HaYom Kulam Yod'im She'Kahane Tzadak!
Table of Contents
I General British Jewish History
II Jewish History of Places in The United Kingdom Outside of England
I General British Jewish History
England's first Jews came from Rouen, the capital of Normandy, in Northern France, when William The Conqueror invited them to settle in London in the wake of his conquest of England in 1066, to help develop commercial contacts between England and France. The early Norman monarchs encouraged Jewish settlement in towns outside of London.
In Medieval England, The Church preached that it was a sin for Christians to be money lenders, so Jews were brought in to provide this service. Most other occupations were closed to them, since they were excluded by the guilds from almost all trades and crafts. The Jews were the servants of The King, who taxed them very heavily. However, they prospered under King Henry II and made contributions to Talmudic scholarship.
In The 12th Century, the preaching of The Crusades led to attacks on Jews in most Western countries. The Crusader king, King Richard I refused to receive Jewish delegates to his coronation in 1189. This sign of hostility led to attacks on Jewish quarters in London and many other cities. The most tragic incident occurred in 1190 in York, where most of the Jews took refuge in Clifford's Tower where they were trapped and besieged by a fanatical mob. Led by their rabbi, Yom Tov Ben Issac of Joigny, they commited suicide rather than being captured and forcibly converted to Christianity. In Lincoln, Bishop Hugh of Avelon (St. Hugh of Lincoln) protected the Jews.
In The 12th and 13th Centuries, blood libels, heightened tax demands, and Crusading fervor hurt the community. King John and his son King Henry III viewed their Jewish subjects as a source of income. They imposed taxes so severe that The Jews begged for permission to leave the country. Permission was refused and even more taxes were imposed. Some Jews were murdered and the rights of others were denied. Persecution worsened under King Edward I. He arrested and imprisoned 600 Jews from all over England in The Tower of London. 270 of them were hanged their property was confiscated. In 1290, when the country's 16,000 Jews had nothing left to tax, Edward expelled them all and seized their houses and goods. He furnised ships so that they could return to France, where their families had originated. On the way, many of them were robbed and some were thrown to their deaths in The English Channel.
II Jewish History of Places in The United Kingdom Outside of England
Scotland
The Town Council and Burgess Roll minutes of 1691 and 1717 record applications by Jews for permission to live and trade in Edinburgh. However, the first Scottish Jewish community is thought to have been formed in Edinburgh in The Late 18th Century when local directories contain Jewish names, but today's community is descended from a congregation founded in 1816 in the same city.
The Jewish Community of Glasgow dates back to 1823. The oldest synagogue building is The Garnethill Synagogue which is now also the home of The Scottish Jewish Archives, which opened in 1879.
Waves of immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe, who came to settle across The United Kingdom during The 19th Century, brought thousands of Jews to Scotland. Most of whom chose to make their homes in industrial Glasgow. Glasgow's Jewish community grew rapidly from 1891 with many Jews settling in The Gorbals.
Glasgow's contemporary community has moved from the industrial parts of the city into the suburbs, mainly Southward to the Giffnock and Newton Mearns areas. Many of the city's seven synagogues are located in the suburbs. Edinburgh, which has a smaller community of just over one thousand Jews, has synagogues, and a number of small but active Jewish societies. There are also small numbers of Jews in Aberdeen and Dundee.
Wales
The Welsh Jewish community took form when Jews who sought to escape persecution and stifled opportunity immigrated from Russia and Eastern Europe. Today, Cardiff has 2 synagogues one of which is Orthodox. There is a Jewish kindergarten. Kosher food is sold in several shops. Jews also live in Llandudno, Newport, and Swansea.
Northern Ireland
The current community of Belfast was founded in 1869, although the presence of individual Jews in earlier centuries is recorded in historical records. As with the Jews of The Republic of Ireland, immigrants in The 19th Century boosted the community's numbers significantly. In recent decades, the civil unrest between Catholics and Protestants has seen most of Belfast's Jews migrate to England, Israel, and The United States. A modern synagogue was built in 1967, but today the community numbers only a few hundred.
The Channel Islands
Jews first appeared in The Channel Islands in the middle of The 18th Century, and the first synagogue was built in the middle of The 19th Century. Most Jews managed to flee the island in advance of the German occupation, but those that remained were handed over to The Germans by the local authorities and deported to their deaths in Auschwitz. Jews returned to The Channel Islands after the war. They reside mainly in Jersey. There is a synagogue in Jersey which is served by a rabbi who visits from England.
The Isle of Man
There are more than 70 Jews on The Isle of Man and one synagogue.
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