I lived in Brazil for a number of years and surely I thought I knew the country well.

So it came as a surprise to me when Brazil took the lead in hemming Israel in with its announcement that it would recognize a Palestinian state even without any peace agreement with Israel. And as one of the foremost Latin American states it pulled several other countries on that continent along with it. How could Brazil the homeland of Osvaldo Aranha turn its back on us like that?

Every Brazilian knows the name of Osvaldo Aranha. He was the man who directly brought about the establishment of Israel as the modern Jewish State. He was Brazil’s ambassador to the UN and chaired the special session of November 29 1947 at which the decision was taken to declare a Jewish state in Eretz Yisrael. Aranha is recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations for his ceaseless lobbying to ensure that the resolution would pass by a wide margin while the Arabs and their supporters worked feverishly to defeat it. He wielded his influence over many nations particularly in South America to secure their votes in favor of the resolution and he delayed the historical session until representatives of the Zionist movement arrived.

When the votes were all counted he struck the dais with a gavel that is now on display at Kibbutz Bror Chayil a settlement founded in the Negev by Brazilian immigrants.

Ever since then Brazil has been a symbol of solidarity with the Jewish People.

And the Brazilian people showed their solidarity enthusiastically. For many years  they took pride in the fact that their country had the privilege of righting the historical wrong against the Jewish People and enabling them to return to their ancestral land.

During the years I lived in Brazil I constantly encountered their identification with their compatriot in the UN. It could have been a visit to our school by government officials or an everyday encounter with the locals — in every speech or conversation in which Israel was mentioned the Brazilian speaker would always proudly bring up the fact that their man played a key role in securing Israel’s statehood. I remember being told about a letter to Osvaldo Aranha written by his mother close to the date of the UN special session in which she urged him to go all out to make sure the vote would go in favor of a Jewish state reminding him that he was G-d’s emissary sent to right the wrong done to the Jewish People who were expelled from their land.

Brazil of Dreams

Such was the sentiment toward Israel in the Brazil I knew and it found expression sharp and clear during the 1967 Six Day War. I was an educational delegate to Brazil at the time teaching in a Jewish school in Sao Paolo. Words can’t suffice to describe how worried the Brazilian people were in those days leading up to the war when it seemed that the State of Israel was doomed chas v’chalilah….

And when the tables were turned thanks to Hashem’s endless mercy and Israel won a stunning victory trouncing the Arab armies that had ganged up to destroy it the excitement that then gripped the Brazilian people is equally indescribable. From my modest vantage point as a teacher of limudei kodesh in a Jewish school I was able to observe the astonishment and joy of the non-Jews over the miraculous rescue of Israel — the rejoicing among them was simply incredible.

For instance on the fourth day of the war when the media reported that the Old City had been liberated and that Jews were praying at the Western Wall once again a picture appeared on the front page of Estado one of South America’s most widely circulated papers showing the menorah that stood beside the Knesset and the inscription above it in Hebrew letters announcing the surprise victory. Of course the excitement of the Jewish population broke all records; that was obvious. But the non-Jews were nearly as excited as the Jews. Every non-Jewish Brazilian of our acquaintance greeted us with warm congratulations. I was walking along one of Sao Paolo’s main streets when to my amazement a streetcar stopped a short distance away and all the passengers stared out at me in fascination since with my chareidi appearance my Jewish identity was obvious to them. Some of them smiled at me and others held up their hands in a “V for victory” sign. Most of them just gazed at me admiringly as if I were one of the generals who had marched Israel’s army to victory. It was I admit an odd awkward feeling.

Many of the city’s young people were suddenly sporting eye patches in emulation of the undisputed hero of the day Moshe Dayan. On every stage and radio station popular singers sang out the praises of Israel and its children who were returning to their homeland turning the desert green and building towns and cities. A Brazilian writer of Lebanese descent wrote elatedly about the latest round in the age-old war between Yitzchak and Yishmael the two sons of Avraham Avinu. And we who had come as shlichim from Israel were respected by everyone we met. They felt honored and excited to meet a Jew from Israel to have an opportunity to talk with us and express their admiration of our people.

What I found particularly moving though was the fact that so many non-Jews actually went back to believing in G-d. To give one example a well-known Catholic writer who had abandoned his church was asked about his religion on a TV talk show and replied that he believed in “neo-Judaism.” We see chaos everywhere he explained. World War II destroyed the old structure of civilization. All the values once shared by humanity came into question. Everything is in chaos. But now we see justice asserting itself in one point on the globe — in Eretz Yisrael. After two thousand years of exile Jews are returning to their land. That the writer explained is proof that Divine Providence does exist. The Hand of G-d is at work behind the screen of earthly events and therefore there is still hope for the rest of the world. These astounding remarks were just one example of this inspiring line of thought.

I’ll admit unabashedly that I and many others perceived a flash of light at that time a faint glimpse of the navi’s description of the End of Days: “And I shall be made great and I shall be sanctified and I shall be made known before the eyes of many nations and they shall know that I am Hashem” (Yechezkel 38:23).

Now years later I get up one morning and find out that it’s all gone. The Brazil I thought I knew is leading an openly anti-Israel movement of nations. Its popular president is embracing our worst enemy today Ahmadinejad and it is the first among the nations of the world to recognize a Palestinian state that doesn’t even exist yet.

And I who remember those halcyon days sit and ponder why they didn’t last. Apparently the name Osvaldo Aranha no longer means anything to the Brazilian people who have joined the ranks of our enemies. Of course there are millions of Arabs living in Brazil today and at election time they are more attractive to the country’s politicians than the small Jewish population. But nonetheless there are deeper levels to be considered. How did such profound solidarity and admiration turn to distain? Perhaps this calls for our own internal reckoning. Could it be that the nations sensing the fruition of the prophecies trusted more than we did ourselves?

Food for Thought

A person running to do a mitzvah is liable to destroy the whole world on the way

(Rav Yisrael Salanter)