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What will we do when this is all over?
A few weeks ago, Michael Marlowe asked me a simple yet challenging question which I could not answer.
Michael and Lisa are parents of a true lion of Israel, Jake z”l who was brutally murdered by Hamas at Nova on Oct 7.
Michael asked, ‘what will we do when this is all over’?
With 100 hostages still in brutal Hamas captivity it is hard to see beyond this war, but I have the start of a response, taking some inspiration from the festival of Chanukah.
Donniel Hartman in the much-needed comfort blanket of a podcast, For Heaven’s Sake, explains that ‘we are the sum of the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves’.
So what is our British-Jewish story?
I tend to measure my life in weekly hostage vigils, so let’s take a moment to recall Borehamwood Israel vigil number 7. It was where the then British Deputy Prime minister and our local MP, Sir Oliver Dowden stood alongside the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Mayor and councillors, on the day of yet another disgraceful anti-Israel vote at the UN, and pledged the Government’s ‘four square’ support for Israel. If you aren’t sure what ‘four square’ means, it’s a good thing in ye olde English. We saw hundreds of news reports with us calling to bring them home, standing in proud support of Israel. This was just the start.
What is the connection to Chanukah? There was an outsized impact of the remaining oil on the light where the tiniest drop sustained the flame beyond expectation. That was the miracle.
We talk about the light but we are not the light. In this story, we are the oil, in fact, the rocket fuel, which when ignited, blazes a trail which can be seen around the world. Even our smallest actions can fuel the change.
With so many British Jews doing so much since the shock of Oct 7, here are just a few examples of how mostly grassroots initiatives around the UK are redefining our collective British-Jewish story:
EMILY – SHE’S ONE OF OUR OWN
Despite my football allegiance, it lifts my heart to hear Spurs fans proudly singing, ‘She’s one of our own, bring Emily Home’, for British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari, inside and outside the stadium as well as releasing yellow balloons during matches. Helping football fans understand that Emily is a real person who enjoys a pint and goes through the Spursy experience every season, is essential.
Some provincial towns have it tough but it doesn’t stop them from standing tall.
HEROES ON THE COAST
The dedication of Jane and Rosalind and the Bournemouth community in their their hostage vigils, painting their town yellow as they will not let the world forget about the hostages is wonderful to see and the creativity of Heidi Bracham, Adam Ma’anit and the Brighton and Hove community and their relentless pursuit of justice is just awe inspiring. From giant yellow ribbons to drones and lanterns, the way they work with such dignity in the face of much hatred is a lesson to us all. We hope and pray for the speedy return of Adam’s cousin, Tsachi Idan from Hamas captivity along with all the hostages.
SCOTTISH STRENGTH
The weekly Glasgow Friends of Israel market stall which engages in conversation with passers by every single week is quite remarkable. Ahead of the game, they’ve been going for years and their conversations reveal how one to one engagement can change hearts and minds.
CORNISH PROTEST
If you spot a yellow ribbon in Cornwall it’s likely to be Cynthia who also brought Christians and Jews together to commemorate Oct 7 and does so much with her community to stand with Israel and combat anti-Semitism through Holocaust education.
WELSH WARRIORS
I am in awe of Laurence Kahn, and the SWJRC in Cardiff for standing up for Israel against the Plaid Cymru as they shamefully called for an arms ban on Israel. It’s another small community challenging institutional anti-Israel bias.
RAPE IS NOT RESISTANCE
I get chills thinking of the courage of the women in their protests in London wearing red stained joggers and taping their mouths closed to highlight the sexual violence from Oct 7 so it’s not ignored by the world.
ECHOES OF CABLE STREET
Who can forget the heroic Jews who defended the Finchley local cinema from thugs who protested against the showing of a Nova documentary (yes a Nova documentary – let that sink in). In echoes of Cable Street, they drove the haters back to the tube station.
Brilliant moment pro-Israel protesters get their own back on pro-Palestine mob
As one of the organisers, Eyal-Fibeesh said, “We realised that people were eager to show up, but we didn’t realise how many people would come. There are people from across the community – left-wing right-wing, religious, non-religious. There is a wide consensus that Israel is alive and Israel is here to stay.
“We have our place – even in this country. We don’t want to hide. We will never hide. We will hold our heads high.”
YELLOW RIBBON LOVE
Here’s to the freakin’ heroes who put up banners and yellow ribbons on the A1 bridge and roundabouts for Emily Damari calling to bring them home. When they are ripped down, what did they do, well they put them back up again, of course. And the relentless daily work of Devorah, Jack and the yellow ribbon team is humbling. Every single day they tie ribbons and attach posters up knowing all too well that they will be ripped down within 24 hours.
And I raise a glass to the relentlessness fortitude of those who do battle on on social media like lawyer Steven Fink who is helping people in his professional network understand our reality as well as former Brits who have made alyiah like Lee Kern who tell it like it is and brighten our day, with some serious sh*t alongside some comedic commentary, peppered many a glorious expletive.
To Nivi and the team at the UK Hostage and Missing Family Forum who help keep awareness of the hostage cause front of mind in so many creative ways, I salute you.
From the big stop the hate marches in London, Manchester and Leeds run and coordinated by our communal Jewish Institutions alongside the numerous new grassroots organisations of Stop the Hate, 710 Human Chain, impromptu counter demos outside JW3 or in London town every Saturday, they all hit hard.
To my fellow Borehamwood Israel Hostage vigil organisers (Ronit, Josh, Lara, Nivi, Gidi and Lisa, with the support of Jeremy) and each and every one of you standing up for justice in all weathers for so many week, utilising your unique skill for good, thank you for fuelling change in the world and also change deep in all of us.
And every time I look up coming home from work, I feel immense pride seeing the Israeli flag flying high opposite the station with the digital billboard calling for the release of the hostages including Romi Gonen and Daniel Peretz z”l and the words WE SUPPORT ISRAEL beaming out so brightly in the night sky. You know who you are. That makes a difference.
And so many more people and initiatives combined with moments no one really knows about but all adds up.
I would also like to thank our friends from other faiths who not only stand with us but as Reverend Hayley Ace told us, she is standing in front of us. No there’s something in your eye.
The Maccabean battle to beat the Greeks did not take a month or even a year, it took twenty five years of fighting. Like them, ours is an inter-generational battle which will not stop when the war is over. As Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel’s special envoy for combating antisemitism notes, we are on the ‘…8th front in an unconventional war of public opinion which has been raging for decades.’ And we are playing catch up.
THE ANSWER
Michael, Sir, to finally answer your question, ‘what will we do when this war is over?’ (and please G-d may it come soon), in true Jewish style, let me finally answer your question with a question;
It’s not ‘what will we do when this war is over’…
But ‘who will we be’?
The answer is, we will be different. I would argue that we have already irrevocably changed.
UK Jewry has gone through a metamorphosis. No longer will we grumble over a cuppa and hope this too shall pass. We know that this ain’t going away any time soon or sadly, ever.
The good news is together we are creating a new era of British Jewry where we are stronger, bolder, louder and prouder, where each and everyone one of us is the fuelling positive change, from calling for our brothers and sisters to be freed from captivity to starting to tell our Jewish story to the world with Israel at its heart.
As British Jews and descendants of Maccabean warriors, standing proud together with friends from other faiths and taking inspiration from the courage of British born boys, Jake Marlowe z”l and Nathaniel Young z”l who fell in Israel defending us all, may we merit to witness another Chanukah miracle with the 100 hostages being returned back home to their families where they belong.
Thanks to so many, these are our new stories we are telling ourselves about ourselves which makes British Jewry very Chai.
