Macklemore hits the roof
Poor Ed Sheeran. His support act, American rapper Macklemore, launched into a “free Palestine” rant leading to another battle in the culture wars seemingly catching poor Ed unawares.
What is most surprising is that anyone was even the slightest bit surprised that Macklemore took this position. Earlier this year Macklemore released a song called F***ed up praising Columbia University “antizionist” protests and he has been a consistent hater of anything Israel-related for many years. He also no doubt maintains that some of his best friends are Jewish.
With this in mind, you readers may be shocked to learn that Macklemore’s 2011 song Can’t Hold Us is a required fixture on all bar and batmitzvah Playlists. You know the song. The rapping starts really fast, he sings that the ceiling can’t hold us (surely he means the floor!), then there’s a trumpet trio which breaks into a chorus of “na na na na”. This song has been played at tens of thousands of simchahs.
What do we do? Counter-boycott his song like cosplaying BDS warriors? Or do we continue to play his music for our own benefit queued up between Omer Adam and Od yavo shalom aleynu. Imagine Macklemore’s rage if he saw his music played to a group waiving mini Israeli flags and tossing a teen in the air using a reinforced Magen David as a sling-shot.
The ceiling really couldn’t hold that.
Saul Sender
London N3
Divorce issues
Rabbi Y O Steiner argues for the status quo regarding obtaining a get, a Jewish divorce (Letters,September 18). The halachic interpretation puts the matter solely in the hands of the husband, who can refuse a get, leaving his wife an agunah (a ‘chained woman’). My late aunt, Gloria Proops, long campaigned on behalf of the agunot for a change of these rules, but alas, here we are still. The rules are manifestly unjust and are sometime used by a recalcitrant husband to obtain money from his wife, effectively blackmailing her before letting her go. A couple can obtain a civil divorce, but without a get, the woman is still halachically married and unable to move on.
These are man-made rules, made for the benefit of men, dating back to unenlightened times when wives were considered subordinate to their husbands. If a rule is unjust, it needs to be changed! Fossilised rules that are not open to reinterpretation with more enlightened attitudes become a form of “statute worship”.
I do not blame a rabbi for not being able to see beyond his Yad: that’s his immovable position. It is like the old joke, how many Orthodox rabbis does it take to change a light bulb? None, because rabbis don’t change anything.
Mycal Miller
London NW2
Hurray for the US
Yet again, I am impressed by the activities of the United Synagogue and its constituent members during these recent spate of high holidays. The outpouring of community literature is outstanding, as is the overall quality of the communal New Year magazines. Of particular note are the magazines of Central Synagogue, Hendon ( Raleigh Close ), Hampstead Garden Suburb ( Norrice Lea), and New West End. And there are others that I have yet to read. One cannot fail to be impressed not only by both the rabbinical messages but also the enthusiasm and contribution of members.
Worthy of specific mention is the Tashlich literature and handouts of Norrice Lea, which had me, as well as my grandchildren, both educated and entertained, making the rain on second day Rosh Hashanah more bearable.
I look forward to visiting Kenton shul, having received yet another invitation following my Schmooze article (Jewish Chronicle, August 14). They keep coming and can I have more please? This has clearly acted as a catalyst for US shul activity and enthusiasm.
The United Synagogue can be justly proud of the services that it offers to the community. It has every reason to raise its voice and blow its own shofar proudly for the Jewish community that it represents and the State of Israel, to be heard more loudly in both religious and political circles, where its influence could and should be seriously heard.
Jonathan Metliss
London W1
Jemima’s wedding
The marriage of Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith, originally Goldschmidt, close friend of the late Princess Diana, to Cameron O’Reilly, financier, has been announced. Both have been married before, Jemima to the politician and former cricketer Imran Khan, who at the moment is languishing in prison in Pakistan.
Jemima’s parents were the controversial and three times married Sir James Goldsmith, and socialite Annabel Birley, a descendant of the pro-German family of Londonderry. Sir James was a member of the European Parliament and founder of the Referendum Party. Born in France in 1933, the family had a narrow escape in 1940 when the Germans invaded the country, and James served in the British Royal Artillery during the conflict.
Her grandfather, Frank Goldsmith (Franck Adolphe Benedict Hyam), was born in Frankfurt, to the Banking family of Goldschmidt, where the Jewish Goldschmidt family can be traced back to the 16th century. Frank’s mother was Alice Emma Merton, daughter of the Anglo-German Joseph Benjamin Moses.
Frank served as a Member of Parliament in the Conservative interest, but his parliamentary career suffered during the First World War because of his German ancestry. Frank served in Gallipoli and Palestine as a major in the Suffolk Yeomanry. He was a member of the Emigration Committee of the Jewish Board of Guardians, one of the founders of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem and a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur.
Jemima converted to Islam on her marriage in 1995 and her two sons are practising Moslems.
Her brothers are Zac and Benjamin Goldsmith, who have both publicly spoke of their pride in their Jewish heritage.
Doreen Berger
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain
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