Fighting for a Jewish Future in Leeds

The leafy suburbs of north Leeds have long been home to one of Britain’s largest Jewish communities. But after decades of dwindling population and declining religious participation, the community is fighting to preserve its future—in a pattern repeated in other cities across the U.K.

On Moortown Corner, a shopping street near the city’s Jewish nursing home and synagogues, the challenges are particularly apparent: In March, the main kosher supermarket, The Moortown Deli, closed. A few doors down, the principal Jewish bakery, Chalutz, shut in 2010. Now, many locals are pushing to merge three remaining Orthodox synagogues, whose once overcrowded services are routinely left with empty seats these days.

Continue reading "Fighting for a Jewish Future in Leeds" at...