On Monday, a rabbi went to church — and not any church. Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers attended Westminster Abbey for the annual Commonwealth Observance Service, a colourful and spectacular occasion attended by the Prince of Wales and other royals. The multi-faith service featured speeches, artistic performances and music in celebration of the 54-country association headed by Her Majesty.
So what is the Commonwealth all about and what does it mean for us Jews? While it’s in the title of the UK’s foreign affairs department (the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office), most people only have a fuzzy idea about what it is.
Founded in 1949, as countries were becoming independent from the British Empire, the Commonwealth was a way of maintaining ties between these countries and the “mothership”. It has evolved into a large association of nation states which promote shared goals such as development, democracy and peace. Even countries such as Mozambique and Rwanda, which were not British colonies, have joined the club. It is the archetypal network organisation, which does not have the hard power of an army or an economic union but is sustained by something less tangible and more subtle. As Jews, who were without our own nation state for 2,000 years, we instinctively understand the notion of soft power. There are strong historical and contemporary ties between British Jewry and other Commonwealth Jewish communities.
There is a clue in the Chief Rabbi’s full title, which refers to the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. My mother’s family hail from Kolkata so I, for one, have Commonwealth Jewish heritage, as do many others who now call Britain home. Communities flourished from the Caribbean and Canada to Singapore and South Africa. Jewish figures across the Commonwealth have made their mark in politics, business and other fields. The founding father of Barbados, Errol Barrow, who became PM in 1966, claimed Jewish ancestry — his great-grandfather changed his name from Baruch to Barrow. Singapore’s first Chief Minister, David Marshall, who governed from 1955 to 1956, was Jewish, as was more recent New Zealand PM John Key, who held office from 2008 to 2016. Sir Roy Welensky, Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1956 to 1963, described himself as “half- Jewish, half-Afrikaner and 100 per cent British”.
In recent times, successful entrepreneurs like Edgar Bronfman in Canada and Sir Frank Lowy in Australia have become respected philanthropists to Jewish and wider causes. There has been two-way migration between Jews in Britain and the Commonwealth. Rabbinic talent has moved in both directions with Abraham Rosenfeld becoming rabbi in Wellington in 1971 and Cyril Harris moving from London to Johannesburg in 1987 to become Chief Rabbi of South Africa.
And Joburg-born Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis made the reverse journey, becoming our Chief Rabbi in 2013. Beyond the market for rabbinic talent, British Jewry has benefited from immigration from South Africa in particular. Successful entrepreneurs and community leaders have quickly made their mark, among them Sir Mick Davis, who headed the Jewish Leadership Council, and Bradley Fried, chair of the Bank of England. The movement between the UK and the Commonwealth has not just been about people but also about initiatives and ideas. ShabbatUK was an import from South Africa, while Limmud has been an incredibly successful Anglo-Jewish export. So it is perhaps no accident that the estimable Limmud founder Clive Lawton is now chief executive of the Commonwealth Jewish Council.
The council acts as a network for sharing best practice, ideas and support and also for broader social action. Ties between the communities are strong. When India had a Covid emergency last year, Jews rallied to support not only the small Jewish community remaining in India but much wider efforts. And although the Jewish world is dominated by the US and Israel, Europe and the Commonwealth contain other important communities. The UK, of course, has a foot in Europe (if not the EU) and the Commonwealth. Post-Brexit, the UK government has been pivoting towards the Commonwealth. Should we as a Jewish community be following suit?
Zaki Cooper is co-chair of the British Indian Jewish Association,
