Great Britain

If you place a phone call to Josh Zaitschek the education and programs director at a large shul in West HampsteadEngland you might be surprised by his accent. Born and bred inWestchester County New York Josh speaks with standard American inflections despite having spent the past six years in theUnited Kingdom. By now Josh is no newcomer toGreat Britain; in fact he is a British citizen. But the road to British citizenship was a long one paved with abundant paperwork plenty of expensive fees and an occasional amusing mishap.

The couple initially lived inIsraelafter their marriage on Moshav Mattisyahu and then decided to move toEnglandfor work-related reasons. This involved wading through plenty of bureaucratic red tape.

“We had gotten married inGreat Britain so I already had a visa for the marriage” recalls Josh whose wife is English. “But I needed another visa in order to work and I had to be inIsraelin order to get it.”

After he spent a few years in theUK he was entitled to get another permit to remain there indefinitely. Eventually though Josh applied for citizenship which required passing a test on British history.

“I probably know a lot more aboutEnglandand theUnited Kingdomthan a lot of other people do” he laughs. “I had to know a tremendous amount about the British parliament and judicial system.” Josh was already curious to learn about the country’s workings so he actually found the material rather stimulating.

The process culminated with a swearing-in ceremony held in the British equivalent of a city hall. “I was probably the only new citizen there who spoke English as his first language” Josh relates. “We took pictures under a portrait of the Queen. It was a proud moment for me.”

As members of the Jewish nation we are used to looking at our fellow Jews as part of our extended family regardless of where they come from. No matter where we live we have far more in common with a Jew from another country than with the non-Jew next door. But in the eyes of secular governments there is a different reality; sharp lines of national demarcation distinguish an American Jew from a Canadian one and a British Jew from both of them. And while a Jew feels at home in any Jewish community no matter where it is secular law might prevent him from living there or even visiting there — at least without having gone through a tremendous amount of paperwork.