Jewish senior figures unite to condemn treatment of rabbis at London rally

More than two dozen chief executives and senior figures from Jewish communal organisations have condemned the treatment of two rabbis at a London rally, warning that growing intolerance within the community risks causing lasting damage.

In a joint statement issued on Monday, the leaders said they were “shocked and upset” by events at Sunday’s march and rally, where Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy were booed and heckled by sections of the crowd during their speeches before being escorted from the stage. Footage circulating online appeared to show some individuals shouting and swearing at the pair after they left the platform.

Calling the scenes “unacceptable” and urging that they “must not set a precedent” for how community leaders are treated, the signatories invoked the late Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’ Seven Principles for Maintaining Jewish Dialogue as a guide to constructive disagreement. These include keeping channels of communication open, listening deeply, showing humility, avoiding personal victory, showing mutual respect, remembering communal responsibility, and standing together before the wider world.

The statement said: “We may or may not all agree or disagree with the views of Rabbi Josh Levy and Rabbi Charley Baginsky. That’s really not the point here. What we do all agree on is how shocking and upsetting it was to see the intolerance shown to two senior community colleagues. And we are concerned that this is another symptom of an increasingly febrile and divisive atmosphere within our community.”

It added that public displays of intra-communal conflict “give strength to our enemies, who no doubt delight in seeing such Jewish conflict playing out in the public square”, and urged everyone who “loves and cares about the Jewish People” to “find ways to disagree in an agreeable way”.

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Full statement:

We write this as senior communal colleagues – all CEOs (or equivalent) of Jewish communal organisations in the UK.

Just over a week ago, on Tisha B’av, the Jewish People mourned the destruction of the Second Temple. Our tradition teaches that the destruction and subsequent exile from the Holy Land, was the result of intense factionalism and internal strife, sinat chinam.

Sadly, today, at a time where Jewish unity is much needed, internal conflict and division is rife across the Jewish world. When disagreements occur between individual Jews or Jewish groups – as they inevitably will – it behoves us to work harder to find ways to address them respectfully, so that we can continue to thrive as a people.

As senior Jewish communal leaders, we know full well that this is not an easy task. It requires effort, and intention. Especially during times of great pain, and when we feel the effects of external threats and hatred.

It therefore caused us all distress and much sadness to see how two of our communal colleagues, Rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy, were treated at yesterday’s march and rally in London. Amidst loud boos and catcalls from a section of the crowd during their speech which led to their removal from the stage. Some of the video clips circulating on social media show some people screaming and swearing at them after they had been escorted off. This is unacceptable and must not set a precedent for how any of our communal leaders can be treated.

Former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks z”l wrote a piece in the build up to Tisha B’av in 2018, sharing his thoughts on “Seven Principles for Maintaining Jewish Dialogue”, to combat the dangers of internal communal conflict. A shortened version of those principles is:

PRINCIPLE 1: Keep talking, even when you disagree. The more you talk, the more you are likely to eventually find a way to work together.

PRINCIPLE 2: Listen deeply to one another. Hear what your opponent is saying… Shema Yisrael, the great command, means, “Listen, Israel.”

PRINCIPLE 3: Always be humble and modest by striving to understand the point of view with which you disagree. That was the way of Hillel. It remains the first rule of conflict management.

PRINCIPLE 4: Never seek victory. Never ever seek to inflict defeat on your opponents.

PRINCIPLE 5: If you show contempt for other Jews, they will show contempt for you. If you show respect for other Jews, they will show respect for you.

PRINCIPLE 6: Remember that the ultimate basis of Jewish peoplehood is “Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh”, “All Jews are responsible for one another”. We may not agree on anything, but we remain a single extended family…Being a family is what keeps us together. We don’t need to agree with each other, but we do need to care about each other.

PRINCIPLE 7: God chose us as a people… It is as a people we stand before God, and it is as a people we stand before the world. The world doesn’t make distinctions, antisemites don’t make distinctions.

From our experience in leadership roles across the community, these principles are vital, though not necessarily easy. In order for us to work together as communal leaders from different backgrounds and with a wide range of views and opinions, it requires much patience, tolerance, and the assumption of good faith. We start from a position of understanding that we all want the best for the British Jewish community and the wider Jewish People, even if we interpret that differently from one another. And so we sit around tables together and respectfully discuss, debate, and yes, disagree.

And when we disagree, as we often do, we try our best to hold onto the Jewish principle of “mahloket l’shem shamayim” (Pirke Avot 5:17) – disagreements “for the sake of heaven”, when the aim isn’t to “beat” the other person or to win the argument. An argument “for the sake of heaven” is not about ego, power, or personal gain, but about sincerely seeking truth, understanding, or the best way to serve the community.

We may or may not all agree or disagree with the views of Rabbi Josh Levy and Rabbi Charley Baginsky. That’s really not the point here. What we do all agree on, is how shocking and upsetting it was to see the intolerance shown to two senior community colleagues. And we are concerned that this is another symptom of an increasingly febrile and divisive atmosphere within our community.

Scenes like yesterday, in such a high profile public setting, do not help our community. If anything, they give strength to our enemies, who no doubt delight in seeing such Jewish conflict playing out in the public square.

As senior communal professional colleagues, we call on everyone who loves and cares about the Jewish People to think carefully about how we speak with one another, and how we treat each other. We must strive to find ways to disagree with one another in an agreeable way, and to work hard to avoid current fractures becoming permanent, damaging divisions.

This is not just the responsibility of professional communal leaders, rather of the entire Jewish community.

Even though we may not be uniform, we know we can be more unified.

Signed by:

· Adam Rossano, Executive Director, Limmud

· Arieh Miller, former CEO, UJS

· Ashley Lerner, CEO, Maccabi GB

· Claudia Mendoza, CEO, The Jewish Leadership Council

· Daniel Carmel-Brown, CEO, Jewish Care

Rabbi David Mason, CEO, HIAS+JCORE

· David Davidi-Brown, CEO, New Israel Fund

· Elizabeth Bradbury, CEO, LJWB

· Erica Marks, CEO, JSAS Jewish Sexual Abuse Support