Letter: German and French Rabbis Lament Brexit, Call for Unity
Image by Sean Gallop / Getty Images
Is this still a place we can call home? Had you asked us just a week ago, we wouldn’t have had to think twice – but after last Thursday’s vote in favour of Brexit, we cannot but feel as strangers. This German and this French Rabbi met here in England, while training for the rabbinate at the Leo Baeck College in London. We both love London and the United Kingdom – not only because we received outstanding Rabbinic training here and have the privilege of serving vibrant Jewish communities but also because we treasure the cosmopolitan and multi-ethnic atmosphere in this fabulous city.
We take our friendship for granted but we should not be so complacent to forget that in the last 100 years alone our countries of birth, now pillars of a stable Europe, fought two brutal wars against each other.
We are not alone in noting the frightening rhetoric of the leave campaign – a rhetoric that demonised the other and glorified the self. The leave campaign was dominated by a lack of compassion for people who just happened to have been born elsewhere. As Jews we are all too familiar with the reply “but we don’t mean you” – it does not provide comfort or give confidence.
We are deeply saddened by the result of the referendum because the UK has abandoned the great idea of a peaceful, united Europe. We are worried about the future because a forward thinking nation like the UK has shown the world that fascism is electable again. We are concerned that this referendum will unleash a chain reaction strengthening the extreme right across Europe.
As Liberal Rabbis, we urge our British fellows not to let divisions grow. And we call on our fellow European citizens not to despair, and to have faith in Britain and her people. Better together—whatever the formal relationship will be in the future we must unite in working for a better Britain in a better Europe. Britain—you are our home and we are not ready to give up on you.
Rabbi Lea Mühlstein born in Aachen, Germany moved to the UK in 1996. She serves Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue.
Rabbi Rene Pfertzel is from Strasbourg, France, now at the heart of the EU. He is rabbi at The Liberal Jewish Synagogue.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
