Rabbi Andrea’s Sermon14th December 2024 / 13th Kislev 5785
Regrets About Syria
Last Sunday morning, just before I left the cab, the driver, with his thick Middle Eastern accent asked me a question "Rabbi, would you say a prayer for me and my family?"
I was caught off guard. "Yes, of course, but... If you don't mind me asking... why?"
He sighed deeply and said, "I am from Syria."
Of course, I prayed for that man and his family. I have prayed all week, every day.
He could have been Kurd, Shiite, Sunnite, Druze, Christian, or perhaps even an Alawite (Assads' ethnicity, probably now terrified by retaliations) ... I don't care; he asked for my prayers, and I prayed.
There is a war there, the worst conflict of the 21st century in the Middle East, with 600.000 victims, 3 million wounded, and 12 million refugees, the largest number of refugees in war history.
I pray for peace and the end of that horror.
I cannot forget another conversation I had years ago with another Syrian refugee, another cab driver. It was a longer conversation. I was going to the airport. We had time to chat.
As soon as he realized I was Jewish, he started talking about his childhood and his education in Syria: "How many lies we have been told about you Jews: Jews control the world, Zionists are the enemies of the Arab people, Jews hate Islam...".
That hit me hard. That lie, the tale of Islamophobia created by Israeli supporters, was circulating at that time as it circulates nowadays. Shamefully some people build their own careers, posturing as fighters against this fictional made-in-Israel anti-Arab hate.
And here I was, with a Syrian refugee, telling me how he had discovered that it was a lie.
He went on to explain how, since a young age, Syrian pupils were taught to hate the Jews and to prepare for the final war when all the Arabs would rise against the Zionists and liberate the Arab soil. Kind of what we have seen happening on October 7, 2023. But that was before, it was 2014.
This misinformation had deeply influenced his worldview and his perception of Jews. 'All lies, Rabbi, all lies ' he said, his voice filled with the weight of this realization.
That conversation came to my mind on Sunday morning.
In the same hours, the world was celebrating the end of the Assad dictatorship a regime that had caused immense suffering in Syria. And in the midst of this historic moment, a Syrian man was asking me, a Rabbi, for a prayer for his family and for the future of his
Country.
By nature, Judaism is against dictatorship. There is a mitzvah for Jewish sovereigns: to write a Sefer Torah and never separate from it, a reminder that authority and power must not be limitless. We celebrate the end of any dictator.
And as Jews, we have special reasons to celebrate the fall of the Syrian dictatorship.
Because they have shielded Nazi criminals such as Alois Brunner, an SS officer who became an advisor of the Assad regime, given his expertise in "interrogation techniques."
Since the 50s, in Syria, Jewish-owned properties and synagogues have been confiscated to house Palestinian terrorists and, in some cases, transformed into training grounds.
Under the Assad regime, Jews were forbidden to travel out of their hometowns; they had to live in ghettoes. The Syrian police had a special department on Jewish affairs, whose task was to monitor and survey the Jews. But the police looked on the other side when Jews were massacred, such as in 1967 in the city of Qamishli (57 dead) or even took part in the rape of Jewish girls as documented in 1974.
In 1947, the Aleppo synagogue was looted and burned down. 1947: Israel still yet to be born, but hey! "it's antizionism, not antisemitism!" Legitimate-criticism-of- Israel...!
That fire almost destroyed the Aleppo Codex, the oldest Bible manuscript in the world. Thank you, Palestinian resistance.
In short, while the media in Europe were busily informing about Palestine, Syrian Jews lived segregated and oppressed in terror and fear.
There has been a bit of mobilization in the States and Canada, mainly to help them get out.
Some synagogues tried to call attention to their drama, dedicating Shabbat Zakhor to their plea.
But guess what? We haven't heard about it in the UK. Certainly not in the Reform and Progressive synagogues I have attended all these years. That's enough to feel guilty. But there's worse.
For decades, Syria has been meddling in Israeli politics.
A notable incident was in 2006, when Arab Israeli MP Azmi Bishara was exposed as a spy and money launderer. He sought refuge in Syria, where he was welcomed, alongside Nazi criminals.
The whole history of the Israeli Far Left has been marked by proximity to Syria and the help of the Syrian secret service, at least since 1972, when several activists were discovered to be spies.
They were all members of that Communist faction that invented the idea of turning Israel into a post-Zionist State, "a State for all its citizens," as they say today.
In fact, the fantasy of turning Israel into "a secular State" and making the Jews a minority so that they can be segregated again is still peddled by ignoramuses (in our city also!).
And it is 100% made in Syria.
Foreign influences, regardless of their origin, can be detrimental. In the past many rightly have expressed concern about the American Right's involvement in Israeli politics.
