Weekly Chasidic Story #882 (s5775-05 / 26 Tishrei 5775)

The Greeks vs. the Jews Again

In the days of the rioting there was nothing to do; it was life-threatening to leave his house.

Connection: Weekly Reading--The end covers the first 70 years of Patriarch Abraham's life, before he moved to the Holy Land at G-d's command.

 

The Greeks vs. the Jews Again

A few years ago Greece was not a good place to be. Angry, violent mobs with grievances to the government set to the streets, destroyed property, set fires, rioted and battled the police and bedlam reigned.

Vacationers shunned the place and trips, hotel reservations and plane tickets were cancelled, but for Rabbi Yoel Kaplan, the Chabad representative in Salonika, it was just another major challenge.

Rabbi Kaplan thrived on the unusual. His home, like nearly all the hundreds of Chabad Houses throughout the world, was open to the public 24/7 with the goal of helping Jews and Judaism, and thereby the entire world. And that required expecting the unexpected.

In the days of the rioting there was nothing to do; it was life-threatening to leave his house. And even weeks after the rioting ceased, signs of vandalism were everywhere and tension filled the air. Still, the dedicated Chabad rabbi was determined to resume his normal activities.

It wasn't easy. There were no tourists, Jews or otherwise, and after all the violence it seemed wise to just stay indoors for a few more weeks. But he had a job to do. Maybe there was even one Jew out there. Anyway, there were other matters that were pressing, like going to the post office to get his mail, a daily necessity.

But even such a seemingly simple task was fraught with danger. The post office was located in a part of downtown that was a youth hangout and had been hit the hardest by violence. There were days that he took side roads to get there and used the back entrance, which meant a serious detour and time loss, just to avoid trouble.

However, one day he was running late and forgot to worry about trouble. He took the direct route to the post office. But as he neared his goal he began to regret it. A group of about ten mean-looking young men, some of them with tattooed arms, punk hairdos and other bizarre and frightening adornments, were staring at him with hatred in their eyes. His full beard, black hat, long black coat and entire Jewish demeanor were like a red flag before a maddened bull, so he was an ideal target for their frustrations.

He should have turned back, taken an alternate route and avoided them, but something told him to just keep walking. From afar he heard the anti-Semitic curses they directed at him--first in Greek and then in English, which they knew he spoke.

He had experienced Greek anti-Semitism before. Usually he just ignored it but for some reason this time he glanced up, and as he got closer, raised one hand in greeting and said in as friendly a tone as possible, "Hello! Good morning."

"Someone talking to you?" the biggest of them replied sarcastically while the others got ready for some action.

Suddenly the Rabbi realized something. Just like Abraham, the first Jew some 4,000 years earlier, who was alone in his quest to bring meaning into a hostile world, trusted G-d to protect him,* so this same G-d of Abraham would protect him now.

He smiled and said, "Maybe you weren't talking to me specifically, but you certainly are talking about my people."

"That's right, Jew!" The young man replied with burning venom laced with terms not fit to print. "About your cursed nation of thieves, liars and cheaters we certainly were talking. And we'll keep talking until you are exterminated," etc.

The smile did not depart from Rabbi Kaplan's face as he calmly replied, "You look like intelligent people. You have no reason to hate me or any other Jew. In fact, if you knew the truth I'm sure you wouldn't treat any of us badly."

This was too much for the leader. He was livid with anger as he made a fist and held it before the Rabbi's face. "I'm an experienced boxer," he snarled. "Unless you want to taste a few of these you'd better get away as fast and far as possible and don't come back!"

Rabbi Kaplan realized that things were about to get out of hand, so he calmly turned to the others, blessed them warmly with a good day and good news and continued on to the post office.

After he finished his business there and left the building, again something told him not to take the detour back home, but rather to return the same way he came, by the gang. After all, he was only here in Greece to do good; the same G-d of Abraham that protected him on his way here would protect him on his way back.

But this time when he passed the group they were quiet, although still emanating hostility. He again blessed them with a good day and when he came abreast of the leader, the one that had threatened him previously, he approached him and offered him his calling card, saying, "If you ever want to talk over a cup of coffee, call me or come to my house."

The boxer accepted the card sullenly, and whatever doubts Yoel Kaplan had about talking to these people in the first place began to melt away. Perhaps he would yet have a chance to dispel some of the hatred in the streets and maybe convince some of those fellows to live better lives.

A few days later, Erev Shavuot 5710 (May 2010), he got a phone call. "Hey Rabbi, This is Alexandros calling. Remember me? I'm the fellow you gave your card to the other day. You know, the boxer. Were you serious about that cup of coffee? If so, I'm right outside your house."

Rabbi Kaplan was pleasantly surprised. He warmly invited Alexandros to come in, and in just moments he was introducing him to his wife and children.

Then they sat down and the conversation began. His visitor had good questions and was a great listener. Eventually, at the third or fourth cup of coffee, when the topic of 'Who is a Jew' came up and the Rabbi explained that only someone born to a Jewish mother, or who genuinely converts to Judaism, is considered a Jew, Alexandros' demeanor became serious. He began to rapid-fire questions. "Mother? What about father? What about grandmother? What about grandfather's mother? What about grandmother's mother?"

He paused for a few seconds, but before the Rabbi could respond, he announced that his maternal grandmother once told him that she had been born Jewish.

Indeed, she had even been observant. However, in the war, after her husband and children were arrested and murdered by the invading Germans, she ran and hid in the mountains for several years. She figured that all the Jews had been killed and she would be too if anyone found out, so when she returned to civilization, she married a gentile and began going to church.

Shortly thereafter she gave birth to a baby girl who grew up and married a religious Greek Orthodox man. Their first child was Alexandros. Alex was Jewish!

All of a sudden Alex was transformed from one who knew nothing about Jews to being a Jew himself. He took the Rabbi to visit his aged grandmother, who verified the story and even agreed to put a mezuzah on her home. Alex then agreed to put on tefilin for the first time in his life and every day thereafter.

Rabbi Kaplan soon met the rest of Alex's siblings and had some influence over them too. A half a year later Alexandros made a pilgrimage to Israel. There he met several religious Jews of Greek origin and they influenced him to study Torah for a while at Yeshiva Ohr Samayach. Subsequently he also studied in a Yeshiva in the USA.

Nowadays he has returned to live in Greece, and still is in contact with his first rabbi, R. Yoel Kaplan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Freely adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from the rendition of his friend and colleague, Rabbi Tuvia Bolton, and supplemented and corrected based on a conversation with Yoel Kaplan (who was in Israel for the wedding of a younger brother…who happened to have been born in my Subaru!).

* Editor's note: Therefore we refer to G-d as "Shield of Abraham" in the first blessing of the thrice daily Amida prayer.

Connection: The end of this week's reading, Noach, covers the first 70 years of Patriarch Abraham's life, before he moved to the Holy Land at G-d's command.

 

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Yerachmiel Tilles is co-founder and associate director of Ascent-of-Safed, and chief editor of this website (and of KabbalaOnline.org). He has hundreds of published stories to his credit, and many have been translated into other languages. He tells them live at Ascent nearly every Saturday night.

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