A biographical study of the early beneficiaries: The Jewish Education Aid Society

Abstract

In Britain, during the latter years of the nineteenth and into the twentieth century, there was a plethora of philanthropic organisations introduced and managed by members of the established Anglo-Jewish community. The purpose of these organisations was, in part, to demonstrate that the influx of Eastern European Jewish immigrants was not a burden on Britain as a whole. In other words the aim was to show that Jews were prepared to care for their own people, financially and morally. Much has been written about the larger organisations but little, if anything, is recorded about some of the smaller societies which usually pursued a narrow and defined purpose. One such was the Jewish Education Aid Society. This thesis charts the affairs of this particular organisation beginning with its inception in 1896 as the Jewish Education Aid Committee and its re-structuring, in 1907, as the Jewish Education Aid Society.

The thrust of the work is addressed in a general chapter covering the organisation and work of both the Committee and the Society, and touching on the lives of some of the early recipients. This is followed by three detailed case studies the purpose of which is to explore in depth the lives of these particular individuals and their immediate family members. These beneficiaries fulfilled the requirement for assistance, namely that each was a member of an impecunious Jewish family and was extremely talented, either academically or artistically. Support, financial and social, was given in order to develop their talents and future careers. The three recipients selected were all members of larger family units, thus the impact of such assistance within this structure has also been considered. It is this aspect of the Jewish immigrant’s experience, as the recipient of philanthropy, that is seldom addressed. This work aims to address the balance and is the first to explore the impact of British Jewish philanthropy from the ‘bottom up’.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record