This is a portrait of Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881). Disraeli was born in London to Jewish parents, but his father had a disagreement with the Bevis Marks synagogue, revoked his membership, and had his children baptised in the Church of England. Although still considered Jewish by many, due to his baptism, Disraeli was eligible to enter the House of Commons in 1837, a time when Jews were prevented from serving in parliament due to an oath of office that required loyalty to Christianity. Disraeli was the leader of the Conservative party for 30 years and first became prime minister in 1868, during the reign of Queen Victoria. Disraeli was a favourite of the Queen and a close confidante; she was especially pleased when he promoted legislation that gave her the title of Emperor of India. Disraeli worked to improve the life of the urban working class, passing laws to improve working conditions, housing, and sanitation. Internationally, he was a supporter of the British Empire and sought to strengthen Britain’s holdings around the world. To some, however, Disraeli was seen as an outsider and foreigner, and he encountered anti-Semitism throughout his political life from both his own party and the Liberal party. His own relationship with Judaism was complicated. His novels sometimes included characters who embodied stereotypical anti-Semitic Jewish traits, while at other times he spoke about the superiority of Jews over Christians. Disraeli had a close relationship with Lionel de Rothschild who was denied his seat in parliament due to the Christian oath of office. Disraeli subsequently brokered a change in the law which, passed in 1858, allowed Jews to take an oath which did not deny their Judaism and enabled de Rothschild to become the first Jewish member of Parliament.
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The Jewish Community of Britain – The first mention of Jews in Britain is from 1070. In the eleventh and twelfth century Jews were legally under the protection of the monarchs in return for heavy taxes and loans and lived mainly in the financial centres of London, Oxford, Lincoln, Bristol, and Norwich. In the late twelfth century, the Jews suffered from anti-Semitic restrictions, blood libels, riots, and massacres. One of the worst anti-Semitic massacres of the Middle Ages took place in York where the entire Jewish community was burnt to death at Clifford’s Tower. In 1290 King Edward I expelled all the Jews of Britain and their homes and properties were confiscated. For many centuries, Jews did not officially live in the country, but many lived secretly until the rule of Oliver Cromwell, when they were readmitted due to the intervention of the Dutch rabbi and leader, Menashe Ben Israel. Many of these new Jewish arrivals were of Spanish and Portuguese origins. An attempt to legalise Jewish presence in Britain was made in 1753 with the Jewish Naturalisation Act, and in the nineteenth century Jews received equal rights. The community prospered and comprised academics, bankers, scientists, and merchants. Among these distinguished British Jews of the eighteenth and nineteenth century were Sir Moses Montefiore, Nathan Mayer von Rothschild, and Benjamin Disraeli. Due to the good conditions, the lack of violence towards Jews, and religious tolerance, in the nineteenth century Britain became a target for Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe. The new Jewish immigrants lived mainly in the large industrial cities, especially London, Manchester, and Leeds. The East End of London became a Jewish neighbourhood where Yiddish was commonly spoken. In the twentieth century many more Jews fleeing the Nazis arrived in Britain, including the famous kindertransport, the British rescue effort of thousands of children from Nazi-occupied Europe. The Jewish community of Britain numbers over 300,000 today. This is the fifth largest Jewish community in the world and the second in Europe.
