The Curiousness of Anglo-Jews

Abstract

This article was given as a talk by Frederic Raphael at this year's Jewish Book Week (held in association with the Jewish Book Council and the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen) and it marked the thirtieth anniversary of the Jewish Quarterly. Although of a personal and autobiographical nature, it reflects the attitude of an Anglo-Jewish writer within the context of English literature. In his introduction to the lecture, Hyam Maccoby, a member of the Quarterly's Editorial Board, expressed his regret that the editor could not be present at the evening due to illness. However, he conveyed to the audience the editor's wishes and the essence of the long conversation he had had with him: “I expected him to give me some detailed guidance about what to say at the meeting, perhaps some historical information about the Quarterly, and his own struggles to keep it in existence, but, instead, he spoke to me about the Jewish culture of Europe out of which his own life-work sprang. He wished me to convey to you that h...