A Day with an Orthodox Rabbi

His name and title was Reverend Malcolm Weisman, OBE, MA and OCF. I personally
have not a clue what the last title represents, but I do know that the OBE (Order of the British Empire) is quite a
distinguished reward given by the Queen; he was presented with it recently for 'services to
the Jewish community'. My father's adopted father was presented with one some years ago.

Malcolm Weisman is the also the head Jewish Orthodox leader in the British Armed
forces. He is also apparently quite well acquainted with Doctor Zaki Badawi, the former
imam of the Regent Park Mosque in London, and widely recognised as Britain's best
educated Muslim 'cleric' (the term does not really apply since Islam does not recognise a
clergy, but the practical standpoint is the same.) They, along with a Christian priest, are co-
chairman's of a religious inter faith group in London. Dr. Badawi is now presently the
Director of the Muslim College in London, and still has great respect amongst the Muslim
community in the UK.

But it was not in the UK that I met Mr. Weisman. I was in the Channel Islands at the time,
and I was interested in learning more about Judaism from a Jewish point of view. Since I
am a very hard-line critic of Israel and Zionism, I would have preferred to speak to a non-
Zionist Jew about their faith, but I postulated that even amongst hard-core Zionists, there
would be much religious knowledge to glean from that would not necessarily be unuseful
to me.

I contacted the Jersey Jewish congregation hoping to speak to a Rabbi. I already knew that
there were very rigid adherents of Judaism that did not recognise the State of Israel, and in
fact denounced it as blasphemic, but I doubted that I would find such a congregation in the
Channel Islands, which is more or less cut off from the rest of the world, except through
the television screens. Internet access is not very common, and generally, it is quite a quiet
place. I often felt that it was a sort of cold, damp equivalent of the island of Abu Dhabi,
except that the entire culture of the place was completely different. I was not greeted by the
Muslim call to prayer everyday, which I missed.

The Jewish secretary of the congregation informed me that a very important, 'high-up'
Jewish leader was visiting the island at the time for Passover, and would be far well
equipped to answer my questions than himself. He told me that the gentleman was of the
Orthodox sect, and that he would be quite happy to speak with me.

I therefore called Mr. Weizman up immediately. He was very cordial and informed me that
on the following Saturday, there would be a service at the synagogue, after which he would
be free to be interviewed by me. I was quite pleased with this, especially since he had
already identified me as a non-Jewish man.

I do not go to synagogue very often, and I therefore asked him if there was any sort of
protocol to be followed when in the synagogue. He told me that it was customary to have
some sort of head covering, and asked if I had any.

My impulse was to say,' Yes, I have a black and white one; perhaps you recognise it from
Yasir Arafat's head!'

But that would have been essentially been defeating my purpose; I wanted information on
Judaism from a Jewish perspective, not provoke a response regarding Palestine or the
Israeli regime.

He then suggested I wear a Muslim prayer cap, if I had one. Mine, which is from the
United Arab Emirates, looks quite similar to some Jewish skull caps, being white and more
or less laced. I responded,' Certainly.'

On the Saturday, I went to the synagogue. I have never been inside a synagogue before,
and although I do know something of the Jewish faith, I did not feel very comfortable at
first. I am accustomed to removing my shoes when entering a house of worship (later on,
the reverend did tell me that in certain Jewish communities, they did) and it seemed odd to
be holding an old Jewish prayer book whilst having my head covered in a Muslim prayer
cap.

I tried to get a seat at the back, not realising that it was usually only women that sat there.
An old gentleman at the front, who turned out to be Scottish and thought I was Jewish,
signalled for me to come to the front. He looked very friendly, and smiled at me when he
shook my hand, bidding me to sit in the second row. His attitude did not dim when he
spoke to me in Hebrew and was informed that I was not Jewish and could not understand
him.

The reverend continued the service, and much to my surprise, I found that I was in the
midst of a Jewish service, not an interview with a rather well-to-do barrister and leader of
the Jewish community. I noticed a few people feeling uncomfortable in front of me, and
judging by what later occurred, I would guess that there were a considerable amount of
people who felt the same way behind me.

