How can our community help the
Millions are socially isolated, so why does the Jewish community have an even bigger problem with loneliness?
THE JEWISH community is not doing enough to tackle the problem of loneliness and isolation, according to Baroness Neuberger.
The senior rabbi of West London Synagogue was speaking at Reform Judaism’s combating loneliness and isolation conference — the first of its kind to be held in the community.
“These problems are not new and they are not original but they have not had the attention that they should have,” Baroness Neuberger told delegates.
“The statistics paint a bleak picture. Social networks have broken down, families live further apart and while technology helps it also has to take some blame.”
According to Age UK, some five million elderly Brit-
Baroness Neuberger ons are socially isolated, relying mainly on the television for company. The charity puts the number of “chronically lonely” people in England at 800,000. It threatens to be an even bigger problem within the Jewish community. One in three Jewish adults over the age of 60 live alone, with double the number of Jews that age compared to the general population.
The Central London conference, which also hosted delegates from the Liberal and Masorti movements as well as 16 Reform communities from around the country, provided an opportunity for communal leaders and welfare specialists to hear about initiatives taking place to combat loneliness and isolation.
Baroness Neuberger said the lack of social services offered in many local areas had meant “synagogues have to do more for the community than they originally were meant to”. According to Jewish Care’s Ageing Well report, older members of the community were disappointed with the lack of creative and stimulating activity provided for them. Baroness Neu- berger urged synagogues to think more about what events or clubs they can set up in order to address the problem.
“People think they belong to a synagogue for religious reasons, but actually they want to be part of a community. That involves more than just coming to services,” she said.
Communal leaders must talk to their older congregants about what sort of help they need and place more pressure on the government if services have been cut in their area.
“You have to make a fuss when people are being badly treated, but it has to be done carefully,” the rabbi said.
The conference, held last Thursday, included sessions on the impact of volunteering, bereavement, divorce and dementia on loneliness, and how intergenerational activities can help combat it.
Caroline Abrahams, Age UK director, told the delegation of welfare providers from organisations including Jewish Care and the Jewish Volunteering Network that the problem was growing.
She said: “It’s a significant problem as we are living in an aging society. The longer people live, the more loss they are dealing with and repeated loss is hard to bear. As amenities decrease, loneliness is going to rise. Austerity has led to local authorities cutting services for old people.”