It is not inconceivable that you could be given the wrong medication.
At three o’clock on Tuesday afternoon, I arrived in Budapest to finish a job that I had flown in for several times. Once again, it became clear to me that (almost) every problem can be solved if both parties essentially respect each other and both want a solution. However, if both parties or one of them is filled with hatred, the task is difficult, because sinat chinam, hatred without reason, cannot be resolved with logical arguments. Anyway, my Budapest mission was a success, the underlying problems were solved, and I am grateful that my many flights to Budapest have paid off. But be careful, I tell myself, even without visible success, you have to give it your all. In other words: it’s about the effort and always about the (visible) result, never about the applause. I regularly have to choose between attending a meeting that will generate widespread media attention and a fairly anonymous event with only a very limited audience. My ego and my PR advisors don’t need much time to decide, but fortunately I still understand that my ego should not determine my decision-making and that public relations is a means to an end, but never an end in itself. And so, on Wednesday morning in Budapest, I jumped out of bed at half past three, having had barely three hours of sleep, to fly to Amsterdam and attend a small gathering in the Pijp neighbourhood, where two Stolpersteine were placed in front of the house of my friend Mr Soesan, former chairman of the small Jewish community in Breda. There were no journalists present and, because almost the entire family had been deported never to return, there were no more than fifteen people in attendance. So there was no honour to be gained from my presence. And yet, without wishing to offend anyone, my presence meant more to me personally than my participation in the many perfectly organised gatherings of the past few weeks on the occasion of 4-5 May and Yom Ha’atzmaut. Those two small memorial stones and one photograph, which had accidentally survived the war, are all that remain of Philip Soesan’s parents. They were not even granted a grave. With a lump in my throat, I recited the Yizkor, the memorial prayer, while my thoughts wandered to the many houses where Jews lived before the war and where no Stolpersteine were placed because they were destroyed along with all their children, brothers, sisters, grandfathers and grandmothers…
A group of medical students from a university asked me to sit on a panel about intimacy/sexuality within Judaism. A minister and an imam would also participate. Politics would not be discussed; in fact, if anything political was brought up from the audience, it would be stopped. Security would also be provided. Unfortunately, as I had expected, it was not permitted, partly for geopolitical reasons.
A missed opportunity, I think. But I suspect that evil forces have one main goal: anarchy and preventing solutions, and above all, no shalom!
The annual reception at the Israeli Embassy on the occasion of Yom Ha’atzmaut on Thursday evening was perfectly organised and well attended, but this year there was a noticeable absence of Dutch politicians and more ambassadors did not attend than did. It is what it is: anti-Semitism is flourishing and many mayors are choosing to escalate under the guise of de-escalation! This is something to think about. But nevertheless: Am Yisrael Chai!
I have just returned from Apeldoorn, where I gave a lecture on “The meaning of remembrance”. The synagogue was packed, silent and completely focused; no one, not even myself, fell asleep! After the lecture, memorial stones were unveiled for the houses from which the Jews of Apeldoorn were deported, never to return. The Free Palestine chant from the mouths of a few hooligans of about seventeen years old was, of course, not missing. Distant relatives were present, which was impressive. But in Apeldoorn, memorial stones will be unveiled for all the Jews who were deported, including those of whom no one remains. And tonight in Breda, there will be another shioer/lecture for the Jewish community. Tomorrow, Monday, I will fly to Krakow for a three-day conference of the RCE, Rabbinical Centre of Europe. At the memorial site in Auschwitz, I will give a short speech in Hebrew, ending with an appeal in English:
I call upon all European Governments, in the name of more than 200 European rabbis gathered here in Auschwitz, to ban any form of antisemitism on the streets and from the media, from universities and schools, and to stop demonising Israel and Jews in general and to guarantee the future of European Judaism. Nie wieder, never again Auschwitz!
The latest complaint against Jews: Hebrew is originally the language of the Palestinians, which the Jews stole from them. Am I making this up? No, I know the person (an academic), the location and the company in which this theft was discussed.
Oh yes, academic hospitals are observing ten minutes of silence for Gaza. So, dear Jewish Dutch people and Christians who are pro-Israel, if you have an appointment at a hospital, try to avoid those ten minutes because it is not inconceivable that, due to the heightened emotions, the blood test will “accidentally” go wrong or you will “accidentally” be given the wrong medication…
