Frost glistens across Eton College’s vast playing fields on a bitter Sunday morning in December. From the ancient buildings pressing in on narrow lanes, boys bustle out, collars stiff, black coats flapping, hurrying toward chapel.
Away from the flow, beyond a lattice of corridors hung with oil portraits and trimmed with Christmas decorations, a smaller gathering is taking shape. Unwrapping packets of sweets stamped with a “K” kosher symbol and looking on at the somewhat incongruous chanukiah, a handful of pupils settle in for their weekly Jewish studies class.
In a school that has produced 20 British prime ministers, a procession of princes, and artists aplenty, these boys are here to affirm their Jewish identity in one of the country’s most storied institutions.
With widespread concern about escalating antisemitism, including and perhaps especially, within classrooms, Eton chaplain Rabbi Jonny Hughes, who is running the sessions, explains to the JC that he wants young Jews to embrace their identity, building a Jewish foundation that will help bolster them against any ensuing Jew-hate.
“I’d rather not be a firefighter against antisemitism, but instead focus on spreading the beauty of Judaism,” Hughes says.
That’s why he started the Abraham Effect, his project which goes into schools across the UK.
A congregational rabbi for over a decade, serving Hendon United Synagogue, Richmond Synagogue and Radlett United, Hughes’ work with the Abraham Effect now sees him travelling the country in an attempt “to inspire every Jewish student attending a non-Jewish school in the UK to increase their Jewish identity and commitment to Jewish continuity”.
His approach appears to be resonating. In just two and a half years, the Abraham Effect has reached more than 6,000 pupils across over 40 schools, including Eton, Harrow, Westminster, Marlborough, Aldenham and a growing network in Manchester.
Speaking to the JC ahead of his lesson at Eton, he explains: “I saw a gap in how Jewish identity was being supported in mainstream schools. Many bright, talented Jewish pupils in British schools were isolated and disconnected from their heritage.”
With more Jewish families selecting faith schools for their children, Hughes sees his mission supporting Jews who attend mainstream schools – often as a very small minority – as essential.
“I wanted to meet Jewish pupils where they are – to bring warmth, meaning and confidence into their lives and to show that being proudly Jewish can sit naturally alongside success in the wider world,” Hughes says.
Hughes was born to a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father and discovered his Jewish heritage while studying law at University College London. Before becoming a rabbi, he was a professional footballer, playing for Swindon Town and Reading, an unlikely résumé that he says this helps him relate to pupils.
“I grew up with no Jewish education, so I understand what it feels like to be on the margins of identity. Discovering Judaism later in life changed everything for me, and that journey shapes how I relate to these students – with empathy, authenticity and a deep belief that identity can be rediscovered at any age.”
And pupils are rediscovering their identities. “Many students who once hid or downplayed their Jewish identity now express it with pride and joy,” he says.
“Eton’s Jewish class has nearly doubled in size, and we’ve seen pupils reconnect with their heritage, some even coming out as Jewish for the first time,” Hughes went on.
But his work at Eton is not without precedent. While a boarding school so steeped in Christian faith could be difficult for some Jewish pupils, Hughes’ work at the school builds on a longer history of Jewish religious provision.
Jewish instruction was first introduced at Eton in the aftermath of the First World War, and in the decades since, the offering has expanded. During the 2000s and 2010s, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist classes were introduced alongside Jewish studies, with a Sikh group added most recently.
The deputy head of pastoral, Mike Grenier, explains that while all pupils are required to attend chapel several times a week, boys of different faiths attend these religious classes in place of Sunday chapel. For the rest of the week, they join their peers at Christian services. That rhythm, Grenier says, is part of the experience parents sign up for when they enrol their sons at the school.
While hundreds gather in chapel, they are perhaps only dimly aware of the multi-faith classes happening across school.
The class also helps Jewish pupils who might experience antisemitism. Eton, like all schools, has had to deal with such incidents, Grenier says, but the Jewish class creates a framework of support for pupils, who come to know others across year groups, including older students, known as secretaries.
At the penultimate session before the school’s Christmas holidays, that sense of camaraderie is easy to see. The boys are still buzzing from a Shabbat dinner the previous week, when Hughes arrived with a cold kosher feast to enjoy with the class and some Eton staff.
Once they are settled, he talks the class through the story of Chanukah. “Imagine if your iPhone had 10 per cent charge and it lasted for a week on TikTok,” he says, drawing snorts of appreciation.
Chanukah, he explains, is about hope, sharing light, and using one’s own agency to make miracles happen. “The fact that we are here today, identified as a Jewish class at Eton College, is part of this miracle. You are part of this miracle,” he told them, urging the boys to see themselves not just as individuals, but as members of a wider community bound by responsibility.
“In our faith, we do not wait for miracles,” he adds. “We have to have the inspiration to do something.”
As the session ends and the boys prepare to head to a Sunday afternoon Santa “fun run” or off to revise for their forthcoming exams, Hughes offers to help them lay tefillin. A few take him up on the offer, and, wrapped in retzuot, the hallowed power of their Jewish identity in a Christian space is plain to see.
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