Living on the Edge

By Harav Y. Reuven Rubin Shlita

Over the past few weeks the Jewish community of Britain has been overrun with a case of “Golus Jitters”. This is a condition Jews have lived with over thousands of years, in fact ever since we were expelled from Eretz Yisroel after the destruction of the Bais Hamikdosh. This state of being affects us in different ways, depending on the time and place we find ourselves in. There has never been a definitive way to cure these jitters, and often as not we seem to make the same mistakes with each outbreak.

Just before Pesach a large demonstration was held in front of the Houses of Parliament decrying the recent upsurge of anti-semitism in the Labour party. For the first time in living memory it was the usually staid Board of Jewish Deputies that called for the community to man the ramparts and cry out at the disgraceful state of things. I am not a political commentator, but I would like to just add a cautionary word.

“Are we over-reacting or are we living in Golus”

We are in Golus, that’s the tragic truth of our predicament, and we must always act accordingly. I have heard from great Torah leaders, sages who had lived through the holocaust and rebuilt Torah life in our times, that a Yied must keep a low profile and always remember we live in lands that have shown us chesed. Staging protests against the official Opposition Party may very well be setting us up for future trouble. Shtadlonus was always a deft diplomatic exercise, played out in the corridors of power with a sense of decorum. Crowds can be dangerous things, they take on a life of their own and suddenly every participant becomes a community spokesman. We are an infinitesimal minority in this land, and making ourselves a cause célèbre may not be all that clever.

Charles Moore recently wrote:

“The worst thought is that greater publicity for Labour anti-semitism could actually win Labour some votes in the London elections in May. There is no recorded instance of candidates suffering electorally among Muslims for anti-Semitism. The same might apply to London black voters and to much of the London middle class student vote as well. The Jewish vote is not nearly so numerous, except in a handful of constituencies.”

Already we are seeing a Labour fight back where the whole subject is being depicted as a smear campaign aimed specifically at the party leader. On Sunday a poll was taken that showed that eighty percent of the party membership really didn’t care about the whole uproar.

What we must ask ourselves is if the effort is worth the cost. Elections are fickle beings, and we have no idea who will be sitting in Number Ten at any given moment. Golus is a difficult place to survive, but it is Hashem’s Will that we do so and our actions must be according to Daas Torah. I just wonder if the Board of our Guardians spoke to any of our Poskim before calling for this action. The Frum community is a large segment of the Jewish community, we have our unique challenges and I fear that there are those on said Board who may not be completely empathetic to them. We face extremely challenging times, especially in the realm of our children’s education and how it interfaces with the secular authorities. It would be wise to think these matters over before we antagonise the very people we may very well have to sit across the table with negotiating our children’s future.

Golus is a challenge we must carry with grace, or it can devour us. As far as I remember in all the years of askonus I have lived, both here and in America, demonstrating was something Gedolim were extremely fearful of, especially when it was aimed at any one political party. I witnessed how in Boro Park many years ago there were unauthorised demonstrations that caused friction between the Yiddishe community and our neighbours, and I heard from Torah leadership that it is a mistake to take to the streets whilst living in Golus, unless a stringent set of circumstances called for it.

We are guests here, it’s best we follow the pathways of our forefathers and act with an understanding of what modesty is about in public life.  We have enemies enough, we should be careful of awakening any more latent hostility.

I fully understand that there will be those who will read these lines and feel I am being overwrought and not understanding of the real world. I make no excuses, as I have had the zchus to learn from Tzadikim who knew exactly what Golus is and feel their holy words should at least be heard.  I have thought long and hard before putting these thoughts into the public realm. I have shared my fears with respected Rabbonim and Admorim who have all agreed with me on this matter. I sincerely don’t mean to belittle anyone’s attempts to help the klall, I just want everyone to stop for a moment and allow time to weigh all the options.

May we all see the coming of the Moshiach Tzidkeinu soon and may the Golus become a distant memory as we enter the rebuilt Bais Hamikdosh.