Jewish Board of Guardians (United Kingdom)

The Jewish Board of Guardians was an organisation established by Ephraim Alex, a Jewish philanthropist. It was created in London in 1859 to provide relief for the Jewish poor. In 1990, after a number of name changes and amalgamations with other charities, its descendant became known as Jewish Care, now the main UK Jewish welfare organization.

It was in the Board’s interest to become the sole provider of relief to the Jewish Board, specifically distributing aid in the East End of London. The Board was most active from 1881 as a large majority of Jews were forced to immigrate to England from Eastern Europe. This was the result of anti-Semitism that derived from the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. It was believed one out of five conspirators were Jewish and as a result, the Jewish community suffered a series of violent pogroms. The Jewish Board of Guardians are specifically known for their methods of controlling the immigration of the poor.

According to historian Mordechai Rozin: "The seventeen members who founded the Board, alongside Alex who served as President for ten years, were delegates of the Ashkenaiz synagogues and were financiers, businessmen and professionals."[1] Lionel Louis Cohen was the honorary secretary of the Board until he succeeded Alex and became President of the Board in 1869. The Russo-Jewish Committee collaborated with the Board between 1893-1909. The joint Committee of the Russo-Jewish Committee and the Jewish Board of Guardians attempted to tackle the primary issues concerning Jewish immigration.

Controlling the Immigration of the Jewish Poor

Although the Board had been providing relief to the Jewish poor since 1859, it was not used to dealing with the vast numbers of Jews that began to settle in London, resulting in a number of issues. These issues included problems of overcrowding which caused increases in rent and poor living conditions. Bad living conditions and appalling sanitation resulted in the spread of illness and disease, meaning medical relief was limited. There was also higher competition for jobs and widespread unemployment. The Board were concerned with the number of Jews potentially arriving to seek relief temporarily instead of aiming for long-term self-improvement.

Therefore a six month rule was devised, which was primarily a probation period for the Jewish immigrants. Relief was not given unless Jews had been in the country for at least six months. This rule was proposed by Ephraim Alex, the first president of the Board (1859–69), in A Scheme for a Board of Guardians, to be formed for the relief of the necessitious foreign poor.[2] However, relief was distributed to the new immigrants in cases of emergency. In the 1880’s it became apparent that the elite would be faced with an influx on immigration as immigrants left Eastern Europe either to start a new life in England, or to use England as a temporary stopping point as they aspired to reach America. The Board initiated several methods to control immigration, as it became transparently impossible to limit it, such as transmigration, dispersion and repatriation.Jews were either emigrated on to countries such as America, Canada and Australia or repatriated back. From 1881-1914, the Board helped 17,087 people to settle in London, however, it managed to reduce overcrowding by emigrating 8,152 and repatriating 7,574 people. Nathan S. Joseph, chairman of the Executive of the Conjoint Committee of the Russo-Jewish Committee and Board of Guardians 1893-1909, to differentiate the ‘industrial fitness’ of the Jewish immigrants. The classification was as followed: firstly, skilled artisans, who were vigorous, robust and healthy, secondly, those fit to transmigrate and thirdly, the poor and weak, the adventurer and mendicant.[3] Generally, those who were put into the first category, mainly being young, fit and healthy were offered help to transmigrate. More immigrants, however were repatriated as it was the most cost efficient option. Vivian D. Lipman, member of the Board, argued that it is Jewish tradition ‘to give applicants enough to get them to get them on to the next town and the next overseer’.

Notes

  1. ↑ Rozin, p.138
  2. ↑ Rozin, p.134
  3. ↑ Jewish Chronicle, 12 March 1893, quoted by Rozin, p.140

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