History of Judaism in Birmingham

Starting this week off with our Monday stand-up meeting, we established our goals for the days ahead and I was determined to make a big dent in the writing of my drafts for the ‘Religion in Birmingham’ book. I found myself spending a lot of time researching Judaism in Birmingham and wrote extensively on the comprehensive history of the city’s Jewish community. The city has had a significant Jewish population since as early as the 1700s when special manufacturing industries were popping up around the city, drawing in Jewish settlers. 

Birmingham has also had many influential Jewish people shape its history. For example, Rudolf Peierls who at the University of Birmingham as the chair of theoretical physics. With fellow Jewish physicist Frisch, the two designed the first theoretical mechanism for the detonation of an atomic bomb in 1940, named the Frisch–Peierls memorandum.

Later on in the week, I caught up with Wei and we discussed more ideas for the book. There are so many beautiful religious places in Birmingham and so we would like to include as many images in the book as possible to bring the descriptions to life. My next job is therefore to compile a list of places that I think should be photographed.