OPINION: Cultural appropriation is not just acceptable in relation to Jews, it’s mandatory

Something very peculiar is going on in the world vis-a-vis Jews, though it’s not a new phenomenon. It is a general feeling that – to use a much-derided term – cultural appropriation is not just acceptable in relation to Jews, but mandatory, as in “why are you Jews making a fuss about being Jews”?

In the past week, apart from the now infamous Jewish nose debate surrounding Bradley Cooper’s impersonation of Leonard Bernstein, in his biopic of the conductor/musician, there have been two very odd manifestations.

First was the announcement, by a public university in Switzerland, that in seeking to appoint a Jewish studies professor, the only applicants to be considered had to be… Catholic.

I nearly wrote apoplectic rather than applicant. Yes, indeed, the job spec from the University of Lucerne’s faculty of theology states clearly that any future Jewish studies and theology professor must be Catholic. This is apparently because the faculty is, separately, directly affiliated with the Catholic Church, and so anyone who is not of that religion cannot teach “doctrinal” courses. These include philosophy, liturgy, scripture, Catholic theology and fundamental theology. And Judaism, it seems.

No one seemed to think it was anything but normal for a public university to be advertising for a Jewish studies professor who must absolutely not be Jewish. To be fair, he or she must not be Protestant, either – equal opportunities discrimination there.

Now it may well be that someone who is Catholic might be better qualified academically than a Jewish candidate for this particular post. But, come on, University of Lucerne. Make it an even playing field. Allow anyone of any religion to apply. Other universities in Switzerland seem to have no problem.

Over in Egypt, I learn, is yet another Jew-free zone. This time it’s an even more egregious situation: the re-dedication and opening of Cairo’s famed Ben Ezra synagogue, restored to glory in a project spearheaded by Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Ministry.

And guess what? Although the great and the good, including the Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, attended the ceremony marking the completion of the year-long restoration work – there were NO JEWS officially present.

It is certainly true that in the wake of the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars, when many Jews fled Egypt for fear of their lives, there has only been a tiny Jewish community in the country. After the 2019 death of its long-time leader, Marcelle Haroun, aged 93, there were said to be only five Jews known to be living in Cairo. Agence-France Presse reported in 2017 that there were also 12 Jews living in Alexandria.

So home-grown Jews are definitely thin on the ground. But there have been endless foreign Jewish visitors to Egypt, often under American Jewish auspices, including those with Egyptian heritage seeking information about their ancestors.

What was to prevent the government inviting someone from abroad to represent world Jewry at the Ben Ezra reopening? After all, the Ben Ezra is not just any old synagogue. It is, in fact, an extremely old synagogue, having been built an estimated 1,200 years ago. It is also the site of the famous Cairo Geniza, the primary source for writing the history of Middle East Jewish communities.

And it’s not like the Egyptians don’t recognise its importance. The Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa declared: “The synagogue is one of the most important and oldest Jewish temples in Egypt, housing numerous valuable books about the customs, traditions and social life of the Jewish community in Egypt.”

The problem, I think, is that the Egyptians regard the Ben Ezra as part of Egypt’s cultural heritage, rather than its Jewish heritage.

It will never be a working synagogue again, I suppose – but as one cross Cairo Jew told the Israeli Kan broadcaster: “This is like restoring a great mosque and having no Muslims present.”