Caring for the Jewish
JEWISH HERITAGE
Community’s historic architecture, synagogues and cemeteries
HERITAGE OPEN DAYS
Jewish Heritage promotes British Jewry’s architectural heritage to the general public through encouraging participation in the annual national Heritage Open Days (HoDs) and in European Jewish Heritage Day, organised by B’nai Brith, which since 2000 has become a popular annual event in the UK. On successive Sundays every September historic synagogues all over the country open their doors to visitors. A few historic Jewish cemeteries as well as contemporary synagogues also open, and special events such as lectures, concerts, exhibitions and heritage trails are organised.
HISTORIC SYNAGOGUES IN BETTER SHAPE
Britain's historic synagogues are in better shape than they were five years ago, according to Jewish Heritage's latest report published this week. This is especially the case in London where all but one historic synagogue are now rated as ‘Good’ or ‘Fair’ in terms of the key indicators by which ‘Risk’ is measured in the Heritage world: ‘Condition’ and ‘Usage’. The biggest threats to historic synagogues are poor maintenance and redundancy because of falling membership.
Britain’s tiny Jewish community (about 270,000 people) is the oldest non-Christian minority in the country. Jews returned to England after an absence of nearly 400 years, (since the medieval expulsion under Edward I in 1290) and since 1656 the Jewish community has enjoyed a history of continuous settlement in England, a record unmatched anywhere else in Europe.