Western Diocese

Burbank, CA – It was truly an auspicious occasion when, under banner of the Kinship of Suffering, the Armenian Community and the Jewish Community joined together to give reverence to the victims of the Armenian Genocide and Jewish Holocaust, as well as celebrate each other’s rich culture. On Thursday, May 15, 2008 the Western Diocese hosted a special event to honor Rabbi Harold Schulweis, founder of Jewish World Watch, spiritual leader of Valley Beth Shalom, and long serving advocate of social and interfaith initiatives. Nearly 400 members of the Armenian and Jewish communities were in attendance, as well as several dignitaries and elected officials.

The evening’s program was a rich and varied representation of the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Jewish and Armenian peoples. A united choir was formed with representatives of each community that performed the Israeli, Armenian, and American National Anthems, and spiritual hymns in beautiful harmony.  Two graceful and entertaining dance groups, the Armenian Dance Center and the Kashet Chaim Dance Ensemble, also offered several performances during the evening.

The Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Mr. Michael Amerian, Esq., who welcomed the evening’s guests, as well as acknowledged the planning committee and those who worked hard realized the event.  In his introductory remarks he said of Rabbi Shulweis, “Brilliance and humility don’t frequently find harmony within the same soul. Yet the fact he possesses these qualities combined with a fierce sense of justice has benefitted not only the Jewish community, but the world as a whole.”

His Eminence Abp. Hovnan Derderian was then invited to offer his remarks, “Our journey tonight proves to be a sign of victory and perseverance for the cause of global justice. ‘Together we will not forget’ is the leading thought. History demands justice and justice is a prerequisite for peace.  The Honorable Rabbi Harold Schulweis the founder of the Jewish World Watch is not only a spiritual leader of the Jewish community, but a leading figure amongst the leaders. He has a compassionate heart, whose love is the reflection of God’s love for humanity, whose genuine respect for the victims of the Armenian Genocide has utterly rejected all political considerations.”

The Primate then presented Rabbi Schulweis with the gift of a handmade Armenian tapestry. The Rabbi then offered his reflections on the evening to the attendees, “What would our ancestors wish? That we together answer the question that pursues human history from the story of Cain and Abel. ‘Am I my brother's keeper?’ Cain asked. We know the answer that the children of Abel must give is ‘Yes, Dear God — we are our brother's keepers.’ We know from the bowels of our haunted histories that... You, God, want us to protect Your children. You, God, want us to cry out against the myriad forms of genocide. You, God, want us to make whole shattered lives. You, God, want us to enlarge the meaning of our hemorrhaging ancestors lying in the blood-soaked earth, ‘The voice of the blood of your brothers cries out unto me.’ Two communities, yours and mine, have found each other. We must not let go.”

The Western Diocese was proud to host many esteemed guests and officials whose attention and leadership the Armenian Community cherish. The guests include Consul General Armen Liloyan, Supervisor Zev Yurovslasky, Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, Hon. Wendy Greuel, Hon. Dave Golinksi, Hon. James Bozajian, Judge Armand Arabian, Judge Zaven Sinanian, Fr. Alexei Smith representing Cardinal Roger Mahony, and JWW Executive Director Tzivia Schwartz-Getzug.

The event was sponsored through the generous support of the George Ignatius Foundation, whose trustees are Michael Amerian Eqs., Walter Karabian Esq., and George Phillips Sr. Esq.

Abp. Hovnan Derderian's Remarks

Tonight’s fellowship truly signals the reinforcement of the closer bonds between the two communities: Armenian and Jewish. It was only a year ago when Los Angeles witnessed a new momentum when the Jewish and Armenian communities joined together to commemorate the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. Last year’s commemorative event was the brainchild of the Honorable Rabbi Harold Schulweis. He has pioneered the mobilization of the religious leaders, political activists, intellectuals and members of the two communities to voice a new and strong message throughout the world that the recognition of the Genocide must be perceived and pursued as a noble cause. Our journey tonight proves to be a sign of victory and perseverance for the cause of global justice. “Together we will not forget” is the leading thought. History demands justice and justice is a prerequisite for peace.

The Honorable Rabbi Harold Schulweis the founder of the Jewish World Watch is not only a spiritual leader of the Jewish community, but a leading figure amongst the leaders. He has a compassionate heart, whose love is the reflection of God’s love for humanity, whose genuine respect for the victims of the Armenian Genocide has utterly rejected all political considerations. Rabbi Harold Schulweis upholds firm in his spirituality the vision of morality and continues to inspire us all with the reawakening challenge: “Together we will not forget.”

Commemorative events are vitally important for our young generations. A nation which refuses to respect the past and tends to ignore the scars of the past is doomed to perish. The ultimate significance of these events is one: to educate and illuminate the world with the notion of respect for the God-given life. Darfur and many other genocides are the result of the world’s ignorance about the first genocide of the twentieth century. Rabbi Harold Schlweis is the voice of the justice for the ignored Genocide. His voice is the reawakening challenge for the nations of the world.

