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British Jews

Benjamin Disraeli • David Ricardo • Peter Sellers • Karl Popper • Nathan Rothschild • David Bohm • Amy Winehouse
Total population
266,740 (by religion) (2001 Census) 292,000 (2010 estimate by the Jewish Virtual Library)
Regions with significant populations
Greater London. South Hertfordshire, south-west Essex, Greater Manchester, Gateshead, Leeds, Greater Glasgow
Languages
English. Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic
Religion
Judaism

British Jews (often referred to collectively as Anglo-Jewry) are Jews who live in, or are citizens of, the United Kingdom. In the 2001 Census, 266,740 people listed their religion as Jewish. The UK is home to the second largest Jewish population in Europe, and has the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide. The population has a substantially older profile than that of the general population. Most British Jews adhere to Judaism, although there are an increasing number of secular Jews.

History

The first recorded Jewish community in Britain was brought to England in 1070 by King William the Conqueror, who believed that their commercial skills and incoming capital would make England more prosperous. This community was expelled in 1290 by King Edward I, and emigrated to countries such as Poland which protected them by law. A small community persisted in hiding despite the expulsion. Jews were not banned from Scotland though in this period as Scotland was an independent nation with different laws than England. In 1656 Oliver Cromwell made it clear that the ban on Jewish settlement would no longer be enforced. At the insistence of Irish leader Daniel O'Connell, in 1846, the British law "De Judaismo", which prescribed a special dress for Jews, was repealed. In 2006, the Jewish community celebrated the 350th anniversary of the resettlement in England. Benjamin Disraeli, a British Prime Minister, was of Jewish origin, however he was baptized an Anglican (lived 21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881); he was also a parliamentarian, conservative politician and literary figure. He served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister.

Demographics

Population

The 2001 Census included a (voluntary) religion question ("What is your religion?") for the first time in its history; 266,740 people listed their religion as "Jewish". However, the subject of "Who is a Jew?" is complex, and the religion question did not record people who may be Jewish through other means, such as ethnically and culturally. Ninety-seven percent of people who chose Jewish as their religion put White as their ethnic group; however, a report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) suggests that, although there was an apparent option to write down "Jewish" for this question, it did not occur to many, because of "skin colour" and nationality bias; and that if "Jewish" was an explicit option, the results—only 2594 respondents were Jewish solely by ethnicity—would have been different. The religion question appeared in the 2011 Census, but there was still no explicit option for "Jewish" in the ethnic-group question. The Board of Deputies had encouraged all Jews to indicate they were Jewish, either through the religion question or the ethnicity one.

The figure of 266,740 recorded by the Census is considered an undercount. David Graham and Stanley Waterman give several reasons: the underenumeration for censuses in general; the question did not record secular Jews; the voluntary nature of the question; suspicion by Jews of such questions; and the high non-response rate for large numbers of Haredi Jews.

From 1990 to 2006, the Jewish population showed a decrease from 340,000 Jews to 270,000. According to the 1996 Jewish Policy Review, nearly one in two are marrying people who do not share their faith. From 2005 to 2008, the Jewish population increased from 275,000 to 280,000, attributed largely to the high birth rates of Haredi (or ultra-Orthodox) Jews. Research by the University of Manchester in 2007 showed that 75 percent of British Jewish births were to the Haredi community. Ultra orthodox women have an average of 6.9 children, and secular Jewish women 1.65.

About two-thirds of the UK's Jews live in Greater London or contiguous parts of South Hertfordshire and south-west Essex. Substantial communities outside the London area include Manchester, home to some 30,000 Jews, and Leeds, where now fewer than 9,000 Jews live. Other substantial communities include Gateshead, Glasgow and Liverpool, as well as other former industrial cities. Barnet and Hertsmere councils in the London borders polled as the first and second most Jewish local authorities in England, with Jews composing one in five and nine residents respectively.

The British Jewish population has a substantially older profile than that of the general population. In England and Wales, the median age of male Jews is 41.2, while the figure for all males is 36.1; Jewish females have a median age of 44.3, while the figure for all females is 38.1. A high proportion (83.2 percent) of Jews in England and Wales were born in the UK. About 24 percent of the community are over the age of 65 (compared to 16 percent of the general population of England and Wales). In the 2001 census Jews were the only group in which the number of persons in the 75-plus cohorts outnumbered those in the 65–74 cohort.

