I was recently checking the blog statistics and I noticed an interesting change concerning the location of readers.
Besides getting readers from the United States and Canada, I have regulars from Brazil and South America - aside from a certain Brazilan billionaire. There are many readers from London as well as Germany and even Shanghai and India. There are a few from Italy and Romania. However I also notice that there are Arab readers from Jordan and Oman who seemed fascinated by an old post from Jersey Girl - Should Jews hate Arabs?
Besides getting readers from the United States and Canada, I have regulars from Brazil and South America - aside from a certain Brazilan billionaire. There are many readers from London as well as Germany and even Shanghai and India. There are a few from Italy and Romania. However I also notice that there are Arab readers from Jordan and Oman who seemed fascinated by an old post from Jersey Girl - Should Jews hate Arabs?
Interestingly enough, our family was contacted this week by a student from a Syrian university who is doing research on the Jews of Syria. He had come across a large archive containing deeds for Jewish owned properties in Syria and was going through membership lists of Syrian Jewish organizations in the US, offering (for free) to look up properties that might be listed our great grandfathers' names.
ReplyDeleteHe told us that the Syrian gov't did not confiscate Jewish owned property and that much of it is just sitting empty, being maintained by the gov't all of these years waiting for the return of its rightful owners.
I would have thought this was a hoax, but a family friend recently reclaimed his grandfather's house in Damascus. The extended family spent Pesah there, I saw the pictures and they were beautiful.
Two other families I know in Brooklyn were also contacted by university students who told them that their great grandfather's homes are sitting vacant and waiting for them to reclaim.
One family member went and sure enough, the Jewish school building, the great synagogue and many grand homes are sitting empty and being maintained by the Egyptian gov't. The actual maintenance work is being done by university students as part of their studies.
One of the Egyptian students I was put in touch with emailed me a large cache of photographs of sefer Torahs, requesting that I kindly read the dedications and contact the descendants if I know them. He wanted me to let them know that their Sefer Torahs are being kept in the synagogue in air conditioned storage.
I did recognize a number of names (it is convenient that Sephardic children are named for their grandparents, living or not) and as requested, emailed the pictures of the Torahs to the descendants in Brooklyn.
I also went through a large cache of photographs of gravestones(the students cannot read Hebrew). They only requested that I notify the families that they are maintaining the gravesites (they appear well maintained).
They did ask me to share some of the biographical information about the Egyptian Rabbis for their research which I did.
They stressed to me over and over that they do not want money. They only want the Jewish people to know that Muslims are their friends, that they respect us and our faith and maintaining our property.
They also stressed that the governments and the people of Egypt and Syria want the Jewish people to return and that our synagogues and school buildings are being maintained and are waiting for us.
My father spent some time in Morocco a few years ago. A Moroccan man recognized my father's face and called out our surname. My father was shocked to say the least.
The man told my father "that my father's family had treated his family very well and that he wanted to show my parents hospitality".
My parents were taken to a cafe where this man baked them fresh bread, a whole fish and made an array of salads for them to eat. He served them as if they were a king and queen. He then came with tea and pastry, and sat down to serenade my parents on the oud (lute) while they sipped tea. My father picked up a drum and my mother took pictures.
When it was time to go, my parents offered to pay for the meal and the man absolutely refused. He thanked my parents for the opportunity to repay some of the kindness that my father's "father" had shown his "father".
This "kindness" was figurative because my father's grandfather left Morocco to work as a cigar maker in Philadelphia approx. 100 years ago.
My in laws have had similar experiences in Turkey where they travel frequently.
This is the Arab Muslim world that my extended family knows.
For the past few years, I am doing a lot of business in Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Syria. I come in contact with many Muslims regularly in business.
All of my Muslim contacts know that I am Jewish. I am always treated with the highest level of integrity and respect and I regularly hear comments like "you and me, we are the same. We are the same people from the same culture and the same values".
I cannot help but contrast the handling of Jewish property and Jewish gravesites by Arab Muslims with the treatment of the same that the Jewish people received in Europe.
And I also cannot help but contrast the treatment of Jewish property and gravesites in Egypt and Syria to the manner in which the Israeli gov't has treated the 400 mosques and numerous Muslim cemetaries that once dotted the pre State landscape.
As Rabbi Papo ztl said "woe unto those who go to live in Christendom for they are wont to follow in their ways which are foreign to us. Better to live in Islamic lands where a beard and a large family is respected".
"The mouths of the tzaddikim move in the grave when they are quoted and it gives them great pleasure. "
I recently started doing that as well. Although I can't compete with you, I did get one hit from Murmansk, Russia.
ReplyDeleteWTH? How did someone find out about me up there?
Check which websites link to posts on your blog.
ReplyDeletei don't think it is a mialah to have
ReplyDeleteso mach information pubic it doesn't
help, because all you are really doing is giving them ammunition to use against us. there is a reason that Torah should not be in English
He told us that the Syrian gov't did not confiscate Jewish owned property and that much of it is just sitting empty, being maintained by the gov't all of these years waiting for the return of its rightful owners.
ReplyDeleteFunny, when neighbors of mine wanted to reclaim their properties including home and business in Damascuss they were not even able to secure an airflight since their visa was marked with visits to Israel. They were told that the business property was taken over by a competing business... Interesting ...