Rabbi removed for daring to speak up!

A rabbi is a religious leader in the Jewish faith community. It was often a title given to Jesus by anxious followers seeking help and succour. "Rabbi, what is the meaning of this?" could well be the cry that went up.

The oldest synagogue in London, the Bevis Marks, has just removed its rabbi for daring to allow a march to start from outside the synagogue. The march was a demonstration against the role of banks in the financial crisis. Apparently it upset "important figures" with "links to the financial industry". Rabbi Nathan Asmoucha is considered a good rabbi with abilities to create a good community spirit. Just the sort we need.

Instead, several characters with a desire to keep the bonus binge going and a general cowboy character to banking and financial dealings alive, rounded on the rabbi and have now succeeded in having him removed. Just for daring to speak up about the financial crisis and let others march to have their say.

The scoundrels here are those who removed the rabbi. They have left a bewildred congregation, which is bad enough, but it also gives the impression that usury and money lending of a Dickensian type are prevalent.

These men have done a disservice to democracy and to the ministry of an apparently upstanding rabbi.