For as long as there have been bekeshes in Stamford Hill, a feature of our communal life has been the freelance extremist who, over many decades, has refined and perfected a mode of religious activism known colloquially as ‘shouting incoherently at people like a nutter’. This advocacy comes in slightly different flavours: some are happy…
I have learned the hard way that any comment on COVID-19 that doesn’t start, continue and end with a passionate denunciation of people who don’t social distance will be met with a torrent of ‘offensive nonsense’, ‘defending the indefensible’ and ‘ignorant bluster’. I was ready for more of the same when I responded to the…
NOTE: This article is for people who appreciate the difference between an explanation and an excuse. Many people profess to being unable to understand how Charedim can ignore public health regulations during a pandemic; for those who mean it, I hope this helps. Others, for whom Charedim exist to externalise their own internal torments, are…
If you’ve hung around Stamford Hill you’ll know that grievances about schools are probably the most frequent and most deeply felt type of complaints you’ll hear. Of these complaints, the most bitter are not even about the slapdash and shambolic way some of the local mosdos are run, though heaven knows there’s enough to complain…
An explanation of ultra-orthodox Jewish non-compliance with social-distancing regulations in the age of COVID-19.
Headlines in recent days were dominated by the extraordinary news of Jeremy Corbyn’s suspension from the Labour Party by his former Brexit secretary and successor as leader, Keir Starmer. Of course, this has been of particular interest to the Jewish community, and both the Jewish and national press has been filled with Jewish voices expressing…
I started this blog a little over a year ago, partly a way of getting certain things off my chest, but, more importantly, because I hoped it would make a contribution to developing a new kind of conversation in the UK and world Charedi community. As I articulated back then, my goal is breaking up…
Our community recently received a gift of sorts from OFSTED, when it formally stated that it would no longer penalise primary schools for not teaching about all 9 protected characteristics. I’m told that this has been the Department for Education’s recommendation for a number of years, but, until last week, OFSTED insisted on their own…
A number of readers have called me out over articles where I have discussed the role of women in the Charedi community in a cavalier way. While it is true that almost every well-run institution in Stamford Hill, to quote myself, is ‘run by women who are feisty and articulate’, that doesn’t do justice to…
The latest news from the holy land is bleak. Once cited as a model example of Covid-19 suppression, Israel is now suffering from one of the world’s worst second waves. Yet another country faced with the awful choice between plague, on the one hand, and economic collapse and nationwide house arrest, on the other, looks…
Eli Spitzer 