My Land

Glancing through that other English language newspaper, I came across the most extraordinary suggestion for our sins of commission and omission which require our penitence on Yom Kippur.

“Israel is increasingly alienating Diaspora Jewry, the majority of whom are non-Orthodox and want a say in our shared homeland.”

Why, for heavens sake, should a Jew who has chosen to live in the Galut, the Diaspora, have any say in my homeland. They do not share it; they have opted not to come. Perhaps, for a start, we in Israel should have a say in their homeland. Yes, any Jew living in the Galut should follow these simple rules …..

Every week they should put a coin in their JNF Blue Box. We no longer need their money, but this will serve as a reminder that they are Jewish, and their homeland awaits.

While Israel’s children are learning our history, the waves of immigration and the rebuilding of our shattered land, the Jews of the Galut should teach their children about the difficulties and dangers Jews have faced throughout history in Britain, Europe and America.

In England, for example, by the late 1200s, Jews were not allowed to own land. After death their money passed, not to their children, but directly to the King. As the Jews became poor, the king could not collect taxes from them. As a result, thousands were arrested, imprisoned, or even hanged.

Eventually, in 1290 King Edward I of England issued the Edict of Expulsion, expelling all the Jews from the Kingdom of England. Amazingly, when finally allowed to return in 1656, many did return to a land that hated them. Today, more than 260,000 Jews call England home. And 2021 saw a record number of antisemitic incidents, as many as 2,255 were reported to the Community Security Trust (CST) and the police, with many more going unreported.

We do not yet know who will live and who will die; who after a long life and who before their time; who by water and who by fire, who by sword and who by beast, who by famine and who by thirst, who by upheaval and who by plague, who by strangling and who by stoning.

Sadly, today’s world offers a good chance of dying from any one of these possibilities. To all my readers, although it is too late to change it, I hope you had G’mar Chatima Tova, that you have been inscribed in the Book of Life.