The annual conference of shluchim – emissaries of the Rebbe – has come to an end. More than six thousand rabbis gathered to inspire each other. The gathering was impressive. What made the biggest impression on me was the rabbi who lost both his legs as a soldier but continued with great spirit from a new position, as he himself put it. What also stayed with me was the clear emphasis that a rabbi in a tiny Jewish community does work that is just as important as a rabbi in a community with thousands of members. I was asked to give a lecture on how to prove the Jewishness of a person who claims to be Jewish. I am quite proud (not good!) that my session was very positively received and that I was able to support many people with my expertise.
But at the same time, I sadly learned that my friend, my former driver, my buddy Ronnie Noach had passed away. I won’t be able to fly back from New York any sooner, and that causes me intense pain. Right now, I should have been there for Norma, Ronnie’s wife, and daughter Danielle by being physically present. “A hero is someone who gives of their life to something bigger than oneself.” Ronnie put himself last when help was needed. That was Ronnie.
And that includes many of the Chabad rabbis who live in the most remote places. I am thinking of the rabbi in Kenya, with whom I am in frequent contact. Of the rabbis in Bucharest, Montenegro, Slovenia, Sweden… And then I also think that you don’t have to be a superhero to change the world. A kind word, a listening ear, is often more than enough.
Last week I was in Nieuw-Loosdrecht, giving a lecture to a church group. There weren’t hundreds of people in attendance, only about fifty. But because my lecture on ‘Can ancient Judaism answer hypermodern questions?’ could also be followed via a live stream and the number of followers could be seen, it turned out afterwards that more than 260 people had watched and listened to my presentation. Not bad for a small country like the Netherlands!
In the meantime, I had almost forgotten about the Concertgebouw controversy, had it not been for the fact that people from various quarters, Jewish and non-Jewish, asked me for my opinion on the compromise. One of the writers told me: “Good luck, Concertgebouw, but personally I will always say about you: bah, bah, bah.” Others were satisfied because, in the end, the chazan will be allowed to continue performing. Only in the afternoon will a separate concert be organised, where he will not be allowed to perform, a kind of “apartheid concert”, because for the (mostly) Jewish audience there will be two private concerts in the evening.
People often ask me where I find the time for all my travels, lectures, columns and diaries. Writing the diaries and columns takes a lot of time, sometimes several hours. But: a writer who appears to be staring blankly into space is actually just working! And that’s how it is for me too. In the back of the car (not at the wheel) or just relaxing on the sofa, I prepare my diaries. And later, my daydreams are entrusted to digital paper.
In the meantime, I have finished my Hanukkah article and we are packed and ready to fly back to our home base. By the time you read this diary, we will already be back and my next 24-hour trip will be to Montenegro. How privileged I am to be able to help rabbis far away and to support KLM financially. This is greatly appreciated, because on our seat from Amsterdam to JFK there was a very friendly personal handwritten welcome note.
And that corresponds with the idea mentioned earlier: a kind word, a listening ear, is often more than enough. This applies to our fellow human beings. But what about yourself?
Look in the mirror every day and search for your own qualities and flaws. And once you have found those flaws, you must realise that self-knowledge is meaningless if that knowledge does not lead to improvement.
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