On behalf of the Western Diocese and the faithful we extend a warm welcome to our beloved and visionary teacher the honorable Rabbi Harold Schulweis to salute us all with a special message, a message which transpires hope to our hearts, a new vision for the sons and daughters of the ancient Armenia which bears witness to 60 years of celebrations for the perseverance of the vision of the victims of the Jewish holocaust: the state of Israel. 

Rabbi Harold Schulweis's Remarks

 My brother, Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, Last year, we did not know each other. We hardly knew of our existence. We lived alone with our own tears, our own memories, our own bereavement, our own mourning.
We did not deny the other's genocide,
But we thought "Mine is mine and yours is yours."
So, we did not step over the threshold of your churches
or you over the threshold of our synagogues.
We prayed to one God and read the testament of the prophetic tradition But we ended up alone in our own private houses of worship.
We lived by quotations: "Have we not all one Father, has not one God created us all?" But it ended with quotations alone.

Now we have begun to know each other,    
To read between the lines, the frowns, the smiles
and the gestures of each other's soul.
A year ago, our children heard the pounding music of "System of a Down."
They played a powerful song, "Screamers.”
I asked a member of the band, "Why did you call it "Scream?"
He answered simply, "Because we did not scream enough."
 
Through the artistry of Dr. J. Michael Hagopian's documentaries we glimpsed the faces of previously invisible suffering.
And through the lecture of Dr. Richard Hovannisian we heard the pain of Armenia's once inaudible grief, tasted the brine of your tears.
We have found each other, after all these years,
and with a shock of recognition,
We have come to know each other's collective angers and despair,
The horrors of those who tortured both our peoples.
burned their bodies,
sent innocents into the desert without bread or water,
disfigured the bodies of men and women created in God's image,
turned bodies into fleshless skeletons,
burned their homes, broke the windows of their sanctuaries,
left abandoned the graveless
We have come to know the carnage in each other's lives, the despair over the callous bystanders, with eyes that will not see,
ears that would not hear,
mouths that remain mute,
legs that dare not stand,
arms that would not embrace the frail and lift up the fallen.
We have come to know each other better now.
We have become more than mourners to each other.
We have become each other's comforters.
 
How shall we console each other?
How would we honor the memories of our martyred?
Our martyred ancestors would wish that we would join together and seperatly form a Jewish World Watch and an Armenian World Watch.
So that we who see with ancient eyes and hear with ancient ears
may, seeing and hearing of the sight and screams of children
in Boznia and Rwanda and Darfur and Chad and Central Africa, and wherever people are tortured by the killers of life, together to scream and help and bind the wound of the tortured.
What would our ancestors wish?
That we together answer the question
that pursues human history from the story of Cain and Abel. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain asked.
We know the answer that the children of Abel must give is "Yes, Dear God — we are our brother's keepers."
We know from the bowels of our haunted histories that... You, God, want us to protect Your children.
You, God, want us to cry out against the myriad forms of genocide. You, God, want us to make whole shattered lives.
You, God, want us to enlarge the meaning
of our hemorrhaging ancestors lying in the blood-soaked earth.
in the blood-soaked earth,
"The voice of the bloods of your brothers cry out unto me."
 
Two communities, yours and mine, have found each other.
We must not let go.
Alone our voice is tremulous.
Together our voices can pierce the buried conscience of the world.
Alone, our tragedy is insular.

Some are worried that with such collaboration we might water down our memories
with the memories of others.
We repudiate that narcissistic, foolish game of "one-downsmanship".
No two wounds are the same.
No two scars are alike.
No two holocausts are identical.
No two memories.
But our tradition declared that my blood is not redder than yours.
And your blood is not redder than mine.
No pain is deeper, no grief more profound than that of another.
Is my heart so small,
my imagination so narrow,
my feelings so frugal
that I have dried all the wellsprings of my compassion? Will the tears of my soul evaporate they cry for others?
Now that we two communities have found each other we can see ourselves reflected in the mirror of the eyes of another.
 
Now that we have found each other, we must not lose each other. The depth of our history must not end here
at casual meetings or occasional commemorations. Do not let go this blessed, newly-found friendship.

Honor our ancestors’ unvanquishable martyrdom, your and mine.
What would comfort them more, what would cause them to smile on us more than the realization that their martyrdom is immortalized in our children and children's children memory and moral activity.
Our ancestors, yours and mine, were heroes,
witnesses to the cruelty of maniacal murderers.
Let us stand for each other to defend
any and every national, ethnic, religious group
that is threatened by the powers of contempt, the haters of life.
Surely our hearts are broken,
But there is no heart more whole than one that is broken.
If we would end our nightmares, we can do so only if we keep each other awake by awake by educating, advocating, alleviating the sorrows of all persons.
Martin Buber wrote, "All real life is meeting."
Our meeting tonight, our meetings this past year, Our meetings in the coming year is real life.
 
You and us, survivors, Extend your arms. Hold on to each other.
Hope together.
Dance together.
Laugh together.
Care together.
For we are alive together.
Together we have wrestled with the demons, And we have prevailed.