Jewish Centers and Peripheries by S. Troen

Author:S. Troen [Troen, S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781351290326
Google: GZEGtAEACAAJ
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Published: 1999-01-15T05:03:29+00:00

11

British Jewry: Prospects and Problems

Marlena Schmool

Introduction

In the first part of this century, British Jewry was a focus of political Zionism and a main player in Jewish world politics. During the intervening years, this status has waned with preeminence passing to the United States. The change has to an extent marginalized the British community in terms of world Jewry. Such changes are the stuff of historic process, but societies continue on their way as has British Jewry. This chapter examines briefly the structure of contemporary British Jewry as a background to discussing three related issues, namely, the place of British Jewry within the host society, relationships with and attitudes towards Israel and American Jewry, and the issues and challenges which will confront British Jewry as we reach the millennium.

In the foregoing analysis, the general organizing principle will be to consider established, organized aspects of British Jewry alongside grassroots experiences and attitudes. In effect this is contrasting elites and masses. However, while this distinction is important and illuminating, it must be borne in mind that it does not provide clear-cut categories. Realistically, the established community is to a great extent the organization of grassroots efforts, particularly as regards smaller organizations, but also including central institutions such as B’nai B’rith, which at the branch level is most certainly a grassroots movement. This analytical distinction can be made because the statistical and survey material available for the British Jewish community permits a broad objective review of both structure and attitude. In contrast, any appraisal of the future of the community is obviously this author’s subjective viewpoint.

As is the case in France, the United States and other countries, the British census has no question about religion. Accordingly, information about British Jewry is derived mainly from studies carried out by the community itself, chiefly by the Community Research Unit of the Board of Deputies over the past 30 years, These studies cover annual compilations of deaths, births, synagogue marriages, and Jewish education. At regular intervals, an estimate is provided for the core population and counts of synagogue membership are undertaken. On a broader level, in 1991 there was an in-depth membership study of the United Synagogue with 760 respondents, and in 1993 a pioneering study of “Women in the Jewish Community” (Schmool and Miller, 1994) covered the attitudes, practices, and communal affiliation of 1,350 women.

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