On the 2nd of October 2025, a terrorist carried out a car-ramming and knife attack outside the synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester. Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed during the terrorist attack, The attacker, 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, was also shot dead by police at the scene.

This year marks one year since that attack, and today also marks the final day of a very important time for the Jewish community worldwide. Today is Yom Kippur otherwise known as the day of atonement. 

Yom Kippur is celebrated through a 25-hour period of fasting, intensive prayer, wearing white, and seeking forgiveness. The final day of Yom Kippur ends right after nightfall with a single, long, triumphant blast of the shofar, which is a ram’s horn, called the Tekiah Gedolah.  

While Yom Kippur is universally the holiest day of fasting and atonement in Judaism worldwide, in Manchester it now has greater significance as the anniversary of a dark day that directly impacted local families. Rabbi Dovid Eisenberg, the Minister and Director of Education at the Shrubberies synagogue in Prestwich, Manchester said he is hopeful everyone can celebrate Yom Kippur safely. 

Rabbi Dovid Eisenberg said: “Yom Kippur is the day of atonement, and that is what makes it so special to the Jewish community worldwide and in Manchester. In light of what happened last year, it is extremely meaningful this year, one year on. We hope that everyone will be safe and able to go about their religious rights in peace without needing police protection or to be secured by a security fence on the perimeter of many synagogues.”

Manchester is home to the United Kingdom’s second-largest Jewish community, counting approximately 30,000 residents, and the Salford area has over 8 different synagogues. 

For many they live with the uncertainty of more attacks – on Sunday afternoon, two men were arrested in a dramatic swoop by counter terror officers in the Northern Quarter. While there’s no indication the arrests were linked to a plot against the Jewish community – the current national terror threat level is still ‘severe’ which means an attack is considered ‘highly likely’.