With the doom and gloom that sometimes envelopes discussions about demographics and the long-term future of our community, more positive angles are often ignored.

Take Liverpool, a city which has gone from a Jewish population of almost 10,000 in the 1930s to just 2000 today. It is easy to see this as a story of decline and collapse. And yet, as we report this week, Liverpool's Jewish community is thriving and active – and relishing the future. In many ways it is a model for other communities to copy. Instead of turf wars and infighting, communal organisations cooperate.

The old joke about the Jew stranded on a desert island needing two synagogues, so he has one he doesn't go to, is all too true in some places. In Liverpool, doctrinal disputes are respected, not fought over. And the King David School campus is the physical embodiment of what lies behind Liverpool's success at building a thriving community despite the relatively small numbers. There are many other shrinking communities. Liverpool shows what can be achieved.