Life
Is this what a Jew looks like?
Can Shannon, a Liberal Jew from York, replace the stereotypical image most British people have of Jews - the black-hatted, bearded Strictly Orthodox men? A new book aims to try.
April 7, 2022 11:49
Can Shannon, a Liberal Jew from York, replace the stereotypical image most British people have of Jews - the black-hatted, bearded Strictly Orthodox men? A new book aims to try.
April 7, 2022 11:49Black-hatted, black-coated, bearded Jews walking down the street, their backs to the camera. Who among us hasn’t seen photos of Charedi men illustrating all manner of stories about Jewish life in the UK – and sighed? It’s a stereotype, visual shorthand, that misrepresents the diverse people we are.
Lecturer and author Keith Kahn-Harris has been sighing and writing about the problem for years. Now, he has collaborated with photographer Rob Stothard and produced a book of portraits entitled What Does a Jew Look Like? that showcases Anglo-Jewry’s dazzling diversity.
“There are only about 300,000 Jews in Britain so it’s quite easy to live here and never meet a real, live one. The way we are portrayed in the media, in public, is important, it’s how impressions are formed,” he says. “So the aim of the book is simple – we want non-Jews, and even some Jews, to understand that there is no such thing as the generic Jew.”
Stothard, who isn’t Jewish, was open to the book’s thesis from the outset. Kahn-Harris first contacted him in 2018 after discovering he was the photographer of what has become picture editors’ go-to image of British Jews, a photo of two Charedi men in Stamford Hill that has now been published hundreds of times.
“Getty Images commissioned me to do a set of images depicting increased police presence on the streets in the wake of the 2015 Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris. There were fears of copycat attacks in Britain,” explains Stothard. “So when I took the photos they were news pics. But since then, one image in particular has been clumsily repurposed, become a decontextualised and ubiquitous stock image. It has even been used to illustrate a story about campus antisemitism. It made me very uncomfortable.”
So they decided to work together to produce some different images of British Jews. There was a clear division of labour. Kahn-Harris tracked down people to photograph – “some I knew, some were recommended, others I had heard of online,” he says – and when Stothard took their pictures it was generally without Kahn-Harris in the room.
Kenneth, Sheffield: The photo was taken in Norfolk Heritage Park, Sheffield. That’s the place I usually walk on Shabbat. I’ve had a relationship with trees since I was a child. I’ve lived in Sheffield for over four years now, after moving from London, where I was born and raised. I came to Sheffield to get away from the London anxiety! I’m a member of the Seven Hills Synagogue. It’s small, maybe 100 people, so it’s a very tight-knit and friendly community. We don’t have our own building, so we meet in a community centre every other week. I’m part of a sub-group here where we build up diversity and inclusivity within the Jewish community, trying to engage with our members to talk about the presence of Disabled Jews, Black Jews, Jews of Colour and Queer Jews. It’s a way to help them adapt within those spaces through social activities and promote an accepting diversity of Jews everywhere. My parents are Nigerian Igbos. They moved to the UK in the 80s but divorced in the early 2000s. Though my Mum is Christian, some reputable anthropologists believe in the theory that Igbos have Hebrew Israelite origins. Ironically, I first heard about Judaism through my childhood learning difficulties when I was seven years old. I went to a secular school in the Jewish Haredi neighbourhood of Stamford Hill. I had a teaching assistant who was a secular Jew, and I asked her questions whenever we went to the library nearby. For example, once I asked, ‘Why are these people dressed like that?’ She told me there are strictly practising Jews and explained the different movements of Judaism. I embraced Judaism in the early 2010s as I love the idea of tikkun olam, being spiritually conscious, doing tzedakah, and celebrating my ancestors contribution to the Torah. I want to build consciousness of overseas Afro-Caribbean Jewish communities in the UK to advocate for their recognition within Jewish Education. There are other Black Jews with Afro-Caribbean heritage in cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester. The problematic issue in Jewish spaces is explaining the connections between African ethnic groups and the biblical tribe of Israel; people get confused, and I constantly have to explain. Not only ethnic groups such as the Igbo, the Akan, the Lemba, and the Abayudaya — but other African Jewish communities make the same claim.
“I didn’t want a box-ticking exercise, but I did have some markers,” says Kahn-Harris. “I didn’t want everyone to live in London, and I wanted to include Orthodox, non-Orthodox, LGBTQ, Zionist and non-Zionist Jews, the old and young. And I definitely didn’t want everyone to be Ashkenazi – there are a fair number of non-white people in the book.”
But he stresses that some Jewish demographics have been left out. “This is not exhaustive coverage. We’d have needed hundreds of images to achieve that.
Tilla, East London : "am a practicing artist – concentrating on drawing and installation, my work explores themes of identity, memory, sexual violence, and the body. Largely autobiographical, I use biological materials such as broken eggshells and living matter – plants, insects, fungus – as media, either drawing directly onto them or using them to transform objects and spaces. I was brought up with a very strong religious and cultural identity, but in a non-traditional household. Our family was part of the radical feminist movement; I was conceived through donor insemination and the household was very much part of that ‘80s leftist Stoke Newington scene. There was always a degree of balancing political and personal ideology with religious practice. To make keeping kosher dietary laws easier, we were vegetarian. I went to a Jewish primary school. We’d go on Friday to Ridley Road market to buy challah, and we lit candles and had traditional Friday night dinner to welcome in Shabbat, when I wasn’t allowed to turn on the TV or touch anything electric. As I got older and my mum left the more radical circles, we became more traditionally observant and moved to a more Jewish area of London. I studied in seminary for two years pre-university and got married whilst a student to my long-term boyfriend. As an adult, I have moved back to East London and now live with my husband in Bow. I have a studio in Woolwich where I work and can plan projects. I lived in Edgware for many years but felt stifled and constrained by the atmosphere there – the main thing I miss about it is the excellent foraging in the local woodlands! Living away from the North West London Jewish bubble allows me more freedom to be religious and observant but also to lead a more unconventional life without the scrutiny or pressure of a curious and conservative community. I do not currently want children so many of the tropes of religious married life do not fit my own. I can cover my hair, keep kosher, go to shul, go to the mikvah and fulfil mitzvot without having to live in a row of houses all of which have mezuzot."
