The Land of my Ancestors

          In my living room sits a rather large book entitled Alleppo- City of Scholars. The book was given to me by one of my father's brothers for my 50th birthday. Alleppo contains beautiful photos plates of the ancient ruins in and around Alleppo (Aram Soba in Hebrew). Uncle Raymond said he gave me that present because he thought it was about time I learned something about my Syrian heritage. I had much to learn. Evidently, my family had been clothing merchants and tailors for young men, those about to be bar mitzvahed, and adult men. It was an occupation that evidently passed down to my father's generation for my father, Uncle Raymond and a few of the other brothers owned children's clothing stores here in the United States.

          Although my father was born in our country, my uncle was born and raised in Alleppo until he was a teenager. He remembered the Sephardic Jewish neighborhood in which he was raised and the Great Synagogue of Aram Soba, said to have been built before the construction of the First Temple. My uncle recalled sitting in his grandfather's business as rabbis and young men not yet 13 came in to have their suits tailored.

          I have looked at that book over the years, but not nearly as much as I have the last few months. When I hear of yet another ancient building in Alleppo that has been destroyed by ISIS, I  go to the book to see if I can find a photo plate or of the building. It is with sadness that I sit here in the safety of my home and witness the destruction of such a once great and influential city from a book.

          Yet, even more heartbreaking is the destruction of a people. One cannot keep from hearing about the exodus of the refugees streaming out of Syria in their quest to find a place to live that is free from destruction and death. I doubt there are few of us who have not seen the footage of bodies washed upon Turkish beaches. Who can forget that image of three year old Aylan's small body? I have demanded from God, "Where are you in all this misery and death?" It is a question I have raised to God many times about genocide.  But I already know the answer; God is in the midst of all those refugees- Palestinians, Syrian Jews, Syrian Muslims and the Syrian Christians looked for safety just as that divine presence has been with every people when an oppressor sought to cleanse the earth from their presence.

          The question I am now asking is "God, what are you calling me to do in this situation?" For I know as sure as I know my name that God is indeed calling me to respond. I am seeking clarity in that divine calling. As I continue in this prayerful discernment, I ask asking for your support and prayers that God show me the path I am to take in responding to this crisis.

          Shalom