by Lenny Goodrich Introduction “A Nation….is a group of persons united by a common error about their ancestry and a common dislike of their neighbours”. i We are indebted to the family of the late Maurice Orbach (former Labour MP and prominent Zionist) for depositing extensive papers and other material with the National Archive relating to a significant, yet under-reported aspect of pre-war years Anglo-Jewish life. Orbach was the influential general secretary of the Tr

A unique and exciting event that will combine a book launch for James Brown's book, Moral Superpower in the Cold War (Bloomsbury, 2026) with a public event for Avram Taylor's BA/Leverhulme funded research project, Jewish Activism and Anglo-Jewish Identity in Cold War Britain: The Campaign for Soviet Jewry. This campaign was one of the most significant forms of Jewish activism during the postwar era. James Brown's research looks at how the USSR responded to Western support for

Monday 11 May 2026 | UCL | Free to attend The New Generation Group of the Jewish Historical Society of England invites you to its third annual conference: Voice, Narrative, and (Self-)Representation, held at UCL on Monday 11 May 2026. This theme confronts a central question in Jewish Studies: who gets to speak, who tells their story, and who listens? This conference explores how Jews and Jewish communities have expressed themselves – and how they have been represented, sympat

This one-day history festival brings London’s medieval Jewish community back to life, just steps away from the City’s original Jewish quarter. The Jewish Square Mile Foundation invites audiences of all ages to explore one of the capital’s lesser-known communities: the Jewish population that settled in the City towards the end of the 11th century and lived there for more than 200 years, until the Expulsion of 1290. A programme of expert talks, a walking tour and family activit

Very few people know there is a small Reform Jewish community in Bradford, dating back to the 1800s, when the earliest Jewish settlers arrived in the industrial town between the 1830s and 1870s. They were predominantly German woollen merchants who had travelled to Bradford because it was the centre of the wool trade. My research has also shown that Jewish people living in Bradford were born in Romania, Austria, France, Italy, Poland, and Russia, among other countries. The Bra

It is pleasing to see the impact of last year’s award winners, including, amongst many outstanding projects, the publication of Nudrat Afza’s powerful photographs of Bradford Jewry, Kehillah, which has featured at Bradford’s City of Culture celebrations, and the Historic Towns Trust map of Jewish Ipswich which is now being widely distributed. It is also pleasing to report that the JHSE oral history project, documenting those who contributed so generously to it, is ongoing wit

I am currently working on a project that explores how Jewish life took shape in provincial England between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Much of Anglo Jewish historiography has understandably focused on places where institutional archives are dense: London, later Manchester, and other urban centres where synagogues, schools, and communal boards generated substantial records. Yet beyond these centres lay smaller towns and ports where Jewish presence was lighter, mo

Apply for a grant of up to £4,000 to facilitate research and publication on topics related to Anglo-Jewry and its wider context. Both individuals and institutions are eligible to apply including professional and lay scholars, PhD students, communal organisations, museums, libraries and archives. A total of £20,000 may be awarded each calendar year. Deadline: April 2026 Please visit: https://www.jhse.org/jhse-awards

Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies Solomon Schonfeld Lecture ‎Zoë Waxman is Professor of Holocaust History at the University of Oxford. She is the author of Writing the Holocaust: memory, testimony, representation (2006), Anne Frank (2015), and Women in the Holocaust: A Feminist History (2017), as well as numerous articles relating to the Holocaust and genocide. Visitors to Auschwitz today cannot help but be struck by the sheer range of objects brought there by the vi

by Sonny Kosky The Grand Order of Israel and Shield of David Friendly Society the last surviving Jewish friendly society in the friendly society movement has been dissolved and its assets have now been distributed to its last remaining members. It was evident over the past few years that the society was regularly losing members through death and resignation and the final nail in the coffin has been the 2019 Covid pandemic which severely curtailed its activities which were in

JHSE is pleased to announce that we have recently joined the Jewish Small Communities Network, which is a charity registered in 2016,...

The Tower of London, 30 June 2025 Academic historians and members of the public met to hear the most up-to-date research on the...

JHSE New Generation Group select an article from the recently published Jewish Historical Studies: A Journal of English Speaking Jews and...

An online discussion with Dr Susanna Avery-Quash & Prof. Jeffrey Abt about his recent book 'Too Jewish or Not Jewish Enough: Ritual...

Dear JHSE Members, It is a great pleasure to write my first message as your new President. As I take on this role I am humbled by the...

The conference room of the Hartley Library at the University of Southampton brimmed on May 19th, 2025, with excitement for Jewish...

We are delighted to let you know that plans are in hand for restarting branches in Manchester and North West London , and for opening a...

Thank you to all who joined us to hear John Jay talk about his recent book on the 15th May. For members who were unable to attend, you...

The JHSE is having a spring clean of its library and is pleased to offer the following books to interested members. The books are free...

Dear members, I write to you in hybrid mode, to say goodbye as your President, and to welcome Gavin Schaffer your new President of JHSE....