Jews Living in a Secular Britain

Jews Living in a Secular Britain

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 work for religious reasons and can cause trouble with some

employers.

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