Nadene Goldfoot
Mary Alpert, the Jewish mother of a close relative of mine, came from "Kilmarnock, Scotland.
"Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland with a population of 46,350, making it the 15th most populated place in Scotland and the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'. Kalmarnock is south of Glasgow. Her family probably came from Lithuania, like mine did, and did so sometime after 1880. I belive that is a priest of the Catholic faith on the right side of this picture. He surely isn't Jewish. This is a period picture, most likely a class in school, but at first I thought it was students celebrating Purim. It could be if it is a Jewish class.
Now, we have had many relatives from Ireland who had come from Lithuania, but Scotland? That was a new twist to our genealogy. She was married to Solomon Goldfoot.
How did Scots hear about us? "In 1180, the Bishop of Glasgow forbade churchmen to "ledge their benefices for money borrowed from Jews." One must remember that Jews were expelled from England from 1290 to 1655.This was around the time of anti-Jewish riots in England so it is possible that Jews may have arrived in Scotland as refugees, or it may refer to Jews domiciled in England from whom Scots were borrowing money.
While Jews in England during the Middle Ages faced state persecution, culminating in the Edict of Expulsion of 1290 (some Jews may have fled to Scotland at this time) there was never a corresponding expulsion from Scotland, suggesting either greater religious tolerance or the simple fact that there was no Jewish presence.
In his autobiographical Two Worlds: An Edinburgh Jewish Childhood the eminent Scottish-Jewish scholar David Daiches wrote that there are grounds for asserting that Scotland is the only European country with no history of the state persecution of Jews."
It was during the 17th century that Jewish merchants entered in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
By the 18th century, some Jews studied medicine at Scottish Universities. Glasgow-born Asher Asher (1837–1889) was the first Scottish Jew to enter the medical profession. He was the author of The Jewish Rite of Circumcision (1873)
."Most Jewish immigration appears to have occurred post-industrialisation, and post-1707, meaning that Jews in Scotland were subject to various anti-Jewish laws applied to Britain as a whole. Oliver Cromwell readmitted Jews to the Commonwealth of England in 1656, and would have had influence over whether they could reside north of the border. Scotland was under the jurisdiction of the Jew Bill, enacted in 1753, but repealed the next year."
There is indication of a Jewish community in Edinburgh in 1780, but was only organized properly by 1816, with another started in Glasgow in 1823. The first graduate from the University of Glasgow who was openly known to be Jewish was Levi Myers, in 1787. Unlike their English contemporaries, Scottish students were not required to take a religious oath.
"Russian Jewish immigration to Scotland was because of the growth of Glasgow. which is 4th in size of Great Britain. Edinburgh only had 600 Jews. Some small Jewish communities also existed in Aberdeen and Dundee. "In order to avoid persecution and pogroms in the Russian Empire, in the 1880s many Jews settled in the larger cities of Britain, including Scotland, most notably in Glasgow (especially the poorer part of the city, the Gorbals, alongside Irish and Italian immigrants). 1880 was also the time of the 1st Aliyah of Jews from Russia, etc, to Palestine. By 1900 more and more were going to the USA."
A smaller community existed in Edinburgh and even smaller groups in Dundee, Aberdeen, Greenock and Ayr. Russian Jews tended to come from the west of the empire, in particular Lithuania and Poland, hoping to use Scotland as a stopping post en route to North America. This explains why Glasgow was their favoured location, although those who could not earn well enough to afford the transatlantic voyage ended up settling in the city. In 1897, after the influx, the Jewish population of Glasgow was 4,000.
By 1990, the Jewish population of Scotland was 12,000. By contrast, the Jewish population in 1990 of the Republic of Ireland was 1,600, residing mostly in Dublin; Northern Ireland, 400, mainly in Belfast. Wales had Jews living there who were more isolated. Cardiff has 1,700 Jews, which is 3/4 of the total Jewish population of Wales around 1992. England Great Britain with Northern Ireland is estimated to have a Jewish population of 330,000.
Anti-Semitism came to Scotland! During 2011 there were 10 antisemitic incidents of abusive behavior, 9 incidents of damage and desecration to Jewish property, and one assault. Some of the participants described experiences of antisemitism in their work place, in campus and even at school.[22] In accordance with that, on October that year a teacher in a secondary school in Scotland was facing a disciplinary hearing over claims he told a class of pupils that "Hitler was not all bad - he killed the Jews". Moreover, in 2012, the Scottish Jewish Student Chaplaincy and the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities reported a "toxic atmosphere" at Edinburgh University, in which they are forced to hide their identity." The UK voted against the USA and Israel in a recent resolution. A resolution backed overwhelmingly by the United Nations has effectively called on the US to withdraw its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel." They are trying to tell Trump what he can do. Scotland is a part of the UK decision. They don't need much of a history, do they, to decide to vote against the Jews.
Reference: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Scotland
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-42450062
 |
Former Royal Bank of Scotland building in King Street, Kilmarnock, 2012
Now closed as a bank, converted into a bookmakers Ladbrokes. |
"Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland with a population of 46,350, making it the 15th most populated place in Scotland and the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'. Kalmarnock is south of Glasgow. Her family probably came from Lithuania, like mine did, and did so sometime after 1880. I belive that is a priest of the Catholic faith on the right side of this picture. He surely isn't Jewish. This is a period picture, most likely a class in school, but at first I thought it was students celebrating Purim. It could be if it is a Jewish class.
Now, we have had many relatives from Ireland who had come from Lithuania, but Scotland? That was a new twist to our genealogy. She was married to Solomon Goldfoot.
How did Scots hear about us? "In 1180, the Bishop of Glasgow forbade churchmen to "ledge their benefices for money borrowed from Jews." One must remember that Jews were expelled from England from 1290 to 1655.This was around the time of anti-Jewish riots in England so it is possible that Jews may have arrived in Scotland as refugees, or it may refer to Jews domiciled in England from whom Scots were borrowing money.
While Jews in England during the Middle Ages faced state persecution, culminating in the Edict of Expulsion of 1290 (some Jews may have fled to Scotland at this time) there was never a corresponding expulsion from Scotland, suggesting either greater religious tolerance or the simple fact that there was no Jewish presence.
 |
| David Daiches CBE(1912-2005) was a Scottish literary historian and literary critic, scholar and writer. He wrote extensively on English literature, Scottish literature and Scottish culture. |
In his autobiographical Two Worlds: An Edinburgh Jewish Childhood the eminent Scottish-Jewish scholar David Daiches wrote that there are grounds for asserting that Scotland is the only European country with no history of the state persecution of Jews."
It was during the 17th century that Jewish merchants entered in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
By the 18th century, some Jews studied medicine at Scottish Universities. Glasgow-born Asher Asher (1837–1889) was the first Scottish Jew to enter the medical profession. He was the author of The Jewish Rite of Circumcision (1873)
."Most Jewish immigration appears to have occurred post-industrialisation, and post-1707, meaning that Jews in Scotland were subject to various anti-Jewish laws applied to Britain as a whole. Oliver Cromwell readmitted Jews to the Commonwealth of England in 1656, and would have had influence over whether they could reside north of the border. Scotland was under the jurisdiction of the Jew Bill, enacted in 1753, but repealed the next year."
 |
| A Scottish prayer shawl. |
 |
| Since 2015, The International Institute for Jewish Genealogy (IIJG) has been engaged for three years in an exhaustive demographic study of the Scottish Jewish community from the founding of the community to the present. Notice the Scottish tams on these soldiers' heads. |
A smaller community existed in Edinburgh and even smaller groups in Dundee, Aberdeen, Greenock and Ayr. Russian Jews tended to come from the west of the empire, in particular Lithuania and Poland, hoping to use Scotland as a stopping post en route to North America. This explains why Glasgow was their favoured location, although those who could not earn well enough to afford the transatlantic voyage ended up settling in the city. In 1897, after the influx, the Jewish population of Glasgow was 4,000.
By 1990, the Jewish population of Scotland was 12,000. By contrast, the Jewish population in 1990 of the Republic of Ireland was 1,600, residing mostly in Dublin; Northern Ireland, 400, mainly in Belfast. Wales had Jews living there who were more isolated. Cardiff has 1,700 Jews, which is 3/4 of the total Jewish population of Wales around 1992. England Great Britain with Northern Ireland is estimated to have a Jewish population of 330,000.
 |
| Turning Against Israel |
Reference: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Scotland
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-42450062
No comments:
Post a Comment