A book of Jewish thought that is balm for the mind at this time of uncertainty - The Jewish Chronicle

There is a paragraph in A Book of Jewish Thoughts which could have been written today. It reads: “A university is a place in which the universality of the human spirit finds self-expression. Unfortunately, the Universities of Europe today are for part nurseries of chauvinism, of a blind tolerance.” It was written by Albert Einstein exactly 100 years ago, eight years before the Nazis took power. He didn’t need to be a genius to know that antisemitism was already in the air.

A Book of Jewish Thoughts was first compiled by the UK’s then Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz in 1917 for Jewish soldiers who were going off to war. A second, updated version was printed in 1940 for the new generation of soldiers. It was small enough to fit into the breast pocket of an army top but rich with quotations spanning the entire history of the Jews.

The book has been reprinted in a beautiful special version involving Yad Vashem UK published following the events of October 7, for this new uncertain period Jews find ourselves in again. The writing is from a different age – some of it goes back centuries, even thousands of years. But what’s incredible is how pertinent it all feels. And inspiring.

I was sent the book ahead of appearing on a panel for the launch of the new edition at South Hampstead Synagogue, hosted by the shul’s Rabbi Shlomo Levin and with Anthony Julius, Maureen Lipman and her husband David Turner and Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, dean of the London School of Jewish Studies. Having never read it before, I totally fell in love with a book that was strangely comforting and familiar and inspiring, all at the same time.

I was not someone who grew up steeped in Judaism; we had a Christmas tree alongside our Chanukah candles and made it to synagogue once or twice a year. I didn’t go to Jewish school, still can’t read Hebrew and I know only the shortest prayers. However, since October 7, like many, my Judaism has come to the fore.

It started on October 7 when, in my role as a journalist, I was put in touch with people hiding in their safe rooms as we heard gunshots in the background. From then on, I was plunged deep into the world of the trauma of mass murder and hostage-taking in Israel, and growing antisemitism here in the UK.

Earlier this month, I was honoured to receive the Pete Newbon award “for the greatest contribution to the public understanding of antisemitism”, from the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. Like many of the people featured in A Book of Jewish Thoughts, I am lucky that as a writer I have a public voice. When I can, I use it to call out antisemitism and show my fellow Jews that they are not alone: that we are fighting this not only together but also with allies.

Nicole Lampert with her award[Missing Credit]

In the book is a short story, The Pogrom, written by Ossip Dymov in 1906, which echoes what October 7 survivors told me: of Jews huddled quietly hiding from men who want to kill them, of the terror of being discovered: “Some distant houses were burning. Along the red-tinted street with the red pavement, there ran by a red man, whilst another red man stretched his arm, and from the tips of his fingers there broke forth quickly a sharp, snapping, cracking sound – and the running man dropped down. A strange, sharp cry. ‘They are shooting!’ passed along the street.”

The book is divided into five parts. The People of the Book examines the Jew’s contribution to mankind and how mankind has repaid him. The Testimony of the Nations features non-Jewish writers, from Mark Twain to Sir Walter Scott. Time and Eternity features observations from Jewish sages. The Jewish Year features thoughts about the different festivals, and I am a Jew sets out different ways Jews understand the world.

I suppose because of the work I am doing, I was drawn to the historical stories. Many are painful to read. Isaac D’Israeli writes in 1793 about the Jews of York in 1190 who preferred to kill themselves rather than be killed by the mob outside. The Exodus, a poem written in 1883 by Emma Lazarus about the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, ends with the cry: “Whither shall they turn? For the West hath cast them out, and the East refuseth to receive.”

The passages from history of non-Jewish allies who loved us, who understood us, this querulous ancient people, are genuinely inspiring. At the launch, I read a passage from Leo Tolstoy’s essay What Is A Jew?, written in 1891 at the behest of his Jewish friends as pogroms raged across the Russian Empire. The great novelist tells how the Jew created the best of our world. Just look at the section titles: The Jew is the pioneer of liberty; The Jew is the pioneer of civilisation; The Jew is the emblem of civil and religious toleration.

The agony is there, but so is the joy. One passage that resonated with me is written by Theodor Herzl. It starts with the words: “Deep in his soul he began to feel the need of being a Jew.”

I sent it to one of the many groups of new Jewish friends that I am in. This time of difficulty has bound us together in ways which are perhaps impossible to explain to outsiders. These friends and acquaintances I have made over the last couple of years have been inspiring in their fight against antisemitism, in the art they have made, in the way they have fought adversity. Our cultural and communal life continues to be buoyant.

A Book of Jewish Thoughts is a reminder that we have survived this, and much worse than this before, and we have thrived.

We will continue to thrive.

A Book Of Jewish Thoughts, republished with Yad Vashem UK, is available through
jbookshop.com

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Judaism