Religion

There are some 409 synagogues in the country, and it is estimated that 74 percent of the country's Jews are affiliated with one. Of those affiliated, the affiliations are distributed across the following groupings:

• Central Orthodox ("consisting of the United Synagogue, the Federation of Synagogues and independent Orthodox synagogues") – 54.7%
• Reform (Movement for Reform Judaism and Westminster Synagogue and Chaim V’Tikvah) – 19.4%
• Strictly Orthodox ("synagogues aligned with the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations and others of a similar ethos") – 10.9%
• Liberal (Liberal Judaism and Belsize Square) – 8.7%
• Sephardi – 3.5%
• Masorti (Assembly of Masorti Synagogues) – 2.7%

Communal institutions

Cross-communal organisations

British Jewish communal organisations include:

• Board of Deputies - founded in 1760, represents the community at a national and international level. All synagogues and communal organisations are entitled to elect deputies to the Board.
• Scottish Council of Jewish Communities - the representative body of all of the Jewish communities in Scotland.
• Jewish Leadership Council - comprises the chairpeople of the major organisations in each sector of communal life, together with key individual leaders of the community.
• Community Security Trust - works to ensure the safety and security of the Jewish community in Britain.
• Union of Jewish Students - supports Jewish students at university.
• London Jewish Forum.

Education

About 60 percent of school-age Jewish children attend Jewish schools. Jewish day schools and yeshivas are found throughout the country. Jewish cultural studies and Hebrew language instruction is commonly offered at synagogues in the form of supplementary Hebrew schools or Sunday schools. The majority of Jewish schools in Britain are funded by the government. Jewish educational centres are plentiful, large-scale projects. One of the country's most famous Jewish schools is the state-funded JFS in London which opened in 1732 and has about 2100 students. It is heavily over-subscribed and applies strict rules on admissions, which led to a discrimination court case in 2009. In 2011, another large government funded school opened in North London named JCoSS, the first cross-denomination Jewish secondary school in the UK.

The Union of Jewish Students is an umbrella organisation that represents Jewish students at university. There are over 50 Jewish Societies.

British Jews generally have high levels of educational achievement. Compared to the general population, they are 40 percent less likely to have no qualifications, and 80 percent more likely to have "higher-level" qualifications. With the exception of under-25s, younger Jews tend to be better educated than older ones.

Limmud

The annual Limmud winter conference is a high-profile educational event of the British Jewish community, attracting a wide range of international presenters.

Employment

The 2001 Census showed that 30.5 percent of economically active Jews were self-employed, compared to a figure of 14.2 percent for the general population. Jews aged 16–24 were more likely to be economically inactive than their counterparts in the general population; 89.2 percent of these were students.

Media

There are a number of Jewish newspapers, magazines and websites published on a national level and more regional levels. The most famous of these is The Jewish Chronicle, which was founded in 1841 and is the world's oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper. Other media include The Jewish Chronicle North (for the North of the country), the Jewish News newspaper, Jewish Telegraph, The Jewish Tribune, JLifestyle magazine, SomethingJewish website and TotallyJewish website.

Antisemitism

In 2005, the All-Party Parliamentary Group against Anti-Semitism commissioned an inquiry into antisemitism, publishing its findings in 2006. The inquiry stated that "until recently, the prevailing opinion both within the Jewish community and beyond that antisemitism had receded to the point that it existed only on the margins of society", and found a reversal of this progress since 2000.

Jonathan Sacks, the chief rabbi, said in 2009 that increased globalisation was allowing a new kind of antisemitism to permeate into the UK. He said in 2010 that UK universities were failing to deal with "inflammatory public speeches" taking place on campus.

The Community Security Trust, a charity to ensure the protection of Jews in the UK, publishes an annual "Antisemitic Incidents Report".

See also

• List of British Jews
• History of the Jews in England
• History of the Jews in Scotland
• History of the Jews in Ireland
• Balfour Declaration of 1917

Notes and references

Notes

1. The question had appeared in the past several censuses in Northern Ireland. In Scotland there were two questions: "What religion, religious denomination or body do you belong to?" and "What religion, religious denomination or body were you brought up in?".

