I found out something today about Jewish people & it really shocked me - I am struggling to deal with it

[KatyMac]

Apparently (I don't know how true it is), there are so few Jews in Norfolk they struggle to maintain a synagogue & this is (historically) because of the persecution they received in the middle ages.

I was really shocked

I have always (previously) lived in very Jewish areas and to find out they are 'missing' makes me feel a bit lost (which is daft because I was aware I didn't know any here - but just assumed that they were 'in the next village' so to speak)

Also that history has left the area bereft of such a valuable part of society

I guess I now need to do research about the persecution because I know nothing about it and I feel ignorant

When I taught The Merchant of Venice at A Level we looked at the history behind the persecution and expulsion of the Jews in this country from about 1200AD onwards. An antisemitic country in the time of the Renaissance but evolved to become a haven in the C20th.

There is an article in the paper today about how a Jewish school has slipped down the school table rankings because they refused to teach The Merchant of Venice in the yr 9 SATs because of its antisemitism. However, I think the school/pupils were just trying to make a point since a) you can teach 2 other texts for the SATS b) there is plenty of scholarly argument that Shylock is presented sympathetically by Shakespeare and the 'Christians' in the story aren't particularly Christian. But I digress....

bubble, i'm beyond shock to read that!

and saddened beyond belief.

Yes. Very sad. Especially in a diverse city like London.

Expat "and saddened beyond belief." describes completely how I feel

bubble - shocking but not that surprising sadly, security at jewish schools outside London has been hugely tightened up in recent years.

Katy - I've not really been around aigburth all that much, I tend to find Smithdown Road and Toxteth areas the most diverse ones I have been in in Liverpool. Keep meaning to try out the Africana restaurant that opened about a year ago on Smithdown!

That is what is so saddening and frightening, Bubble. It just doesn't get as culturally diverse as London.

That was Aigburth catchment area - Aigburth, Smithdown, Toxteth & Dingle

ah I get you now Katy, that makes more sense!

Bubble, where in north London was that?

In my part of north L we have a real mixture of Jewish families but for tbh we only know/are friends with non-orthodox ones.

Agree that (much as I love Norfolk as a holiday destination) it's not exactly teeming with non WASPs.

Katy - there is a synagogue in Norwich though - opposite the Catholic Cathedral on Earlham Road. The Muslim population seem to have to make do with what looks like a portakabin in the furthest reaches of the University grounds - always seems very wrong to me.

I knew nothing about persecution in this area either and like you may have to do some research.

Mercy. I'll try to find a link...

It was a programme Richard Littlejohn ( I know, I know..) did a while ago.

MR Bubble's cousins go to the Jewish Free School in N London and have said that security has been tightened there..but that wasn't the school Littlejohn visited.

Hang on. I'll have a look.

Nofolk is IMHO not a great place to live. To visit maybe, but live no. I worked in Norwich for a week once and I was shoked at the racism and attitudes of most people I met. IMHO the problme is less of persecution, but more that Norfolk is the end of the line, you never travel through IYKWIM Therefore they just don't have amulticultural environment.

I rememebr when I went camping last summert o the norflk coats andtalked to people in the next tent (we were from colchester so less than 2 hours away) and they had NEVER EVER left Norfolk, indeed they were from Norwich and we were on the coast 20 miles away and that was the furthest they had ever been.

There is a liberal jewish group in Norwicj here so all is not lost

Suffolk also has an emerging jewsih community and a new Liberal/progressive group was has been started less than 2 years ago with the increased numbers of jews. Colchester has a synagogue too.

We are everywhere, honestly!! Just not as visible perhaps

KatyMac, if you want the history, here is the story of St. William of Norwich, and St. Hugh - the latter story is in the Prioress's Tale in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

All thoroughly nasty, but a very long time ago.

Apparently it's hanging on by a thread - it's so sad

Why are the Muslims in a portacabin?

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There is a Jewish school in Kenton, N London that has intense security (two lots of razor wire fence, security booths etc) but gets regular threats. The area used to be a friendly mix of all ethnicities but there has been a shift.

Crunchie "We are everywhere, honestly!! Just not as visible perhaps" that is reassurance

Dh is of course unfailingly visible

Katy - that remark about visibility reminds me of a conversation I had with my friend from Guyana - she was rather amused at me talking about how some people would clock me as jewish on sight, and others wouldn't have a clue .

My Indian mother was racially abused and eventually driven out of the school she taught in, in 1970s Norwich.

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Here is a article about the programme

Sorry. The school is in Manchester, not London. Not that it makes a lot of difference, both are diverse cities.

my dh is jewish (but not religious) and we spend a lot of time in suffolk... maybe i could lend him out to make a minyan?
katy, the whole of east anglia is somewhat insular and far from diverse in any sense.... am always shocked by how v few non white people you ever see in suffolk. it's not just jewish population which is v under-represented. as a largely refugee population historically jewish communities tended to settle in large cities.

What a shame, Heated!

No - merely a rather tall Jamaican - who was for a significant time 'the only black in the village'

So much so that when another (African) black man moved in we were asked if he was DH's brother ?