"That's funny, you don't look Jewish!" -
Approaching the Jewish Community in the United Kingdom
Recent demographic trends affecting the UK Jewish population leave it less visible but more open to the Gospel than ever before. According to official figures produced by Jewish community organisations there about 330,000 Jewish people in Britain, 240,000 of them living in London, with other centres in Manchester(30,000), Leeds (12,000), Liverpool (8,000) and Glasgow (6,000). In London the North West has 100,000, (48,000 in Barnet, and 48,000 in Brent, Camden, Harrow and Westminster.) Another 30,000 live in Haringey and Enfield, and a third grouping is in Ilford and Redbridge (20,000). An ultra-orthodox community of Hasidic Jews live in Stamford Hill. The rest of the community is scattered around London, with 10% living south of the Thames.
The Jewish population has seen steady numerical decline since its high point coinciding with the baby boom in the 1950's. The community that largely began as immigrants and refugees in the East End of London, moved on to Golders Green, and is now comfortably settled in the leafy suburbs of Radlett and Bushey. The reality of this is that the Jewish community is an ageing community, losing members through death at the rate of 4,233 per year. A further loss to the community are those making aliyah to Israel (1,000 per year) or moving abroad.
Marriages in synagogue have declined from 1,100 average in the 80's to 866 in 1995. Births are also down, even amongst the most orthodox Hasidic groups who are known for their large families. The figure is 2,400 births in 1995, compared with 3,400 in the eighties. At this rate, the prophets of doom predict, the Jewish community will be non- existent by the year 2030.
What effect does this have on community attitudes?
The Jewish community is traditionally divided along the lines of Synagogue membership, but certain attitudes are found throughout, from ultra-orthodox to completely secular. Whilst at least one third of the Jewish community do not belong to any synagogue, the mainstream orthodox grouping to which 40% are linked is the United Synagogue, of which Jonathan Sacks is the Chief Rabbi, and the Federation of Orthodox Synagogues. Further to the right are the Ultra-Orthodox, the Hasidim (3%), the Sephardi Synagogue (2%), Jews from North Africa and Spanish origin. The Reform movement, of which the popular broadcaster Lionel Blue is a rabbi, is the fastest growing with 12.5%, and the Liberal, to the left of Reform, has 4%. Louis Jacob's Masorti movement is 1%.
Relations between the different synagogue groupings are often tense at official level, whilst friendly at grass roots. The Chief Rabbi lost the confidence of many to be their representative when, whilst showing outwardly a willingness to be associated with the service of remembrance at the time of the death of the much-respected Reform Rabbi Hugo Gryn, wrote to one of his orthodox colleagues of his disdain for such a "destroyer of the law" and his unhappiness at having to attend such an occasion so as not to make any concessions to the more liberal elements of the community.
The JPR survey found that whilst 31% of those surveyed described themselves as "traditional" , which would suggest some level of Sabbath observance and keeping of the Kosher food laws, 15% described themselves in the more liberal "Progressive" category, and a further 18% preferred the term "just Jewish" rather than any religious or denominational label. On the extremes of the spectrum, 2% described themselves as "Secular" and 9% as "strictly orthodox."
So today for most Jews religious observance is a means of identifying with the Jewish community rather than an expression of religious faith. That's why my father-in-law is happy to define himself as an "orthodox Jewish atheist."
We should also mention the newer groupings within the community, such the Gay and Lesbian synagogues, although statistics are hard to come by, as the wider community is unsure whether to recognise them.
The figure for Jewish believers in Jesus I will put at 3,000-5,000, on the basis of Jews for Jesus' own survey. Since Jews for Jesus has been in operation, just 8 years, we have seen something like 15 Jewish people per year make professions of faith. 20 years ago David Harley of the Church's Ministry among the Jewish people was only able to locate 100 Jewish believers in Jesus. Today we can survey more than 1,000.
The Decade of Jewish Evangelism?
In 1990 George Carey discontinued his patronage of CMJ, the Anglican mission to the Jews, which started in 1809. However it was intended, this was perceived by the Jewish community as a renunciation of evangelism. Others like the Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, for the Council of Christians and Jews, said it was not longer appropriate to ask the question whether Jesus is the Messiah for Jewish people, and called for the churches to no longer "target the Jews" for the Gospel. The debate in the media and in the churches that ensued raised all the questions of strategy and methods of evangelism in a pluralistic society. And we have yet to hear any definite answers from some quarters.
However, the EA has been proactive in answering some of the issues raised, and in taking a stand in support of Jewish evangelism.
Most Jewish people come to Christ through the witness of Christian friends and introduction to a welcoming local church. The main missions working amongst Jews provide training and outreach opportunities to equip the church. These are CMJ, CWI, MT, Focus on Israel, and new kid on the block, Jews for Jesus.
Where you have two Jews you have three opinions, and it has been asked by one senior evangelical leader whether we are "all singing off the same hymn sheet,". The answer is that we are, but with a variety: of different harmonies as regards eschatology, denominational affiliation, missiology. Some have a more Jewish lilt! The Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism, a sub-group of the larger Lausanne Consultation on World Evangelism, provides a platform for Jewish missions, messianic groups and others interested in Jewish evangelism to share in prayer, fellowship and witness.
There are now many messianic fellowships meeting in the UK, which seek to present the Gospel from within a Jewish cultural context through celebration of Jewish festivals and use of Jewish music and liturgy. They aim to contextualise the Gospel by expressing in terms relevant to Jewish culture, identity and religious practice what it means to accept Jesus as the Messiah. In seeking to develop a Messianic Jewish theology they are aided by the increasing awareness of New Testament scholars of the Jewish matrix of early Christianity.
The key to the success of the Messianic movement is to develop, without compromise, syncretism or heresy, what it means to be truly Jewish and truly Christian in accepting Jesus (the Hebrew name Y'shua is often used) as Messiah, Saviour and Lord. The jury is still out on how successful messianic groups are in this country, where the conditions necessary for their establishment are not so good as they are in the USA or Israel, but many new Jewish believers (the terms Hebrew Christian, Jewish Christian and Messianic Jew are variously used) can testify how they were encouraged to know that they "were not the only one" by meeting fellow Jewish believers.
There are now several well-known Jewish believers visible to both communities, such as Stan Telchin whose book Betrayed influenced Helen Shapiro, now "Walking Back to Happiness" and author Michelle Guinness. The presence of Jews for Jesus, new kids on the block (only 7 years old!) has added an extra element to the situation. With the use of adverts in the national press, posters on the Tube and humorous tracts, opportunities for personal witness, public meetings and debates in the media have continued to provide a hearing for the Gospel, despite some organised opposition and the accusations of cult-like activity.
So how can Christians effectively share their faith with Jewish friends? The task is not as daunting as it appears. Despite 2,000 years of miscommunication between Jews and Christians culminating in the Holocaust, Jewish people today are becoming more appreciative of the Jewish roots of Christianity, just as Christians are recognising the Jewishness of Jesus and the early church. The hardest issue to deal with is not the question of why, if Jesus is the Messiah, is there no peace on earth which the Messiah is supposed to bring. Nor is it the issue of how a God of love could allow 6 million Jewish people to die at the hands of "so-called Christians". Rather it is the personal consequences that may follow from becoming a disciple of Jesus, and the cost of possible rejection by friends and family. But even here, the trend appears to be in reverse, with an increasing number of Jewish families coming to faith in Christ.