The Board of Deputies of British Jews is the most representative body of the Jewish community in Britain, acting for a broad cross-section of organisations, synagogues and charities. Founded in 1760, it works in three main areas: community issues, the international arena and defence and group relations. Its activities cover a broad range of issues, including supporting Jewish communities worldwide, improving interfaith relations, promoting Jewish education, combatting anti-Semitism and working on human rights campaigns.
Examples of the Board’s work include:
Shared Futures
Shared Futures was set up by the Board of Deputies to encourage Jewish schools to link up with other schools in their area to build respect and understanding between young people of different faiths. The programmes have received praise from OFSTED (the British Office for Standards in Education), in helping schools deliver aspects of the school curriculum related to community cohesion and citizenship.
Anti-Racism campaign
A new campaign kit has been launched to assist grassroots activities in the run up to the June European Elections, with the slogan ‘Your Voice or Theirs’. The aim is to encourage local communities and groups to unite to run local campaigning events to highlight the threat faced from the British National Party and the importance of voting for a mainstream political party. The Board of Deputies is distributing a thousand of these kits across the community over the next four weeks. The kits contain everything needed to run a local campaign from posters to leaflets and balloons.
Jewish Way of Life Exhibition
The Jewish Way of Life Exhibition is a travelling exhibition that aims to educate young people about what it means to be Jewish, which we believe is the best possible way to promote tolerance and understanding of our community. The exhibition includes descriptive and beautifully illustrated six foot display panels, a Chuppah and a Sukkah as well as a model torah and synagogue. Trained guides are on hand to assist visitors and worksheets are available to students. Written by educators and designed by experts, JWOLE ensures that the teaching of Judaism fully supports all locally agreed syllabuses.
Interfaith Work
The Board is serious about interfaith work and employs a full-time interfaith officer to facilitate good relations. We are represented on numerous interfaith bodies and initiatives, and we work closely with organisations such as the Three Faiths Forum; the Council of Christians and Jews; and the Indian Jewish Association. Apart from practical work on interfaith cohesion, we also conduct academic research on the topic. Our latest report, which is about Jewish involvement in interfaith in the UK, will be published in May 2009.
Darfur Campaign
The Board, in partnership with the Pears Foundation, has been instrumental in developing and spearheading the Jewish community’s response to the crisis in Darfur. We have organised and led various protests and published a booklet entitled, “Darfur: A Jewish Response” which has been widely distributed. The Jewish communities of Europe know only too well about the dangers of genocide and we will continue to campaign on this issue on behalf of the innocent victims of the conflict.