At a pilot event for SCoJeC's Being Jewish in Scotland, Project Worker Fiona Frank talked to three ex-pats who recalled their early lives in Glasgow, and made comparisons with their current experience in the US where, they said, being Jewish is much more ‘normal’. One participant lives in an area of Boston where 40% of the population is Jewish, and where there is a high level of awareness and understanding of Judaism among the wider community.
They discussed similarities between Scottish and Jewish people, particularly noting the emphasis that both give to education and self-improvement, though they also recalled unhappy incidents, such as having been accused of killing Jesus.
They are not alone in the Jewish community in having chosen to leave Scotland – in fact, almost all of their close friends had moved either to Manchester, Israel, or America, but all said that their Scottish identity has become stronger, the longer they have been away.
