A senior figure in the strictly Orthodox community has attacked the BBC over its documentary series Jews.

Chanoch Kesselman, executive co-ordinator of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, complained in a letter to the BBC this week that the first film in Vanessa Engle’s BBC4 series “impinges on the privacy of the Charedi community and opens the way for it to be misrepresented at best and maligned at worst”.

He was upset that the film, which told the story of Samuel Leibovitz, a reformed drug-dealer from the Satmar community, failed to consider the sensibilities of a community who prefer not to be put in the limelight of television, whatever her motives for making the programme and however sensitively she handled it.

“Further, community representatives were not given the opportunity to review the film or to make any editorial input.”

The BBC, in response, said the programme “informs and enlightens”.

A statement said: “It paints a fair and positive portrait of this community with its strong family values and adherence to strict rules. Everyone taking part gave consent to be filmed.”

In a recent JC interview, Ms Engle stressed that the programme cast the strictly Orthodox in a positive light. She said: “How does the community deal with a case like his? Is continuing to turn your back on the world a viable way for a community to function?

(Source: Jewish Chronicle)