Twentieth Century English Synagogues and the construction of contemporary Anglo-Jewish Identity

Abstract

This research argues that all synagogues are sites of heritage engagement. It explores how modern Jewish communities articulate their identity through their use of synagogue buildings and create a tangible expression of their cultural and religious heritage as a result. The research draws on Jewish topographical and architectural studies along with the expanded conceptions of heritage within current cultural heritage research to explore the significance of the built Jewish environment. The thesis draws on a variety of modern Jewish voices to inform understandings of Jewish communities and their environment by Historic England and other heritage bodies.
Using a mixed methods approach, with a focus on qualitative data, it aims to focus on how synagogues are conceptualised by members who use them. The responses have revealed how the broad notion of a Jewish historical narrative emphasising homogeneity and global peoplehood obscures the diversity of Jewishness today. My research questions this older narrative and shows how Jewish identities contain a duality rooted to the specific time and place where a congregation lives alongside this core of a wider Jewish heritage. Yet, despite this diversity, almost all Jewish value the synagogue as a place of community.
The conclusions of this research outline how the diversity of Jewish communities and histories should inform our understandings of a synagogue and how this diversity can be recognised in heritage values and the conservation of built heritage.

Date of Award	7 May 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Robert Proctor (Supervisor), Ricardo Codinhoto (Supervisor), Linda Monckton (Supervisor) & Dale Dishon (Supervisor)