Synagogue in England
Synagogue in EnglandiStock

With the gradual publication of the list of those killed in the attack in Manchester, a Chabad emissary in Manchester, England, said that at this stage he did not know of any Jews involved.

The shliach, Rabbi Israel Cohen, said that the Jewish community had been prepared for years for the possibility of an attack, and there is no need to increase security now.

However, the editor of a Jewish weekly in the city believes that Jews may now stop gathering outside the synagogues in the afternoon and evening.

"The communications equipment works, the residents were briefed, police patrols, professional security personnel from the Jewish community have been stationed since the attacks in Belgium" last year, Cohen told the JTA news agency. "There is a limit to what can be done, apart from praying."

In Manchester some 30,000 Jews concentrate in a relatively small area. Vigilance is high, and every time an unknown person is seen taking pictures in the streets, there are those who approach him and question him. Of the more than 2.5 million residents of the city, almost 16% are Muslims. The Jews constitute just over one percent.

Bobbies getting vigilant
Bobbies getting vigilantiStock

In 2012, a Muslim couple was imprisoned for seven years after collecting information about the Jews of Manchester in order to carry out an attack.

Paul Harris, the editor of Jewish Telegraph, agreed that the security of the Jews was good, but pointed to a weak point. According to him, religious Jews tend to gather around synagogues in the afternoon and evening - and this habit makes them convenient. "It may change from now on," he said, noting that in France, the custom has stopped.