Time: 60 mins
Introduction (10 mins):
Pass round a 'Jewish Chronicle' and 'London Jewish News'. If the group is large also pass round a number of photocopied pages from the newspaper.
Tell everybody to flick through the material looking at which topics come up regularly. They should also pick an article from the paper which interests them which they should share with the rest of the group.
Articles should be shared with the rest of the group - try to get them to categorize their article (ie religious, youth, sport).
Agree/Disagree (45 mins):
Point out that the articles contained in the newspaper represent a lot of what goes on in Anglo-Jewish life.
Place the words 'agree' and 'disagree' at either end of the room.
Then ask them to use these two words as a thermometer - if they strongly agree they should stand near agree and visa versa.
Ask them how much they think each of the following is a part of Anglo-Jewish life (they can use either guess work, their own knowledge or the articles they have just seen in the newspaper). After each word there should be a discussion based on the points below:
NB - it should all be compared to how life is in Israel.
Youth:
Only way to stop assimilation
Youth movements
Synagogue youth clubs
Tour (note massive subsidies for kaytana in Israel)
Cheder
Bar Mitzvah
Birth rates
Places to hang out
Jewish social circles
University
Jewish Education:
Mainstream Schools
Few Jewish schools
Cheder
Movements
Israel:
Connection to
Philanthropy - arm chair Zionism. Can you be a Zionist and live in the UK?
Holidays
Gap-years
Political support
Political weight
Employment:
Very few people employed in Jewish communal work
Poor pay
Religion:
Synagogue membership
Power of the Synagogue
Burial rights
Issues - ie Agnut
Streams of Judaism
Pluralism
Communal Divides
Sport:
In Israel you have all the Jewish football teams
Who would an English Jews support in an 'England vs. Israel' match
Today very little in the way of 'Jewish' sport - used to be more
Assimilation:
About 40%
Problem?
Solution?
Only 285,000 Jews today around in the UK - fallen from 1/2 million
Provincial Communities:
London
Leeds
Manchester
Birmingham
Judaism is a large part of a Jew living in England's life:
Most Jews go to Synagogue 3 times a year