OPINION: Where is the tolerance for members of our own religion?
Why do we think we have the right to criticise those who have a different Jewish way of life to us just because we are also Jewish?, asks Shimon Cohen.
British society today embraces the idea that different cultures, religions and lifestyles are all valid and valuable, that we should live not in a melting pot but in a mosaic, viewing the country as consisting of a colourful array of different communities, all contributing in their unique way.
The prime minister, a practicing Hindu, hosts Jewish holiday receptions at Downing Street, faith leaders write columns of interest in the national press, British universities celebrate festivals of different cultures, and the issues of minority groups are advocated for in the public sphere.
Such an embrace is truly remarkable and I am thankful for it.
However, within our own community, such is not the case. Too many within the Jewish community are quick to respect the cultures of others, to have an interest, curiosity, and respect for other, totally foreign ways of living.
Yet, when they turn inwards, and gaze at other groups within the Jewish community, all that respectful validation, that acceptance of the mosaic of British life, dissolves into thin air.
Simply put, despite the tolerance of other religions, there seems little or no tolerance towards members of our own. Why do we think we have the right to criticise those who have a different Jewish way of life to us just because we are also Jewish?
The Jewish people, in Biblical times comprised of a dozen tribes and, as the saying goes, “no two people were created alike.” In pre-War Europe, Romanian Jewry was different to German Jewry, Moroccan rabbis seemed a world away, at times, to their Italian colleagues. Today, all these groups now live in the same cities, in London, New York, and Jerusalem. Yet their differences still need to be recognised and valued, each on their own terms.
I accept that it is difficult to truly understand another community as an outsider. But why is such effort expended trying to do so with other faiths while sneering at our own?
Why are Charedi Jews seen as fair game for complaints, as opposed to acceptance? And these complaints are not just rants over a private family Shabbat table.
Those from traditional Jewish communities have been busy animating Westminster with their intolerance of the Charedi community. Where is this appreciation of a mosaic, the realisation that others can happily remain different? These activists would never dare campaign against Sikh education or Imam training academies in the UK, say, but when it comes to their own, they do, and with a bren.
I accept that it is difficult to truly understand another community as an outsider. But why is such effort expended trying to do so with other faiths while sneering at our own?
One Jewish activist recently wrote about how the modest dress of others was abusive to her and how oppressed she felt by the clothing and religious norms of displayed at a Stamford Hill function that she attended as a guest!
A good friend of mine was angry that a lovely Friday night dinner he attended at his rabbi’s home was “wrecked by the insulting intolerance” of the rebbitzen who recoiled when he leant in to kiss her. “She just ruined the evening, I was horrified” he told me.
One Jewish activist recently wrote about how the modest dress of others was abusive to her and how oppressed she felt by the clothing and religious norms of displayed at a Stamford Hill function that she attended as a guest!
When I pointed out, that the rebbitzen was probably more upset than he was, I was told to “get a life and join the 21st century!”
When these activists visit a mosque do they not cover their hair? Would my friend really try to kiss an Imam’s wife!? Do they yell “don’t oppress me” if the warden at the church they are visiting asks them to cover up their bare arms!?
But to frum people and Charedi Jews there is simply sneering: “I am as Jewish as you and so I don’t have to respect you.”
Stamford Hill is replete colour of cultural values that we would only be so lucky to have. The pervasive, all-embracing presence of family and friends, formed across the generational divides, the acts of kindness that permeate the community, with charitable organisations busy day-and-night helping with any and all problems, the sense productivity and purpose, and the feeling of belonging and identity, to mention but a few.
True, their dress, Shabbat, speech, and Simchas may look different to yours and mine but they are entitled to the respect we give, naturally and without thinking, to all other groups different to our own. Let us respect their unique place in this mosaic of modern life.
To those obsessing about respect for protected characteristics, please remember people of faith and religion are a protected characteristic too.
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