settlements of the one part, and Joseph Dewk Cohen, Nassim Joseph Ezra and Ezra Ezra Ezekiel of the other part, dated 1 September 1841, and also all erections and buildings which have been erected, and are now standing on the said premises, with power also to execute assurances, give effectual receipts for the purchase money, and do all other acts and things for completing such sale as they, or the survivors of them, or any 2 or more of such survivors, think proper. Proceeds of sale to be applied to purchase other land and to building a synagogue 3.—(1) The moneys to arise from such sale, after deducting the cost and expenses attending the sale or otherwise incurred in relation thereto, shall be paid to the trustees, or continuing acting trustees for the time being, of the said synagogue as hereinbefore mentioned for the purpose of acquiring land, and erecting and building on such land as is acquired for that purpose, or any part thereof, a new synagogue or place of worship for the use of the members of the Jewish community in Singapore. (2) Such moneys shall be applied by such trustees to the purchase of such land and the building of such synagogue, and to no other purpose. To be held in trust (3) The said land and the building when erected shall be held subject to the trust set out in this Ordinance. Purchaser discharged by trustees’ receipts 4. The receipts for the purchase money given by the persons exercising the power of sale hereby conferred shall be sufficient discharges to the purchasers who shall not be bound to see to the application of such purchase money. Land purchased to be held in trust for Jewish community 5.—(1) The land so to be purchased by the said trustees for the purpose of having erected thereon a synagogue for the use of the Jewish community of Singapore shall be held by the said trustees and their successors in office as trustees for the use of the Jewish community of Singapore for the purpose of erecting and maintaining thereon a suitable synagogue or place of Divine worship according to the Jewish form. When to be forfeited (2) So soon as the said piece of land ceases to be used for such purpose it shall ipso facto revert to the Government. [7/97] Conveyance to state trust 6. The conveyance to the trustees of any lands to be paid for by them out of the proceeds of the land in this Ordinance authorised to be sold shall express that the said lands are conveyed to, and are to be held by them subject to the trust and condition set out in this Ordinance. Style of trustees 7.—(1) The said trustees may be styled the “Trustees of the Jewish Synagogue at Singapore”, and they or the remaining trustees, being not less than 3, may at any time appoint new trustees to take the place of such trustees as have died, or left the Colony, or declined further to act. New trustees (2) In the event of the number of trustees at any time falling below 3, the General Division of the High Court, on an originating application made by the remaining trustees or by any of the members of the Jewish community, may appoint suitable persons being members of the Jewish community residing in Singapore to be trustees under this Ordinance. [42/2005; 40/2019] [Act 25 of 2021 wef 01/04/2022] Property to vest without assignment 8. The property of the said trust, including the land, building, fixtures, furniture and other movable property belonging to the synagogue for the purpose of Divine worship shall be held to vest in the Trustees of the Jewish Synagogue at Singapore for the time being without transfer or assignment from trustees to trustees.