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In the modern era, conversion from Judaism to Christianity occurred less from religious conviction than for social reasons. It sprang from the desire for access to areas from which Jews were excluded because of legal requirements or certain traditions. Because conversions were mostly made from such secular motivations, they always reflect the legal status of the Jews, their social position, their aspirations, and their expectations of the future. 1. Emancipation and EnlightenmentDespite the spread of the Enlightenment ideas of tolerance, the decline of the ancien r…

A learned society founded in 1893. Inspired by similar efforts in other countries, it set itself the task of documenting and studying Anglo-Jewish history. The Jewish Historical Society of England (JHSE) is the oldest extant Jewish society of this kind in Europe. Until late in the 20th century, it was the only institution in Great Britain that dedicated itself to the study of Anglo-Jewish history. Largely conducted by amateur historians, its research studies are now partly viewed as traditionalistic, apologetic, and antiquated. The initiative for the establishment of the Soci…

Since the re-authorization of Jewish settlement in the 17th century, the British capital has also been the center of Jewish life in England. Since the last decades of the 19th century, public perceptions were strongly marked by the East End, where, prior to the First World War, at least two-thirds of the Jews of London lived. From the 1870s to the 1940s, several tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe settled in the areas east of the London city center. Their foreign origin ar…

Founded in London in 1841, the Jewish Chronicle is the world’s oldest continually appearing Jewish weekly newspaper. In the 19th and 20th centuries, it played a decisive role in shaping public opinion within the Jewish community of Great Britain. While the newspaper’s agenda changed repeatedly over the decades, it essentially remained an opinion forum of the Jewish middle class. The Jewish Chronicle was preceded by two newspapers, both of which appeared in London. The monthly Hebrew Intelligencer was published as early as 1826 but discontinued after only three issues. In…

The Jewish Naturalization Act of 1753, referred to by contemporaries as the Jew Bill, allowed foreign-born Jews to become naturalized citizens of Great Britain without having to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. In spite of the restricted scope of the law and of its very limited potential consequences, its adoption caused a politically motivated outcry that led to its abrogation by parliament in the very same year. Its revocation had no consequences for the legal status of Jews in Great Britain; never…

Westminster, as the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, provided the setting for a debate that began in 1828 and continued for three decades regarding the question whether Jews could hold a seat in the House of Commons. In 1858 Lionel Rothschild became the first Jewish Member of the House of Commons. It would, however, be misleading to characterize the surrounding controversies as a struggle for the emancipation of the Jews. Since their resettlement in the 17th century, the lega…

Oldest association of the Jews of Great Britain founded in 1760 which committed itself to the representation of Jewish interests, particularly in questions of legislation. During the era of Queen Victoria, the Board of Deputies of British Jews was significantly shaped by its president Sir Moses Montefiore (1784–1885). His aid missions in the Near East, North Africa and Eastern Europe made him a symbolic figure in the Jewish world which embodied the safety and prosperity of the British Jewry as w…