Guardian: The 13 year-old son of my oldest friend had his barmitzvah on Saturday, and a grand, grey Manchester day it was. He recited his piece of the Bible so sweetly, in the venerable Jackson’s Row reform synagogue, then partied in the evening with his mates, mostly not Jewish, surrounded by beaming parents, grandparents and friends.
His dad and I went to school together and for us, like most Manchester boys, football was a big part of growing up; we played together for years and supported City through some rough old times. He is a senior teacher now, and because I can remember his own barmitzvah like it was just a few years ago, I felt that tinge of disbelief at seeing him, every inch the proud father, ushering his boy through the rite of passage.
During such a warm and enjoyable day it felt a little bizarre to contemplate the current news context, the fevered alarm about reportedly rising and dangerous levels of antisemitism. We discussed it in the evening, reflecting that through all we had done from being kids, we had encountered no meaningful antisemitism, ever. Historically, and compared to the terrible hardships people endure in so much of the world, we live in a truly privileged time and place. The very idea that 56% of Jewish people responding to an online survey said they believed antisemitism now “echoes the 1930s” and 58% that Jews have “no long-term future in Europe” we find extraordinary, surreal.
Categories: Behaviour, Belief, Bible, Double Standard, Europe and Australia, UK