JEWISH CHRONICLE
Our holiday landlord realised we were Jewish. What happened next was deeply troubling
Rabbi Dr Yoni Birnbaum
June 24, 2026

When I booked a summer holiday rental for my family in eastern France at the start of May, I thought nothing of using my personal email address. I had used it countless times before. The address happens to contain the word “rabbi”, but it had never caused an issue. The correspondence with the property owners was entirely routine: emails were exchanged, the booking was accepted, and we paid the required 50 per cent deposit. Then, just under a month later, an email arrived from the owners that transformed our ordinary family holiday booking into something else entirely. “We hesitated for some time whether to present or not the following to you, as it concerns a very sensitive and painful matter,” it began…Can you confirm to us that you are a member of a progressive, liberal Jewish movement and that this movement condemns the violent actions of the Israeli army, on orders from the Israeli government, in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and recently in Lebanon?” READ MORE