Author and playwright Tuvia Tenenbom has managed to weave a theatrical experience into his book The Taming of the Jew, an account of the UK’s state of affairs during the Brexit and Labour Party antisemitism row, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, interchanging comedy and horror.
Tenenbom exposes the eye-opening antisemitism he encounters on his three-month journey through Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales in a dramatically comedic retelling of what he claims are the “two greatest shows on earth playing in London right now... Brexit [British exit from the European Union] and antisemitism.”
As Tenenbom explores the UK, he uses humor and unconventional tactics to poke at what he believes is systemic antisemitism, national identity crisis, and corrosion of values plaguing its citizens.
Everywhere he goes, Tenenbom sees antisemitic propaganda, so much so that his claims seem almost freakish in their validity. Yet he presents photo documentation to prove his point, leaving readers to question if perhaps they have been blind to its presence all along.
On par with how he begins his book – “Once upon a time” – Tenenbom’s entire account teeters on the brink of fantasy, as a real-life villain, antisemitism, rears up its head from the shadow of history.
Tenenbom enters one pub plastered with Palestinian flags and those present express their solidarity with the Palestinian people, informing Tenenbom that “Hitler didn’t kill enough Jews... the scourge of the world.”
While interviewing a Jew in the House of Lords, Tenenbom is astonished to discover that “he is carrying his passport, plus twenty-seven different currencies, fully prepared to be kicked out by his countrymen at any time.”
“The Holocaust has not yet ended,” Tenenbom dauntingly declares.
In seeking to understand the roots of the antisemitism he witnesses, Tenenbom lays much of the responsibility on the ‘snowflakes’ of modern society – people who are educated falsely, fear saying what they truly believe, do not have their own sense of thought and value, and melt at the slightest sign of any tension. Tenenbom explains that when he asks these snowflakes what they think about antisemitism, most make grandiose statements, and “when I ask questions they disappear.”
Tenenbom goes to extreme measures to prove to readers the shocking spinelessness and impressionability of these snowflakes. He makes bold and absurd statements to encourage his interviewees to speak up, but they are merely conceding or silent and flighty.
He recalls an encounter with an Irishman he tells, “We, I mean Europeans, have been killing Jews for two thousand years. We didn’t like them then, and we don’t like them now.” The Irishman shockingly agrees, “Yes, it’s tough. Tough…” and then quickly walks away.
Tenenbom observes the same snowflake tendencies in Jews, as Jewish leaders refuse to accuse movements and their political icons of antisemitic behavior, specifically the Labour Party and its former leader Jeremy Corbyn.
In an interview with Jewish Labour MP Ivan Lewis, Tenenbom illustrates the reluctance among Jews to speak the truth on record, writing that “Ivan tells me, again and again and again, that what Jeremy Corbyn says, believes, and does, for years and years and years, is antisemitic, but not once is Ivan willing to call Jeremy an antisemite.”
The Jews he speaks with in Manchester deny the presence of antisemitism altogether, until an eight-year-old child admits he was pelted by eggs because he was a Jew.
“I look at the father, and he lowers his eyes. ‘Oh, yes,’ he says, ‘I forgot that.’” Tenenbom imparts the shame and fear in the man’s expression, sending chills up the reader’s arm.
He describes the UK’s Jews as “people living in a cage of their own creation, spending their days in denial, finding their comfort in the deepest halls of darkness, shutters down.”
Just as in Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, Tenenbom suggests that Jews have been “tamed” by their tormentors and the persecution they have endured, until shame and fear have bent their knees into submission.
Tenenbom continues to play with the theatrical aspects of his story to process his shocking revelations. He draws on the Shakespearean notion that “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” to paint an image of the UK’s citizens acting out a narrative of Palestinian solidarity and silence in the face of antisemitism, never questioning the truth in what they are told and embracing the story until they have forgotten what is real and what is not.
He points out that in some areas of the UK, a quarter of the population lives in poverty, yet most humanitarian organizations request donations to support poor Palestinians. Public figures busy themselves with solidarity campaigns to provide for Palestinian people, yet the starving in their cities remain penniless.
“Where is the cultural elite of Ireland, its singers and writers, when the nights of Dublin chill the human bones and the homeless are in danger of freezing?” Tenenbom wonders. His words compel the people to open their eyes and acknowledge the hypocrisy in their actions, to question why it’s easier to sprint to the distant Palestinian cause when their own poor are freezing at their feet.
Tenenbom fights to detach himself from the narrative playing out before him and hold on to the truth, courageously expressing his thoughts despite their sensitive nature.
He writes personally and with casual, snarky humor in a journal-like style that allows him to speak freely “off the record,” and delve into a controversial topic that readers may otherwise shy away from or take offense. While The Taming of the Jew is a well-researched and informative read, Tenenbom’s fictitious touches, casual language and bold accusations take away from the book’s credibility, leaving readers to ponder the true state of antisemitism and the snowflake trend he presents.
This frightening account deserves new attention in light of the recent spike in attacks on Jews in the UK and across the globe. They have since made their way into mainstream media, and while many leaders have spoken out against antisemitism and misinformation, has the snowflake trend really declined? Have the people gotten their voice back? Or is the world still performing on a stage in which the players have been swallowed into the plot and are blind to the truth?
THE TAMING OF THE JEWBy Tuvia TenenbomGefen Publishing504 pages; $24.95