Jewish Board Of Guardians (United Kingdom)

The Board of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor or, as it is most generally known, the Jewish Board of Guardians, was a charity established by the upper class Jewish community in the East End of London in 1859. The board sought to provide relief for Jewish immigrants and soon became the central provider of relief for the Jewish poor in London.

After an amalgamation with other charities in the 1990s, the Jewish Board of Guardians became Jewish Care, an organization that still exists today.

Early history and foundation

The Jewish Board of Guardians was a charity established in the East End of London by members of the Jewish community in 1859. The situation of the Jewish poor in London was increasingly problematic by the late 19th century. Christian missionaries and conversionists targeted the Jewish poor, which became a concern for their co-religionists. Members of the Jewish community deemed existing methods of relief for the Jewish poor in London as insufficient. The Board of Guardians was established to consolidate and effectively provide relief where other charities had failed. The Board of Guardians was established because of the introduction of the 1834 Poor Law amendments by secular authorities.Black, p. 71 These laws applied a workhouse test to qualify for poor relief; the workhouse was unsuitable for the Jewish community because of their special religious constraints and requirements. The three main Ashkenazi synagogues of London thus established the Board of Guardians. These were the Great Synagogue, the Hambro' Synagogue, and the New Synagogue. These establishments voted in 1858 to establish a conjoint committee to tackle the issue of the Jewish poor. The first meeting of the Jewish Board of Guardians was held at the Great Synagogue chambers on March 16, 1859. The board was initially led by Ephraim Alex, overseer of the poor for the Great Synagogue, who secured a grant of less than £500 from the three synagogues to assess the Jewish poor in London. The seventeen members who founded the Board were delegates of the Ashkenazi synagogues. They included financiers, businessmen and professionals. Lionel Louis Cohen was the honorary secretary of the board until he succeeded Alex and became president of the Board in 1869.Rozin Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild began terms as Treasurer in 1868 and 1875. The headquarters were initially an extension on the Jewish Soup Kitchen, but later moved to Middlesex Street. On its foundation the board stated that,

“''the teachings of religion, the impulses of humanity and the doctrines of social sciences alike concur in recommending and consecrating an enlarged and expansive charity, and in distinguishing it from mere alms-giving''".

The board later became concerned with the poor from the Netherlands, Germany, and increasingly Eastern Europe.

In their 29th annual report, the board stated that

''"Organization such as possessed by the board is necessary from an economic point of view, so as to practically eradicate the great problem of relief in a manner which will do the largest amount of good with the means at disposal; and the fact must not be ignored that a larger expenditure is not a sure indication of an increase in pauperperism and nursing but may reflect a removal of poverty by a prompt wrestling with discovered suffering through the bestowal of an adequate and measured assistance."''

Work

Initial aims

The Board of Guardians was established to help the poor Jewish community in London. The board aimed to create a system that would help this community without creating a class dependent on it for survival. As Eugene C. Black states,''"the board strove to avoid any form of aid that might pauperise the recipient or crease passive dependency''".Black, p. 93

Unlike other Victorian charities the Board could not rely on the workhouse and had to create useful and novel practices to help their own community. The Board aimed to provide relief that would help others in the long term. ''"From the outset the Board found it hard to meet the needs of the ever-increasing poor Jewish community''".Black, p. 78 The board relied on donations from eminent Jewish families to fund their charitable work. However, the needs of the community soon expanded far past the resources available.Magnus, p. 40 As Laurie Magnus states in the volume to commemorate the first fifty years of the board, ''"from the very onset of its work the board found it difficult to maintain this equilibrium. They community required its services. And this fact, proved somewhat embarrassing when the fresh duties were thrust upon the board without the corresponding resources''".

Eligibility for relief

The board was particular about to whom charitable relief was provided. There was no relief without inquiry. Visiting officers made the appropriate checks to ensure that the Board's limited resources were not wasted. ''This meant they visited every applicant''. Black similarly states that ''"Home visits went hand in hand with relief and the Board reinvestigated any case lasting over six months''".