Perhaps it's time now to delve into the Syrian archives and examine the history of the Israeli Far Left, regardless of their current self-identification as Zionist, critically Zionist, or otherwise.
Syria is really a case study of antisemitism. You can see the duplicity of such a hate in full sight.
We learn its duplicitous nature in this week's Torah portion when our ancestor Jacob (32:12) asks God to be saved by "my brother's hand, Esav's hand."
Why the repetition? As explained by Rashi, it highlights the nature of antisemitism.
Sometimes it presents itself with its real name, Esav, and the face of a Nazi criminal protected by an Arab dictator.
Other times, antisemitism presents itself as a brother, with a smiling face and telling tales of coexistence and compassion (for the terrorists).
In Syria Jews were even forced to parade periodically in honor of the dictator, displaying banners written in Hebrew. Meanwhile, Western academics and European politicians were fed the story of the serene coexistence between Arab and non-Zionist Jews under the benevolent eye of the Assad family.
Once home, they regurgitated the same stories to a public eager to hear edifying tales from Syria, tales that painted a rosy picture of the country's social harmony and political stability.
These narratives, served to perpetuate the status quo and maintain lucrative trade relationships, all at the expense of the truth.
But let me speak about Syrian Jewry.
Can I speak about this wonderful community that chants the service to a different tune every week?
Yes, there is a different tune for each Shabbat. Can you believe it?
A community where the Shabbat morning service begins -literally- at dawn. Can you imagine how close-knit and reciprocally supportive this community is?
The strength of the communal bonds has led to a miracle.
Syrian Jewry has not just survived, but thrived, despite decades of oppression under an anti-Semitic regime advised by Nazi criminals and a training ground for Palestinian terrorists. Their resilience is evident in the strong they have established in Manchester, Buenos Aires, North America, and Brazil.
Unfortunately as much as the Syrian Jewish community is admired in the Sephardi world, and in my opinion, it deserves to, it is vilified and defamed in other corners,
A horrid 2007 article in the New York Times portrayed the community as a bunch of affluent, racists, patriarchal, and vulgar 'new money'.
The article was filled with derogatory stereotypes and baseless accusations, presenting a distorted and offensive view of the
community. [https://shorturl.at/jHGP7]
And that tendentious and slanderous article, unfortunately, had a vast circulation. In a learning institution which will go unmentioned it was a required reading for the Talmud class!
The Syrian Jews I know are the kindest and most generous persons I have known.
The women of these families are not only strong Jewish women (sorry to be stereotypical) but also very independent, committed feminists and trade unionists.
The Syrian Jewish community is one of the most persecuted tribes of our people, martyrized by a literally Nazi criminal and his acolytes. It has so many fascinating traditions. It has a millennia-old history.
Even in the face of the most horrific dictatorship, the Syrian Jewish community did not receive the solidarity they deserved. Instead of basic respect, they were met with insults for their loyalty to Judaism.
And while their families were suffering under a cruel dictatorship, they had to bear tales of “coexistence” peddled by the media and by complacent academics. Shamefully, some of them are Jewish.
Even now, even now.
A few days ago, the BBC correspondent was singing the praises of multicultural Syria and waxing lyrics about the Jewish neighborhood of Damascus.
She just forgot to mention that there are no Jews anymore and that those properties had been confiscated and given to Palestinian terrorists. Luckily, someone on social media from across the Jewish spectrum has called out this outrageous BBC lie. https://shorturl.at/jj8xa
Thank God for social media. Baruch Hashem, as they say.
I don't know, I really don't know what the future will look like in Syria. I don't think that Jews born there are eager to re turn to Damascus or Aleppo, nor are their children and grandchildren.
Many of them have settled well in Israel, where the treasures of their thousands of year-old history are appropriately honored and preserved, rather than being at risk of being burned in the name of the Palestinian resistance.
But I know that we, Reform and Progressive Jews, have not been there for Syrian Jews in their hour of need. In the name of interfaith dialogue, or because they did not want to defend Israel too openly, some have preferred to believe the regime's propaganda about "coexistence".
When fantasies of a "State for all citizens" were aired by Syrian henchmen, there were even those who echoed that propaganda. Because, of course, the "Occupation of Palestine” must end.
Assad was an ally of the Palestinians, so it was better not to upset him. Out of naiveté or worse, they have suggested that there was something good in Syria. But there was not.
I tried to call attention to what was going on. I cannot say I have received much support.
“The Jews in Syria?” I was told several times. “Come on, there are other priorities… Palestine! Occupation! Jewish racism! Islamophobia!”, and people rolled their eyes.
I let them do it, and now I regret not standing up.
Now, I can only pray.
Rabbi Dr Andrea Zanardo, PhD
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