Board of Deputies of British Jews

The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the main representative body of British Jewry. Founded in 1760 as a joint committee of the Sephardi (Spanish and Portuguese) and Ashkenazi (Central and Eastern European) Jewish communities in London it has since become a widely recognised forum for the views of the different sectors of the UK Jewish community.

The Board is currently led by Henry Grunwald QC, who was re-elected for a second three-year term in 2006. The four Vice-Presidents are Vivian Wineman, Dr Paul Edlin, Clive Lewisohn and Flo Kaufmann. Under the Presidency of Henry Grunwald the Jewish Community Leadership Council (subsequently renamed the Jewish Leadership Council) was established. The Council comprises the senior lay leaders of the major organsations in each sector of UK Jewish life together with a number of leaders appointed on an ad-personam basis. The President of the Board is normally the Chair of the Jewish Leadership Council and this development is seen to have extended the influence and reach of the Board's President.

A notable past President was the Victorian philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore, who in the nineteenth century travelled around the world assisting Jews facing persecution. More recently Greville Janner MP (now Lord Janner) was a President.

The Chief Executive of the Board is Jon Benjamin who succeeded Neville Nagler in 2005. Alexander Goldberg was appointed Communities Issues Director in 2006 and Liz Harris Public Affairs Director in 2007.

The Board receives Deputies elected by individual synagogues, confederations of synagogues, and other organisations within the Jewish community such as charities and youth groups. It serves as the principal reference point for government, the media and wider society. All matters tending to impact on the life of Jews in Britain fall within the Board's remit, including an active interfaith programme.

The Board of Deputies offices are situated in the family home of Isaac D'Israeli, the father of the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.

Historical Background

The London Committee of Deputies of British Jews, which is now known as the Board of Deputies of British Jews,Jacob the jew established in 1760 when seven Deputies were appointed by the elders of the Spanish and Portuguese Congregations to form a standing committee to pay homage to George III on his accession to the throne. Deputies had been appointed before this date, for example in 1738 when the question of admitting Jews to the freedom of the City of London was under consideration. 1760 however is generally accepted as the date of the Board’s foundation. Minutes Books date from then and it was also the date the Ashkenazi Community appointed their own “Secret Committee for Public Affairs”. It was agreed at the end of 1760 that the two committees should continue to hold joint meetings from time to time. The small Anglo-Jewish community resided largely in London at this date.

The Secret Committee of the Ashkenazim and the ‘Deputados’ met intermittently until well into the 1800s. From 1817 the two appear to have achieved greater unity and met thereafter as one body.

In the 1830s, the role and reputation of the Board began to blossom with the election of Moses Montefiore as President of the Board in 1835 and with official recognition from Parliament. Parliament had no sitting Jewish members until the second half of the century, but the Marriage Act 1836 named the President of the Board of Deputies as the authority for certifying the Marriage Secretaries of Synagogues. In 1836 Montefiore was instrumental in drawing up the first constitution and establishing the name of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. The Constitution has never been a static arrangement, but has been regularly updated to meet the needs of the Community. The 1836 preamble stated that it was of essential advantage to the Jews of Britain that in all matters attaching to their political welfare, they should be represented by one body.

Moses Montefiore was to have profound influence over the development of the Board as he was to have over Jewry throughout the world. Under his Presidency the Board came to be recognised as the representative body of British Jewry and its name became known overseas. In 1840 Montefiore went to plead for persecuted Jews in Damascus; the Board has been actively concerned with the interests and rights of co-religionists abroad ever since. Montefiore was President from 1835 until 1874 with intermittent breaks usually when he was overseas. He was an active international figure; he visited the Holy Land several times (part of Jerusalem is named after him) and interceded many times on behalf of oppressed Jews with foreign leaders. He received co-operation from the Foreign Office and the personal approbation of Queen Victoria who knighted him.

By the end of the century, when the Anglo-Jewish community had achieved full emancipation, hundreds of thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe came to the country to escape Tsarist oppression. The Aliens Committee was formed by the Board in 1905 (the year the first Aliens Restrictions Act was passed) to ensure that Jewish immigrants received considerate treatment and to provide help with naturalisation problems. Britain remained a place of refuge well into the twentieth century, particularly with the growth of fascism in Europe in the 1930s and the accompanying rise of anti-Semitism. The years 1933-1945 threatened the very survival of Anglo-Jewry. In 1936 the Jewish Defence Committee was created and launched an Outdoor Campaign to challenge the open-air meetings conducted by the British Union of Fascists. Anti-Fascist leaflets and literature were circulated and protest meetings supported by Christian Churches and other non-Jews were organised. The Committee also set about projecting a more positive image of Jewry. Co-operation with other faiths continues, most significantly perhaps in the close liaison with the Council of Christians and Jews. The Board also plays a major role in working with other faith communities through the Three Faiths Forum and the Inter Faith Network for the UK, as well as in various governmental committees, for example the Inner Cities Religious Council.

