Chief: ShabbatUK acts as a catalyst
FOUR IN 10 Jews have felt that their religion has been an issue at some point during their careers, according to ShabbatUK.
The initiative, which promotes nationwide engagement with Shabbat across the Jewish community, conducted research to explore how faith played an impact on people in the workplace by running a survey of 190 Jews.
Of those questioned, more than 70 per cent had openly discussed their faith at work; 27 per cent had been reluctant to do so. Meanwhile, a third of respondents said they felt uncomfortable asking their employers if they could leave work early for Shabbat, a key reason being they did not wish to stand out from their colleagues.
This was despite 56 per cent of employers saying they felt comfortable allowing employees to leave work early on religious grounds.
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said: “It is sad to see that there are still some for whom faith is something to be kept relatively quiet or avoided altogether while at work.
“Faith shapes the way that people live their lives and, as such, it has an important part to play in the workplace.”
Rabbi Mirvis encouraged more people to celebrate ShabbatUK, which this year takes place on Friday November 11, whenShabbatcomesinataround4pm.
He said: “ShabbatUK 2016 gives us an opportunity to celebrate our faith and enables us to share experiences with ourfriends, familiesandcommunities.
“I hope that ShabbatUK acts as a catalyst for individuals to embrace their faith in the workplace as well as across society.”
In time for this year’s ShabbatUK two London shuls’ eruvs will be going live: Woodside Park Synagogue’s and Barnet Synagogue’s.
Barnet shul hosted an eruv prelaunch event on Tuesday; its minister Rabbi Barry Lerer said: “After all our hard work, it is great to know that we will be able to launch on ShabbatUK.”
The previous day, a similar event was held for the Woodside Park eruv, which will stretch from Barnet in the north to Finchley Central in the south, via Totteridge, Oakleigh Park, Whetstone, West Finchley and Woodside Park.
It will link with the Mill Hill and North-West London eruvs, as well as the Barnet eruv, making one large boundary.