I am just back from a trip to the UK — Glasgow and London — featuring the usual mandatory visits to Glenduffhill Cemetery and Foyles bookshop and on this occasion some common-or-garden sightseeing.

I went to Hampton Court, Bletchley Park, and Cambridge. The first two were impressive. The last was a bit of a disappointment because it reeked of ‘tourist trap’: the admission prices for some of the university locations were far too high. (Given the university gets wads of public cash, why should the public — especially British taxpayers — be charged anything?)

In Glasgow I encountered the latest in facial recognition technology. On Shabbat morning, I was stopped at the shul entrance by a security guard who said ‘Sorry sir, but I don’t recognize your face’ and he then politely barred my entry. I explained I was a visitor — yes, it does still feel strange, even after all these years, being a visitor to Glasgow — but that didn’t move him and correctly so. Fortunately, one of the regular congregation arrived just then and vouched for me. Phew! Of course, it’s a sad comment on the state of affairs that the shul needs security, but it’s also a common feature that is unlikely to go away soon.

On Shabbat, I skipped off early from the services and walked into the city center to meet up with the amazing Glasgow Friends of Israel. For more than ten years they have been presenting their pro-peace platform on Buchanan Street and making a real difference. If you don’t already know about them, I encourage you to search for them on Facebook and check out their weekly reports. They are amazing. They are solid evidence that the silent majority support Israel and that social media is not the real world. It was an eventful day but I won’t say any more until certain legal matters have been resolved. I was glad I went and the volunteers thanked me for my support such as it was.

Glasgow was the first stop on the holiday. As I drove south to London, I couldn’t help thinking about the Jewish community I was leaving behind and hoping for their future safety and survival.