“My experience is that Israeli Jews sometimes fail to appreciate the vibrancy of Jewish life outside of Israel, the creativity that the interaction of Judaism and the many other cultures we come into contact with daily can breed and the almost radical harmony that many Jews feel between their Jewish identity and the identity of their host country.”

The Interviewee- Robin Moss, I was born in 1986 and have lived my whole life in London. I grew up in Pinner, now live in Kilburn and am a lifelong member of Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue. I hold lay and professional positions in the British Jewish community, but am writing in a personal capacity.

In your opinion, what importance, if any, does the existence of a Jewish state have to you personally and to Jewish people in general?

“For the Jewish people, the State of Israel represents both a triumphant return to history for us as a collective and a tragic necessity after so much suffering in the 20th Century. It provides a spiritual, cultural linguistic and political centre for Jewish life, as well as the site of enrichment for so many Jewish lives. It also offers us the potential, more so than any individual community can, to leverage the tools of statehood to make the world a better place. For me personally, it provides a dimension to my Jewish identity (and a playground for my Jewish values and ideals) that is very special, and totally unique.”

Do you feel committed in some way to defend the future existence of Israel?

“Assuming a rather broad definition of ‘defend’, yes I do feel that commitment, but for me the future existence of Israel is not just a matter of physical security (though that is essential) but also of being liberal, democratic and Zionist. I want Israel to thrive as well as survive.”

Do you affiliate yourself with a specific confessional division in Judaism? What is your view regarding the dominance of the Orthodox division in Israel religious establishment?

“In my personal life, I come from the Liberal movement, a stream of British Jewry similar to American Reform though with a distinct history and unique minhagim. I grew up in a wonderful Liberal synagogue, was a member of LJY-Netzer (the youth movement of Liberal Judaism), worked for them for two years and am now on the Board of National Officers of Liberal Judaism. I work professionally in Jewish education, and that work is cross-communal. I really value the differing traditions of all Judaisms in the UK and abroad.

“My view on the orthodox monopoly over some aspects of Israeli public Jewish life is this. As well as being regrettable for the effect that it has on Jewish unity and the freedoms of non-orthodox Jews to practice, it has a deleterious effect on orthodoxy itself. I am confident that Israel will in due course move to a more pluralistic understanding of public Jewish life.”

Do you feel morally responsible for Israel’s actions (such as its management of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict)?

“Yes and no. Responsibility and culpability are different things. I am not culpable for what Israel (or rather, the Israeli government) chooses to do. However, I do have some responsibility: as a Jew engaged with Israel, to learn and understand as much as I can; as a Zionist, to help Israel to be the best it can be; as an educator, to give the young people I work with a nuanced insight into what is going on; and as a human being, to be sympathetic and (as far as is possible) empathetic to the terrible suffering that the conflict inflicts on Israelis and on Palestinians.”

In your opinion, what is the main thing Israelis fail to understand about the reality of being Jewish outside of Israel?

“My experience is that Israeli Jews sometimes fail to appreciate the vibrancy of Jewish life outside of Israel, the creativity that the interaction of Judaism and the many other cultures we come into contact with daily can breed and the almost radical harmony that many Jews feel between their Jewish identity and the identity of their host country (in my case, feeling both 100% British and 100% Jewish).”

How would you describe Israel’s policy (formally and in practice) regarding its relationship with the Diaspora?

“Formally, I still think a certain paternalism exists – Israel is the sun and Jewish communities around the world are the planets in the solar system of Jewish life. Informally, though, there is a huge amount of incredible work being done that has changed that dynamic to being a partnership between Israel and communities around the world (or, to continue the astronomical analogy, two binary stars rotating around a common centre of gravity). Certainly in the educational arena in which I spend most of my professional life, the Israelis I work with (both those based in Israel and abroad) are my colleagues, friends and partners rather than my managers, overseers or patronisers. The Jewish people are at our greatest and most exciting when there is a strong Israel and strong Diaspora communities.”

In your opinion, does Israel have an obligation to defend and help Jewish communities in need?

“Yes, if they a) are in need of defence or help and b) seek that help from Israel. It is not for Israel to intervene in local Jewish affairs outside of Israel, but Israel can, should and does have a role in partnership with local communities.”

Have you ever been to Israel? if you have, can you summarize your impression from the Israeli reality?

“Yes, many times. I visit three times a year or so, and a couple of years back spent three months living in Jerusalem. I’m always struck by the strong contrasts of Israeli life: it is a place of incredible history, religion, archaeology etc, but also of mundane everyday existence; it is the meeting place of a people from a hundred far-flung cultures with a single reborn unifying language; it is the towering skyscrapers of glass and steel in Tel Aviv and the dire, embarrassing inequality and poverty of the periphery; it is the Jewish state with a large, vibrant, diverse Arab minority; it is a place where talk of politics is everywhere, loud, rude, oppressive even, but where the same person will invite you out for a beer or a meal or for Shabbat. I love spending time in Israel. I am not sure, though, that I could live there permanently.”

Can you tell us a bit about the Jewish community in your hometown? Is it organized? Are there community activities?

“London Jewry numbers 150,000-200,000 and is as diverse as any other. There are Haredim in Stamford Hill, modern orthodox in Hendon, tradition-but-not-fully-halachically-compliant in Stanmore, Masorti in Finchley, Reform in Harrow, Liberal in Pinner (where I am from!), secular/cultural in Hampstead and many more besides. It’s a community that offers an overload of Jewish activities, events and identity-building experiences if you want, or none at all if you choose to avoid it. It’s big enough to be innovative and constantly changing whilst being small enough that it is still navigable. I love living in London – which I would say is the greatest city in the world – and feel very lucky to be a part of London Jewry.”