I looked around, and I saw that many of the stereotypes that circles around Jews in the
press and movies were probably motivated by isolated incidents. Yes, they all did look
quite rich, and the women especially looked very wealthy (I saw a mink on one of them)
but generally, the men were dressed smartly. In a mosque, no woman would be clad in a
lavish manner at all, and men would simply dress cleanly.

Someone in the congregation went around the members in the front (I was quite surprised
to note that people were chattering and gossiping while a religious man was uttering a
service!), and asked a few people if they would sit with me to let me know what was going
on. I do not believe that he knew that I could hear him, because I heard him talking to one
person who said,' Why don't you ask him? ('him' being a young Jew to the left)', and
replied, 'He doesn't want to.' The racism that was around struck me as being quite strange,
since I had been invited to this congregation by what their foremost religious leader, and I
was observing all of their traditions whilst in the synagogue. But, prejudices do die hard.

Apparently, a few minutes later, a little mini discussion was taking place between three
members of the congregation who were debating my presence. One member (I believe it
was the Scot) said,' Leave him alone; he is doing no harm.'

About half an hour after I had entered the synagogue, one of the other two with broad
glasses came to sit next to me. He led me through some of the services for a few moments,
and asked where I was from. I told him, ' My father is English, but my mother is Sudani,
Egyptian and Turkish, and I grew up in Abu Dhabi, London and Cairo.'

Unlike most people who were told about my rather diverse blood-heritage (usually, signs of
immense surprise and bewilderment strikes!), this man proceeded to tell me how he had
travelled over some parts of the Middle East. He then asked me if I could step outside for a
moment. I was a little curious, but I said,' Certainly'.

I believe that at this point, a few members of the congregation sighed as I walked out.

Once outside, the man told me in a rather apologetic tone that he and several members(
read, nearly all) of the synagogue were quite concerned about my presence there; they had
recognised me as being a Muslim (my prayer cap) and being Arab (my features). I told him
that I had been accorded an official invitation by the Rev. He acknowledged that, but asked
if I would not mind being searched.

I had come into a synagogue on the island of Jersey, armed only with a notebook and
pencil, as well as a mobile telephone, observing every single item of protocol in this place
of worship, and I was being asked if I could be searched.

Still, I realised that it might be a little odd for them. After all, there are no Arabs in Jersey
and not very many if any Muslims. Probably most of them knew me only from newspaper
stereotypes, and I tried to understand their feelings. I therefore consented to the search.

He took me outside, and I saw two officers, standing beside a police vehicle. I was amazed;
I thought one of them would search me, and that would be the end of it. But I thought that
submitting to the search, although ridiculous, would probably put them at ease, and make
the rest of my visit that more pleasant. Upon seeing my willingness to be searched, the
officers decided that there was no need, but I insisted that they do so. In fact, I demanded
it; I wanted to show these gentlemen that their fears were particularly unfounded.

We went back inside, and I was searched. Not very well, mind you; had I any violent
intention in mind, I would have been able to hide a device in any number of places. Even a
gun could have been strapped along my ankle. One of the officers searched through my
wallet, finding endless amounts of identification, becoming satisfied that I was not a
vagrant bomber.

The man who originally came to sit next to me and asked me about being searched (his
name was Brian if I recall), then apologised for his attitude, but reiterated that he was
trying to protect his community. I decided to leave it alone, and told him,' It's all right. I
would not say that I would have done the same were our positions reversed, but I can
understand your position.'

For the next hour, he sat with me as I listened to the service and observed the entire ritual.
The Hebrew words sounded similar to Arabic (probably because the languages both
originate from Aramaic) and the pages were read right to left, just as Arabic. Brian told
me, ' You know, it was not because you were Muslim, but because of the present situation,
we have to be careful.'

I told him,' Just for the record, most Arabs and Muslims are not anti-Jewish.'

Later on he said,' I would like to say that Jews regard Muslims as our brothers, and that we
just want peace.' I knew for a fact that many Jews, did not feel quite the same way about
the first part, but I did know that it was part of the Islamic faith to recognise the spiritual
and ethnic connection that Muslims and Jews had. I therefore said,' It might surprise you to
know this, but most Muslims feel the same way.'

He said,' It doesn't really, but it's nice to hear.'

A few people still seemed to be looking at me oddly, but generally people were a little more
at ease.

