Charedi Corbyn letter is genuine, activists insist

TWO STRICTLY Orthodox men have claimed responsibility for a letter defending Jeremy Corbyn, which was signed by 29 leading Charedi rabbis — after it was decried as “fake” by a rival community group.

The letter, circulated in Hebrew in strictly Orthodox shuls over the High Holy Days, railed against those “spreading reports that the Jews in Britain are united against” the Labour leader.

The Jewish Community Council of North London (JCC), a nascent communal group based in Stamford Hill, initially disputed the letter’s legitimacy, while others suggested the 29 rabbis were not fully aware of its content when they put their names to it.

But the JCC backed down after a challenge by Stamford Hill activists Shraga Stern and Naftoli Friedman who have since taken responsibility for the letter.

After its publication, doubts were raised and there were claims the signatories were misled as to its content before signing, although Mr Stern and Mr Friedman denied this, insisting that some of the rabbis even made their own amendments.

Three of the signatories, Rabbis Eliyakim Schlesinger, Azriel Schechter and Ze’ev Feldman, all confirmed they had read and signed it.

The letter was a response to the accusation by former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks that Mr Corbyn’s remarks about British Zionists not understanding British irony were “the most offensive made by a senior British politician” since Enoch Powell’s infamous Rivers of Blood speech.

Mr Stern and Mr Friedman also took issue with the results of a poll for the JC which found four in ten British Jews surveyed would consider making aliyah if Mr Corbyn became Prime Minister. They said they saw Labour’s antisemitism crisis as a “smear with a Zionist agenda”, describing it as “cruel and unjustified”.

They also accused the Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council (JLC), the mainstream communal bodies that have been critical of Mr Corbyn, of “chutzpah”, saying they “only represent a very particular part of Jews who are pro-Israel”.

The letter, first published on September 7, described their shock at media reports of Jews’ anger towards the Labour Party’s “respected leader”, dismissing them as rumours.

It read: “Jews are faithful to G-d and his Torah, and seek the peace of the country they reside in and respect their leaders and, heaven forbid, will not attack their political leaders.”

A JCC spokesman said: “We can hereby confirm the letter is authentic and is genuinely signed by the leading rabbonim of our community in full faith.”

Rabbi Avrohom Pinter, a leading Charedi rabbi, did not sign himself, but said the signatories’ main motive was a desire to “stay out of the argument with the Labour Party”.

He said: “If Jeremy Corbyn becomes Prime Minister we’re in trouble. And because a lot of people have put their hopes in him — a lot of people who have nothing — we will get blamed if he doesn’t win an election.”

Mr Stern, 33, and Mr Friedman, 48, told the JC they have acquired five signatures since the letter was published, taking the total to 34. Mr Stern is a member of the Tora Eitz Chaim synagogue in Stamford Hill, led by Rabbi Feldman, while Mr Friedman is a member of the prominent Padwa family.

It was signed by the leading rabbonim in good faith’