References

1. ^ "The Jewish Population of the World (2010)". Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed 1 April 2011.
2. http://www.jewishireland.org/history_2.html
3. "EJP looks back on 350 years of history of Jews in the UK". European Jewish Press. 30 October 2005. Accessed 1 April 2011.
4. ”Jews in Britain”, p. 18.
5. ^ Graham, David; Waterman, Stanley. "Underenumeration of the Jewish Population in the UK 2001 Census" (subscription required). Population, Space and Place 12 (2): 89–102. March/April 2005. doi:10.1002/psp.362.
6. ^ "Jews in Britain", p. 3.
7. ”Jews in Britain”, pp. 12–13.
8. "Jews in Britain", pp. 20–21.
9. "Census 2011". Board of Deputies of British Jews. Accessed 10 August 2011.
10. The Telegraph: "Is this the last generation of British Jews?" November 26, 2006
11. Pigott, Robert. "Jewish population on the increase". BBC News. 21 May 2008. Accessed 1 April 2011.
12. "Majority of Jews will be Ultra-Orthodox by 2050". University of Manchester. 23 July 2007. Accessed 1 April 2011.
13. Butt, Riazat. "British Jewish population on the rise". The Guardian. 21 May 2008. Accessed 10 August 2011.
14. "Jews in Britain", p. 5.
15. "Synagogue membership in the United Kingdom in 2010", p. 9.
16. "Synagogue membership in the United Kingdom in 2010", pp. 12–13. Other affiliations were not considered in the JPR report.
17. "The Future of Jewish Schools", p. 7.
18. "Jewish school admissions unlawful". BBC News. 25 June 2009. Accessed 1 April 2011.
19. Kessler, Sarah. "A Cross-Denominational Approach to High School in the U.K.". The Forward. 21 January 2009. Accessed 3 April 2011. Archived 2 April 2011.
20. "About Us". Union of Jewish Students. Accessed 1 April 2011.
21. "Jews in Britain", pp. 79–80. See p. 79 for the definition of "higher-level" qualifications.
22. Gringras, Robbie. "Writing the Limmud theme song ". Haaretz. 8 January 2010. Accessed 1 April 2011. Archived 1 April 2011.
23. "Jews in Britain", p. 87.
24. "The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841–1991". Cambridge University Press. Accessed 3 April 2011.
25. "Report of the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into Antisemitism", summary.
26. Thomson, Alice; Sylvester, Rachel. "Virulent new strain of anti-Semitism rife in UK, says Chief Rabbi". The Times. 20 June 2009. Accessed 4 April 2011. Archived 3 April 2011.
27. Paul, Jonny. "UK chief rabbi: Universities failing in anti-Semitism fight". Jerusalem Post. 15 December 2010. Accessed 1 April 2011. Archived 1 April 2011.
28. "Publications". Community Security Trust. Accessed 1 April 2011. For the latest report, see Template:PDFlink.

Sources

• Template:PDFlink. All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism. September 2006. Accessed 1 April 2011. Archived 24 November 2010. See inquiry website.
• Graham, David; Schmool, Marlena; Waterman; Stanley. Template:PDFlink. Institute for Jewish Policy Research. 18 May 2007. Accessed 22 July 2011. Archived 22 July 2011. See webpage.
• Template:PDFlink. Jewish Leadership Council. 2008. Accessed 4 April 2011.
• Graham, David; Vulkan, Daniel. Template:PDFlink. Institute for Jewish Policy Research. 13 May 2010. Accessed 3 April 2011. Archived 22 July 2011. See webpage.

Further reading

• Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1999/2000. Stephen Roth Institute. Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press. pp. 125–135.
• Cesarani, David (1994). The Jewish Chronicle and Anglo-Jewry, 1841–1991. Cambridge University Press.
• Cesarani, David. "British Jews". Liedtke, Rainer; Wendehorst, Stephan. (eds) (1999). The Emancipation of Catholics, Jews and Protestants: Minorities and the Nation State in Nineteenth-Century Europe. Manchester University Press. pp. 33–55.
• Endelman, Todd M. (2002). The Jews of Britain, 1656 to 2000. University of California Press.
• Spector, Sheila A. (ed) (2002). British Romanticism and the Jews: History, Culture, Literature. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Valins, Oliver; Kosmin, Barry; Goldberg, Jacqueline. "The future of Jewish schooling in the United Kingdom". Institute for Jewish Policy Research. 31 December 2002. Accessed 4 April 2011.
• London, Louise (2003). Whitehall and the Jews, 1933–1948: British Immigration Policy, Jewish Refugees and the Holocaust. Cambridge University Press.
• Schreiber, Mordecai; Schiff, Alvin I.; Klenicki, Leon. (2003). The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia (3rd edition). Schreiber Publishing. pp. 79–80.
• Wynne-Jones, Jonathan; additional reporting by Jeffay, Nathan. "Is this the last generation of British Jews?". The Daily Telegraph. 26 November 2006. Accessed 1 April 2011.
• Shindler, Colin. "The Reflection of Israel Within British Jewry". Ben-Moshe, Danny; Segev, Zohar (eds) (2007). Israel, the Diaspora, and Jewish Identity. Sussex Academic Press. pp. 227–234.
• Butt, Riazat. "Faith in numbers". The Guardian. 20 November 2007. Accessed 4 April 2011.
• Lawless, Jill. "London's Jewish Museum reopens after major facelift". Associated Press via USA Today. 17 March 2010. Accessed 1 April 2011.
• Graham, David; Boyd, Jonathan. Template:PDFlink. Institute for Jewish Policy Research. 15 July 2010. Accessed 4 April 2011. Archived 22 July 2011. See webpage.
• Brown, Mick. "Inside the private world of London's ultra-Orthodox Jews". The Daily Telegraph. 25 February 2011. Accessed 1 April 2011.
• "Publications on British Jews from the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner".

• British Jews
• Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom