Questions about Judaism in the UK

People often hear the word religion and get sort of nervous I've noticed lol. Ok, well I am Jewish and my family has been Jewish for hundreds of years, as far as records date back. All 4 of my grandparents were concentration camp survivors and of my 8 great-grandparents, only 2 survived the war. Even after the war, (my family chose to remain in Europe although they moved a little farther west to Zlin then later Prauge), they were still persecuted for practicing their faith. So for me, being Jewish isn't just about faith, it's a matter of pride.

However, I am a little concerned because I do not know if there is a Jewish presence in the UK (specifically near London where I'll be living). I want to continue raising my two children in a Jewish community but I don't really know if there is a large or even decent sized community of Jewish people there.

Anyway, any information on Jewish communities, Temples or anything relating to Judaism in the UK would be valued 

There are many Jewish communities in the UK, mainly in the major cities. There are a few Jewish girls here on the forum (Shalom!) I have found people very interested in Judaism, my friends are all very interested and love sharing the holidays and traditions with me and my family. My son goes to a Church of England School, but for Chanukah last year we brought in a menorah and a book about the holiday and everybody welcomed us. London has probably the biggest Jewish community in the UK and you should be able to find food, synogogues etc, however my only complaint is that the Reform Synogogues are, in my opinion, too frum for me. I live in Manchester where we also have a Jewish community, but I have found it a bit insular and haven't been involved in a Synogogue, however we do celebrate the holidays at home, and I travel back to my family in NY for the High Holidays & Passover if I can. Also, when my son was born the local Synogogue helped me to find a Mohel and we had a Bris, it was a really important moment for me and my parents.

North London, areas like Golders Green & Hampstead will have a big Jewish community.

I don't think you will find too much anti-Semetic sentiments,  but of course, I can't speak for every situation you will be in! Good luck!!

There is a very large presence of jews in North London.  Areas like Golders Green and Gant's Hill (Essex) attract communities of ultra-orthodox.  But most areas will have a reform shul and a United (orthodox) shul.  One of the big United ones is Kinloss in Hendon/Finchley.  There are also loads of Jewish schools around.  The Jewish Free School (JFS) is the free state funded secondary school.  They have traditionally only accepted children from the United Synagogue, but this was recently challenged in a big court case.  There is another secondary school opening this autumn that will accept all children of the jewish faith.  There are loads of primary schools around too.  One that has a really good reputation is Akiva.  It is affiliated with the reform synagogue and is pretty tough to get into.  You would have to be affiliated with a shul (probably the one attached to the school - Name escaping me) and live in the catchment area (East Finchley, Hampstead Garden Suburb and Finchley Central).  Which are all nice areas to live in.

You will also find plenty of kosher butchers, bakeries and restaurants where you can get good bagels and smoked salmon.  There really is a huge presence in North London, so you should feel right at home.  

I am Jewish, and my experience is that in general, people in the UK are very tolerant of members of different religions as well as atheists and agnostics.

I live in an city with a teeny Jewish population and I haven't had any problems with anti-Semitism at all.

Another Jewish girl, here!  I live in Leeds and don't know any Jewish people, though I hear that there's an area which is predominately Jewish.  I haven't experienced any anti-semitism.  One of my hubby's friends said I am the first Jewish person he's ever met which I thought was pretty odd, but I guess there aren't all that many Jews in the north of England outside of Manchester. 

Gateshead is supposed to have a large Jewish community.

Also, most of the supermarkets in North London will have a pretty decent Kosher Foods section where you can get fresh dill pickles, fish balls, hotdogs and other yummy traditional foods.

I was looking at all of those areas and found some very promising things that make me a little less worried, well a lot less worried 
One thing I had a question about was private schools, about their cost. If anybody could give me an estimate because I couldn't find how much tuition would be at a private Jewish school...
And thank you so much for telling me about those neighborhoods because now I can give my fiance an area to look in as far as finding a house goes 

How old are your kids - Primary or Secondary school age?

The two secondary schools I mentioned are state sponsored, so they are free.  JFS and the other one is called JCOS.

Akiva the primary school is also state sponsored, so free as well.  I do have friends who were involved in starting up a private jewish primary school in the Finchley area, but I have no idea how much tuition would be.  I can try and find out.  

But if you are looking specifically for a Jewish education, you don't necesarily have to go private.  There are lots of state sponsored schools.

Thank you very much, I did not realize that there were free religious schools  That is great actually, I will have to look into that (save myself a fortune on tuition)
One thing I am worried about is that we would probably be moving to the UK in January or February so I don't know what the school situation with that would be, if maybe they would have to go to a regular school for the rest of the year then apply the following year?

Hiya,

I'm not Jewish, but 2/3 of my family is. I hope you don't mind me butting in, but since I'm trying to get my sister to move here, I've been interested In the topic.

Does the UK do afternoon school for kids that are in non-religious day school? I was thinking that this could work as a stop gap for the kids if they aren't able to enroll in one of the Jewish day schools. I know the day school where my sister lives gave preference to kids that had gone to the afternoon school (there was only 1 elementary day school).

The other thought I had was if the OP had told anyone at her synogogue that she was moving. With families being more international these days, I wondered if someone knew someone who's sister lived in London and was active in the community there. I know that when my brother-in-law moved to the west coast, he was well prepared with names of synogogues and invites to dinner from so and so's sister or cousin. It helped him quickly find a synogogue that matched his views and needs and helped him settle in better until my sister and the kids got there. 

Thank you very much, I did not realize that there were free religious schools  That is great actually, I will have to look into that (save myself a fortune on tuition)

The majority of religious schools in the UK are actually free. Someone here was looking for Catholic schools the other week and when I did a search in my area, I could only find 1 private Catholic school and about 35 free Catholic schools!

Around 33% of all free schools in England are religious... which is about 7,000 schools in total. In comparison, there are only 957 private religious schools. Having said that though, looking at Jewish schools specifically, there are 36 free Jewish schools in England, but 49 private Jewish schools.

As far as secondary schools I really am leaning towards JFS from what I've seen, so I think that would be my first choice
As far as primary schools I'm still sort of looking on the internet trying to find a good fit. Two that that have come up numerous times and look pretty good are the Independent Jewish Day School and Hasmonean Primary, but I was wondering if anybody had knowledge concerning those two schools and if I should look further into them or keep searching

Also, most of the supermarkets in North London will have a pretty decent Kosher Foods section where you can get fresh dill pickles, fish balls, hotdogs and other yummy traditional foods.

Hey you didn't mention my favorite food. Halva. Can't live without it.

When I traveled for work I use to go to a New York jewish deli in Palm Springs, California. I always looked forward to the food. To make it authentic they were either abrupt or rude. Hey, if I lived in New York for a period I would probably be that way.

The hot dogs they serve at the Costco, USA food courts are kosher.

I am afraid that as I didn't grow up here, I don't have an opinion on those schools. I have heard of them, but I am not sure what type of families they attract.  No one my husband knows went to those schools.  Sorry I can't be more helpful.  I don't have school age children, so I have never really thought about schools.  I just try and listen when our friends talk about where they want to send their kids!

Quite a few people I have met in the UK have attended JFS.  It has a very good reputation and the students seem to do well and go on to good Uni's.