| Face to Face: the kippah and the veil |
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| Written by Rabbi Dr. Tony Bayfield | |||
| Tuesday, 10 October 2006 | |||
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If you had walked through a Jewish residential district in the pre- or early post-war years, you would not have seen a Kippah. You might have bumped into a United Synagogue minister wearing a dog collar but kippot in the street were a thing of the future. It is fascinating what British Jewry did to fit in to British society. Our motives were complex. Whether we got ‘it' right or not is a matter for debate. We certainly have a
I am still not clear why Jack Straw said what he did when he did. But he was undoubtedly addressing an important as well as emotive issue. The phrase ‘face to face' is deeply significant. It is both metaphorical and literal. Metaphorically it refers to genuine encounter between people, individuals meeting and seeking to understand and empathise with each other. On the literal level, it is almost impossible for us to encounter other people at depth if their face is hidden from us. We cannot read their expressions and are left only with our fears and conjectures. It is not simply chance that the metaphor in the Hebrew Bible for the encounter with God is meeting face to face. Jack Straw's questioning of the hijab - appropriate in the context or not - was to point out to the Muslim community the difficulty of encounter, dialogue, integration if Muslim women choose to veil their faces. It is, of course, a right but a right with consequences. For the hijab gives a message - intentional or not - that separation rather than integration is the chosen path. We Jews have a wealth of experience about how to survive as a religious minority within both hostile and accommodating societies. What a tragedy that the Muslim perception of Israel as an illegitimate tool of western imperialism prevents the sharing of experiences from which we could both learn. Trackback(0)
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Interesting thoughts; Melanie Phillips said something along these lines on PM on Radio 4 last week. I feel it is more to do with how we identify someone rather than with effective communication - otherwise, for instance, it would invalidate radio as a communication medium. And how do blind people deal with others communicating with them? They listen more carefully than sighted people might (or perhaps sighted people should listen more carefully too!). More importantly, how do blind people identify the individual(s)when they cannot see them at all? I feel we need to work through this issue to a resolution of mutual respect.
I hesitate to point out the slightest error in my rabbinic leader, Rabbi Bayfield, but i must mention it was the niqab not the hijab which jack Straw was commenting on.
This just hows that many of us Jews are wanting to understand more about Islam and its real range of beieifs and opinions than we can glean from the popular press. Does anyone have any ideas on London courses or a beginners book - I bought Karen Armstrong's "Islam - a short history" but its too academic for me.
For once I am in agreement with Rabbi Bayfield. Jack Straw was correct, It is surely part of our Western culture that we like to see who we are talking to.
Why has the government just woken up to what is going on at the University campus?. Over twenty years ago my husband and I (as mature students) at our respective universities saw the Muslim students hand out leaflets, spit at young Asian girls who wore short skirts and verbally abuse Jewish students wearing any outward sign of religious dress. When I complained at Westminster (Harrow) campus the authorities weren't interested. Dolf Mogendorff calls for mutual respect for each other, but how can we talk to another group if they don't wish to recognise your existance? You cannot expect people to give and take all the time. The Jewish immigrants had no option they had to assimilate into the UK, they worked hard, claimed no benefits, and didn't expect any. The government has themselves to blame for the mess they are in, with their left wing PC correctness.area, and the Jewish communal leaders aren't helping our cause either. When was the last time the Jewish Chronicle gave front page criticism of the Labour Government - why do our community leaders bury their heads in the sand. They talk and enter into inter faith dialogue asking for respect and tolerance - but it isn't given in return. Our Jewish leaders need to come out from their self imposed ghettos in N.W. London and get out in to the wider areas of the country and see what is going on. Sort out the academic boycott, the trade boycott, the possible boycott of students and lecturers on campus - we are all under threat. Seek out the MP's at Parliament with their anti-semitic agenda. Let our leaders become more aggressive - or should we pack our cases now and leave this country.
Hi,
I hope you don't mind a comment from a Muslim. I was going through the sample sites on Joomla.org where your site was listed and read the previous comment from the gentleman/lady asking for a London course on Islam. Here are some videos that you can easily get from Amazon or any video/DVD store: * "Islam Empire of Faith" - PBS A 4 hour documentary highlighting the rise of Islam through its golden era. * "The Message" - Anchor Bay Entertainment. A classic film depicting the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) without physically depicting the prophet himself. * "People of the Land" - Diverse Media Zone. A first-hand documentation of the conflict in the Middle East. Also, I would highly recommend this amazing value DVDs pack: http://www.bookglobal.net/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=897&cat=&page= Some videos can also be downloaded from here: http://www.hyahya.org Good luck, Ash
Although not an accesible option for everyone, a trip to an Islamic country is a great way to really get a feel for the faith. The kind of Islam practised widely in states like Morocco is very un-fussy/no frills and means that you can look past the grand ceremonial gestures and understand what it really means to its grass-roots devotees. I was a little apprehensive about going to an Islamic state as a very conscious young jew who spent the summer in Israel with RSY and pretty much every weekend at shul but i found that my pre-concieved ideas about Islam and its true meaning were almost entirely incorrect. Islam in Britain becomes exaggerated because its such a new thing and unlike the jewish community which gradually emerged and therefore assimilated it arrived in its true form and is still largely separate. Most mosques run courses on Islam, a muslim friend and I are swapping places (well I'm going to her Islam school and she's going to my hebrew school so we can learn more) so perhaps contacting somewhere like the Regent's Park Mosque which helped arrange it for us would be a good idea
Jews have had 2000 years of practice at assimilation. In most societies, including Britain, there were rsrely enough Jews to be able to be totally insular. Muslims have not had this experience until recently and feel that their global strength in numbers puts them in the ascendancy. They therefore continually test the patience of the host society. This is leading to extremely dangerous waters for all of society. At present there is no chance of serious and effective dialogue because few Muslims want to put themselves in the position of pariahs within their own community.
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