Mirrors of our community: Our leaders

The Chief Rabbi of Turkish Jews, “Rabbi Ishak Haleva”. It was the year I started elementary school. My mother and father took me by the hand and brought me to the morning prayer at Sisli Synagogue on a Shabbat morning. They entrusted me to Rabbi Haleva. In the 25 years we have known each other, Rabbi Haleva and I never lost touch. He used to call me “Moshon” and he keeps calling me by that name whenever he sees me.

Rabbi David Asseo was the second Chief Rabbi in the Republic period. I met him at my Bar-mitzvah year. When we entered his room for filing my Bar-Mitzvah papers, he asked me a few questions. Even though I knew the answers, I looked at first my father’s eyes and then at Rabbi Haleva’s for approval. Last week, we gathered at Ulus Cemetery for the late Chief Rabbi David Asseo’s yearly memorial service. Rabbi David Asseo was the Chief Rabbi of Turkish Jewish Community for 41 years. He was the only Chief Rabbi who held that position for the longest in all Europe. While our Rabbis prayed, all the things we have gone through since the early 2000’s flashed before my eyes. In the last 14 years, Chief Rabbi David Asseo had passed away. A year later our young brother Yasef Yahya was brutally murdered in a terror attack and we felt desperate by the terror attacks targeting our synagogues. So many things happened in that 14 years. When did I grow up? When did Rabbi Haleva start telling me “Come on Moshon, you barely have hair left on your head, get married already!” …

The leader of Turkish Jewish Community, “Ishak Ibrahimzadeh”. May 2002. It was the first time I met Ibrahimzadeh, a man whose wise words still make me ponder. We were at a trip to Israel on a summer. My late father was speaking with Ishak Ibrahimzadeh in the middle of the night. He sounded as if he was ranting. “Ishak, my son is very enthusiastic. I am hoping that there will be no problems. We have confidence in you.” As the years passed, I understood what my father meant when he said ‘we have confidence in you’ especially when I listened to Ishak Ibrahimzadeh’s bold speeches at the re-opening ceremony of Edirne Synagogue and at an event where he addressed party alignments. Even though I may sometimes question his decisions, I am thankful to him for all the things he did for our community and for spending almost all of his time for our community.

Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva and leader of Turkish Jewish Community Ishak Ibrahimzadeh: two leaders who are mirrors of our community. Both of them, representing our community, went to Democracy and Martyrs Rally on August 7^th, despite the extreme August heat. Nowadays, those who are not acquainted with our community can see our community leaders on public service ads broadcasted on screens inside the subway cars. They were on these ads, along with Turkey’s other leading personas saying, “We are the people of this nation. We will not let coups or terror absorb Turkey.” Their word (promise) is the word (promise) of twenty thousand Turkish Jews. Both of them, despite having to endure harsh and unjust criticism ensured that we, the ones who chose to stay here, are always optimistic about the future even when Turkish Jews were going through very tough times. When they heard about the rally for the first time, without expecting an invitation, they stated that they wanted to be there on behalf of Turkish Jews. Despite all this, why do think there are still people who persistently bring up our holy book Torah and try implicate the “Jews” on discussion programs on TV or on newspaper columns?  It’s possible to come across non-sense articles on almost any news outlet implying that the mother of the certain person (Gulen) is Jewish or that USA and the Jews are behind the coup.  I’m certain that if those who with their hate speech are trying to overshadow the different colors of our society really knew Chief Rabbi Haleva or Leader of TJC Ibrahimzadeh, would be embarrassed for writing such things. My dear brother, the people who you insult as “Gavur-Unbeliever”, who you marginalize through numerous conspiracy theories as Armenian or Jews just to steer the angry crowd’s hate to a certain direction are your neighbors Moiz, Ishak, Hayko… Is it that hard to get to know us, to understand us? Even if you don’t want to show any effort, just follow our leader’s ideas and actions. Because they are not a bolt from the blue. They were raised within this society just like you and I were.

What we, the Turkish Jews should do today is to stand behind our leaders, more firmly than we ever did. Instead of criticizing their decisions and statements without questioning, we should knock on their doors and take responsibility for our future. This will help us be more optimistic for a bright future.

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