 |
London's Wembley Arena (Mishpacha Magazine) |
“There was not a single incidence of drunkenness or rowdy behavior… All the team were blown away by the amount of thank-yous that we received. I am devastated that Siyum only takes place once every seven years.”
That was a breathtakingly positive message sent by a staff member of London’s Wembley Arena. He had written a personal e-mail to the Siyum HaShas committee that held their own Siyum HaShas event there. (It was similar to what was expressed by a staff member at MetLife about the Agudah Siyum held there.) But despite that glowing compliment about identifiably Orthodox Jews, it was not without controversy.
The Siyum committee issued an apology after the management of the Arena protested the unauthorized release for the of what they termed a ‘draft’ of a message made by an individual and not the Wembley Arena staff.
First - it should not escape anyone’s attention about how unruly a typical event can get at a sporting - or any type of event when thousands of people congregate there. What kind of culture do we live in that tolerates or even expects people to get drunk and behave in ‘rowdy’ ways? Especially in the UK where one might have thought that proper decorum and formality is far more valued than it is in the US.
It is curious that Wembley decided to make an issue out of publicizing a compliment about Orthodox Jews. What could they possibly object to about this letter that makes it enough of an issue for them to protest? Does it hurt them to somehow say nice things about an event organized and attended by Orthodox Jews? What possible motive could they have had - even if it was unauthorized? What did they gain?
I agree with the message published in this week’s Mishpacha Magazine about people using this retraction and apology to smear the UK Siyum HaShas organizers.The claim being that it was a fake e-mail - which organizers made up and used to make themselves look good.
It was not fake. It was real. And we ought not allow a Kiddush HaShem to be torn apart by the antisemities of the world. (Some of whom might be termed Jewish antisemites who never miss an opportunity to bash the Charedi world.)
That the kind of exemplary behavior displayed by the 7000 Orthodox Jewish attendees at the Wembley is so unexpected is what makes it so remarkable. A true Kiddush HaShem.
If only this were the only thing by which to judge this Siyum. There is, however the ‘slight’ little matter of the tremendous insult to UK’s Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis. He was at first invited to the Siyum - and to join other rabbinic dignitaries on the dais. And then he was dis-invited. It was an insult not only to the Chief Rabbi, but to all of the Orthodox Jews in the UK that look to him as their spokesman and leader. Where was the Kiddush HaShem there? Never mind. I’ll tell you. There wasn’t any. That was a Chilul HaShem.
Now it is true that a letter like that means a lot. It should make us all feel good, despite the fact that it was retracted by the Wembley Arena staff. Looked at by itself the comments made in that e-mail indeed make what happened at Wembley a major Kiddish Hashem.
But the Chilul HaShem of embarrassing the Chief Rabbi cannot be ignored or glossed over. It is not canceled by that letter. It would behoove the Siyum organizers to do Teshuva by issuing a formal apology to the Chief Rabbi and ask him for Mechila. And pray very hard the he accept it. Because without that, I do not envy their Olam Habah.