Research seminar - Judaism resources and RE in the classroom

David HampshireCornwall Learning

Exercise 1

Looking at resources about Judaism

What do you like about them? What don’t you like? Would you use them?

Exercise 2

Making sense of resources about Judaism

What do these resourses represent in terms of Judaism?

Do they present a ‘single narrative’?

Exercise 3

What do the resources tell us about Jews?

They are predominantly strictly Orthodox/fully observant Jews

They live in Israel or the USA British Jews have no taste in wallpaper

RE in England and Wales

To be about Christianity and the main religious traditions represented in Great Britain.

So what about Jews here? Do the resources represent Jews in

Great Britain?

What we know about Jews in Britain

The Jewish population in the 2001 Census was published as 266,740 people. However, this figure did not include Jews who identified ‘by ethnicity only’ in England and Wales or Scottish Jews who identified as Jewish by upbringing but held no current religion. These broader definitions brought the total number of Jews enumerated in the United Kingdom in the 2001 Census to 270,499.

Geography 96.7 per cent of British Jews lived in England, 2.5 per

cent lived in Scotland, 0.8 per cent lived in Wales, 65.6 per cent lived in Greater London.

Jews lived in all but one of the 408 districts in the United Kingdom, but their distribution was uneven countrywide. Almost a quarter (23.1 per cent) lived in just two places, the London boroughs of Barnet and Redbridge. Over half (52 per cent) lived in a further eight: Harrow, Camden, Hackney, Hertsmere, Bury, Leeds, Westminster and Brent.

In Barnet, one person in seven (14.8 per cent) of the total population was recorded as Jewish.

Hertsmere in Southern Hertfordshire had grown to become one of the most important areas of Jewish settlement in Britain outside Barnet.

Geography continued In Greater Manchester, approximately two-thirds of

the Jewish population (14,215 people) lived in ten contiguous wards straddling the boundaries of the three districts of Bury, Salford and Manchester.

At the neighbourhood level, Jews did not approach 100 per cent of the population in even one of the 218,040 Output Areas in the United Kingdom. They exceeded 75 per cent in just two of these, in one of which there was a large Jewish residential care facility.

Jews comprised a majority—over 50 per cent—of the population in only 108, or 0.05 per cent, of all Output Areas in the United Kingdom

Age and gender structure The median age of females in the general

population of England and Wales was 38.1 years, but for Jewish females it was 44.3 years. The gap for males was slightly smaller but still large; for all males in the general population the median age was 36.1 years but for Jewish males it was 41.2 years. The median age of Scottish Jews was older, at 47.5 years.

For Jews of all ages over 14, there were more women than men in each cohort.

Age and gender continued The district of Salford in Greater

Manchester and the London Borough of Hackney highlight the different demographic shape of the strictly Orthodox population. Both exhibited very large proportions of children aged 14 and under: 35.4 per cent in Salford and 34.4 per cent in Hackney (compared with 16.1 per cent for Jews nationally). This young population has concomitant growth potential, in stark contrast to the majority of the national Jewish population.

Households The Census reported that there were 116,330 Jewish-

headed households. However, there were actually 89,371 (76.8%)

households in which all members were Jewish by religion, almost half (47 per cent) of which were single person households.

In addition, there were 56,089 (38.5% of the total below) households in which at least one person, but not all, household members were reported as Jewish (by religion or by ethnicity). Thus, a total of 145,460 households were enumerated in which at least one person was Jewish.

Households 31 per cent of Jewish households contained

either a single pensioner or a pensioner couple, compared with 23 per cent in the general population.

There were 42,046 Jewish single-person households (36.1 per cent of all Jewish-headed households compared with 30 per cent in the general population).

Jews were less likely to be lone parents. The average size of households headed by

Jews was slightly smaller than the national mean (2.3 compared with 2.4).

Partnerships 27.7 per cent of Jewish people aged

between 45 and 59 had separated, divorced or remarried.

