Rabbi Charley Baginsky, Co-Lead of The Movement for Progressive Judaism, delivered BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day on Tuesday 5 May 2026. You can listen here or read it below:
There is a difference between being safe and feeling that you belong.
It is not always easy to name, but you notice it in small ways. In how freely you move through the world, in whether your presence feels natural or negotiated.
I have been thinking about that difference over the past few days, not least because, if I am honest, I am tired. Almost every conversation I have had has come back to antisemitism. It matters that we talk about it, but there is something wearying about being returned to it again and again, as though this is the defining story of Jewish life in the UK. Because it is not.
And yet, the current reality cannot be ignored. The higher walls, security barriers, guards. The fear is shaping daily lives. Echoes of the ghetto quietly return.
In Jewish tradition there is a teaching that each of us should carry two truths, one in each pocket. In one: for my sake the world was created. In the other: I am dust and ashes. It is a way of holding dignity and vulnerability together, of recognising both the value of each life and how dependent we are on one another.
That balance feels more fragile at moments like this. The instinct to step back, to become less visible, is understandable. But Jewish life has never only endured by retreating. It has endured by being present. Jewish life in Britain is vibrant and engaged, woven into the fabric of this country, enriching its civic and cultural life.
Which is why the response matters. There are people of real care and integrity who show up and stand alongside us, and that solidarity matters deeply. But there is also a wider hesitation, especially from those who usually stand against other forms of hatred, which can leave the sense that this is being carried by us alone.
For antisemitism is not only about Jews. It tells us something about whether a society is able to recognise the full humanity of all its members, not only when it is easy, but when it asks something of us.
And perhaps that is where that small difference returns. The distance between being protected and truly belonging.
A country in which Jewish life can be lived openly, confidently, and without hesitation is not only safer for Jews. It is a sign of a society that understands that belonging is something we are all responsible for – in the ways we see each other, and in the ways we choose to stand alongside one another.