Following the Nazi genocide of European Jews during the Second World War, the Board of Deputies set about the work of reconstruction in Britain and throughout the world. In 1950 it convened the first Conference of Jewish Communities in the British Commonwealth when representatives from communities in the Commonwealth met to discuss matters of mutual interest. At the first meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco the Board was represented. Dr. D. Mowshowitch prepared surveys of the conditions of European Jewry as the Board helped these communities to rebuild, and the Foreign Affairs Committee had an active role in the negotiations for Jewish reparations. The Board is a member of the Co-ordinating Board of Jewish Organisations, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany (Claims Conference), the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and the World Jewish Congress. It has helped in the rehabilitation of Holocaust survivors and works to secure compensation and restitution for them. In 1983 a Holocaust Memorial was set up in Hyde Park in London at the instigation of the Board of Deputies. More recently the Board played a significant role in the struggle to secure financial compensation for assets looted during the Nazi era and for deposits in confiscated bank accounts. The Board was also involved in providing grants to needy Holocaust survivors from payments from the UK Foreign Office and the Swiss Fund for Holocaust-era Compensation.

Education remains a keen interest of the Board. In 1853 grants were made to Jewish Day Schools after the Board had negotiated the matter with the government. Public examinations set for Jewish Sabbaths and festivals presented Jewish candidates with severe problems. The Education Committee of the Board worked hard to have all examinations set at more convenient times or to have alternative examination dates arranged for Jewish candidates. The Board of Deputies works with local and private education authorities to combat racism, anti-Zionism and religious discrimination in schools and colleges. Before the migrations of North African Jews in 1948, the Board played an active role in the administration of schools in the region.

The Board of Deputies has always fought anti-Semitism in whatever guise and degree it manifests itself. Much of this work is routine and takes place at both the communal and the individual level. The Board is proud to describe itself as “… the focus and muscle of its [Jewish Community’s] defence …”. Agitation against Shechita (the Jewish method of slaughtering animals for food) and Circumcision continues to be opposed. Educating and informing non-Jews about Judaism, Israel and the UK Jewish community continues to the present day and is an important aspect of the work of the Board.

Anti-Semitism in the former Soviet Union was attacked during the Cold War period. The plight of Soviet Jews, the refusal of the Soviet authorities to allow freedom of worship and the right to emigrate to Israel, were drawn to public attention by vociferous campaigning. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Board worked to present a co-ordinated response to the situation and established the National Council for Soviet Jewry (later the Council for Jews in the Former Soviet Union) to administer the campaign in 1975. (The archives of the National Campaign for Soviet Jewry are catalogued at the Greater London Record Office as ACC/3087.)

The creation of the State of Israel in 1948 provided the Board with a new focus. Palestine and the proposed establishment of a Jewish homeland had long been a preoccupation for Anglo-Jewry; the Balfour Declaration of 1917 had been addressed to the Vice-President of the Board, Lord Rothschild. A Palestine Committee of the Board of Deputies existed from 1923 until 1948 when it became the Eretz Israel Committee. The Board’s International Division (which replaced the former Israel Committee) now acts as a bridge between the UK Jewish community and Israel and seeks to promote a sense of identity and solidarity with Israel. Anti-Zionism in Britain is monitored and countered at all levels. The Board also has close links with the Israeli Embassy.

In 1940 the Trades Advisory Council was established to combat anti-Semitism in trade (one of its more persistent manifestations); to encourage good relations between Jewish and non-Jewish traders; to licence Jewish shop-keepers to work on Sundays; and to give advice during a period of food rationing and close government observation. The Council was able to issue certificates to Jewish traders who wished to work on Sundays (before restrictions on Sunday trading were eased in the 1990s) and give support to Jewish employees asked to work on Jewish High Holy Days and Sabbaths. It was able to arbitrate in business disputes. After some years as a practically independent body affiliated to the Board, the Trades Advisory Council now operates as an integral part of the Board. It still performs valuable work in helping employees who experience anti-Semitism and discrimination in the workplace. The Board has also issued guidance to employers and employees about good practice, including ways of approaching requests from Jewish employees who wish to maintain their religious observance.

The Board of Deputies has been served throughout its history by individuals not only active in community affairs, but in other spheres of public life. Moses Montefiore stands as the single most prominent figure, but other notables include Sir Philip Magnus, Judge Neville Laski, Professor Selig Brodetsky, Lucien Wolf, Lord Barnett Janner, Michael Fidler, Lord Fisher and Lord Greville Janner. Officers of the Board have always represented Jewish interests at the highest level.

The history of the Board of Deputies has not always been a peaceful one either in its relations with the world at large or within the British Jewish community. There have been controversies about its structures and procedures; controversies over representation from the Orthodox and Liberal sides of the community; and controversies over Zionism and Israel’s politics. The ongoing problems which Israel has with her Arab neighbours have presented difficulties for the Jewish Diaspora. There have been clashes with other communal groups over policy and of course full and frank dialogue with non-Jewish individuals and organisations. Lively debate on virtually every subject has been a constant feature.

What began as a small body focused on the capital is now an institution of international standing. At its core remain the founding principles; the Board of Deputies retains the privilege of personal approach to the Sovereign on state occasions (most recently on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II); it continues an active interest in the lives of fellow Jews abroad; it seeks to protect, to promote and to represent UK Jewry.

