An extraordinary amount of vitriol has been directed at me after I recently suggested in the paper that rabbis should stay out of politics. Most of the attacks have been from supporters of the rabbi at Bevis Marks, against whom I have nothing whatsoever, though judging by the vehemence of the language, you might believe the contrary.
However, the central point remains. Rabbis and politics are a lethal mix, as, for that matter, is the involvement of any person of the cloth with the political world. Just look at the flak directed at the Archbishop of Canterbury every time he ventures a political opinion. Our own chief rabbi's almost monk-like discretion in this regard now seems almost saintly.
I did not, nor do I currently suggest, that rabbis should not hold political opinions. The very reverse. What I object to is them dealing out such political opinions to the congregation, as though their affiliation to party allegiances had a sacred hechsher. I am more than capable of making up my mind about where I stand on Israel, for example, without being hectored one way or the other from the pulpit.
And given the rancour directed against me this week, probably the same applies to many overheated members of the congregation. Well, that's me told.