There were 111,697 married Jewish individuals. 75.4 per cent of married Jewish men and 77.5 per cent of married Jewish women had a Jewish spouse, although 6.2 per cent of married Jewish men and 8.5 per cent of married Jewish women had a spouse who reported ‘no religion’ or did not report a religion.

Partnerships Approximately one in six (18.4 per cent) of

all married Jewish men, and 13.9 per cent of all married Jewish women, had spouses of another faith, the majority being Christian.

There were 5,618 Jewish men and an identical number of Jewish women living in cohabiting unions.

49.4 per cent of cohabiting Jewish men and 41.7 per cent of cohabiting Jewish women had a partner of a different faith, mostly Christian.

Partnerships 23.7 per cent of Jewish cohabiting men and

31.4 per cent of Jewish cohabiting women had a partner who reported ‘no religion’ or did not report a religion.

In total there were 23,183 couples (married or cohabiting) in which one partner was Jewish and the other was of a different faith; there were a further 11,356 couples in which the partner of a Jew did not report a religion (that is, the partner reported ‘no religion’ or did not report a religion).

Ethnicity 96.8 per cent of Jews recorded their ethnicity as

‘White’. 32,164 Jews recorded their ethnicity as ‘White Other’. 13,544 people used the write-in option to describe

their ethnicity as ‘Jewish’; of these 10,950 also gave their religion as ‘Jewish’. Therefore, 2,594 individuals appeared in the Census as Jewish by ethnicity only. Compared with ‘Jews by religion only’, ethnic Jews were more likely to be male, relatively young, more economically active and better educated.

Country of birth The Jewish population of England and Wales in 2001

was mainly indigenous with 83.2 per cent born in the United Kingdom.

The three largest groups of foreign-born Jews recorded by the Census were the 7,066 born in Israel, the 5,991 born in the United States and the 5,688 born in South Africa.

Almost half (46.7 per cent) of the Jews in Kensington and Chelsea were born outside the United Kingdom. By contrast, 95 per cent of Redbridge’s Jewish population were born in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.

Religious outlook of Jews in London

How does current religious practice relate to current self-defined outlook? It would be incorrect to suggest, for example, that those describing themselves as currently ‘Reform’ were Somewhat Secular, or that those currently ‘Traditional’ were all Somewhat Religious.

Scales of Jewishness (London)

Certainly those who saw themselves as being currently ‘just Jewish’ (22 per cent) were more likely to be Secular. However 16 per cent of this group were Somewhat Religious. Marriage may provide a possible explanation for this.

Traditional? Two out of five people in the sample saw themselves

as being currently ‘Traditional’ (41 per cent) and, as expected, the majority of them were Somewhat Religious. However, over 40 per cent of these ‘Traditionals’ fell into the combined Secular/ Somewhat Secular (SSS) grouping, highlighting further the lack of a straightforward correlation. A similar, but opposite, pattern was evident in the case of those describing themselves as currently ‘Reform/Progressive’; over a third described their outlook as being in the combined Somewhat Religious/Religious grouping (SRR) (36 per cent; note that only 17 per cent of the sample identified themselves as ‘Reform’).

Jewish consciousness The survey of the Jews of Greater London investigates

‘Jewish consciousness’ in a manner that explicitly ignores the issue of observance. It found that the SSS had a very high level of Jewish consciousness, with 80 per cent stating that they were either ‘quite strongly’ or ‘extremely’ conscious of being Jewish.

This sits uncomfortably with the fact that only 9 per cent of the sample described their outlook as Religious.

Making sense of it all There are many possible explanations as to

why the level of Jewish consciousness was so high while that of religiosity was so low. Perhaps the label ‘Religious’ was associated with actual practice (as opposed to outlook). For example, the Religious 9 per cent is similar to the proportion who did not travel on the Sabbath (11 per cent) and the proportion who would not turn on a light on the Sabbath (7 per cent). These might be defined as ‘religious practice markers’ breaking down the perceived smoothness of the outlook continuum.

