Shabbat Shalom newsletter article for Parashat Pinchas, July 26-27, 2024
A story is told of Rabbi Sampson Raphael Hirsch (Germany, 1808-1888), the intellectual giant behind the founding of contemporary Orthodox Judaism: It is said that late in his life, the old rabbi surprised his students by scheduling himself a long trip to Switzerland. When they inquired about why he insisted on making such a journey, he replied: “Soon, I will stand before the Almighty. I will be held answerable to many questions. But, what will I say when I am asked, ‘Shimson, my son, it is true you did many mitzvot… but did you also remember to see My Alps?”. We learn from this that the Jewish tradition teaches us to celebrate life and to bless the beauty and bounty of this world.
Well… I’d previously checked out God’s Alps, and they’re magnificent. So Jodi and I spent the first half of July visiting another region of God’s good Earth — Magna Graecia: Greece and Italy. Our vacation included a 7-day cruise of the Aegean Sea’s Greek Isles, and we also planned wonderful stays in Athens and Rome, where we saw all the important and historic sites. Here are just a few… click for larger images.
By far the best parts of our trip were our private Jewish tours of Athens, Thessaloniki, and Rome. Our knowledgeable Jewish tour guides expertly peeled back the layers of these cities to reveal their historic secrets and the influences of the Jews over the past century (or more).
The first Jews in Greece, the Romaniotes, settled there during the first century BCE after the Babylonians destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. They were followed by the Ashkenazim from central and Eastern Europe, who fled persecution from the eleventh through the sixteenth century. The Sephardim arrived in 1492 after their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula during the Ottoman period and settled primarily in the North. Italian Jews, fleeing the Spanish occupation, also settled in the North in the sixteenth century. Each group arrived with its own language and customs, creating a rich tapestry of communities in different locales. Jews numbered 78,000 in all of Greece until the Holocaust, and now there are about 3,500. The Jews of Greece live in peace and harmony; there were hardly any signs of antisemitism on our visit — the government and the police simply do not stand for it.
Rome was another incredible Jewish experience. The Great Synagogue, while a modern building (including a [prescient?] rainbow-coloured square dome), is home to a museum testifying to a challenging but vivid history of Jewish life in the Ghetto. The women of the Ghetto were clever and uber-talented seamstresses, who managed to acquire the previous-year’s used dresses and upholstery of royals around Europe, and converted them into Jewish ritual textiles, including parochot (ark curtains), Torah belts and mantles, and bimah covers.
On the Sunday morning of our visit to Rome, we headed to the Vatican for the Papal Angelus, the Pope’s… D’var Torah. His message, delivered in Latin and translated live via an app into our language of choice, was that there is too much war in the world, and it is every person’s obligation to be good to one another. He acknowledged different groups present in the Piazza according to their banners and flags, with cheers and benedictions in Italian for the Pope (we’d call them Mi Shebeirachs!) in response.
Incredibly, we happened on a Catholic couple holding a hand-sewn banner made of the flags of Israel and the Vatican. They show up with their special flag every week because they know that antisemitism is the root of all hate in the world, and to remind the Vatican to support the Jewish People and side with Israel. The wife is the daughter of a Nazi, and is doing her part to distance herself from her past and her late father’s legacy. We spent time with them after the Pope’s service, and shared Ottawa’s/Canada’s struggle with antisemitism following the October 7th attacks, and told them how the Christian church leaders back home have joined steadfastly with our Jewish community in spreading interfaith support. Tears were shed and shared between the four of us, and we left the Vatican feeling prouder to be Jews and more grateful for our friends than ever. Isn’t that why one goes to the Vatican, after all?
Not all of our visit to Rome was enjoyable. This past week, Jews fasted in observance of Shiva Asar B’tammuz, the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, the date in 70 CE when the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem and ultimately destroyed the Holy Temple on Tisha B’Av (the 9th of Av) three weeks later, plundering our ritual items and marking the beginning of 2,000 years of Jewish exile. Right there, near the Colosseum, stands the Arch of Titus, the inner marble facade of which includes a carving depicting the Roman massacre and pillaging of ritual items from our Holy Temple (which items are rumoured to be stored to this day at the Vatican). The bas-relief panel evoked anger in Jodi and me, and to be honest, made my 17 Tammuz much more poignant.
While In Rome, we met a fellow traveler, IDF soldier “Mitchell”, who shared with us the devastating loss of two of his colleagues-in-arms since Oct. 7th. In support, you will find on the bulletin board at KBI, the below sticker reminding us all of the supreme sacrifice of Israel’s soldiers and bringing their faces to our minds. The banner reads: “Say little and do much – Viper Battalion – Two brothers, two warriors, two righteous people, two heroes – In memory of Benjamin Lev and Gilad Aryeh Boym – with love and pain, lost after the [Oct 7] attack, Nov. 21.”. May their memories be for a blessing, and may we know no more war!
This week’s Torah portion is Pinchas. There’s a lot going on in it, but one of the plotlines is the census of the Israelite tribes in order to understand their community’s size and composition, not least for the purposes of inheritance of land and self-defense, but most importantly, to solidify the very integrity of the Jewish people going forward. Similarly, Jodi’s and my exploration of the size, diversity, and history of Jewish communities in Greece and Italy, and especially the inspiring ways these ancient cities have preserved their Jewish history, was particularly enlightening.
And with that, I wish you a Shabbat Shalom.
Cantor Jason Green
