Uncomfortable realities behind the numbers

THE SURVEY on synagogue membership is the latest chapter in a now familiar story, which highlights the contraction of the central Orthodox and the rise of the religious right.

The United Synagogue and kindred congregations, mostly under the aegis of the Chief Rabbinate, still represent a majority of synagogue members, but only just — 53 per cent, compared with two-thirds a quarter of a century ago.

In reality the central Orthodox figure might be slightly smaller, as it includes the Federation of Synagogues, which arguably is now closer to the Charedi camp.

Reform and Liberals can declare a bigger proportion of synagogue members than they did in 1990, but there is no room for complacency. They have both lost numbers as the non-Charedi Jewish population has dwindled. If the Masorti movement had more financial muscle, it might be able to accelerate its growth, at least in the short-term, at the expense of other movements.

On the face of it, the decline in synagogue affiliation might chime with the growing trend in Britain away from organised religion.

But the raw data masks a more complicated picture. Charedi families may often be twice as large as nonCharedi families, but when it comes to synagogue attachment, both families equally represent one household unit. The Charedi household, however, will contain more shul-goers.

Community leaders will be concerned at the long-term fall in membership. But while secularisation might partly be responsible, other factors could be in play. Younger people might prefer the new-style, experimental pop-up minyans that have emerged over the past few years.

The high cost of shul fees may deter a generation saddled with debts from university and struggling with the lack of cheap housing.

One of the report’s most striking findings is that the Jewish community is geographically huddling into a smaller number of areas.

If current trends continue over the next quarter of a century, many places where a synagogue once existed will no longer have a visible Jewish presence. Even if the building survives the congregation, it will be as a memorial rather than a living house of worship.