Religious practice (London) Graham (2003) identifies certain markers for religious

observance and practice: lighting candles on a Friday night, attendance at a Seder, fasting on Yom Kippur and keeping kosher. With regard to lighting candles 82% of respondents said they lit candles occasionally or every Friday night. The more religious the more likely a person was to light candles every Friday night but 12% of secular Jews also lit candles every Friday night. This would indicate a greater sense of Jewish ethnicity among those Jews but 73% of the SSS group also lit candles occasionally.

Jewish festivals (London) A similar pattern emerges in terms of the

Seder meal with over three-quarters of Jews in London attending every year. More than half of SSS Jews also attended a Seder every year – although Graham points out the family nature of the Seder meal and how that may significantly effect choice in this area. Secular Jews were much less likely to fast on Yom Kippur than any other group of Jews in London but still 30% of them fasted every year and 53% of the somewhat secular also fasted every year.

Keeping kosher (London) One of the things that identifies Jews is the

issue of eating Kosher. The research showed that 16% of those who considered themselves religious occasionally or frequently ate non-kosher meat outside the home and 55% of those who thought of themselves as somewhat religious ate non-kosher meat outside the home. Interestingly at home 11% of religious Jews did not keep kosher and that was true for 26% of those who thought of themselves as somewhat religious.

Belonging (London)

The research also shows something interesting in terms of self-perception and synagogue affiliation. Nearly 30% of secular Jews belonged to the main Orthodox body of synagogues in London, in fact 60% of secular Jews belonged to some synagogue in London.

Jews in Leeds Jews in Leeds tend to describe themselves

as Traditional (57%) but fewer than 10% refrain from travelling on the Shabbat and 78% of the sample ate non-kosher food outside of the home at least occasionally if not frequently. Four out of every five Jews in Leeds belonged to an Orthodox synagogue but this was not of itself a predictor for religious observance.

Belonging in Leeds Only 25% of the community attended

synagogue most Shabbats or more frequently, with 33% only attending for the High Holy Days and 18% reporting that they never went to a synagogue. The indication being that synagogue membership was not necessarily connected to prayer but for some other reason. In fact the Jewish population of Leeds is almost evenly split between those who describe themselves as secular or somewhat secular and those who see themselves as religious or somewhat religious.

Marrying

When it comes to marrying non-Jews about 27% of Jews over 75 yrs old had a child married to a non-Jew, with the highest proportion of these being Jews who defined themselves as secular or somewhat secular.

Waterman (2003) on Leeds’ Jews

Nonetheless, more than three-quarters of the respondents stated that they attended a Passover Seder every year and more than 5 in every 6 lived in a household in which candles were lit on Friday nights. This is a typically Anglo-Jewish situation in which many people maintain certain Jewish religious customs and, at the same time, are lax in regard to many others.

Issues about resources

Looking at the resources we come to a number of conclusions

1. They do not represent the Jewish community

2. They distort reality for most Jews3. They make ‘religious’ people appear

unlike the audience and therefore make religion something alien

Dominant and demotic disocurse

Different ways is which we speak about ourselves

1. Dominant refers to ‘traditional narratives’ held by those who see themselves as having authority

2. Demotic discourse is the situation among the people – it is messyStriking a balance is important for religious educators

Breaking down the stereotype

Not all ‘believers’ have the same level of practice or engagement – they are no less believers

Not all ‘believers’ believe all the time – there is room for doubt

Not all ‘believers’ act and think consistently over time – life changes

RE as a tool for self-reflection

Am I consistent in how I approach the world?

Do I change my views about major ideas?

Am I always equally committed? Do I have times of doubt and faith? Am I normal?

Thanks to the Institute of Jewish Policy research for the data: http://www.jpr.org.uk/