Jews around the world who face anti-Semitism should know they have a home in the state of Israel, former Chief Rabbi of the UK Lord Jonathan Sacks.
Speaking to Jewish Insider as he pushes his new Whatsapp initiative for sharing daily inspirational ideas, Rabbi Sacks said, “The terrifying thing about anti-Semitism in the 19th and early 20th century was that Jews had nowhere else to go,” he said. “Today we have a State of Israel. That means that every Jew in the world has a home — in the sense in which the poet Robert Frost defined it — as a place where, when you have to go there, they have to let you in. And that means that we walk without fear.”
At the same time, Rabbi Sacks emphasized that while the Jewish people has its fair share of enemies, it also has “very good friends.”
“We may have enemies out there, but we also have friends and they are very, very good friends,” he said, urging that “the American Jewish community do what I’m sure it’s done very well already… which is to go out and make friends, make friends among non-Jews, among other religious groups, among key figures in the political world, across parties.”
He noted the relationships built by the British Jewish community with non-Jewish leaders in the UK, asserting that “the campaign against anti-Semitism in any country should be led by non-Jews.”
“When you get Tony Blair and Gordon Brown — both of whom were prime ministers from that party [of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn] — coming out and saying this is absolutely unacceptable, it makes a huge difference when they are [the ones] saying it,” Sacks said. “They’ve been absolutely rock solid because they were the first people we ever enlisted… I believe the campaign against anti-Semitism in any country should be led by non-Jews.”
Rabbi Sacks called on Jews to rise above their divisions to work together on matters affecting the entire people, citing guiding principles he used when dealing with community conflicts during his time as chief rabbi.
“On all matters that affect us as Jews, regardless of our divisions, we will work together, regardless of our divisions,” he said. “And on all matters that touch on our divisions, we will agree to differ but with respect.”