(Editor’s note: These are the remarks presented by Rabbi David Glickman at the Memorial and Solidarity Service for the Victims in France held Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the Jewish Community Campus. It was presented by Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City, Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee, Midwest Center for Holocaust Education, Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.)
The first Jew in France, Archelaus, son of Herod, found his way there in the year 6 of the Common Era, exiled by the Emperor Augstus, dying 10 years later in the year 16. Jewish legend, with some archaeological evidence behind it, teaches that when the Romans conquered Jerusalem in the year 70 CE, three boatloads of Jewish captives were sent to Bordeaux, Arles and Lyons. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Over the past two millennia, the Jewish community of France has been one of the greatest cauldrons of Jewish thought and creativity. France was the home of Rashi our greatest commentator, as well as his brilliant grandsons and great-grandsons. In the past century, France was the adopted home of the Lubavitcher Rebbe before he came to America. France was the home of contemporary Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, and French the adopted language of Elie Weisel. This is not even recalling the centuries of hardship from the Crusades to the Dreyfus Affair to Vichy.
It is impossible to imagine the story of the Jewish people without the history of the Jews of France. What I hope the French are realizing is, it is just as impossible to imagine the story of France without the Jews.
The assault on Charlie Hebdo was an attack on the extreme and even offensive expression of free speech permitted by liberal democracy. Though we may not cherish the speech, we cherish the freedom.
The attack on the kosher supermarket, however, was an attack specifically on Jews. Just as the attack in Mumbai was not only a terrorist attack on a great Indian city, but specifically an anti-Jewish attack, this was not just an attack on Paris but also explicitly on Jews. It was an attack by a specific brand of violent, murderous, Islamic extremism on a grocery because it was patronized by Jews. These Jews were doing what you and I do every week at the Hen House, our kosher market: Waiting in line for chicken, challah and kugel. These evil murderers do not speak for all of Islam; however this type of murderous religious expression has been permitted to flourish and grow virtually unchecked in the neighborhoods of France and Europe.
France is the heart of Ashkenaz, but Paris is a delicious cassoulet (or cholent — also a great contribution of French Jews) of Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardic Jews and Jews from Arab speaking and North African countries. It is the largest Diaspora community outside of America, with dozens and dozens of kosher restaurants, hundreds of Jewish day schools, and hundreds of thousands of citizens that contribute to every aspect of French society.
The fact that these four victims were buried in Jerusalem for fear of grave vandalization should serve as a warning to all of Europe. Hatred and murder may start with the Jews, but it will not end there. The Jews of France are the canary in the coal mine for others in the Republic of France. If France fails to protect its own citizens regardless of religion, then the Republic of France will be the canary in the coal mine for all of Europe.
We come together as a Jewish community in Kansas, knowing what it is like to be the victim of anti-Jewish hatred, and appreciating prayers and words of love and support to send the same to our brothers and sisters in France.
To all the French citizens: the Jewish, the Christian, the Muslim, the ardently secular — we say, “Vive France!” We stand with those millions marching this week standing strong for democracy. For we are not only Jews, but also Americans. America and France are sisters in democracy.
To French Jewry: We say to you “Am Yisrael Chai.” The Jewish People Live! We are here with you. We are your brothers and sisters. We will help you rebuild, we will help you stay safe, we will help you make aliyah — whatever you need, we are here for you.
And to the families of Yohan Cohen, Philippe Braham, François-Michel Saada and Yoav Hattab we say: Ha-Makom y’nachem etchem b’toch sha’ar aveilei tzion v’yerushalayim. May God comfort you amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. We are with you in your tears, we cry with you, and we pray that the souls of your beloved children — who are also our beloved children — should be for blessings.
Rabbi David Glickman is the senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Shalom.{/mprestriction}