Union of European Jews’ letter says “We take this opportunity to say Thank you! Mr Corbyn” “for your numerous acts of solidarity with the Jewish community over many years”

Pan-European Jewish organisation the Union of European Jews (UEJ) has issued a letter to Jeremy Corbyn repudiating the comments of Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis – and thanking Corbyn for his solidarity with the Jewish community over decades:

The letter, signed by Rabbi Mayer Weinberger on behalf of himself and at least nineteen other senior Orthodox rabbis, notes that the UEJ:

totally reject and condemn in no uncertain terms

the remarks by Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, which have been widely reported by the media as representative of the Jewish community and states that the UEJ believes that these are driven by “a political and ideological agenda”.

The letter goes on to:

relay our gratefulness for your numerous acts of solidarty with the Jewish community over many years

and welcomes Corbyn’s continuing commitment to defending the Jewish way of life.

A UEJ spokesman has described the organisation, which represents Orthodox ‘Charedi’ congregations:

United European Jews is a pan-European organisation that performs research and advocacy concerning topics of Judaism, Jewish identity, and antisemitism. The institute was founded by Rabbi Mayer Weinberger of Belgium in conjunction with Jewish faith leaders throughout Europe. We engage in educational activities which spread information and catalyze action. UEJ offers a view of Jewish identity that at its core is representative of the mainstream 70,000 chareidi Jews that live in the UK, who do not identify with Israeli nationalism or politics as elemental to their Jewish identity. We advocate the traditional Orthodox Jewish idea that Jewish identity is defined only by Jewish religious doctrine and is independent of foreign nationalist components. As British Jews, our home and country is the United Kingdom, and our religion is Judaism.

This is the second such letter issued by the UEJ in 2019. A similar letter was published in April because of ‘outrage’ among the Charedi community.

Although the Establishment media have stated that Chief Rabbi Mirvis represents the ‘vast majority’ of the UK’s Jewish population, Charedi communities represent around 25% of UK Jews and are projected to make up over half within the next 10-15 years. Many secular Jewish citizens also support the Labour Party and its leader.

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