Abstract: Mandated by the Leeds Jewish Representative Council (LJRC), a group of community lay
leaders and professionals, representing a wide cross section of the community (including
ages, gender, organisations and affiliations) undertook the challenge of producing a
strategic assessment of the Leeds Jewish community.
This exercise of analysis, needs assessment and planning is vital for Jewish communities that
want to thrive and grow in the complex times we live in, that in many cases make obsolete
many of the certainties of the past.
This cross-section group, which started its work with a year of training in community
development issues, could develop a comprehensive view (a sort of 'bird's eye view') of the
whole community beyond organisational boundaries. After this initial stage, the group
evolved into the Leeds Strategic Planning group (SPG), which, with the support of UJIA and
Leatid, undertook this strategic analysis.
The aim was to understand the current trends in the community, the needs of its different
populations and to envision different scenarios in the evolution of the community in the next
few years. This would constitute the basis for offering a set of strategic directions for the
community as a whole.
A strategic planning process requires many qualities from a Jewish Community. Not every
community is ready to undertake the challenge that a planning process demands. One
needs to have a solid basis to build on, a committed, positive leadership and the openmindedness
that comes from strong convictions and solid values. The community needs to
have the daring and the intellectual honesty to look at itself without preconceived ideas
and with the desire to improve and grow. The fact that the Leeds Jewish Community
undertook this task is further proof of its solidity and dynamism.
