An
Open Letter to Moshe Katsav
President of the State of Israel
October 23, 2005
The Honorable Moshe
Katsav
President of the State of Israel
3 Hanassi Street
Jerusalem, 92188 Israel
Dear President
Katsav:
Recently the Vatican
newspaper, El Messagero, reported you might sign an agreement
handing over part of Kever David HaMelech (the traditional tomb
of King David) on Mt. Zion to the Roman Catholic Church. For many years
the Vatican has wanted the room they describe as the "Last Supper
Room" of which all historians agree, is not the location where
a supposed event of the same name ever took place. It is well established
and accepted that this part of the building is nowhere near 2000 years
old, it may not even be 700 years old.
Until the liberation
of the Old City of Jerusalem in 1967, it was the roof of this location
that people went to pray, as it was the closest they could get to the
Western Wall. Prime Minister Ben Gurion planted trees in its old courtyard,
Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatszeira (the Baba Sali) made a pilgrimage there,
and people continue to travel from all over the world to visit and pray
at this traditional burial location of King David.
President Katsav,
I am sure you are well aware that over the years, several Christian
organizations have been making strides to control all of Mt. Zion. Sadly,
we now know Jews are assisting them. It is well known that one party
involved is a Jew that was knighted by the Pope; he in the past has
unmistakably acted as a liaison from the Vatican to the Israeli authorities.
This American Jew has previously met with Chaim Silberstein, the chief
of staff of the Minister of Tourism, and Director of Religious Affairs
Gadi Golan. It is truly shameful that Jews would work towards the elimination
and hand over of a piece of Erets Israel, no matter how large
or small it is.
I lived on Mt.
Zion just a few meters from this location and there I spoke with a highly
respected rabbi that advised me that the Church has wanted the part
of the King David complex for decades, because ownership of it would
allow them to Christianize the site and the entire surrounding area.
You truly must realize that handing over part of a Jewish landmark would
not only be wrong, but it would establish precedence for the Vatican
to take over even more property in the future.
I understand that
the potential hand over of part of the Kever David would include a trade
of the building in Toledo, Spain the Christian community calls the "Sinagoga
de Santa Maria la Blanca" or Synagogue of Saint Mary the White.
This building was once a grand synagogue, built in the 12th century.
It was built during a period when Toledo was still a thriving city filled
with Jewish families and Jewish intellectualism. However, in 1355 and
then in 1391, Jews in Toledo and throughout Spain fell victim to a savage
campaign of murderer and plunder by Christians who rose up against them.
During this period, over two dozen synagogues in Toledo were abandoned
or destroyed, thousands of Jews murdered.
Toledo is a city
where all Jews were chased out or killed by mobs that were incited by
Ferrand Martinez and later Vicente Ferrer. The latter was the teacher
of future Catholic Grand Inquisitors. After his death, the Vatican canonized
him as the heroic Saint Vincent. The Catholic Encyclopedia declares,
"Multitudes were won over by his preaching
the number of
Jews converted at 25,000." The magnitude of the terror is remembered
in the words of Rabbi Hasdai Crescas who witnessed the horror in Toledo:
A day of pain
and admonition, a day of multiple sorrows, the anger of the Lord lighted
on the community from which Torah and the word of the Lord have gone
forth, namely the community of Toledo; priest and prophet were killed
in the Lord's temple. There the rabbis publicly died a martyr's death,
the good and chosen seed, the seed of Rabbi Asher [Rabbi Yehuda, grandson
of the ROSH], they and their sons and students. There, too, many who
could not defend themselves converted. On these three communities
the earth roared. Aside from other communities in their environs,
their number came to about seventy cities...and we have been on guard
night and day
When
the Jews of Toledo prayed each morning, they faced east towards Jerusalem.
It was not Toledo that they desired, but Erets Israel, which
was still unobtainable. Now, we have Jerusalem, we can go to the holy
sites and we can live in the land. If those that built that synagogue
knew that this abandoned building in Christian Spain was being traded
for a piece of real estate in Erets Israel, they would roll over in
their graves. Today, the "Santa Maria Synagogue" is nothing
but an empty shell, a tourist stop in a city where no Jews remain.
President Katsav,
I have not addressed the fact that the building should have been given
back to the Jews in the first place-that we must remember the Jews were
chased out of it; I leave this subject open to future discussion. The
primary point I wish to communicate is that it is grossly improper to
even consider entertaining the idea to cede any part of Israel to any
foreign government; this includes holy locations and historic buildings
as much as it does entire cities.
I beseech you not
to give into political pressure and hand over any part of Erets Israel,
even just one building, for it will come back to haunt us. We need to
hold on to every square centimeter of land inside Israel. I write this
on behalf of the 1.2 million Sephardim around the world and as a respected
admirer of your service to a grateful nation.
Yours truly,
(signed)
Shelomo Alfassa
Executive Director
International Sephardic Leadership Council