Rabbi Richard Jacobi

Adam Wagner, a prominent human rights barrister, unexpectedly became the country’s foremost expert on the Covid-19 laws and guidance. Out of that experience, he wrote what is, in my opinion, a vitally important book entitled ‘Emergency State’. In it he explained that, during a declared state of emergency, we are governed by what he terms the Emergency State, a pared-down, less democratic, faster moving form of government. This is, of course, made necessary by what caused the emergency, in this case the novel coronavirus we now all know as Covid-19.

In an Emergency State, says Wagner, we, the people, lend our freedoms to the State, because we see that it is in our interests to want the government to respond to the emergency. This is one of the six features of the Emergency State that he elucidated. The others are that it is mighty, power is concentrated; the Emergency State is ignorant, corruption is a feature, and it is self-reinforcing.

All of these features are anti-democratic, which is why the Emergency State should not exist for longer than is necessary, and also why it is a stress test for institutions and systems of a liberal democracy. Adam Wagner argues, and I would agree, that the pandemic and the Emergency State have shown that our democracy needs urgent strengthening.

As parshat B’shalach opens, the Israelites are running away from an extreme authoritarian state and its ruler. Fear is the predominant feeling, which becomes real as the chariots and horses race towards them. The drama of crossing the Sea of Reeds and then watching as Pharaoh and his army are drowned in it gives way to relief and then song. Moses and the Israelites sing first, and then Miriam and the women sang and danced.

At that point, the Israelites began to believe in their own freedom and also to have faith in God (Ex. 14:31). However, the taste of freedom soon gives way to the tastes of thirst and hunger, which gives rise to complaints, which lead to the arrival of quails and manna. Less than three months pass in the biblical account before the people arrive at Sinai (in next week’s portion), where a system of government is advised by Yitro, and the rules of Torah are set out with the giving of the Ten Commandments.

For a very brief time, the Israelites lent their freedom to the leadership of Moses and his siblings alone, in a kind of Emergency State. Very soon after, this was replaced by a more distributed system of law and government, which could evolve and adapt over time. Within that short period of time, the people and their leaders had learned that no-one can live completely free lives, independent of everyone else. We always have to lend some of our freedoms to the wider community of which we are part. The question is always about where the balance lies between individual freedoms and societal rules and laws.

Within our Jewish spaces, our task is still to evolve and adapt Jewish law and practice for our personal and communal lives. Alongside that, as citizens of the United Kingdom, we participate with the whole population in the democratic systems unknown to biblical and rabbinic times.

This duality enables us to sensitively bring the wisdoms of Judaism to aid the future of the country, while also carefully importing the learnings of wider society into our Judaism. It is manifestly in our interests as Jews to ensure the wellbeing of the democracy of our country. This is why we must learn the lessons from the period of the Emergency State to help this country be more robustly democratic and less susceptible to authoritarian practices.

This is also why we cannot let our Jewish communal institutions ‘fall into a state’. Instead, each of us has an important role in strengthening our communities, so that they are in a healthy place, able to enrich our lives, and to care for and support each of us as and when future emergencies happen.

Recent Commentaries