For the first time in 800 years, the British city of York in northern England, whose Jewish population was wiped out in a pogrom in the Middle Ages and today has a resurgent Jewish community, will receive a spiritual leader - Elisheva Salamo, a woman ordained by the Reform movement.
Journalist Yitzchak Hildesheimer reported in The Mood that Elisheva arrived in York from California last week after decades of work delivering sermons and talks from the pulpit in the United States, Switzerland, and South Africa.
She will now move to part-time 'pulpit work' in York's liberal Jewish community, affiliated with a denomination similar to the American Reform movement. The community was founded in 2014 and currently has about 100 members. It is not clear how many of them are Jewish according to traditional Jewish law.
The Jewish community in York perished in a pogrom in March 1190 on the Sabbath before Passover. The pogrom against the Jewish community, inspired by the Crusades of King Richard I and urged on by Justice Richard Malebisse, targeted the Jewish community. The willingness to participate in the pogrom was abetted by the fact that many of the attackers owed money to the Jews.
The Jews of York sought refuge in Clifford's Tower in the King's Castle in the city of York. When they realized that they would not be able to get out of the tower alive with the soldiers were gathered outside, they chose to kill themselves and commit suicide instead of being forced to convert to Christianity. Among them were the Tosaphists Rabbi Yom Tov ben Yitzchak, a student of Rabbenu Tam and Rabbi Eliyahu of York.
A plaque commemorating the slaughter stands at the site of Clifford's Tower since 1978, and one of the dirges recited on Tisha B'Av was written to mourn those who perished in the tower. After the York pogrom Jewish leaders imposed a ritual ban, or herem, which can be found in certain halakhic responsa, against any Jews sleeping within the walls of York There are observant Jews who adhere to it to this day.
By the late 1200s, a series of laws had been created restricting the rights of the Jewish people to own land and pass money on to their children after death. Finally, in 1290, Jews were banished from England altogether and not allowed to return until 1656.
Elisheva Salamo's first task in leading the community is expected to be ministering the High Holy Days at the beginning of the Jewish year this fall. She commented that she was 'excited beyond words' for the opportunity and that 'If someone wants to explore their Jewish ancestry, or has a Jewish partner, or is just interested in Judaism, our doors are open. The shadow of the pogrom will never disappear, but like the Holocaust, we need to learn the lessons of the past to build the future."