On Yom Kippur, 20 leaders from two progressive Jewish communities visited a nearby mosque to show solidarity after they were victims of a suspected hate crime attack that injured three people.
Shir Hayim in West Hampstead and the Willesden Minyan went to Al-Majlis Al-Hussaini Association Centre in Cricklewood on Wednesday, after a car was driven into a crowd outside it shortly after midnight that morning.
Police are investigating it as an Islamophobic hate crime.
Rabbi Daniel Lichman said: "Our community was shocked by the news of this devastating hate crime, committed against a community who had gathered, like us, for religious practice on a sacred day. It was clear that we should reach out in solidarity, offering comfort in any way we could to our neighbours."
He told the JC: “When we read the Haftarah on Yom Kippur morning, the Book of Isaiah tells us that you are not doing anything if you are not taking away evil from the world.
“What inspired me the most about our community was that people read that and really understood that it wasn’t enough just to be fasting but we needed to be active, to do something for good”.
The opportunity 'to do something for good' came about after Shir Hayim and Willesden Minyan, who this year shared a Yom Kippur service, were forced to vacate their normal premises in Hampstead due to building works. Instead, they held their Yom Kippur service in the Hindu Temple, Sadhu Vaswani Centre UK, in Cricklewood, a half -hour walk from the mosque.
Daniel Mackintosh, who co–chairs the Willesden minyan which meets once a month, described this as "an amazing High Holy experience".
He told the JC that his community and that of Shir Hayim's have been working closely for the past six months "exploring what solidarity looks like and working together to establish feelings of solidarity."
He said that on the morning on Yom Kippur two members of his community went to the Al-Majlis Al-Hussaini Association Centre in Cricklewood to ask whether they would welcome support from the Jewish community.
After they agreed, 20 congregants walked to the centre in the afternoon.
After greeting congregants of the centre, the Rabbi and his community listened to the stories of witnesses before saying a healing bracha for the injured, as well as Oseh Shalom.
Mustafa Al-Balaghi, a member of the Al-Hussaini Association, told the gathering: "Brothers and sisters, thank you – it is very much appreciated. I want you to know, we would have done the same for you. If you were attacked, we would come to stand alongside you.’
Willesden Minyan C-Chair Debbie Danon said Shir Hayim had invited Al Husseini leaders to share a meal in their Sukkah next week.
"We hope this will be a defining moment for the Willesden Minyan and Shir Hayim, starting us on a path to building strong relationships with our Muslim neighbours based on trust, hospitality and a shared vision for a peaceful city,” she said.
Rabbi Lichman also said one of the leaders of the Al-Hussaini centre invited him to speak at their big gathering on Oxford Street on Thursday for Ashura, a commemoration of the 10th day of the month of Muharram.
He said: “I stood there and I said ‘We were shocked to be able to stand alongside your community with ours. Yesterday was our holy day, today is your holy day of Ashura, what happened in your community could have happened to us.
"We know as Jewish people what it is to have been attacked and we are committed to standing beside you.’”
Mr Mackintosh said: "We don’t do things like this enough. Simple acts of solidarity without thinking about it too much really make a difference. It wasn’t an email, letter or tweet, people actually went down met one another to say that we are sorry, this is shameful and we are with you. That counts a lot more.
"I hope this encourages people to do this as a habit. relating to other human beings from our own communities and beyond is something."
