Topics: Main Topic: Other, Jewish Community, Jewish Organisations, Strategic Planning, Policy, Demography, Haredi / Strictly Orthodox Jews, Care and Welfare, Health, Children, Youth, Poverty, Housing, Elderly Care, Age and Generational Issues
Abstract: At 28,075 Jewish people, Greater Manchester recorded the largest Jewish population in the UK
outside of London and adjacent Hertfordshire. At first sight, it appears to have grown by 12%
between 2011 and 2021, most likely driven largely by high birth-rates among the strictly Orthodox
community. Similarly, if the data eventually proves to be accurate, this constitutes a growth of 29%
over the twenty years between 2001 and 2021. Provisional estimates of the Haredi community
based on other data sources (such as Manchester Connections) suggest that the Haredi community
could be as large as 22,778 but, again, further analysis is needed before any firm conclusions can be
drawn. Whatever the final numbers, it is clear that Greater Manchester, which includes the largest
Eruv in the UK with a perimeter of more than 13 miles, covering parts of Prestwich, Crumpsall and
Higher Broughton, is an important and growing centre of Jewish life.
This report was commissioned by Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Regions
(GMJRC) to research and analyse community strengths and provide a mapping of Jewish
organisations in the Greater Manchester area. It was overseen by the GMJRC strategic group – a
group that was formed of Councils and organisations across the Jewish religious spectrum as a
response to the pandemic. It reviews services in seven themes: Children & Young People; Adult
Services; Older People; Health; Employment; Emergency Response; and Housing. As well as looking
at delivery, governance, leadership, and building assets, it also tries to understand where the gaps
and support needs are. As the demographics and relative sizes of the mainstream and strictly
Orthodox Jewish populations continue to change, this study represents an important examination
of both the challenges and opportunities of how the respective communities work together. As
these populations change across the UK, and beyond, the study will have significance to other cities
where these Jewish communities exist side by side.
The Institute of Jewish Policy Research (JPR) used a variety of data sources to identify organisations
delivering in each theme and built maps of that data which can be seen throughout this report.
Mobilise Public Ltd use several methods to gather data from these organisations in each theme.
The main approach was qualitative, using stakeholder interviews and focus group discussions with a
purposely selected sample of these organisations, and the evidence collected was supplemented
with a short survey which was issued to a larger number of organisations. The research was
coproduced with a subset of the strategic group through a series of facilitated sessions and was
designed to build a good understanding of delivery in each theme as well as an understanding of
challenges and opportunities in readiness for the strategic group to develop a more integrated
strategy for the Greater Manchester Jewish community
Abstract: Using theoretical concepts concerning space, identity and boundaries, this thesis examines a contemporary ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Broughton Park, Manchester (located in the north of England). The thesis discusses how these Jews practise and understand their lives within the context of a (post)modem world. Demographically, the overall population of Anglo-Jewry is declining (by as much as a third in the past forty years), with fears expressed about its future survival. Socially, there are major schisms between the different branches of Judaism, with increasing concerns about a polarisation between religious and secular. These factors provide the background to this thesis, which examines arguably the most extreme and still rapidly growing form of Judaism. The thesis uses a theoretical framework which takes seriously post-positivist understandings of space and identity, in which movement, inter-connections and, in particular, processes of hybridity are recognised. Same and other are never pure. Nonetheless, such theoretical conceptions tend to deny particular people's situated attempts to defend, institutionalise and 'slow down' identities and spaces, which are, I argue, key factors in understanding people's everyday lives. While such stabilisations can be described as reactionary, I suggest that they may also be celebrated (although in complex and ambivalent ways) as resistances to forces of homogeneity. Through the empirical materials collected in Broughton Park, a discussion of the institutionalisation of space detailed in the sacred text of the Talmud, and a reconsideration of post-positivist theories to do with identity and space, the thesis draws upon and extends critiques of hybridity as always a (positive) force of resistance, and boundaries as necessarily reactionary and aligned with powers of domination. Overall, it offers a theoretical and methodological framework with which to interrogate 'geographies of Jewry', taking seriously those calls for 'geographies of religion' to make use of post positivist understandings of space and identity.
Abstract: This study, the first to assess mortality among Jews around the world during the COVID-19 crisis, draws on data from a wide variety of sources to understand the extent to which Jews were affected by coronavirus in different parts of the world during the first wave of the pandemic, March to May 2020.
The first section describes the methods of quantification of COVID-19 mortality, and explains why measuring it using the excess mortality method is the most effective way to understand how Jewish communities have been affected. The second section presents data on Jewish mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, drawing particularly on data provided to JPR by Jewish burial societies in communities all over the world. It does so in a comparative perspective, setting the data on Jews alongside the data on non-Jews, to explore both the extent to which Jews have been affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, and how the Jewish experience with COVID-19 compares to the experience of non-Jewish populations.
