A bon voyage in France

My wife and I recently visited Paris and the southern part of France. I had been warned that anti-Jewish prejudice ran high and that it might be dangerous for a rabbi to walk the streets of the main cities. But as it turned out, I did not experience the fear and anxiety I had known as a child during World War II.

We happened to pass by the second largest synagogue in the city (Rue des Tournelles, in the Marais quarter). We saw a large crowd of well-dressed people gathered in front of the building. Intrigued, we entered the synagogue, which was decorated with flowers and trees in pots.

We soon learned that a wedding had just ended and that a second one was to be held 15 minutes later. Some of the guests were still leaving the synagogue while others were coming in, and many were waiting and chatting in the street.

There was no security to be seen in the midst of this crowd of several hundred. We were surprised to realize that this could take place in the heart of Paris, after having read the many alarming reports about the growing number of attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in the last three years.

I delivered a well-received lecture to a large audience of Jews and Christians at the University of Aix-en-Provence. It had been organized under the auspices of the Department of Judaic Studies of the university and the Amities Jud‚o-Chr‚tiennes, the local branch of the Jewish-Christian Association. In the lecture, entitled "The Passion according to Mel Gibson," I examined the New Testament passages dealing with the trial and death of Jesus.

I had also been invited by the Jewish Community Center of Montpelier to give a lecture on "Interfaith Relations in the United States."

While in Toulouse, I was invited to address the congregation on Saturday afternoon. I duly spoke about the scattered communities of Europe, Africa and South America who are in the process of returning to their long-lost Judaism. The audience of more than 100 people kept me past their usual dispersal time and invited me to return on another occasion to address the entire Jewish community of Toulouse.

When the services were over, we left the synagogue in a leisurely fashion and continued talking in the street. No one seemed to be concerned about security.

In spite of the numerous incidents in Paris, Marseille and Lyon, it appears that life goes on and the members of the Jewish community are showing an amazing resilience. Most of the incidents of anti-Semitism have been caused by young gang members of North African extraction and some militant Islamists. The French authorities are grappling with the problem, and probably doing a lot that we do not know. One fact is known: Close to half of all the inmates in French prisons are members of these gangs.

Leo Abrami is the rabbi for Beth Emeth Congregation of the Sun Cities and West Valley. He is originally from France.

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