Structure of the Board of Deputies

The Board is constituted of Deputies elected by synagogue congregations and communal organisations. In 1835 twenty-two delegates were elected from four synagogues; by the 1980s some five hundred delegates were elected to represent some two hundred and fifty synagogues and a smaller number of secular institutions. By 2000, the number of Deputies was approximately three hundred. Each synagogue or institution elects one or more Deputies, depending on the size of the particular body, and elections take place every three years. The Deputies transact the business of the Board through Divisions and work in conjunction with the Honorary Officers (President, Vice-Presidents and Treasurer) and professional staff. The organisation and administration of the Board of Deputies has been reviewed and overhauled several times. There are no party political divisions at the Board.

Sampson Samuel was appointed the first paid Secretary of the Board in 1837 and he remained in post until his death in 1868. The third Secretary of the Board, Charles Emanuel (who succeeded his own father in the post), was highly active and under him the number of paid staff increased. It was also a period of increasing business for the staff. At the present time, the Board employs the equivalent of approximately 14 full-time staff headed by a Jon Benjamin, Director General. Other Directors include Alexander Goldberg, Sandra Clark, Liz Harris and Winston Pickett.

The Board meets eight times a year to debate matters of current concern and to consider the reports from its various Divisions, which have evolved to meet the changing and increasing demands on the Board’s time. The first Committee to be formed was the Law and Parliamentary Committee in 1854 (subsequently the Law, Parliamentary and General Purposes Committee), to keep a watch over legislation being prepared in Parliament that could have effects on Jewish citizens. The very early work of this Committee included special provision for the Sabbath Day observance and kosher food. The Foreign Affairs Committee was formed in 1878, four years after the retirement of Moses Montefiore, who for so long had stood as the embodiment of Anglo-Jewry abroad. The Committee began life as the Joint Foreign Committee and was set up in conjunction with the Anglo-Jewish Association (formed 1871). A clutch of other committees was created around the turn of the century, Shechita, Aliens, Education and Youth and Press and Information. The Press and Information Committee became the Defence Committee in 1936. The Executive Committee was not set up until comparatively late in 1939, and then only as a wartime expedient.

Post war developments include the Yad Vashem Committee to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. The Community Research Unit compiled statistics on the community (now superseded by the Community Policy Research Group). In 1982 the Board set up the Central Enquiry Desk (now known as the Jewish Community Information Desk) to provide information on Jewish matters to public telephone enquiries. The Communal Diary is also administered by the Board.

In 1997, after a review of the Board’s structure and organisation by an external management consultant, new arrangements were approved by the Board. All the former elected committees were abolished and replaced by four Divisional Boards which between them cover all aspects of the Board’s work. The four Divisional Boards are Community Issues; Defence and Group Relations; International; and Finance and Organisation. Each is chaired by an Honorary Officer and is composed of a number of elected Deputies, supported by a professional Director. The Divisional Boards in turn establish committees and working groups to deal with particular areas of activity. The Board has also set up a Regional Deputies’ Assembly (formerly Provincial Council) which brings together all the Deputies from communities outside London to discuss matters of shared concern; the Assembly in turn elects a small Regional Council. Each of the Divisional Boards elects a member to sit on the Executive Committee, which also includes the Honorary Officers, the Chairs of the Regional Council and Constitution Committee, the Director General, the Directors (ex officio) and the Past Presidents of the Board. The Executive Committee is the main decision-making body of the Board.

In 2007 the Board set up the Community Policy Research Group (CPRG) which is a horizon-scanning think-tank looking at education, welfare and community development issues. The advisory board of the CPRG includes senior professionals from the Board of Deputies, UJIA, Jewish Care and Jewish Leadership Council and senior academic advisors. The CPRG is headed up by the Community Issues Director. This has seen the Community Issues team grow to 15 members of staff.

Criticisms and controversies

In 2003, the Board accused the aid organisation Interpal of being a terrorist organisation. Interpal threatened to sue for libel, whereupon the Board apologised in an out of court settlement.

The Board became involved in the Oliver Finegold affair when the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone made comments to a Jewish reporter, Oliver Finegold, comparing him or the newspaper he worked for, to a concentration camp guard. A widespread outcry followed against the Mayor's remarks. Along with the Commission for Racial Equality, the Board filed a complaint to the Standards Board for England, calling for the Mayor to apologize to the reporter. The Mayor made a statement condemning the Holocaust, but stood by his remarks to the journalist, mentioning in passing his belief that the Board of Jewish Deputies only represents a small section of the Jewish community.

On 5 February, 2007, a group of prominent British Jews, such as Nobel laureate Harold Pinter and lawyer Sir Geoffrey Bindman, launched an organization called Independent Jewish Voices to counterbalance what they perceive as uncritical support of Israel by major Jewish institutions in the UK, criticizing particularly the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

External links

• Board of Deputies of British Jews. Organization website.
• Jewish Leadership Council. Organization website.

See also

• Religion in the United Kingdom
• History of the Jews in England