Jewish identity and community in Belfast, 1920-1948

Abstract

Following the partition of Ireland and formation of Northern Ireland, the Jewish community in Belfast faced important changes in terms of its relationship with Irish and British coreligionists, and in the development of Jewish identity in the northern capital. This thesis examines expressions of religious, cultural and political identity within the Belfast Jewish community and addresses the role of community for Jews in the city from 1920 until 1948. Religious identity is explored through the pivotal role of the Annesley Street synagogue and its personnel, and the political negotiations surrounding shechita and religious education. The creation of a Belfast Jewish Institute provides an insight into Jewish cultural identity in the city, and explores the importance of an island-wide social and communal Jewish network. Jewish occupational composition and class in Belfast are studied through an analysis of marriage records and concepts of Britishness and respectability are considered through an analysis of naturalisation applications. Jewish political identity in Belfast is examined in the context of the violence that erupted in Belfast during the Troubles of 1920-1922 and considers early expressions of political neutrality alongside patriotism and association with royalty and unionism. In addition to local and national politics this thesis analyses the role of Zionist organisations and fundraising in Belfast, and Rabbi Jacob Shachter’s role in a global Zionist movement, providing information on an ethnoreligious political dialogue, distinct from the traditional nationalist-unionist debates, taking place in Belfast during these decades. The importance of Jewish communal welfare structures is considered over two chapters, the first of which studies how Jews in Belfast accessed welfare prior to the 1946 National Insurance Act and 1948 National Assistance Act, addressing communal responses to poor relief, health, and prison welfare. The final chapter examines the Belfast Jewish community’s reaction to Jewish refugees attempting to flee areas of Nazi-controlled Europe and assesses interaction with British Jewish welfare agencies and the Ministry of Defence, the structures put in place to process correspondence from refugees and source guarantors, and the organisations formed to assist refugees who made the journey to Northern Ireland. Like many provincial Jewish communities, the Belfast Jewish community was continually in flux, comprised of permanent members, transmigrants and, by 1938, refugees. This thesis aims to present both individual and communal expressions of Jewish identity in the city, and disclose the voluntary structures that sought to meet the needs of the city’s Jewish community.

Date of Award	Jul 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Supervisor	Peter Gray (Supervisor) & Paul Bew (Supervisor)