The immediate impression is that there is not a single ‘Jewish pattern’ that is observable everywhere, and, with respect to the presence of excess mortality, Jewish communities, by and large, followed the populations surrounding them.
The report cautions against speculation about why Jews were disproportionately affected in some places, but rule out two candidate explanations: that Jewish populations with particularly elderly age profiles were hardest hit, or that Jews have been badly affected due to any underlying health issue common among them. They consider the possibility that Jewish lifestyle effects (e.g. above average size families, convening in large groups for Jewish rituals and holidays), may have been an important factor in certain instances, noting that these are unambiguous risk factors in the context of communicable diseases. Whilst they suggest that the spread of the virus among Jews “may have been enhanced by intense social contact,” they argue that without accurate quantification, this explanation for elevated mortality in certain places remains unproven.
The report also includes a strongly worded preface from Hebrew University Professor Sergio DellaPergola, the Chair of the JPR European Jewish Demography Unit, and the world’s leading expert in Jewish demography. In it, he stresses the importance of systematically testing representative samples of the population at the national and local levels, and, in Jewish community contexts, of routinely gathering Jewish population vital statistics. He states: “If there is one lesson for Jewish community research that emerges out of this crisis it is that the routine gathering of vital statistics – the monitoring of deaths, as well as births, marriages, divorces, conversions, immigrants and emigrants – is one of the fundamental responsibilities community bodies must take.”
Abstract: The project was undertaken by Binoh of Manchester amongst its client group, The Orthodox Jewish Community of North Manchester. This is mainly based in the Broughton Park area of Salford with an overspill community in the neighbouring Bury and Manchester metropolitan areas. The community is ethnically compact, little known outside its location and buffeted by racial and economic problems. Different norms exist for acceptable music, literature, images and discussion material and mainstream culture i.e. television, films, magazines and internet use etc. is prohibited. The community’s growth over the last few years has been huge. High birth rates make the community ‘bottom heavy’, and it is estimated that the ultra-orthodox community is increasing its share of the Anglo-Jewish community by approximately 1.5% per year. The research uncovered a wealth of information that is central to understanding the mental health needs and concerns of the Orthodox Jewish Community. The foremost findings that emerged during the research were:
A distrust of non-Jewish professionals e.g. doctors, psychiatrists and nurses who were seen to be unsympathetic or ignorant of the community’s cultural and religious needs. Comments such as “most Non-Jewish Practitioners have no understanding of our community and therefore can make serious errors of judgement” were commonly made.
Fear of stigma attached to mental health issues. Although this is prevalent in many close knit and ethnic minority communities this was particularly prevalent within the community as it was associated with not obtaining suitable marriage partners for themselves, siblings, children or other family members. One questionnaire respondent even said that “stigma within the community is a greater concern to people requesting and accepting help (than gaps in current service provision)
Abstract: From press release:
A ground-breaking survey commissioned by NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning (CCG) has revealed concerns about immunisation take-up, healthy eating, amounts of exercise and attitudes to mental health within the predominately orthodox Jewish communities in the city.
507 people took part in the year-long research project that included peer-led focus groups as well as questionnaires. Key findings reveal that less than half of the participants take more than one hour of exercise per week, with around a quarter taking less than 30 minutes. Only half meet recommended levels of physical activity, which is significantly below the England average of 61%. Fewer than half of respondents believe exercise is very important, with far fewer men than women valuing exercise.
There is particular concern related to men’s lack of exercise, with just over a third meeting the recommended levels of physical activity compared to 67% nationally. The percentage of women meeting recommending levels at 56% is comparable to the 55% of women nationally.
With regards to children’s exercise, only 40% think it is very important that their child exercises. Less than half the children do more than an hour’s exercise per week, with a third doing less than 30 mins per week. Boys tend to do slightly more exercise than girls (possibly because they play football or ride bikes), contra to what was reported as being undertaken by the adults themselves; the trend seems to be that boys are more active than girls but this switches as they become adults.
The research also suggests that the healthy eating message is not always getting through to this community; only 10% of children are getting their ‘5 a day’ with 40% getting less than 3 fruit or veg a day. Over half the children in this community seem eat cake at least once a day, though crisps and other unhealthy snacks seem far less frequent. Alcohol consumption for adults is, however, very low compared to the rest of the population, although 12% of respondents might be classed as ‘binge-drinkers’ on the Sabbath.
Attitudes to immunisation in the orthodox Jewish community remain a concern. 13% said they would be unlikely to immunise their child in the future whilst 20% felt they were not given enough information about immunisation. For Salford as a whole, MMR immunisation take-up by 5 years olds averages over 97% which is far higher than appears in the Jewish communities.