The service was interesting in that the prayers were for the British monarchy and for the
British government, as well as the State of Israel. I was dumbfounded that a religious
community would voluntarily offer such prayers; in most other religious orders, people do
not offer such praise, basing that on the fact that your religion comes first and your
citizenship comes second. The attitude of the congregation seemed the reverse( which
Malcolm later reinforced for me.)

After the service( which took hours longer than I had originally expected!), Malcolm
Weizman led me to the side room where the congregation partook in wine and cake. A
lovely lady offered me a glass of wine, which I politely refused, and someone nearby told
her,' He doesn't drink.' Apparently, my presence in the synagogue had aroused quite a bit
of interest.

The Scottish gent came to speak with me, and was very friendly. I asked him where he was
from, and he said, 'Ah, I am from Glasgow.' I told him, 'Really? I have several relatives in
Glasgow; a Palestinian cousin and some very close Iraqi-Scottish friends.' He slowly
muttered,' Palestinian?' and I responded,' Yes,' and quickly moved on to a less
confrontational subject; the gentleman had been so friendly and supportive of my presence
in the synagogue that I hated to have argument with him.

He continued to speak with me until he left, telling me about his grandson who was there
with him, and really talking quite casually with me. In fact, I am glad to say that about five
members of the congregation did come up to shake my hand and act quite amicably.

The rest of the congregation left, and I was left with only Malcolm and the president of the
Jewish synagogue. I had spoken with him briefly before; he had expressed his reluctance at
having me searched. He said,' What were we to do?'

I told him,' You could have just asked me.'

He said,' No, I couldn't have.'

I did not pursue the subject with him. I was here for Weizman.

Finally, Weizman and I were sitting together, albeit with the synagogue president.

One important reason why I wished to speak with Malcolm Weizman was that I wished to
have more in-depth knowledge into anti-Zionist movements within Judaism. He
commented on Satmar and Neturei Karte, which are two very ultra-orthodox movements
that are very anti-Zionist.

"They are very rigid and literal fundamental followers of the Jewish faith." I asked him
what that meant; he said that there was no room for metaphorical analysis of the scripture,
and that they regarded the State of Israel to be a blasphemy, since it was not founded by a
miracle; that in fact, they preferred to have Jordanian citizenship rather than Israeli.

The other man said that although they were regarded as ultra-Orthodox, the founder of one
of the movements in Poland had been previously regarded as almost a heretic by the rest of
orthodoxy in the area.

I was interested to note that all of these Jews placed their nationality above all else; even
their religion. They regarded themselves as Britons who HAPPENED to be Jews, and not
the other way around, like most adherents to various faiths.

We discussed briefly Muslim Spain, which was Andalusia, and how Jews and Muslims had
co-existed very well, up until they were evicted by the Christians who conquered Spain. He
did say that in the last few years of Muslim rule, the Jews had been regarded as a little less
than first class, but insisted that previously, the Jews had been treated as equals, and had
high positions in the government and state. I offered that it was probably due to the fact
that Muslims had strayed from their religious teachings that had lessened their religious
tolerance, and that it was because of their taste of materialism that had brought them down,
which he fully agreed on.

And of course, I could not let the discussion go without asking these two what they thought
of Israel.

The rev was much more reasonable in his approach. He recognised that the State of Israel
was probably treating the Palestinians badly (he used the word Palestinian, even though I
had purposely used the term Israeli Arab to see his reaction) and that was wrong. Earlier in
his service, he had offered a prayer to those around the world that suffered persecution,
regardless of colour, creed or religion. I wish more Jewish leaders said the same thing and
meant it.

He also said, in relation to my surprise that Jews attached so much to their nationality
rather than their faith, that quite a few Israeli Arabs were loyal to the State of Israel.

The president, however, had a more 'simplistic' view( as he described it). He said that
Jersey Jews really had no place to offer any comment on the State of Israel, simply because
they didn't know enough about it, and that none of them had the right to criticise or praise
it either way.

I then mentioned AIPAC, the American Israeli lobby. The reverend said that there was also
a British Israeli lobby and said that BIPAC was marginalised because the government
simply did not listen to them. They both implied that AIPAC's role in the government was
very insignificant at best.

