In Philip Roth’s 1969 break-out novel, Portnoy’s Complaint, the eponymous protagonist, Alexander Portnoy, makes the observation that he only realised the English language could be used for something other than arguing when he spent Thanksgiving with his non-Jewish girlfriend’s family.
It is a theme later developed by Woody Allen in his 1977 film Annie Hall when he contrasts his own upbringing as part of a Jewish family living in a house under a Coney Island rollercoaster with that of Annie, the product of an upper-class, traditional, East Coast American background.
Meal times at Annie’s were a polite discussion of trivial topics. “I can’t believe this family,” Allen’s character (Alvy Singer) says to camera. Allen cuts to a scene at Singer’s own dinner table, everyone talking at the same time, voices raised in lively disputation, his parents constantly shouting at each other. It is, he implies, a chaotic scene of unbridled happiness.
There are, it is said, twice as many words for “argue” than there are for “happy” in Yiddish, the language of European Jewry, and this is reflected in the vast number of jokes about the contrary nature of Jewish people. For example…
A rabbi got so sick that he was unable to attend the Sabbath service. The next day, one of his synagogue officials visited him to pass on the good wishes of the community leaders. “That’s so kind,” said the stricken rabbi. “Yes,” said the official, “it passed by a majority of 7 to 4.”
Arguing, or debating a matter of truth, is a central part of the Jewish tradition. In fact, when scholars study the Talmud (the central text of the Jewish religion), they do so in pairs so that, at any given point, they can contest differing views on a philosophical or religious assertion. The Talmud, in fact, is not a narrative like the Bible, but is more a theological argument.
square YASMIN ALIBHAI-BROWN
Newsletter (£)
Gary Lineker is bravely speaking truth to power on Israel
Read MoreAs the saying goes, if you get two Jews, you get three different opinions, and I use all this cultural and doctrinal background to put into context the argument that has caused a rift within the representative body of Britain’s 287,000 Jews.
The Board of Deputies, a 265-year-old organisation, comprises more than 300 directly-elected members of communities throughout the land, so you can only imagine how many different shades of opinion are represented here.
Twelve days ago, 36 members of the Board of Deputies wrote a letter to the Financial Times, condemning the actions of the Israeli government in breaking the negotiated ceasefire in Gaza. “We cannot turn a blind eye or remain silent at this renewed loss of life and livelihoods, with hopes dwindling for a peaceful reconciliation and the return of the hostages,” they wrote.
The letter was, in its own way, an expression of everything that Roth, Allen and countless other observers of Jewish mores had explained. “Our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out,” the Deputies wrote. (The Board, as a body, stands four-square behind Netanyahu’s Israel.)
And that should have been that. Jews having an argument about the policies of the Israeli government. Nothing new there. It’s happening at dinner tables all over the country. But no. The more conservative members of the Board of Deputies are calling for disciplinary action against their renegade colleagues, and now an official enquiry, scheduled to last a month, has been launched to decide whether the Board’s code of conduct has been broken.
I don’t know whether any code has been breached, but surely what has happened is entirely within the Jewish tradition, and should be treated as such. If the acceptance of a difference of opinions on insignificant issues can be tolerated, it’s even more important that this should be the case on matters of life and death, like the war in Gaza.
I know of some Jewish families – my own, for instance – where the war is not mentioned for fear of causing a more visceral disagreement. The 36 Deputies were courageous to voice their opinions and go against the party line. They should be celebrated for their actions, not disciplined.
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