Kesher Talk

Being a Jew in Britain: Norman Lebrecht (writing in London's Evening Standard) laments the rising tide of European anti-semitism. But anguish, he says, is a "unifying force."

At prayers each morning, my rabbi reads out a lengthy supplication for peace and social harmony. Sharon's claim that Israel is fighting for survival may be hyperbolic, but Jews in Britain have not felt so insecure since Mosley's Blackshirts marched the streets - or so uncertain of their place in a society that seems to treat them with renewed suspicion and distaste.

One of the most startling trends of recent months is not the flight from Israel by casual students and fainthearted friends, but the sustained numbers of young British Jews who are leaving to make their homes in Israel. Britain, to many of its Jewish citizens, no longer feels like home.

posted by Howard @ 4/15/2002 01:26:53 PM