“We asked people to choose where they wanted to be photographed. We wanted the locations to be meaningful for them. In some cases they are photographed with objects of significance too.”
And each picture is accompanied by the person’s own words. “I either interviewed them, or they wrote something themselves. This approach makes it difficult to see the subjects as representative of any particular way of being Jewish.”
The book will be hand-delivered, he says, to the nation’s picture editors and “people who are generally in the public eye. We are putting a list together.” Stothard was The Times Young Photographer of the Year, in 2012, and went to work for the paper and also the New York Times and New Yorker, so “we are drawing heavily on Rob’s contacts”.
“There is nothing else like this book out there,” says Stothard. “We hope it will become a reference point for editors, make them think more carefully about how they illustrate stories about Jews.”
Paul, London: I was born in South Africa and made aliyah to Israel aged fifteen, with my parents. We settled in Raanana. It was only until I joined the IDF that I became fully Israeli. The IDF is a great social equaliser, you become close to people from across the country and society. I served as a tank platoon officer for four and a half years. I had a number of choices upon release from service. One of them was a career in the security services, but I chose a different route and jumped on the first flight to the UK to read law at Leeds University. I qualified as a solicitor in the City and practiced law for a couple of years before eventually establishing my own business in strategic land promotion and planning. I buy and sell land. Originally I was set to return to Israel after university to practice law, but the commercial opportunities were greater in the UK. I got married after university and had three children, so my return to Israel will have to wait. During the Gaza conflict in 2008 I felt hugely frustrated at how Israel was being misrepresented in the media and in government. I came to the conclusion that we in the UK should advocate publicly for Israel. I found a home within the Zionist Federation and served as chair for a number of years. I saw this work as a continuation of being a soldier, standing up and defending Israel no matter where you live. At some point I will return to Israel. But, for now, with my wife, children and a business all in the UK, I will be a twentieth century Jew, flying back and forth to Eretz! Britain is home. Israel is home. I love South Africa but it’s no longer my home. I served as chair of my synagogue. I recognise the importance of the community support system that we have, with the shul at the heart of that. We have 2000 members and 80% only attend three times a year, but even that connection is important to them. The shul has been good for us all, so its important that we give something back. Recently I took on the chairmanship of yet another Israel charity, Technion UK, another hugely important institution for the country. Soon I will start shedding some of these titles, but whilst I still have some time, I will devote my energy to strengthen the Jewish community, Israel and Zionism.
The book already has the endorsement of one high-profile journalist. Associate editor at the Financial Times Stephen Bush, who chaired the Board of Deputies’ commission on racial inclusivity in the community, has written its foreword. In it, he admits he has been “one of those awful journalists” who has been guilty of illustrating a story about Jewish life in Britain with a picture of the Charedi community. “I’ve made all the usual journalistic excuses: the desk wanted a picture, it’s hard to illustrate abstract stories, harder still to illustrate stories about race or religion in a sensitive way.” He even “engaged in special pleading about the fact, look, I’m Jewish, so of course I know there’s more to Jewish life in Britain than living in Stamford Hill.”
Fiona, Glasgow : Growing up, my family weren’t members of a synagogue or in any way involved with the Jewish community so I had no Jewish connections as a young person. I was born in Edinburgh where I lived until the age of 22, until moving to Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire where, having married at the age of 20, I became almost completely occupied with having a family of 5 children! I did find time on a part-time basis to be a playgroup leader, a swimming instructor, a Maths tutor and a member of the High School PTA. Sadly, my marriage ended after almost 25 years, but I was lucky enough to meet my 2nd husband, Howard, to whom I’ve been happily married for 19 years. I became a stepmother to 2 children and we have lived in Glasgow since 1999. We do now have 11 grandchildren between us! I did eventually take up studying again — first at the local High School and College and then with the Open University where I studied Maths, gaining a degree after 5 years. It was in Glasgow that I joined the only Reform synagogue in Scotland. One thing led to another, and I am now a regular service leader, a senior warden and an administrator at the synagogue. My communal involvement has been much wider over the years. I went to my first Day Limmud in 2002, which I loved, and eventually became seriously involved as variously Secretary, Treasurer, Programme Coordinator and Chair of Limmud Scotland. This, in turn, led to my long-term involvement with the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre where I am currently a Trustee, Office Manager, Volunteer Coordinator, archivist and tour guide. I’ve also been part of a team which has just successfully created and launched the Scottish Jewish Heritage Centre. Along the way I have also been the Honorary Secretary and Vice President of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council as well as Vice Chair and, currently, Honorary Secretary of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities. Being part of the small, distinct, lively, but sadly shrinking Scottish Jewish community poses its challenges but does engender a special feeling of solidarity and warmth – even if it occasionally feels a little claustrophobic! It does mean that a few people are called upon to step up to a number of roles, but that brings opportunities and a feeling that you’re contributing in a meaningful way. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else...
But the truth remains, says Bush, that everyone deserves to have their own story told. And Charedi men merit more than being a journalistic crutch to illustrate every story about British Jews.
What Does a Jew Look Like? (Five Leaves Publications) will be launched at JW3 on April 11
jw3.org.uk
