Torah For Today! This week: Harvey Weinstein’s crimes
Rabbi Zvi Solomons takes a topical issue and looks at an Orthodox Jewish response. This week is the case of the convicted sex offender and movie-maker
Often is it said that being a Jew is hard. This is not only because we have 606 more mitzvot to perform than the rest of the world, but also because we are a small people who suffer persecution.
We have only to look to the Labour antisemitism debacle to understand the fetid soup of conspiracy that unfortunately can surround us.
It is therefore a very great outrage when a prominent and identifiable Jew is convicted.
Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up
We remember the opprobrium poured onto Ernest Saunders and Sir Gerald Ronson at the time of the Guinness scandal. Much of this had to do with their Jewish ethnicity.
The Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal and his conviction, so soon after the Epstein scandal, has certainly done us no favours.
It doesn’t matter to our detractors that all of this abuse of others and sexual crime is several layers deep in prohibition.
The very disgust that we all feel at these heinous acts is borne into the wider world through our Jewish values, which even
our haters and abusers unwittingly share.
This is thus a lesson in the Third Commandment: “You shall not bear the name of the Lord your God in vain.”
Anything we do as an identifiable Jew can, and usually will, be used against us. We should therefore strive to adhere to the highest moral standards.
We cannot be responsible for Weinstein’s criminal acts, but we might be able to redress the antisemitic claims that his behaviour is particularly Jewish, by proving to the world that in fact the extreme opposite is the case.
- Rabbi Zvi Solomons serves JCoB, the independent Orthodox community in Reading, Berkshire
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
-
By Brigit Grant
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)
-
By Laurent Vaughan - Senior Associate (Bishop & Sewell Solicitors)