Friends with Jewish connections
Harvey Gillman writes about Quaker and Jewish relationships
A few years ago, at a Holocaust memorial meeting in Brighton, I told the woman sitting next to me that, although Jewish in origin, I was a Quaker. She looked at me disapprovingly and announced that Quakers were anti-Semitic. Needless to say, I found this shocking. I was then told that there had been an article in the Jewish Chronicle under the title ‘How Quakers turned Spiteful’. According to this article, Quakers used to be friendly to Jews, but the new generation of Friends with their constant criticism of the state of Israel changed their attitude. The minute from the 2011 Meeting for Sufferings, concerning a boycott of goods produced in the Occupied Territories, and the later statement of Yearly Meeting in 2014 held in Bath, on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, increased this antipathy.
After this Yearly Meeting, a group of us came together to examine Jewish/Quaker relationships. We eventually formed a group, Friends with Jewish Connections, which has just been recognised by Meeting for Sufferings. The group is not of one mind. It is not a lobbying group. In some ways it is a mutually supportive group, as we seek to find the positive in Quaker and Jewish traditions to bring about the end of oppression of the dispossessed. We are also looking to support Quaker, Israeli, and Palestinian groups working on the ground for real justice and peace.
The title of the group was carefully chosen, as each of us had to define his or her own ‘connection’. Some of us are refugees or children of refugees, at least one via the Kindertransport; others have been to Palestine/Israel as ecumenical accompaniers; others on trips organised by Woodbrooke, the Quaker study centre, and various church and peace organisations. Others simply wish to explore what the Jewish connection means to them. It is a small group, some of whom meet three or four times a year. Articles and viewpoints are exchanged amongst us.
Recently a public course was held at Woodbrooke on the theme of ‘Renewing the Conversation’. This course considered early Quaker/Jewish relations, a comparison of the bases of Quaker and Jewish ethical systems, as well as the sense of distance that has arisen in various communities. We wondered how the previous good relations could be, if not actually restored, at least recommenced. A theme of the course, the relationship between reconcilers and prophets, came to the fore on the last morning. Is there a way in which we with particular relationships with the Jewish community can bring together people with very opposing views on the conflict between the Israeli government and Palestinians, to try to recognise ‘that of God’ in each other?
We are very aware of the bitterness felt on all sides. We do not have simple answers. Some of us are conflicted internally. Indeed, several of us have shared how we ourselves have been the victims of anti-Semitism on the one hand and yet are called self-hating on the other, if as Jews we are critical of the policies of the state of Israel.
We will be having a table at the Yearly Meeting Gathering on the Tuesday evening (1 August) if you wish to meet some of us. We shall also be sharing together at the Gathering picnic.
Comments
I would be interested to hear ways in which the group has developed in the past 5 years.
By Eleanor N on 9th May 2022 - 7:41
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