North London synagogue rejects joining the Board of Deputies following treatment of 36 FT letter signatories

In a letter addressed to Board president, Phil Rosenberg and chief executive, Michael Weiger, the synagogue's co-chairs Holly Kal-Weiss and Imogen Resnick said their community had been told that “our presence on the Board, with all our diverse views and opinions, would be welcome; that the Board is a body representing the entire Anglo-Jewish community.”

But the co-chairs said that the recent suspension of Deputies “due to their statement about ethical concerns over Israel’s war in Gaza raises concerns for us”.

They added: “We question whether the Board can truly call itself the voice of Anglo-Jewry if it is an organisation that curtails the freedom of speech of its representatives. After all, what could be more Jewish than the imperative to speak when one sees injustice in the world?”

Kal-Weiss and Resnick said many of the shul’s members at Kehillah would “agree with absolutely everything the 36 wrote”, while others “would disagree and some would have wished they had gone further.”

Noting the Board’s “recent statement condemning the use of starvation as an act of war”, the letter said that the Board’s "comments suggest that, in some respects, you agree with some of what the Deputies said in their letter”.

Kal-Weiss and Resnick claimed that “by suspending over 10 per cent of the total Deputies, those who voiced an opinion that differed from their fellow Deputies (and now effectively expelling five of them) you have confirmed to us that you are not truly representative of a large proportion of Anglo-Jewry”.

The co-chairs “urged” the Board to reconsider its decision to “punish your fellow deputies for speaking out”.

They called on the Board to “reinstate the 36 in full” and “show leadership at a time when we are all suffering with the pain of loss, the fear of continued war in the region and the despair of watching innocent people starved and killed”.

They said the 36 signatories signed the FT letter not “for personal gain or political power, but because they felt a moral duty to respond”.

In the same email to congregants, Kehillah North London announced that Rabbi Leah Jordan, who has led the community since 2020, will leave the shul for several months. Jordan – a founding member of far-left Jewish group Na'amod – is moving to Jerusalem for nine months from September.

In the rabbi’s absence, Cantor Rachel Weston will helm the Liberal community, which has said it will have a “year of music”. Weston, who departed Leeds’ Sinai Synagogue in April, was part of the “Kaddish for Gaza” in 2018.

The original letter, signed by the 36 in the FT and published in April, stated: “Israel’s soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love.” It claimed that the community’s silence was being perceived as support for policies “contrary to our Jewish values”.

Following an investigation into the letter, in June, the Board issued warning letters to 31 of the signatories. The remaining five – some of whom had spoken about the letter to the media or posted about it on social media – were suspended for two years. Three of them were offered a reduced suspension of six months if they apologised to affected parties. All three rejected the offer.

The JC understands some of the deputies have submitted an appeal to the Board over their suspension and the Kehillah letter comes shortly after the appeal notice was sent.

The Board declined to comment on the letter sent by Kehillah North London.

The congregation’s rejection of the Board comes days after another Progressive rabbi publicly criticised the institution’s response to the FT letter.

Rabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber of Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue addressed senior Board figures during a sermon delivered while deputies were meeting in Brighton at the beginning of July. Among those present was Weiger, to whom Kanter-Webber spoke directly: “Here I am today, looking the Board of Deputies’ chief executive in the eye and telling him just how poorly his institution has behaved.”

Kanter-Webber, who previously signed a letter describing Palestinians as living under an “apartheid regime”, told his congregation that “there is a fundamental message here that the Board of Deputies overlooked when saying to itself: ‘Will no-one rid us of these turbulent Liberal and Reform members?’

Rabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber of Brighton Progressive Synagogue[Missing Credit]

He said the 36 deputies who signed the FT letter, “and the five who allegedly aggravated their sin of signing it by doing extra-bad things like sharing it with friends on Facebook, were not mounting a coup.

"What they were doing was an act of thought leadership for the benefit of the wider community... for the sake of heaven,” the rabbi said in his sermon, which was later published on his blog.

“Change does not happen by magic, and it cannot be held back by punishment of those pushing for it. We should be grateful to everybody who has the courage to exercise ... bold spiritual leadership. It’s never an easy thing, and, as we’ve seen, it often comes with penalties and repercussions.”

He said the 36 signatories had “knocked uninvited at the door of Anglo-Jewry" and were “worthy of praise”.

He concluded his sermon by making a call for the continuation of Liberal and Reform shuls’ “commitment to open-minded listening”.

The JC approached Kanter-Webber, Weiger and the Board for comment.