Can Jews Live in a Secular Britain?

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

I believe that Britain helps all religions to live together including the Jewish people. I believe that a multi religious country is better than a single religion country as it helps people to understand one another and live together more peacefully. When you live together you learn about one another’s rituals and beliefs and start to understand them better. People of other religions can help each other like with turning on the lights and cooking for them on Shabbat.

The Jewish people often live in a Jewish community helping each other wherever possible. To be a truly orthodox Jew can be difficult and expensive in a none Jewish state. The houses must be adapted, for example the kitchens need to include two sinks one for milk products and the other for meat products. Extra storage space is needed for two sets of cutlery and crockery, as this is not standard in a British home.

Britain is a multi-cultural society and food served in restaurants and shops is not kosher so it is more difficult to buy food and to eat out although a lot of supermarkets now cater for kosher food, together with many specialist shops. Now that some shops open twenty-four hours a day it is easier to buy food after the Sabbath.

Some of the disadvantages of living in Britain as opposed to Israel are that public holidays are held to a Christian schedule and are at different times to the Jewish holidays this means time has to be taken off ...

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Because of the appearance of the orthodox Jew they stand out as being different to other cultures and they are often discriminated against and teased about their appearance.

Food wise children cannot eat school dinners, as they are not always kosher unless they attend Jewish schools.

Although there are more synagogues and Jewish schools in Britain now there are still not enough to ensure that the younger people are kept fully involved in the Jewish culture. Having a single religion school can be very expensive to run and these schools are often private schools so only the richer families can send their children to them.

When Jewish children go to a mixed religion school they can be tempted to be less strict with their own religious beliefs or even follow other religions less strict than their own. They may even decide to marry outside the faith, causing family problems. The Jewish faith believes that their children should always marry into the faith. This temptation is less likely in a Jewish community.

Children attending a mixed school can also have problems mixing with other children socially as family commitments and religious restrictions can stop them joining in with social events with their friends. This could make the children rebel and the children may not take the rules of their religion as seriously as the older generation making the culture weaker.

Jewish people should be able to wear what they want and follow their religion as required without prejudice, because their religion is just as important as any other religion in this country

Paula Wilkes

10JW

R.E