Liverpool Jewish community still stepping to a Mersey Beat

As part of the  Board’s work building links across the community, Senior Vice President Laura Marks visited Liverpool to meet the local Rep Council and key communal institutions. She was delighted to find a community, which despite declining numbers, remains vibrant and is extremely well organized and resourced. Liverpool, she reflected,  is the story of Jewish communities around the country.  Its Jewish population fell by 20% from 2001 to 2011. It is now just over 2,100, with young people migrating to Manchester, London or abroad. Laura said: “What I found however was that the figures hide a much more complex story.  An aging community needs care and the range of services provided by Merseyside Jewish Community Centre is extraordinary with day care, meals on wheels and clubs of all shapes and sizes.  The brand new King David High School houses a thriving student body where around 80% of the students identify outside the community. Whilst addressing the sixth formers, I was struck by this model of integration: Jews and non-Jews working and living together, learning about each other in a palpably Jewish environment." Laura then went on to Stapely, the home for elderly Jews- with over 60 bedrooms.   “Inside Stapely", Laura commented, " it is alive and kicking, with a residential wing and a care home, chatty residents and a manager, Hilary, who knows every resident, like an old friend.  “In the evening I met the Rep Council.  Yes, the numbers decline and resources are scarce, but with literally hundreds of volunteers, four synagogues, youth activities, a state of the art school, a seriously active community director, Sara Radivan, and a young dynamic Rep Council chair, Ian Cohen, I’m delighted to report Liverpool - really is - living Judaism.”