Rabbi Ariel Friedlander’s wry American humour: Foreign, Female, Fat and a Feigele

Rabbi Ariel Friedlander talks about British and North American identities and the complexities of Jewish community life, and the prejudice she encountered until she came back to live and work in the UK.

“I figured out in a sort of moment of wry American humour that I was 4F for the American Rabbinate and 4F was the military classification for the draft in Vietnam and if you are classified 4F it means the army don’t want you under any circumstances ‘cos you have flat feet or you are gay or something. I figured 4Fs, where I was Foreign, Female, Fat and a Feigele. And that was the reason I was too other. It was too much.”

Read: Transcript Rabbi Ariel Friedlander 24 June 2013,

Thank you Ros Levenson (interview/transcript).