July 7, 2015

In a world filled with constant conflict, senseless violence, and seemingly endless suffering, there’s a natural human inclination to feel paralyzed by the enormity of the problems we face. Many believe that there’s little they can do to protect the innocent in the face of violence and persecution. Others don’t view this responsibility as their own. Some simply don’t have the courage to speak out or the conviction to stand up.

Yet, among the many in history who have chosen to avert their eyes and shrug their shoulders, there are also individuals like Sir Nicholas Winton – who passed away last week at the age of 106. Hundreds of children survived the Holocaust because he refused to stand idly by as the Nazis began murdering Jews in Europe. At the time, Nicholas Winton was a 29 year-old clerk who worked at the London Stock Exchange – not a particularly high-powered or well-connected man.  Yet, he saw firsthand the grave danger facing Czechoslovakia’s Jews when he visited the country as a tourist in 1938. He knew that if he didn’t do something, the country’s Jews would quickly perish if the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia.

Winton drew up a list of thousands of Jewish children in Czechoslovakia who were eligible for special visas to enter Britain under the Kindertransports program. Almost entirely on his own, he arranged for trains to take these children out of the country, bribing officials along the way to move them out safely. He worked tirelessly to raise funds for the operation and to find British families willing to house the children and guarantee their welfare. In all, 669 children escaped. Over his long life, Nicholas Winton was able to see the wide-ranging impact of the miracle he engineered, as those he saved had thousands of children and grandchildren. The survivors and their descendants became leading doctors, lawyers, politicians, artists, and activists – each contributing in their own way to the UK and well beyond it.

After reading the many beautiful obituaries of Nicholas Winton over the past week, I’ve continued to wonder: what makes a hero like this? What lessons from his life can we apply to our own? How can we cultivate and support the next Nicholas Winton, Raoul Wallenberg, and Oskar Schindler to fight the plague of genocide and mass atrocities in our time?

I think that the answers to these questions boil down to one thing: you should never underestimate your individual power to make transformative global change. Winton never measured his work in the context of the millions who would suffer at Nazi hands — he counted his success one rescued child at a time.  Too often, we shirk our responsibility to fight for social justice simply because we conflate doing something we perceive as small with doing nothing at all.

The world we live in is rife with conflict and by extension, opportunities to honor Winton’s life with action of our own. Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has claimed more than 5.4 million lives since fighting began in 1998 – and millions continue to face violence, sexual exploitation, and slavery. In South Sudan, internal conflict plagues a people who have endured decades of war. The Sudanese regime – which committed the 21st Century’s first genocide in Darfur – continues to threaten whole communities with extinction in the Nuba Mountains.

“>Jewish World Watch.

The first ever European Games were just completed in Azerbaijan and it is such a source of pride for me as a Jew and as an Azerbaijani. For over two weeks in June the world witnessed what a welcoming and tolerant country we are. We opened our arms to the world. As an Azerbaijani Jew, I have been so proud of the Azerbaijani and Israeli teams which received medals in so many events. Also as an Azerbaijani citizen, I feel special pride that such a spectacular event could occur in a secular majority-Muslim country. And what an enormous task this was to hold such a competition with over 6,000 athletes from 50 nations vying in 20 sports categories, and the building of a variety of sporting venues that will be used in the future for other competitions as well as to help Azerbaijani youth to train and develop our athletic programs.

For weeks leading up to the games, Jewish communities in Azerbaijan, from Baku to the Mountains, have been full of excitement for the arrival of the 142 member-Israeli delegation of athletes and coaches, which was the largest delegation Israel has ever sent to an international sporting event. It may seem unusual that the Jewish state would send the largest delegation ever to a Muslim country, but it’s actually very much reflective of true values and special relationship Azerbaijan and Israel share.

At the Opening Ceremony, when the Israeli team ran across the arena in the 68,000 capacity new Olympic Stadium in Baku, with flags of blue and white swishing in the air, the welcome was so powerful and important for the world to see. It was not just Jews in the crowd that made the noise, they were welcomed by everyone.

I was honored to attend that spectacular Ceremony, and to witness the rush and passion of an international cooperation that suprasses any of the struggles and misfortunes of today. In fact, to see the Israeli flag on the famous “Flame Towers” in Baku made me realize that these Games were a powerful symbol of hope and acceptance. Here is the image of this remarkable sight.

The Israeli team had such success at the Games. With medals in Judo, swimming, wrestling and more.. Israeli competitor Sagi Muki received a gold medal in Judo, coming in first in the -73 kg class, as did Israeli Or Sasson with a silver in +100 kg, and Yarden Gerbi took bronze for the Women’s Division, -63 kg.  Among the total of 12 medals for Israel by the end of the games, Ziv Kalontarov came in first for the gold in swimming; Men’s 50m freestyle. When Rhythmic Gymnastics took place early in the Games, silver and bronze medals were received by Israelis, and a silver for Ilana Kratysh in the Women’s 69kg Freestyle Wrestling. In the Jewish communities of Azerbaijan, we celebrated the achievement of 68 medals in total by the end of the games, 12 from the Israeli team, and 56 from our Azerbaijani athletes; together an enormous sweep.

We felt a great honor to host members of the Israeli team in our own Mountainous Jewish synagogue in Baku. With the very energetic team of athletes and coaches, we also welcomed Rafael Harpaz, Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan, as well as Igal Carmi, the head of Israel’s National Olympic Committee. The feeling from having so many happy Jews from Israel and Azerbaijan together in our Synagogue nearly brought me to tears.

For Jews here in Azerbaijan, as we celebrated the European Games, and just as we celebrate Shabbat each week and our Jewish identity every day, this is more than a special event; it is a dream come true. It is quite an experience to know that there is no nation quite like Azerbaijan when it comes to cherishing and protecting Jewish people. I hope more and more of the world will join Azerbaijan in its commitment to a life of multicultural harmony and that these Games will be remembered as a powerful symbol of Azerbaijan’s commitment to universal peace, friendship and tolerance.