Je Suis Charlie, Je Suis Juif

Wednesday evening, I attended the communal gathering in solidarity with French Jews. Upon entering the sanctuary at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, I was moved by the names and faces that appeared on the screens above us.

They included the four Jews who were murdered in the kosher supermarket:

Philippe Braham
Yohan Cohen
Yoav Hattab
Francois-Michel Saada

The slides also included the names and faces of all seventeen victims of terror last week.

Those images reflect two important themes of Jewish life: commitment to our own people as well as to all of humanity. I spoke of this tension on Rosh Hashanah this year, urging us to find a way to hold both commitments at the same time. The Jewish people is our family, wherever they reside, whatever their ideology or religious expression. As Rabbi Joel Sisenwine reminded the gathering last night: Kol Yisrael arevim ze lazeh, each Jew carries a responsibility for other Jews.

Yet the Torah begins with a universal vision, the Creation of all humanity. The pinnacle of the Creation story is expressed in a statement of our equal status and unique individuality: we are each made b’tzelem Elohim, in the divine image. From that first chapter of our holiest Book, we derive the obligation to care about all human beings and to treat each one with dignity.

How do we make sense of this tension when we believe that our people are threatened by others? How can we find the goodness in others who seek to deny our humanity and take the lives of Jews for no other reason than we are Jews?

One can look at France and see growing anti-semitism. One can also look at France and see a democratic society committed to respecting and protecting the Jewish population. While these ideas seem to be in tension, the truth requires accepting both realities.

Jews have lived in France since the time of the Roman Empire. In the past 1500 years, we can find instances of good relations between Jews and Christians as well as periods of persecution, massacres and expulsions. Since the establishment of the French Republic in the 18^th century, the situation for Jews improved considerably. All anti-Jewish laws were abolished. Jews were made citizens with full rights. The Jewish population increased and Jews achieved success in the professions and the arts.

The Nazi occupation of France brought deportations of Jews and tens of thousands were sent to concentration camps. However, both the French Catholic and Protestant churches opposed anti-Jewish measures, and many Christians saved Jewish children, in body and soul. An entire village, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon (population 5,000) and the villages on the surrounding plateau (population 24,000) provided refuge for thousands of Jewish children, risking their own lives.

Today, France is home to the largest Jewish population in Europe and is the third largest Jewish population in the world (after Israel and the United States).

My good friend and colleague, Rabbi Stephen Berkowitz, spoke to us a year ago about anti-semitism in France today. He made the point that France is not an anti-semitic country. Most French people are not anti-semitic.  When I reached out to him this week, he wrote about increased fear among French Jews since last week’s attack.

And yet, we need to ask whether the actions of these three young terrorists represent a larger trend, particularly in the French Muslim community? And what is the response of French society to the targeting of Jews shopping for Shabbat dinner?

We can be grateful for the actions of a 24-year old Muslim employee at the supermarket, Lassana Bathily, an immigrant from Mali, who saved the lives of several Jews by hiding them in the store's freezer.

We can take heart from the words of Malek Merabet, the brother of Ahmed Merabet, the police officer who was killed outside the offices of Charlie Hebdo. He declared,

“My brother was French, Algerian, and of the Muslim religion. He was very proud of the name Ahmed Merabet, proud to represent the French police, and to defend the values of the Republic: liberty, equality and fraternity….Devastated by this barbaric act, we associate ourselves with the pain of the families of the victims….I address myself now to all the racists, Islamophobes and anti-Semites. One must not confuse extremists with Muslims. Madness has neither color nor religion. I want to make another point: stop painting everybody with the same brush, stop burning mosques or synagogues. You are attacking people.”

These words represent the multi-cultural aspirations of the French people.

The slogan Je Suis Charlie united the French people in defense of liberty and freedom of speech. The slogan Je Suis Juif demonstrates the compassion of the French people for the Jewish victims. As French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, said after the attacks, "Without the Jews, France is no longer France.”

What is the future of Jews in France?

I believe the future of Jews is tied to the future of democracy. It is too early to see what direction the French government and French people will take to combat terror and to protect Jews and all citizens. Likewise, it is too early to determine whether these events will lead to mass aliyah to Israel. As Rabbi Berkowitz emphatically stated, “Most of secular, non- affiliated Jews who are not physically threatened and feel confident that the govt is doing everything possible to fight ant- semitism will continue to stay in France.”

Our hearts go out to the French people. Our prayers go out to the families of all the victims. May the Jewish community of France, which has endured so much in the past, continue to thrive.