The premise of this piece is that I am not Jewish, but an Italian-Colombian monotheist who resides in Berlin, the capital of Germany.
A characteristically Jewish expression of appreciation is to say that you are smart. When a Jewish person appreciates your heart as much as your brains, s/he will sometimes be sure that your ancestry is Jewish. If that person is religious, the crowning praise is to state that you, a non-Jew, appear to have a Jewish soul.
My life in Berlin as an Italian-Colombian is very pleasant and far better than the life I would enjoy in either Italy or Colombia. And yet, there are things here that I will never be able to enjoy and that I dearly miss:
1) I will never be on a street or public venue and feel that the people around me are “my people“.
2) No matter how well I speak German or how much I contribute to this country, even with German citizenship, most people will never view me as a “real German“.
3) No matter how hard I try, my children will never acquire the Italian and Colombian culture & identity acquired by growing up in Italy or Colombia. The only way to achieve this, would be to limit their social intercourse to fellow Italians and Colombians. Yet if preserving and passing on my heritage were my top priorities, why would I choose to raise my children in a bubble rather than in the homeland of their ancestors?
All this is true for me, an Italian-Colombian aware that in Germany and everywhere else in the world:
1) I can flaunt flags and symbols of my homeland, culture and heritage without the slightest fear of being harassed, insulted or attacked.
2) I am certain that no one will ever expect me to condemn Cosa Nostra, the Medellín Cartel or to denounce Pablo Escobar and Silvio Berlusconi in order to respect me.
3) No neighbors, colleagues, strangers on the streets (let alone entire NGOs, religious communities and political parties) believe and spread rumors that Italians and Colombians are toxic, hold too much power, and are plotting to destroy the world.
In other words, I understand the world sufficiently well to be certain of the following: If I were Jewish, and even more so if my children were Jewish, I would do everything possible in order to make Aliyah.
Admittedly, the Jewish State also has its share of scoundrels, yet Israel is the only place in the world where no one will blame you when a scoundrel happens to be Jewish too.
Rafael Castro is a political analyst who studied at Yale and Hebrew University. A Noahide by choice, Rafael can be reached at [email protected]