Jews Faced Massive Antisemitism in Ancient England; Can That Inspire Us Now?

Anti-Judaism was often driven by two agents, religion and politics, and the same applies today. It was the same story in England with different actors long ago.

The Jews were expelled from England by Edward the First in 1290. During the reign of Elizabeth the First, some Jews had come to England, but virtually all the English knew about Jews was from the plays of Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, both of whom portrayed Jews negatively.

It was not until the civil war which led to the execution of King Charles First and the appointment of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector in 1653, that a serious effort was made to officially readmit Jews to England. Two factors played a part in this development. One of them was theological. The rise of Protestantism emphasized the Bible and an interest in Judaism. The other had to do with the financial success of the Jews expelled first from Spain and then Portugal, moving to Amsterdam, Hamburg, the Caribbean, and South America.

One of the most prominent Jews of Amsterdam at the time was Menashe Ben Israel, the rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam. He was so popular that even Queen Henrietta Maria (the wife of King Charles the First) visited his synagogue in 1642. In 1650, he wrote a book called Spes Israelis, in which he argued that the Jews were condemned to be scattered across the world as a punishment for not accepting Christianity and that there would be no second coming until they were scattered everywhere. It was necessary, therefore, for Jews to be readmitted to England to usher in a new Christian messianic era.

Although a strongly committed Protestant, Oliver Cromwell was not a mystical man, but a very practical one, and he saw the commercial advantages of welcoming Jews to England. He took advice from two of the major legal authorities of the time, Sir John Glynn and William Steele, and they said there was no law forbidding Jews to return. The original expulsion had not been a law, but a royal decree. The matter was debated over five sessions, and then opened to the public. Both the clergy and the merchants were strongly opposed, and reacted in the most prejudiced manner, claiming the Jews would convert St. Paul’s Cathedral into a synagogue, forcibly convert the English to Judaism, and steal their businesses. Cromwell spoke eloquently in favor of the proposal, but seeing the strength of the opposition, suspended the council with the matter unresolved.

Nevertheless, he turned a blind eye to the arrival of Jews in public, and in 1656, a small synagogue was opened in Cree Church Lane and a cemetery was acquired in Mile End, East London. A rabbi named Nathan Shapiro from Jerusalem was welcomed, and all cases against Jews as unwanted illegal interlopers were dropped or overturned. The settlement of Jews was tacitly condoned, though it continued to be opposed and constant attempts were made to incite or remove them.

When Cromwell died, attempts were redoubled to deny the Jews settlement. But the new King Charles the Second, who came to the throne in 1660, had dealings with Jews on the continent while in exile. Like Cromwell, he saw the value of a Jewish community and supported them. During 1663, there were four petitions to Parliament to expel the Jews. But in 1664, Parliament officially recognized Jewish residence (not citizenship), although there was no formal invitation to return. Antisemitism continued to fester at all levels of society, and yet the Jewish community flourished and began to play an important part in English life.

Succeeding monarchs continued to support Jewish life. Queen Anne donated material towards the new synagogue of Bevis Marks. But the masses remained opposed. As I wrote a few months ago, in 1753, a bill granting Jews all civil rights passed the Lords 95-16 and then the Commons and was signed by King George. But the outcry from the mercantile and clerical communities was so full of hate and lies that the bill was repealed six months later. And it would take another 100 years (long after the United States did so) before Jews were granted complete equality.

The readmission of Jews was not the noble act of tolerance that it is often made out to be. It was a practical accommodation. We now live at a time when “Kill the Jews” reverberates again. Anti-Judaism is as common and insidious as it was in those days. We managed to survive hatred and prejudice then. This, if anything, gives us some comfort that however uncomfortable we may be feeling at the moment, in the long run, we will survive.

The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.