Faith

In 2001, 114 actively practising Jews lived in Sunderland, but the number has since fallen.

Sonia and Charles Slater are two of the remaining Jewish worshippers in the Sunderland area.

Charles, who was once the leader of Sunderland Council for almost two decades, talked to us about the congregation's demise:

"Many of our congregation left to study in places like Manchester, London or Leeds and stayed there.

"It was probably the active all-round Jewish community that kept them there." 

In the 1960s, the Jewish community was large and thriving, but as Charles puts it: "The rest of us left here [in Sunderland] are simply dying."

Synagogue closes

Since the Ryhope Road Synagogue closed in March 2006, there isn't a place for the remaining Jews to worship, except in their own homes.

There are synagogues and religious colleges in Gateshead and Newcastle, but for some Jews that doesn't help them.

"We can't travel to anywhere else to worship as we're not allowed to travel by car on the Shabbat so we pray on our own.

Shedding light on the Jewish history

"We keep in regular contact with the elderly in our community to ensure no-one is left isolated," Charles says.

The Ryhope Road Synagogue is a privately owned, listed building which was purposely built as a synagogue.

Charles can not see what the building could be used for other than a synagogue, but as the future is looking bleak for the congregation, little use can be had with it.

Once growing, now fading

It's now 250 years since the first Jewish person was recorded in Sunderland history. Over the years, merchants and their families moved to the area from other parts of the UK and some came from Europe, often as a side-effect of the coal industry.

Coal was exported to the Eastern Baltic and instead of the vessels returning empty, Polish Jews paid for their transport to Sunderland. 

In the late 18th century, a Rabbi was brought over from Holland and the community, mainly concentrated in the East End and later Ashbrooke, grew steadily.

Over the years, the Jewish community opened an old people's home, a primary school and other institutions relating to the faith – these have all now closed or moved to places like Gateshead and Newcastle.

All this has contributed to the decline of the Jewish congregation in Sunderland. As Charles Slater puts it:

"The congregation has just faded away, and now it's about to drop over the edge."

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