Newspaper Page Text
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Exodus of young families
Violence
causes
on of Jewish life
Okns' S Womens' Tjairstylis
by Judith RosmMd
Th* Jewish community in
Belfast, Ireland, can be traced
back to 1771, It has through the
years seen many changes. One
has been the growth of a largely
middle-class community, born in
the city as distinct from their
grandparents, mostly im-
migrants from Russia and
Poland, poor, hard-working and
observant Jews. That change,
however, was gradual.
One change, not so gradual,
has taken place within the last
eight years — the exodus from
the city of young families.
Within the past couple of years
about 20 families have left.
This may not seem many but
out of a congregation of ap
proximately 280 families the ex
odus is very noticeable, par
ticularly so because among them
have been young men who have
taken a prominent part in the
life of the community and who
are the fathers of school children
who, it would be expected, would
follow in their footsteps.
The reason for their uprooting
is two-fold: the violence that has
besmirched the name of the city
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but the great difference is the
stretch of water between Belfast
and Britain.
In Britain the distance
between a small and a larger
community is not so big as to
prevent visits from one to the
other for social or other occa
sions but it is not quite so easy
or inexpensive to get into s plane
or boat (followed by a train jour
ney) to make contacts. There is
also the time factor.
The community is, of course,
saddened and worried by the
toes of so many families. There
is s drop in the finances
available to roll the various in
stitutions, not least the Syn
agogues and the Talmud Torah.
Seat prices in the lovely syn
agogue — consecrated in 1964
and which is the pride of the
community and a source of ad
miration by non-Jews — have
risen and the number attending
it is lamentably small.
The Talmud Torah ia in a
critical position. At present
there are only between 30 and 40
children attending and after the
summer it is expected there will
be only about 20 because of the
exodus.
Does all this sound as though
the community is in a very
depressed state? Worried, yes.
Sad, yes. Because it is the young
and most active who are leaving,
but those who remain are op
timistic that there is a future
and they are determined to see
that the various institutions con
tinue to flourish.
A Jew, Robert Briscoe (left), shown receiving the mayoral
chain in 1961, ssrved as Lord Mayer of Dublin for two terms.
and the fear of parents that their
children might become involved.
There have been attacks on
Jewish homes and children have
seen a terrorist shoot at their
father and wound him; there
have been attacks on Jewish-
owned businesses, not for any
sectarian reason but simply
because they were located in the
line of attack.
The effects in both cases can
be traumatic and while adult
members of s family might be
prepared to remain and, like
moet other people, take their
chances, they think it unfair to
expose their children to the
effects. >
They also feel it us unfair to
the older children who, because
of the dangers that lurk in the
streets, cannot go to parties or
dances. So in Manchester, Lon
don, Glasgow, Bournemouth —
which have proved the moet pop
ular places in which to start a
new home — they are finding a
normal environment in which to
work and rear a family.
Another reason for leaving is
only slightly connected with the
“trouble*”. The community has
been without a rabbi since April,
1974. The standard of Orthodoxy
has fallen and parents feel that
there is no longer the right
Jewish atmosphere in which to
bring up their children.
It may be argued that other
cities in the United Kingdom are
faced with a similar problem —
the absence of a rabbi and
dwindling Jewish population —
the
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