In 1970, Redbridge boasted a Jewish community of some 30,000, reflecting the migration from London’s East End after the Second World War.
By the time of the 2011 census, the population had dwindled to barely 10,000, itself a drop of 31 per cent on 2001, fuelled significantly by an exodus to North-West London and the Hertfordshire suburbs. The diminishing community has led to a number of synagogue mergers in recent years, primarily involving United Synagogue congregations.
But beyond the Redbridge borders, on the outer reaches of the Central line, there is concrete evidence of a Jewish renaissance.
Not only are the Chigwell United, Loughton Federation and Buckhurst Hill Chabad congregations expanding. Chabad has now established an Epping branch to cater for a dispersed population. Even Harlow Reform is experiencing membership growth, although chair Alan Cohen admits it is “more a trickle than a storm”.
Despite Epping Chabad only being operational since Rosh Hashanah, its leaders, Rabbi Yossi and Rivka Posen, say they made contact with 150 Jews in the area and have between 30 and 40 regular attendees. With three fridge freezers in Rabbi Posen’s “office” and the bimah stored in the shed, the couple are looking forward to relocating to larger premises.
“Rabbi Posen wouldn’t have moved out to Epping if he didn’t know for sure that there were enough Jewish people in that area to warrant there being a rabbi and a presence there,” Rabbi Odom Brandman, who runs the Chabad of Buckhurst Hill with wife Henny, tells the JC.
And Rabbi Posen notes that many of those involved with Chabad in the area formerly lived in Redbridge or Ilford. He has also come across families residing as far afield as Ongar and Church Langley.
One person had been recruited after following him into a bank on Christmas Eve, having spotted the menorah on his car.
“You can’t know what’s going to happen in Epping. But seeing the success that is possible [in Buckhurst Hill] and the amount of Jews that are out there, it’s just up to you to put in the work and get them to arrive.”
When the Buckhurst Hill Chabad was founded in 2005, events could attract up to 100 participants. Now the core membership is 100 families and the organisation is in contact with more than 1,000 in the area. It has held 25 barmitzvahs in the past two years and struggled to seat the 250 people who came for Rosh Hashanah last year.
Buckhurst Hill is also looking to transfer to “bigger and more purpose built” premises and there is even talk of a mikveh.
Chigwell US’s Rabbi Baruch Davis is well placed to talk about the development of the community in Essex. When he joined the shul in 1997, it had 510 families. Today it numbers close to 900 families (or 1,400 adult members).
“We’re in the happy situation of being too big for our premises,” he says. “So on a Saturday morning now, we may sometimes have four different children’s services and these facilities are very poor. We’re looking to change that.”
Rabbi Davis reports that plans are being formulated to renovate the site to provide enlarged premises.
“This is an indication of two things,” he says. “One, the growth of the community over the years and the fact that we have a lot of young families. The second is a statement of optimism going forward that the community has a very strong future.”
At Loughton Federation, chairman Gary Stern reports that since Rabbi Yanky and Rochel Abrams arrived last spring, there has been a “massive resurgence” in membership — from 180 families to 220. And the number of children enrolled in its cheder has quadrupled from 10 to 40.
“There are a lot of kids living in the Loughton and Epping areas. Certain parents are not sending their kids to Jewish schools but still want the Jewish identity.”
The Chabad rabbis say that young professionals — and young families — account for a sizeable proportion of the new migration.
Laraine Warren — who organises the kosher catering for the Buckhurst Hill Chabad — attributes this to property being “more affordable than North London. You get more for your buck.
“The greenery and the surroundings are very pleasant. You can literally drive 60 seconds down the road and feel like you’re in the country.”
Mother-of-two Katie Rose, 43, a Chigwell Synagogue member, says that “about half of my friends moved to North-West London over the years. But if we’re going out in the summer — picnicking or whatever — they come to us, always.”
Jonathan Bloom, 33, grew up in Clayhall, Redbridge, before moving out to Loughton with his wife and joining the local Federation synagogue. “We bought a place in Loughton because it was a new build development and quite reasonably priced, so it gave us the opportunity to get on the housing ladder,” he recalls.
“It’s a nice place to bring up kids. It’s in the heart of Epping Forest, there’s a lot of green space, there’s a nice, vibrant high street and it’s very well connected to the city and the West End.”
Jaimie Sinclair, 40, another Clayhall native, moved with his family to Chigwell in 2013, where he runs a local recruitment firm.“A lot of people put their financial position before their religion,” he says. “People will move where they can afford a house.”
As well as a pull towards Essex, there is talk of a push away from Redbridge. Rabbi Brandman says that as East London becomes more diverse, Jews may want to “move on” (though the area’s diversity is praised by others). The CST’s figures show that reported antisemitic incidents in Redbridge have risen over the past few years.
While some — like Ms Warren and her husband Greg, who are in their 70s —lament the closure of kosher butchers and delis in Redbridge, Ms Rose views this as evidence of changing shopping habits.
“I can still buy a great deal of my kosher meat from the supermarket, so some of that decline in butchers is not to do with decline in the Jewish community. It’s to do with the way we live our lives.”
Rabbi Brandman acknowledges that many of those moving in are “less religious and less committed”, reporting that most of those who attend his Chabad are not affiliated to a shul.
“From Golders Green to Hendon it’s a five minute drive. From Hendon to Edgware it’s another five minute drive. It’s all very close together. Whereas the Essex community is less engaged, less religious and so much more spread out.”
Concurring, Rabbi Posen notes: “There are people who have decided that they like the greener areas of Buckhurst Hill and Epping. For them, a 20 minute drive to shul, when they go, is not the end of the world.”
Nonetheless Ms Rose maintains that the Redbridge-based Jewish schools —Ilford Jewish Primary, Clore Tikva and Kantor King Solomon High — are “very much the heart of the community”.
Mr Bloom — a governor at Clore Tikva, where his two daughters are pupils — reasons that “because of transport links, maybe you don’t need to live on top of [Jewish amenities] anymore, because you can still get to them in your car, or by bus or train.”
From Chigwell, Mr Sinclair says it takes him “two minutes to get to Buckhurst Hill, five minutes to Loughton, and about 15 minutes to Epping. I don’t think the community is as spread out as people think it is.”
Whatever the take on distance, Rabbi Brandman sees the area as a “fully connected community”. To further that connection, Ms Rose has set up EssexK, a 1,900-member Facebook group. Rabbis in the area meet every six-to-eight weeks and have a WhatsApp group.
“We have a very good working relationship,” Rabbi Brandman says. “There’s no competition as such.”
At Loughton, Mr Stern refers to the two Chabad centres as “our partners, rather than separate synagogues”.
Rabbi Davis observes that “in Buckhurst Hill, Rabbi Brandman has succeeded in attracting a lot of individuals, including some of our own members who were not so motivated when they were here”.
What of the future? Rabbi Brandman says that with Chabad well established in Buckhurst Hill, “some more traditional Jewish people who may not have moved here five years ago have now moved here”.
Mr Sinclair — whose two children attend “play date” at Buckhurst Hill Chabad on Mondays — says the changing demographics demonstrate that “at the end of the day, Jews still want that community”.
For Rabbi Davis, the Jewish population “is a significant number and you can’t write off a number like that. And a lot of them feel passionately about the community and they want to make it work. Judaism in country Essex is very much alive — and it’s growing.”
