Attack in Venezuela

After the recent attack and ransacking of a synagogue in Caracas, Venezuela, I went with another rabbi to the Venezuelan Embassy to meet with representatives of the government. We met with the Charge D’Affaires since there is currently no Venezuelan Ambassador here in Washington, as he was expelled sometime last year.

The attack was not the first time that the Jews in Chavez’s Venezuela have felt the brunt of anti-Semitism and been subjected to violent attacks. Chavez has issued highly inflammatory statements critical of Israel and has embraced, both literally and figuratively, Iran’s Jew hating president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. We stated our belief that there is a connection between the highly inflammatory anti-Semitic rhetoric of Chavez and the atmosphere created by him.

I opened the meeting by telling the diplomats, “A midrash (a commentary on the Bible) likens the Jewish people to a lamb. It tells us that the lamb is a very delicate animal and that whenever any one part of the lamb is hurting, the entire lamb feels the pain. I then went on to say, “This is why we are here. We are here to express our concern for the plight of our fellow Jews. We are here to protest the way they are being treated. We are here because we feel their pain.”

To me, one of the unique aspects of being a Jew is to understand our responsibility to care for our fellow Jews, especially those who live in repressive countries. In this way, they are never alone, and we are truly a people.

Perhaps that is why it is no wonder that the representative said to us that immediately after the incident occurred, he told his staff to be prepared to hear from representatives of the American Jewish community.

Perhaps he also was aware of the midrash about the lamb.

Israel Ambassador Sallai Meridor

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States recently attended Shabbat services at our synagogue, Congregation B'nai Tzedek. He clearly is comfortable in a synagogue – something that unfortunately cannot be said for all Israeli diplomats.

It was truly an honor for us to have him at our services. His message was very a very simple and profound one. Ambassador Meridor told a story about Prime Minister Golda Meir who spoke to a group of American Jewish leaders during the height of the Yom Kippur war. Those of us who remember that time recall that it was a very dark period in Israel’s history, as Israeli troops were caught by surprise and the outcome was not yet definite. Golda told the delegation of American Jewish leaders that the best thing they could do would be, “Keep your children Jewish.”

That message is as true today as it was then. Hearing these words from the soft spoken Ambassador of Israel, especially in the context of a service when we celebrated the bar and bat mitzvah of two children, was especially poignant.

Weather & Elections in Israel

I recently returned from being in Israel. I was there when elections were held, the first elections which followed the recent campaign Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.

The weather on Election Day was a strong downpour. And then, the morning after the elections a heavy fog covered much of the country. I couldn’t help but think the fog was a perfect metaphor – for the meaning and outcome of the elections was like the fog, also not clear.

A journalist friend of mine told me that the day before the election, a friend of his went into the hospital for hear surgery. Right before the operation, the surgeon asked the patient who he was going to vote for. The man, lying on the table, looked up at the doctor and said, “Whoever you are going to vote for.”

Nothing like democracy, even when the outcome is foggy.