Britain S Jews

'...detailed and fair.' The Spectator 'An exhaustive, impressive achievement.' The Tablet As a minority, Jews in Britain are confident, their institutions competent and mature. And yet within Jewish life in Britain there is a pervading sense of anxiety. Jews in Britain have risen to the top of nearly every profession, they run major companies, sit at the top tables in politics, make their voices heard in the media, are prominent in science and the arts. Of course there is serious poverty and gross disadvantage, just as there is in any community. But on any objective measure, British Jews have done well. Particularly when we consider where they came from, the impoverished, often oppressed lives that many Jews lived in Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire less than 200 years ago. Jews have lived in Britain longer than any other minority. They've been here so long, and are so ingrained into the national fabric, that they are often not considered to be a minority at all. Until a periodic outburst of antisemitism or a flare up in the Middle East, or both, turns the spotlight on them once again. British Jews have another distinction too. They have lived safely and securely, continuously, in Britain longer than any other modern Jewish community has lived anywhere else in the world. They have organised themselves in a way that serves as a model both to more recent immigrant communities in Britain and to Jewish communities elsewhere. Being British, they wear their distinctions lightly, they don't trumpet their achievements, in fact they rarely make a noise at all. But they give back quietly: established Jewish organisations help more recently arrived minorities to create their own structures, charities draw on the Jewish experience of dislocation and persecution to help oppressed people in the developing world, philanthropists support causes far beyond the boundaries of their own communities. Britain's Jews is a challenging look at Jewish life in the UK today. Based on conversations with Jews from all walks of life, it depicts, in ways that are at times disturbing, at other times inspiring, what it is like to be Jewish in 21st century Britain. And why Jewish life is still a subject of fascination.

This book tells the epic thousand-year story of Britain's Jewish community, the country's oldest minority group, replete with the dark episodes of persecution and expulsion, but also with positive periods of acceptance and toleration. Some Jews came as wealthy traders, others as desperate refugees; some had to lead secret lives, and others in different times stood shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the nation against threats to the British way of life, which included the Nazis. The impact of Jewish culture on daily life – on language, on food, on religion, art and business – has been inestimable, and this book is a fully illustrated introduction and fitting tribute.

A history of the Jewish community in Britain, including resettlement, integration, acculturation, economic transformation and immigration.

This book tells the story of the Jewish community, of its individuals and its groups, who contributed to the First World War.

Surveys Anglo-Jewish history in the period 1858-1939. Notes that emancipation did not mean the end of anti-Jewish prejudice. Describes restrictions on East European Jewish immigration in 1881-1914, claiming that the common argument that immigration harmed native workers was connected with the policy of trade protectionism. In the Edwardian era, Jews began to be perceived as ruthless financial manipulators; Jewish interests were regarded as alien, and Jews were accused of ties with Germany during World War I. Between 1916 and the early 1920s, antisemitism grew: Jews were especially identified with the revolutionary movements, and the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" received wide prominence. In the 1930s, the British Union of Fascists and other fascist groups were active, and the Board of Deputies was forced to take defensive measures at a time when it was also involved in opposing Nazism and helping Central European Jewish refugees.

Margaret Thatcher's premiership changed the face of modern Britain. Yet few people know of the critical role played by Jews in sparking and sustaining her revolution. Was this chance, choice, or simply a reflection of the fact that, as the Iron Lady herself said: 'I just wanted a Cabinet of clever, energetic people and frequently that turned out to be the same thing'? In this book, the first to explore Mrs Thatcher's relationship with Britain's Jewish community, Robert Philpot shows that her regard did not come simply from representing a constituency with more Jewish voters than any other, but stretched back to her childhood. She saw her own philosophical beliefs expressed in the values of Judaism – and in it, too, she saw elements of her beloved father's Methodist teachings. Margaret Thatcher: The Honorary Jew explores Mrs Thatcher's complex and fascinating relationship with the Jewish community and draws on archives and a wide range of memoirs and exclusive interviews, ranging from former Cabinet ministers to political opponents. It reveals how Immanuel Jakobovits, the Chief Rabbi, assisted her fight with the Church of England and how her attachment to Israel led her to internal battles as a member of Edward Heath's government and as Prime Minister, as well as examining her relationships with various Israeli leaders.

First Published in 1992. Perhaps two-thirds of present-day British Jewry can trace their origin to lands which now form part of the Soviet Union and which, 80 years ago, belonged to the Empire of the Tsars. Little research has been done to set the Jewish immigration into the context of Anglo-Russian relations and to assess the political and diplomatic implications of the domestic Jewish factor.] It is hoped that the present book will go some way to filling that gap. The work is offered as a contribution not only to Jewish history, but also to the history of Anglo-Soviet relations. Its appearance is timely, coinciding with radical changes taking place within Russia and the Soviet Union today which may well mark a turning point in their political history.