Had I been there, I would not have
entered the Mumbai Jewish Center.
I am invisible there. Worse,
the rabbi was trained not to see the likes
of me. He would have welcomed someone
I’m not. Always, the Nagid says,
when you most expect it. I warned my son
to watch for the mobs of Granada. It took
ten years, but they came, rest his soul.
Oy, the rabbi’s wife, my daughter’s age.
The rabbi looked like me back then.
There but for the grace of God. I am bereft.
We’d paid the bishop for our rights,
wails Kalonymus of Mainz.
He was supposed to protect us
from the crusading hordes, the dogs!
Refuse to be drawn into the cycle,
but they would’ve killed me too.
Jewish lives not more precious.
Jewish deaths oh so painful.
Imam Yahya of Georgetown mourns
brokenhearted for Jewish blood spilled—
even for those who would dance on his grave.
Speedily in our day may I rise to his level.
Rabbi Jacob Staub is professor of Jewish philosophy and spirituality at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.
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This piece is disturbing for so many reasons.
The denigration of the dead of the Mumbai Jewish Center and all that they strove to do in their lives. Though I am very far from a follower of Chabad, I believe that it is nearly indisputable that they are the most welcoming and warm of all sects and denominations of Judaism. Their only goal is to help Jews reconnect with and discover how the practice and philosophy of Judaism can be relevant and add value to their lives. To belittle and insult what the Chabad Rabbi did and how he lived his lives to help others is unforgivable, in my opinion.
Secondly, I know Imam Yahya Hendi of Georgetown University personally and find Jacob Staub's lauding him for his brokenhearted mourning pathetic. I-mam Hendi's sincerity is often questionable, and his brokenhearted mourning for Jewish blood spilled is even more so. Oh, he'll tell you he mourns for the Jewish dead, if you're Jewish. But does he tell the same message to the Muslims who kill Jews and condone the murder of innocents? He'll tell you just what you'd like to hear and often it is completely out of line with Q'uranic precepts. FULL-TIME Imam at Georgetown University? He co-teaches ONE class, spends the meager amount of time he is actually on campus dealing with anything but the students, and parades himself around Washington and the world as much as he can. Perhaps the most self-promoting individual I've ever met, if you want to learn more about his accomplishments and awards, all you have to do is speak to him for ten minutes, he'll tell you all about them, or visit his webpage. He is definitely more of an I-mam than a cleric, I think if Staub would like to rise to Hendi's level, he need only engage in a substance-less PR campaign of shameless self-promotion.
And lastly, I know of noone in the Jewish community who dances on graves. This line paints an unrealistic picture of Jews and demonizes them in a completely dishonest way.