It is not every
day that you are invited to meet the Israeli Chief Rabbi. A very dear friend of mine wanted me to
meet this illustrious man. First, I hesitated, not really willing to admit that
I was not comfortable meeting such a holly man. Not being really religious, I
felt a certain unease to be sitting across a man that embodied a conservative religious establishment
with whom, I did not have much in common besides being born Israeli and a Jew.
Then I decided that, I should get out of my comfort zone and meet a man who I must respect because of his very important title within my community. So I proceeded to the meeting, in an elegant office somewhere in midtown, a few minutes after entering the very beautiful offices where the meeting was to be, I heard a little commotion behind the door, it must have been the rabbi and his entourage indeed I was right. Walking into the room, a tall bearded man, with a very elegant demeanor approaches me and introduced himself, I was taken a little by surprise by his warm and very kind approach. He did in a split second succeed in making me comfortable and at ease . How simple it is when someone knows how to deal with people, I always admire these magnetic personalities that make you feel like the center of the world when they barely know you and where the entire meeting last for a minute or two. To us mere mortals , these very instants can last an eternity and have a profound influence on us for the rest of our lives.
Then I decided that, I should get out of my comfort zone and meet a man who I must respect because of his very important title within my community. So I proceeded to the meeting, in an elegant office somewhere in midtown, a few minutes after entering the very beautiful offices where the meeting was to be, I heard a little commotion behind the door, it must have been the rabbi and his entourage indeed I was right. Walking into the room, a tall bearded man, with a very elegant demeanor approaches me and introduced himself, I was taken a little by surprise by his warm and very kind approach. He did in a split second succeed in making me comfortable and at ease . How simple it is when someone knows how to deal with people, I always admire these magnetic personalities that make you feel like the center of the world when they barely know you and where the entire meeting last for a minute or two. To us mere mortals , these very instants can last an eternity and have a profound influence on us for the rest of our lives.
The first thing
that attracted my attention was his face, I felt I was in presence of someone
special, he had a very graceful appearance, the one you identify with highly
spiritual people, a very clear skin and an intense look, I immediately sensed that I was in the presence
of a special man.
We talked on a variety
of subjects and after an hour , we agreed to see each other again in Israel.
The Rabbi gave me his card and insisted on giving me his cellular phone as
well, I was pleased because this meant to me that he genuinely wanted me to
keep the contact alive.
My take on the Rabbi was that he was a man attached to his traditions but had also a very open approach to the modern world and that dialog was part of his agenda. I understand that his position is also politically delicate but when I asked him what was his most important wish while being Chief Rabbi of Israel, his answer came unequivocally in one strong and vocal pronouncement “Peace”.
My take on the Rabbi was that he was a man attached to his traditions but had also a very open approach to the modern world and that dialog was part of his agenda. I understand that his position is also politically delicate but when I asked him what was his most important wish while being Chief Rabbi of Israel, his answer came unequivocally in one strong and vocal pronouncement “Peace”.
For anyone in his position,
to say that, meant that he understood the problems of the other side as well.
And this for me meant that he was open to listening and solving very difficult
problems.
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