1.
What’s going on in Amsterdam is not over yet. So first of all, our hearts and prayers are with all those in Amsterdam now.
Here are a few initial words: We saw a lynch against Jews in Amsterdam last night. An organized pogrom. At the micro level, it turns out that like on October 7th, there were warnings. It is difficult to grasp that there is a murderous and bloodthirsty enemy here. And therefore, at the macro level, the story is not about Maccabi fans, but about the future of Europe. Right now, that's where it's headed. There is one big warning about it.
The Torah portion that will be read in all the synagogues around the world this shabbat is "Lech Lecha". Even in Amsterdam, under heavy security of course, they will read the ancient and eternal words about the first Jew in the world.
Avraham began a journey that has two critical messages this morning:
First, the address on our national ID card is the Land of Israel.
Second, we must not flee from our role. The world is full of darkness and the role of Abraham and his children is to illuminate, sanctify, educate and be a blessing to the whole world. Not to hide, but to be proud of our identity and heritage and to spread them outwards. This is the most basic struggle of life against death, in the city of Sderot as in Amsterdam.
Avraham's journey is not yet over. There is still a lot of work to do. "I think it's time to make aliyah," a friend from Amsterdam wrote to me this morning. "I'm receiving phone calls from Jews in Amsterdam I haven't heard from in years, and now they're offering to help their brothers," said the Chabad shaliach in Amsterdam. Maybe now we'll wake up.
After the Torah portion, we will read in the Haftarah the words "They will help one another, and each will say to his brother, 'Be strong.'" And indeed, in difficult times, how moving is the Jewish-Israeli support network that was deployed within seconds, from all over the world. How many brothers and sisters did not sleep all night, and are still trying to help now.
Wishing a speedy recovery and good news to all those currently experiencing on their own flesh what Europe may be trying to repress.
May we merit the fulfillment of the blessings in the Torah portion: "And I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing... and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you".
Shabbat Shalom.
2.
* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Here’s a story from Amsterdam that was sent to me by Taibi Kamissar, a Chabad emissary in that city:
“It’s impossible to describe how much caring and loving-kindness we have witnessed here since the violent attacks on the Jewish soccer fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv. But the following story stands out among the rest.
One of the women in the Jewish community here had an important job interview scheduled for Friday morning. Like all of us, she awoke on Friday to a flood of concerning announcements about what had happened the previous night. Wanting to help, she got in her car and rode to the center of Amsterdam in order to bring an Israeli family that she had never met back to her home. They would stay there until they could find another flight back to Israel.
The hour of her interview arrived and she was still in the middle of her mission. When they called her from the office where she was to be interviewed, she explained that she was busy in extending care to those who urgently needed her help. She was asked if she had considered that she could lose this highly sought job for not coming in for the interview. She answered that, from her perspective, she was doing what was most important since this was an emergency, as her brothers and sisters were in danger.
She ended the call, but this was not the end of the matter. After several hours she received another call from the same office. The boss of the company, a Jew without much connection to the local community, heard the story and told her that she had gotten the job. Without any meeting or interview. If she was so devoted to her people, he said, she absolutely had to work for him.”
