Do you think an American Jewish Zionist rabbi would be more welcome in Damascus, Syria or at an anti-white-supremacy rally in Cincinnati? If you guessed the American city, you’d be wrong. Rabbi Asher Lopatin, leader of Kehillat Etz Chayim in Michigan and director of community relations at the Jewish Community relations Council of Greater Ann Arbor, recently returned from a four-day trip to Syria. Meanwhile, Rabbi Ari Jun, leader of Temple Sholom in Cincinnati, was disinvited from a rally against white supremacists that took place on March 9.
Lopatin became one of the first Jewish tourists to Syria in 35 years and he said he believes there are seven Jews still living in the country. He was well aware that Syria has been volatile and is not on anyone’s vacation list, but was told that it would not be a major security risk to go there. He returned home prior to the recent news that more than 1,300 people have been killed there under the new regime.
“My wife was very kind,” Lopatin told The Jewish Press. “I don’t know why she let me go. She knows I’m a little bit crazy.”
There is much confusion in the world regarding Syria’s new leader. Born in Syria, Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa has spoken in anger of his country losing the Golan Heights to Israel. He formely headed Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, know as HTS or Hay’at at Tahir al-Sham, and was known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. His forces were instrumental in toppling Bashar al-Assad, who fled the country. There are fears of a new civil war and there have been reports of horrific killings of civilians.
Lopatin, who is not Syrian, joined Rabbi Josef Hamra, who is Syrian, and his son Henry, in reading from a Torah during his visit. Asked why the synagogue was not destroyed and the Torahs kept safe, Lopatin said perhaps the government had hoped to use it as a bargaining chip. He said he took great pride in going to the synagogue and hearing the Torah being chanted even though there was no minyan.
Having visited before the latest round of violence, Lopatin said it is his hope that the new regime would be peaceful and not ally itself with Iran. He said a number of local children took photos with him. He flew on Qatar Airways (where the kosher meal was tasty chicken).
“We were confident in the security people being able to protect us,” Lopatin said. “We were only in Damascus. We didn’t go all over the country.” He was able to speak with the deputy foreign minister and meet with a communications advisor of the president, as well as someone working in the Damascus Museum.
He explained that a Muslim friend had organized the trip, and he appreciated being allowed to go.
About Syria’s new leader, Lopatin said he recognizes that “he has blood on his hands. There are a lot of people with blood on their hands. The question is are they pro-Iran or anti-Iran? And is there an effort for stability?”
“He’s put on a suit and tie,” Lopatin said. “The Taliban have not done that. He changed his name from al-Golani, and they all talk about ‘one Syria.’ I think it’s a gesture. I don’t know – maybe in his soul he is a jihadi. But we’re looking for people who can be pragmatic. That’s all we can ask for. I think he knows America and Saudi Arabia are much better for him than Turkey and Russia.”
Lopatin said he fully endorses Israel bombing Syrian military sites it deems necessary to protect the Holy Land.
Lopatin said that he was able to daven mincha outside in Syria – something he never thought he’d be able to do – and he was told it could have never taken place under the old regime.
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Jun is in his second month leading Temple Sholom in Cincinnati, and in his ten years as a rabbi had never been disinvited from an event until this recent occurrence. About a month ago, 12 white supremacists marched in Cincinnati. Jun was set to speak at an event on March 9 called “Queen City United: Stand in solidarity against white supremacy.” He said he planned to speak due to the threat of white supremacists, despite having major ideological differences with the people running the rally.
“I said I was certain there would be people there that we are not generally allies with,” Jun told The Jewish Press. “There are people who use the word ‘Zionist’ as a dirty word against Jews. But still to counter Nazis, we need to be able to set that aside for a moment, show up, rally, and then we can be adversaries the next day. I know many people might not agree with me on that and I respect that.”
But Jun, who expected to show up with about three dozen congregants, and is openly a “liberal Zionist,” was disinvited before that could happen.
He said he’s been targeted in the past on two occasions by a group called Cincinnati Socialists. “They talk about how they hate Israel and love intifada,” he told The Jewish Press. “When I was uninvited, it was immediately clear when one of the organizers was posting from Cincinnati Socialists.”
A video of the event showed a speaker saying that Zionism is white supremacism, as well as “Long live the student intifada” and “Long live all forms of armed resistance until collective liberation.” Even more bizarrely, a different speaker claimed Democratic Congressman Al Green was not under the “funding of Israeli lobbying,” and thus could speak out against President Donald Trump. A speaker also said Cincinnati police were trained by the Israeli offense Forces. Judging simply from the video clip, this was more of an anti-Israel rally than an anti-white-supremacist rally, though that was its official title.
In addition, at the rally, a speaker blasted Jun for being a white supremacist because he is a Zionist.
“The support I received in the aftermath of this has been truly overwhelming,” Jun shared. “I have been receiving messages from people who are not Jewish and from across the world.”
Asked what lesson was to be learned from this, Jun said, “It is clear at this point that the Jewish community is not welcome at certain tables that we’ve become accustomed to be welcome at, and it may be time to recognize that while we want to be welcome again at those tables in the future, it’s time to create new tables with people who do want us to be there.”
