Annika’s journey from secularism to observance

SUZANNE BELLING

PHOTOGRAPH BY SUZANNE BELLING

She is a world-renowned fighter against anti-Semitism, going so far as applying for asylum in her own country on the basis of religious persecution in an attempt to gain protection from her government!

“I took the step after Sweden gave asylum to Syrian refugees and considered the 10 points in the terms required to gain asylum – two of them were if you are suffering from religious persecution or if you cannot trust your government to protect you.”

Hernroth-Rothstein went through a lot of red tape; her cause was publicised worldwide, including on Fox News and the BBC; but her request was denied as she was told she was free to go to any country in the European Union.

“Seventy years ago, it was said ‘Never Again’ and this is not just a catch phrase,” said Hernroth-Rothstein, who went through her metamorphosis of identity with her people after she was harassed by her non-Jewish peers at school.

“Before that I did not reflect on my Jewishness – it took several steps to change that.”

It was around 1994 when neo-Nazis were part of the mainstream learners in her school. “They were wearing uniforms of the Hitler Jugend, having attended a conference of members and sat next to me in an obtrusive way, harassing me at every turn.”

Her mother encouraged her not to look Jewish – “I had this mop of unruly hair, a trademark of many Jewish girls, so I shaved my head when I was 15 and did all the superficial things my mother advised.”

Hernroth-Rothstein, intermarried and had two sons, now aged 12 and seven. When she became religious, it was contemplated that her husband would convert, but that turned out not to be feasible.

After they divorced, she maintained a totally Jewish lifestyle, with her former husband agreeing not to serve the boys pork or shellfish. She keeps a kosher home, but has to import meat from Belgium as shechting meat is forbidden in Sweden.

“There is one Jewish school in Stockholm and one camp, but it is up to me, as a parent, to give my children a Jewish education. I attend the Adat Yeshurun Synagogue in Stockholm and send my sons to camp in Israel, which I visit about five times a year.”

She would love to make aliyah, but having the children’s father in Sweden is a problem. “I was in Israel during the last war in 2014 and felt much safer there than living in Europe.

“Our shul has 350 members and is a young, modern-Orthodox congregation. There are currently 15 000 Jews in Sweden, but only about 5 000 are [Jewishly] active in some way.”

On her last trip to Israel, where she spent her summer, she travelled via Holland and discreetly stuck the Israel flag on her case for easy identification. Unfortunately, anti-Semites vandalised the case. “They poured Coke over everything, ruined my clothes, but worst of all desecrated my siddur.”

Hernroth-Rothstein’s pro-Jewish lobby intensified when she was on a train with her son, then aged five, wearing a yarmulke. “A Muslim man was sitting in our pre-booked seat and when I showed him our tickets, he yelled: ‘You people always take what you want’. “The rest of the people sitting in the compartment did nothing – one tenth of the population of Sweden – 900 000 – is Muslim.”

Only after her second son was born did she pursue her studies and earned two degrees – one in Middle Eastern studies and one in communications. She started her journalistic career by writing a blog and her own website. This proved so popular that she now writes five columns a month for Israel Hayom and she also writes for Commentary, The Tower (Israel Projects), The Jerusalem Post and Mosaic.

Her topics for Limmud are: “Jews and the Temple”, “Jihadi Tourism”, “Anti-Semitism in Europe” and “Rediscovering Jewish Identity”.