One would have thought for some time that life for Jews in the United Kingdom could not get any worse, but this week it hit rock bottom.
Four ambulances belonging to the Jewish charitable organization Hatzola were set ablaze in the most iconic area of Jewish North London – Golders Green.
Even though there were no fatalities, for many Jews, this was their Rubicon moment in which they had to decide whether they could live in Britain any longer.
Upon reflection, the reason for such a strong response to these acts has become rapidly clear. Ambulances are places of safety, of rescue.
That is how one regards them. The more so when they are assisted by charity, be it Magen David Adom or indeed Hatzalah. They are viewed as places not to be defiled by fire or, worse still, by killing.
Along with churches, monasteries, and synagogues, ambulances should be off-limits to criminal activity. If, whilst in desperate need of help, you reach an ambulance, you would believe yourself saved.
Wickedness should be shut out
It must be a safe place for care, protection, and kind concern, where wickedness should be shut out. Acts such as this arson (the offence will be arson and potentially terrorism with intent to endanger life) disgust logical-thinking people.
Through the ages, the notion of “sanctuary” has extended to all sorts of places and situations. Although usually a physical place, it is invariably accompanied by a sort of mental sanctuary.
A modern example of both is a battered women’s shelter that takes in women oppressed by their partners or others, or care facilities providing homes for abused children. Sanctuaries are now part of our vocabulary, extending to animal and nature sanctuaries as well.
Places of sanctuary have deep Torah roots in the form of cities of refuge, where those guilty of killing could stay away from those who would avenge the victim, albeit not indefinitely.
The Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant, through to the Holy of Holies in the Temple, is another such place of sanctuary. Accordingly, parts of our synagogues, or the prayer halls themselves, are considered sanctuaries.
Of course, an ambulance does not have a special status, but it represents a place consistent with human decency. Yet, this is not always the case.
It turned out not to be so for a person being chased by a gang (one of whom I represented) in 2006, who took the opportunity to jump into the back of an ambulance in London, thinking he would be safe.
Undeterred, the pursuers jumped in after him and used golf clubs and other implements to bludgeon him to death. My client – one of the chasers – was sent somewhere for many years. It was not a sanctuary.
There is an old saying, “fay knights,” that dates back to the 14th century. A person could shout it, and this, magically, meant that those pursuing him had to break off their chase. That is the theory, at any rate.
Words would not have kept the victim safe in 2006, nor the Hatzola ambulances from being torched in the dead of night.
Things went from bad to worse as two men were arrested over the antisemitic arson attacks for which an Islamic group has claimed responsibility. They have since been bailed.
I will not rehearse the exceptions to the presumptions that suspects will be granted bail, which apply in the UK Crown Courts, but merely say that police bail is a different thing.
I doubt there are any more frustrated than the police who had let the suspects go whilst they continue to build their case.
An ambulance is not a place of sanctuary, and what took place but a few days ago in the conflagration that lit up London was nothing short of a message to the Jewish people: You are not protected and not welcome here.
Fortunately, there is a place that offers sanctuary for Jews, and many will be thinking very carefully about it and the freedom it offers.
The writer is an author and a former judge and barrister in the United Kingdom.