But both did claim that most Jews simply wanted peace and that it was pointless to
concentrate on the extremists that wanted violence, such as was the situation in Northern
Ireland. I made it a point to drop a name or two like Shamir, the ex-Israeli prime minister
who was very right wing, which brought nothing but distaste for the reverend; he obviously
did not like Shamir. I did not have the time to mention other names, but he did declare,
beyond a doubt, that any Jewish extremists that wanted to bring down Masjid Al Aqsa in
Jerusalem were 'lunatics' and that he was pleased that since the declaration of
independence, the Israeli regime had never tried to take control of Al- Aqsa. He expressed
his conviction that it was Jewish doctrine not to tear down any religious monument
UNLESS the religious community that used that monument voluntarily gave it up and
practically offered it to the Jews.

The president did emphasise that Jews out of Israel had no place to comment on these
affairs, because people did not simply know the truth. However, he expressed extreme
disgust and disappointment at the recent series on the BBC, entitled ' Israel and the Arabs:
the 50 years war'. He declared that it was not good enough, and that the series had
revolved itself around the interviews, and that it had left out important events, and
marginalised others.

I have followed the series, and I personally agree with the man; but probably in much
different ways. All in all, I am happy with the series in that it is better than what usually
comes on Western television.

I asked him about the Palestinians. What was to become their role? The president didn't
really offer much to the answer, but the reverend was very explicit.

'I think they should be given equal status.'

He commented briefly on the state's policies, and the giving away of territory as possibly
being viable, but said that the Palestinians should be given equal status in the country.

We then discussed the law of return. I offered that the Palestinians who were not well off
in their country, could very well be dismayed at the fact that people from Russia or
elsewhere could simply come in and be given more rights than themselves, who were
actually natives.

The president said that they could understand that, and told me that many Israelis were in
fact quite 'cheesed off' that while they had been struggling to make ends meet for years
were seeing people from outside come in, get cash and even land with little effort.

I commented on this, saying that most Israelis were in fact foreigners, in that they had not
been in the land 50 years ago. They did not argue with that, and did not comment on it
either.

Time was running out and the two men were in a rush to other engagements, so I let them
go. The president said if I ever wanted to come back to feel welcome, and promised that I
would not be searched. Malcolm Weizman also said should I require further information, I
should call him on Monday morning. I thanked them both, and left, picking up a few
leaflets on my way out.

I had arrived at the synagogue at about 10:45 and left almost at 2:00pm. Hardly what I had
in mind, but time well spent.

Indeed, a couple of this congregation seemed pleasant, even if they had such deeply held
suspicions. But their theories did not seem to be in dispute; I suppose they simply did not
realise the troubles that Zionism had wrought.

I thought to myself,' Perhaps the idea of Zionism could be very well made if the Zionists
thought as this gent had about kindness to your neighbour before all else (this was a point
that he had made very implicitly in his address).'

Unfortunately, one of the items that I had picked up was an issue of 'Menorah'; a magazine
for Jewish members of the British forces.

There was an article in there written by the former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jakobovits. It was
entitled,' Peace should be the no.1 goal for Rabbis.'

In it, although the title was one of piece, he wrote: "Arabs cannot be trusted. I have often
advocated that territory should not be ceded until after at least five years of normal
diplomatic, trade and tourist relations." As though the refugees should not play a part.

"I am not naive enough to believe that the Arabs have suddenly turned murderous hostility
into genuine friendship," was another phrase. And he declared that the united Jerusalem
was for ever to remain as the capital of Israel, if Jews so merited.

That for me was a real disappointment. These two had offered to me a possible non-racist
side to Zionism, and further, equality of race, religion and creed a basic foundation of
Zionism. But this ex chief rabbi still seemed to ignore that. And indeed, there were quite a
few members of the congregation that could not see past the colour of my skin or the
prayer hat on my head, even though there were some who could.

I am still against Zionism. I still regard the actual result of it, if not it's original intention by
some of it's founders, a racist apartheid state. But if I had to choose a decent man from
among the Jews that was the least racist and still professed to be a Zionist, I would choose
Malcolm Weizman.

Equal status for Palestinians, eh? One day....... soon. Insha'allah.

Incidentally, Hebrew for God willing also sounds like insha'allah.

So do Shalom and Salaam; the Hebrew and Arabic words for peace.