OPINION: The civilised tolerance of my dear old friend Rabbi Levy will be sadly missed
Former President of the Board of Deputies Vivian Wineman reflects on the passing of a community giant and personal friend who represented the very best of Sephardi values.
I seem to spend a lot of time now writing farewells to old friends and colleagues – hardly surprising in my eighth decade. But some farewells are particularly poignant and one of these is the one marking the passing of Rabbi Abraham Levy, the senior rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese congregations in the UK.
My acquaintance with Rabbi Levy goes back more than 50 years to my university days when he was an up-and-coming young rabbi in the Sephardi community and I was an extremely green undergraduate.
The message that he brought with him, on his visit to Cambridge, was that Judaism did not need to be an obscurantist faith confined to the ghetto. It could embrace modern western thought, both in the arts and in the sciences.
In support of that proposition he cited the record of Sephardi Jewry. In its golden age in medieval Spain, its leaders developed Hebrew poetry, bible study and Talmudic interpretation which they raised to new heights. In addition, they immersed themselves in the study of the science of the time, producing a synthesis which stood in stark contrast to the narrow introverted culture developed by their Ashkenazi counterparts.
Our paths diverged but then crossed again forty years later, by which time he was the senior rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogues and I was representing the Board of Deputies as its president. His message had not changed: the Sephardi tradition was still one of openness and inquiry. More than that, he advocated tolerance and respect for all groups even those with whom he disagreed. He was at the forefront therefore of interfaith work for which he received a government honour but far more significantly he involved himself, despite his impeccable orthodoxy, in relations between different streams of the community – a much more tricky enterprise.
Our relationship was therefore a pleasant one. Apart from the mutual affection and respect which we had developed for one another over the decades, his inclusivist message chimed in well with the Board, which aspired to represent the entire community across the political and religious spectrum. Besides, the Sephardi communities had an affection for the Board – after all it was they who founded it.
Rabbi Levy cut a slightly old fashioned figure with his top hat and formal garb. They reflected the formal character of the Spanish and Portuguese communities he led.
In their loyal address to George III in 1760, the original members of the Board self-described as Portuguese Jews despite having lived in this country for two centuries. The Board’s first minutes were in Portuguese and the very term ‘deputies’ is simply an adaptation of the Portuguese ‘deputados’.
Rabbi Levy cut a slightly old fashioned figure with his top hat and formal garb. They reflected the formal character of the Spanish and Portuguese communities he led. In a deeper sense though, he was old fashioned having the traditional virtues of latitudinarianism, patriotism and civilised manners. This extended to progressive Jews as well so that the Sephardi community sometimes attempted to act as a bridge between orthodox and progressives.
This narcissism of small differences has disfigured the politics and culture of our community for many years. Rabbi Levy had no time for it.
After his retirement he wrote his memoirs, “A Rocky Road”, a reference to his upbringing in Gibraltar. In them he reiterated his pride in these old fashioned virtues.
Although he has a worthy successor in Rabbi Dwek, such virtues are generally on the decline in the orthodox community. Rabbi Levy’s voice was one of civilised tolerance coupled with unquestioning allegiance to his heritage. It will be sadly missed.
- Vivian Wineman was president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews from 2009 to 2015.
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