Muslim group helps save ancient English synagogue
A Muslim organization in northern England announced it
would raise funds and lobby for the preservation of the last remaining
synagogue in Bradford.
The Bradford Council for Mosques recently began working
together with the local authority to raise funds for the Bradford synagogue, to
ensure the building remains a sacred space for future generations, the
Telegraph reported on March 5.
“When the chair of the Bradford synagogue approached the
Muslim community for help and assistance towards the maintenance of this
building, it was a challenge which didn’t take us long to decide on,” Zulfi
Karim, secretary of Bradford Council for Mosques, said.
The building was originally founded in 1880 and is an
example of Moorish Victorian Architecture.
At the height of the city’s wool and textile boom many
Jewish people came from Europe to settle in Bradford. In recent years the
Jewish community in Bradford has been in decline, and the synagogue has been
under threat of closure because of a lack of funds. Bradford had a Jewish
population of roughly 500 in 2008, according to the BBC.
“We are all working together to save the synagogue with
the help of the local authority,” Rudi
Leavor, chair of the Bradford Synagogue, said:
Bradford has more Pakistani residents than any other
place in England and Wales, according to a 2012 census. One in every five
respondents identified themselves as an Asian or British Asian of Pakistani
descent in the survey by the Office for National Statistics.
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