In the Shadow of Terror, a Community’s Defiant Dance Reveals Democracy’s Deepest Test

When survivors of the Manchester synagogue attack gathered in a makeshift portacabin to pray and dance just two days after losing two members of their congregation, they demonstrated a form of resistance that challenges our understanding of security, resilience, and religious freedom in modern Britain.

The Attack That Shook Manchester

The assault on Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation marks yet another violent incident targeting Jewish communities in the UK, where antisemitic hate crimes have surged by over 500% since October 2023. The attack, which claimed two lives and left four injured, represents not just an assault on individuals but an attempt to terrorize an entire community into silence and invisibility. Yet the congregation’s response—gathering in a portacabin for prayer, song, and dance—offers a powerful counter-narrative to those who would use violence to suppress religious expression.

This incident occurs against a backdrop of rising religious intolerance across Europe, where Jewish institutions increasingly require armed guards, reinforced doors, and surveillance systems just to conduct basic religious services. The fact that survivors had to resort to a portacabin for their service underscores both the vulnerability of religious minorities and the inadequacy of current protective measures.

Beyond Resilience: The Politics of Jewish Joy

Rabbi Daniel Walker’s decision to lead his traumatized congregation in songs and dancing represents more than mere resilience—it constitutes a deliberate act of political and spiritual defiance. In Jewish tradition, the concept of “simcha shel mitzvah” (the joy of observance) transforms religious practice from obligation into celebration. By choosing joy in the face of terror, the Heaton Park congregation engaged in what scholars call “radical hope”—the insistence on imagining and enacting a future despite present devastation.

This response challenges conventional security discourse, which often frames minority communities as passive victims requiring protection. Instead, the Manchester congregation’s actions suggest that true security might lie not in higher walls or more guards, but in the stubborn persistence of communal life and cultural expression. Their dancing in a portacabin becomes a form of what Palestinian-American intellectual Edward Said called “affirmative resistance”—the assertion of identity and presence against forces of erasure.

Policy Implications: Rethinking Community Security

The Manchester attack and its aftermath demand a fundamental reconsideration of how democracies protect religious minorities. Current approaches, which emphasize physical security measures and hate crime legislation, have proven insufficient to prevent attacks or address the underlying currents of extremism. The congregation’s makeshift service highlights the need for more adaptive, community-centered approaches to security that don’t transform places of worship into fortresses.

Moreover, the symbolism of rain giving way to sunlight during the service offers a meteorological metaphor for a necessary policy shift: from reactive measures focused on weathering storms of hate to proactive strategies that create conditions for diverse communities to flourish. This might include enhanced interfaith dialogue programs, educational initiatives addressing the roots of antisemitism, and urban planning that integrates rather than segregates religious communities.

As Western democracies grapple with rising extremism and social fragmentation, the dance in that Manchester portacabin poses a fundamental question: Can our societies create spaces where minorities don’t just survive but thrive, where security means not just the absence of violence but the presence of joy?