The relief provided by the board was also not available to new immigrants until after a six-month initial period.Magnus, p. 92 This allowed the Board to advertise in continental papers against migration to England in hope of receiving aid. In using this method, the Board of Guardians hoped to stem the tide of foreign migration.Magnus, p. 91 By 1896 the investigation of cases was assigned to an official committee, who brought legal action against those they deemed to be unworthy or misusing the Board's charity.

Applicants for relief

The application of relief from the Jewish Board of Guardians was from those, especially within the Jewish community who were in great need. The scope of people who applied for relief from the board was expansive but included groups such as: widows, children, orphans, asylum seekers and people seeking medical or financial aid.

The 1905 Annual Report of the board shows that the highest group of people receiving temporary relief was those with illnesses and the lowest being those with husbands in prison. Deserted wives received little help. The board tried to help those they considered to be most in need, more so than deserted wives. However, because of a lack of alternative systems of relief the board decided they had to help them.

The Board not only attempted to identify those who should be helped by categorisation such as orphans and widows, they also attempted to do it through government categorisation of the deserving and undeserving poor. "''The ''deserving'' were those in need who are unable to work because they are too old, disabled, or too sick.''" Hernist.org Hqwever, ''‘the ''undeserving'' were people who didn’t want to work but could, these were the people the Board tried to avoid helping. Furthermore, the number of applicants fluctuated, with "''the number of poor immigrants including wives and children ranging annually from about 250-1,000 varying on the condition in other countries.''" "The Board focused on the welfare of the children ''as they were the future'' and would also prevent further generations of Jewish poor".Lipman, p. 111 As seen above, the main group of applicants were immigrants, said to be escaping persecution. Lipman emphasises this majority by stating that, ''"native born applicants, from 1800-1900 were only 10% of all applicants.''"Lipman, p. 83

Although, this is not the figures of applicants that have recently arrived in the country, as "''earlier immigrants had become absorbed in the resident population and had become reliant on the Board for relief.''" From 1889 to 1914, the Jewish Board of Guardians was the primary organization that dealt with the foreign poor in a narrow area of the East End which suffered from a great deal of overcrowding.

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. However, relief was distributed to the new immigrants in cases of emergency. In the 1880s 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 follows: "''firstly, skilled artisans, who were vigorous, robust and healthy, secondly, those fit to transmigrate and thirdly, the poor and weak, the adventurer and mendicant.''" 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. Historian Vivian D. Lipman, argued that it is Jewish tradition "''to give applicants enough to get them on to the next town and the next overseer''."

Systems of Relief

Loans

The board provided relief through the use of loans. "''Money was almost never used and the Board considered cash relief an ultimate last resort.''" The board established a loans committee that oversaw the distributions by the charity. "''In its first 17 years the Board provided 1767 loans totaling £226322". Despite their wish to keep them low, loans given by the Board did increase. One of the initial reliefs given by the board was the loaning of sewing machines. "''These machines were lent to deserving borrowers, who paid for them in installments.''" Magnus, p.27 The Board used the money gained from this to buy more machines and repeat the process. "''By 1864 they had managed to by 26 machines."'' This system of relief was later taken over by Messrs Singer themselves.

"''In 1866 the loans committee became a department in itself, under the supervisions of David Benjamin, a benefactor of the committee."'' Under this new system the loans could be organized and controlled more closely. It also allowed the more respectable classes to apply for relief in private separately to the wider public. The security of the loans committee created a confidence, which encouraged donations. The provisions attached to the loans also meant they were not misused. "''In 1887 the capital of the loans committee was increased and donations such as the 3,000,000 francs by Baronesse de Hirsch allowed the committee to expand."'' By 1907 it had an annual turnover of £13,000.

Education, Apprenticeships and Employment

The Jewish Board of Guardians main aim was to create a self-supporting class. They focused on education and apprenticing the future generations to stop them becoming impoverished

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