Whether the Board of Deputies upholds the complaints against its 36 members who signed a letter to the Financial Times will not change the fact that the UK’s Jewish community is deeply divided by Israel’s response to Hamas’s appalling 7 October attacks (Dozens of members of UK Jewish body facing disciplinary action over criticism of Israel, 23 April).
In Judaism, there is a concept of disagreement for the “sake of heaven”. Yeshiva students study in pairs, each taking a different side of an argument to divine the truth of any particular text. Any attempt to deny a voice to one or other side is not only pointless (it will not miraculously unite the community) but deeply un-Jewish. We don’t need to pick a side to applaud those who have chosen to express a counterview as a means to understand a better way forward for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Ben Rich
Former adviser to the Board of Deputies of British Jews; CEO, Reform Judaism, 2011-13
