THE
JEW FROM SUDAN AND THE HAIRCUT IN MIAMI
Not
very far from where I stay, my sisters home in Miami, there is a small tree
shaded collection of shops: TJMaxx, Uniform Store, A supermarket, a coffee
shop, a sandwich shop, two beauty salons, a Dollar tree store, some sundry
stores as well, including a Thai Restaurant. Most of the shops have been there
for a long time, considering that in Miami ten years in the same place is
considered a long time.
Few
months ago, I was looking at the baskets of goodies for hair and skin, nicely
packaged and I was thinking of taking one of them as a gift to one of my
medical students.
Do
you speak English, asked a character of undetermined nationality, with a face
that betrayed Middle Eastern origin? He had spoken to me in Spanish, which is
normal in Miami. Yes I do speak English I said as I looked at his Levantine
face, most possibly an Arab from the Levant or Maghreb. To aggravate him, which
is a joking fashion with me, I asked him, do you speak Arabic? Yes, I do he
replied, concretizing my thoughts about his geographical origin, I was to
proven wrong with the next sentence.
What other language do you speak? He
asked, while still smiling, explaining that the baskets are a great bargain. Just
to see his reaction, I answered: I speak Hebrew.
I
am a Jew too, he exclaimed and hugged me!
Thus
began my pleasant friendship with Mr. AB of Rishon Le Zion in Israel. But his
story is not that straight forward.
He
was born in the SUDAN, to Egyptian/Iraqi parents and were forced to leave as
the Islamists came into power. Jews had lived in the Sudan for at least 100
years before then. He has since lived in Greece, Israel, Switzerland and
finally in Miami.
We
became friends; he wanted me to carry a small facsimile of Zohar in my person
for good luck and success, during my travels and work around the world. He was
the first ever Sudanese Jew I had met.
On
this first day of spring he invited me to have lunch and at the same time had
organized for me to get a haircut. When I wanted to settle the bill he said, it
is all been taken care of. I want you to remember that whenever you are in
Miami, you have a family here.
This
is what I call Am Israel Chai!
Those
made me think of the far-flung Jews of this world who had clung on to their
faith through thick and thin throughout the centuries and millennia.
Here
I do not include groups of people who have recently recognized something about
themselves and connect it physically with Jewish immigrants.
I
have been very lucky to visit some of these Jewish communities or make
acquaintance with some others.
If
you know the history of Jewish traders from Baghdad, you would end up in
Bombay, Calcutta, Rangoon, Hong Kong and Singapore. You can follow traders from
Aden, Yemen and you would end up in many parts of Africa; if you follow the
Moroccan Jews, you can read their names in the cemeteries of Iquitos, Peru or
Cienfuegos, Cuba.
There
had been communities of interest in Kabul (Zablon SimanTov is the only Jew left
in Afghanistan).
Two
Jewish communities stand out, who can authenticate their origins and more
importantly the continuity of their Jewish existence for hundreds of years: The
Malabari Jews of Cochin and the Mountain Jews of Azerbaijan. (Sarita Hadad the
Israeli singer is of Mountain Jewish origin and you can hear the strains of her
ancestral music in her songs).
There
are living historic Jewish communities all around the world, which are less
exotic: Argentina, Temuco, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. As
well as Iran, Turkey.
I have visited the Jewish cemeteries and synagogues if
extant in Iquitos Peru (no synagogue but a large cemetery), Curacao, Kingston,
Jamaica, Penang and of course the neglected cemeteries of the Malabari Jews in
Cochin, Chendamangalam and Mala (wonderful synagogue being refurbished by the Last
Jew of Cochin).
It is a shame that the descendants of Jews from those cities
have left the cemeteries where their ancestors are buried to such rack and ruin
(many Jews from Arab countries cannot visit the cemeteries of their ancestors
but Malabari Jews can!)
Coming
back to my friend, the Jew from Sudan, we had lunch together and had a pleasant
time. I am glad to have met him and made this connection.
(a jewish family get together in Khartoum, The Anglo Egyptian Sudan)
