Between the Street and the Shul: Religion and identity in the lives of the children of immigrant Jews in the Gorbals district of Glasgow during the interwar years

This article discusses the significance of religion and religious observance in the lives of the children of Jewish immigrants in one particular provincial Jewish community – the Gorbals district in the Scottish city of Glasgow during the interwar years. During this period the second generation had to reconcile the pressure to assimilate to wider society with their observance of Judaism. The discussion demonstrates that there was no uniform response to these conflicting pressures, but rather a range of individual solutions. Some experienced Judaism as a distinct and enjoyable way of life, while others felt it to be an almost incomprehensible set of constraints.