Unyielding Faith: Triumph Over Antisemitism
The first time I ever wore a kippah in public was at a criminal law lecture in London. I sheepishly entered the lecture theatre, totally consumed by self-consciousness. I was relieved when a fellow student (non-Jewish) shared his surprise about the revelation of hitherto crypto-Judaism: “Hey Jonny, I didn’t know you were Jewish – good for you.”
Sadly, not every subsequent reaction was so enthusiastic. Soon after that lecture, someone on the Tube looked menacingly at me and my kippah before treading slowly, yet deliberately on my foot before alighting the train. The first of many unpleasant encounters resulting from a seemingly innocuous head covering. But it is one thing absorbing abuse for the crime of being Jewish oneself, but when your kids start to be vilified it is an altogether more painful phenomenon.
My 17-year-old son was recently walking with a friend innocuously in North West London, days after Hamas’ atrocities in Israel had reignited the conflict. A Middle Eastern looking man shouted at my son, ‘Yahud! (Jew! in Arabic) Free Palestine!’ What exactly does my son have to do with ‘Palestine’?, I thought. It is sad, yet admirable that my son has learnt at his tender age how to respond to such Jew hatred. When he was just 12, my son was once on a bus on the way home from school, wearing his kippah. (Presumably,) A Jewish man on the bus told him, “You shouldn’t be wearing your kippah on the bus; it could get you in trouble!” My son responded with defiance: “I’m proud to be Jewish!”
My son taught me that instead of succumbing to fear, we can choose to stand tall, unwavering in our beliefs and, steadfast in our heritage. But there are other unsung heroes, in the most unexpected places. Also following the carnage in Israel, and with London’s Jews feeling increased hostility on the streets, I was similarly inspired during my work for The Abraham Effect which supports and inspires Jewish teens at non-Jewish secondary schools. My first encounter was with the Jewish boys I work with as Jewish Chaplain at Harrow School. The attendance at my lunchtime talk at the Jewish Society there that week was a record. We ran out of kosher pizza after the devouring of five boxes! A few of boys took out their kippot from their pockets and carefully listened to me reciting prayers for the fallen and the injured. I bore witness to a profound galvanisation of Jewish identity among these young students. They displayed such dignified resistance amidst the shadows of the barbarism and the perverse celebrations of those who supported the perpetrators’ inhuman brutality. The same togetherness was palpable during my visits to St Paul’s School and Westminster School later that week. Next week, I will be speaking at a vigil organised by the Jewish Society at North London Collegiate School.
One of the pupils asked me why there was such an outpouring of solidarity for the people of Ukraine when Russia invaded, yet there were numerous pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel rallies in Britain despite such irrational evil being perpetrated against innocent Israeli citizens, including the beheading of Jewish babies. The answer would take many pages to explain, but the core of the secret is addressed in Talmud complied over 2000 years ago:
“What is [the reason for the name] Mount Sinai? That hatred (sinah in Hebrew) descended to the idolaters on it.”
(Tractate Shabbat, 89a).
Using a pun rooted in the similarity in sound of Sinai and sinah (hatred), our Sages saw the underpinnings of Jew hatred as a result of the Jews’ acceptance of the Torah. In other words, at Sinai the Jews became guardians of the Torah, the moral code for humanity. However, simultaneously an antipathy against this ethical framework entered the human psyche, directed at the Torah and its promoters. Thus, antisemitism became part and parcel of human nature, although of course many decent people were not infected by this spiritual disease. The Torah urges mankind to live up to values of diligence and devotion, holiness and humility, moderation and morals. These things are not always popular and opposers often chose to shoot the messenger. It did not even matter whether all the Jews themselves actually lived up to these ideals, they represented them anyway.
Instead of retreating into the shadows, out of this crisis I have seen that many Jews are ready to proudly embrace their Jewish identity. We simply refuse to let the actions of a brainwashed death cult and its supporters mar the rich tapestry of our heritage and faith. In the face of bigotry and adversity, Jewish students are not cowed; instead, they are engaging in meaningful conversations about their identity, dispelling myths and stereotypes, and fostering dialogue to promote understanding and harmony. It is in the classrooms and community centres that the future of our society is being shaped and the resilience of these young individuals gives hope that the Jewish people fulfil its ultimate purpose- to serve as a light unto the nations.