Take up of cervical smears is also lower than the rest of the population with 67% claiming they would be likely to have a smear compared to the 80% target in Salford. It is thought that some of the lower uptake of cervical screening may be due to the low perceived risk of HPV infection and cervical cancer, the higher number of pregnancies and religious norms relating to menstruation.
Other findings of interest include the fact that almost a half of participants believe that mental health is a big stigma within the Jewish community which may prevent many people seeking the help they need.
Abstract: Institutionalised religion, as a powerful force in the structuring of the daily lives of probably the majority of the world’s population, is a field of social research to which geographers can usefully contribute. This paper examines ancient and contemporary forms of Judaism, exploring the underlying codes and regulations designed to structure every aspect of life. The first part of the paper examines institutionalised uses of space in ancient times, as recorded in the sacred Jewish text of the Talmud. Through the sacred geography of the great Temple in Jerusalem and the legal authority of the religious court to punish offenders, the social system was (in principle at least) highly ordered and regulated. The second part examines the institutionalisation of the religion in contemporary times, which for orthodox Jews involves attempting to practise and maintain these same ancient codes and regulations. Practising ancient ways of life in contemporary (post)modern contexts can be extremely difficult, however, which I discuss with reference to the proposals of the religious authorities in Manchester, England, to construct an eruv; a legalistic device consisting of poles and wires which changes the classification of space, allowing (in particular) the elderly, infirm and parents with young children to travel on the Sabbath. The device faces criticism from secular and religious sources over the rights to ‘claim space’ and the religious legalistic viability of the project.
Abstract: There has been a Jewish community in Greater Manchester since the early 19th
Century. Greater numbers of people migrated to the area during and after the
Second World War when refugees and survivors of the Holocaust settled in a number
of the boroughs. Indeed, the largest Orthodox Jewish community outside London is
situated within the boundaries of Salford, Bury and Manchester. The overall aim of
this study was to provide an assessment of the housing needs of Jewish
communities in Greater Manchester.
In particular, the study aimed to do the following:
o Map population change, household sizes, ages and the location, size and
types of housing occupied by Jewish households;
o Examine whether there has been significant movement of the Jewish
community (domestically and internationally);
o Identify a range of demographic trends amongst the sample population,
including housing circumstances and characteristics; economic activity, age,
employment, education / study, membership of a synagogue and the particular
denomination;
o Identify any housing needs relating to health, disability, age of the individual,
condition of the property, security of tenure, appropriateness of location,
proximity of the property to a place of worship, community infrastructure and
retail provision;
o Explore economic circumstances and housing costs, particularly in relation to
the financial capacity of the household and whether housing costs are being
met, whether the household has any affordability issues relating to its housing
needs now and in the future, and what barriers exist to specific housing
products such as affordable housing;
o Identify housing expectations, looking specifically at the type, tenure, location
and size of housing the household might expect in the short term future at
intervals of 5 years and 10 years;
o Explore future aspirations, focusing on longer term needs and aspirations of
the household including need arising from childbirth, aging; needs related to
health, disability or other factors over the next 5 years and the next 10 years;
o Assess the extent to which lifestyle, level of practice of religion or other
reasons motivate or demotivate household movement;
o Assess whether the existing home meets the current needs including religious
and cultural needs; and
o Measure the level of community cohesion with the wider community in
Manchester and measure the extent of anti-social behaviour, harassment,
incidence and fear of crime.
The study was commissioned by Manchester Jewish Housing Association in
December 2010 and was conducted by a team of researchers from the Salford
Housing & Urban Studies Unit (SHUSU) at the University of Salford. The study was
greatly aided by research support from a number of community interviewers and was
managed by a steering group composed of representatives of Manchester Jewish
Housing Association, Bury Council, Manchester City Council and Salford City
Council.
Abstract: Several reasons have been advanced to explain why well-educated, middle-class and often highly anglicized Manchester Jews continue to associate with other Jews. The forces that pull Jews towards each other are complex, but mostly have to do with a shared history, background, location and attitudes to life. These are powerful forces: they can embrace even the most secular of Jews. However, many of these 'associational' Jews may well be Jews whose links with the more formally organized community are somewhat tenuous and whose Jewishness is based on emotion more than belief or practice.
Will this situation continue? In general terms, most respondents thought it would. For a variety of reasons individual associations might grow or dwindle, but the overall impression is that informal recreational associations will continue to be important in Manchester's Jewish social life in the foreseeable future. Unquestionably, for many, belonging to Jewish associations is very important. For some, membership in a voluntary association has resulted in or cemented lifelong friendships. A significant number of Jews will continue to associate freely with other Jews in recreational settings. These associations provide unthreatening and non-judgemental places for Jews to meet, whatever their religious denomination or designation. Accordingly, they play a critical and underrated role in maintaining community cohesion.
