Terrorism will never break us, Paris Jews vow

It has been almost three months since the deadly attack on the Hyper Cacher supermarket in the Porte de Vincennes section of Paris, which appeared to be the temporary coda of a week filled with Islamic violence in France, which began with the massacre at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

With Passover around the corner, the Jewish community is excited, and the joy of the approaching holiday has replaced the fear that gripped the area. The lines of flowers and candles that were laid outside the supermarket in memory of Francois-Michel Saada, Philippe Braham, Yohan Cohen and Yoav Hattab -- the four victims of the attack -- have been pushed slightly to one side, to make room for the dozens of boxes containing new kosher-for-Passover products.

"I have not worked this hard in a long time," Jacob, one of the employees at the kosher supermarket said. "I don't know whether it's because of the holiday or because of all the people who come specially to shop here to encourage us." His words expresses the essence of the story of France's Jews in the months following the terrorist attack, which led to demonstrations of solidarity but also to additional threats.

The Jewish community in France in general and particularly in Paris is still reeling from the attack, while also growing accustomed to the new situation. While the community has witnessed unprecedented support and Jewish unity on the one hand, on the other hand every synagogue or other Jewish institution is now under the protection of armed French soldiers.

The Hyper Cacher supermarket, which has become a symbol of attacks on Jews and the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe, reopened about a week ago, after undergoing renovations. One of the owners, who did not wish to be named, said, "It took us a little time to renovate because of the painstaking work of erasing every remnant of that terrible day.

"Since the shop was full of bullet marks, we wanted to change its whole look so that it would feel new," he said. "The look was too painful, and we did not want people to feel that they were coming back to a murder scene. While it is impossible to forget what happened, today we are more excited than afraid. We receive a great deal of support from all over the world, and we know that we must move on. If we do not, the murderers win."

Annette, a patron of the market, said, "I live some driving distance from here and there is a kosher grocery store below my home, but I choose to come here specially. We are at war. There are soldiers at my daughter's kindergarten, and after the attacks, the Great Synagogue was closed on Shabbat for the first time since World War II.

"We have to win this war not only for the Jews of France, but for the Jews everywhere on earth. Anti-Semitism is everywhere, and it is good to see that the world is waking up. It is just too bad that this is what had to happen, that Jews were murdered again. Until now the problems were quiet, and now the whole world is starting to talk about it. Here, and in general, people who attack Jews are condemned and arrested. There is a great deal of support and friendship, and we are very encouraged by it all."

Support and controversy

France's Jews want their community to blossom once more, and they are making a visible attempt at recovery. Early in the week, hundreds of French Jews attended a religious event in a large hangar in a Paris suburb: the conclusion of the study cycle of a daily page of religious law. Behind the initiative was Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, a wealthy ultra-Orthodox Jew who is well known in the religious world and is the head of Dirshu, the organization that sponsored the project. Hofstedter, who has taken it upon himself to increase the study of religious law, holds quizzes on the topic for yeshiva students. The winners are awarded monetary prizes.

France's highest-ranking rabbis attended the event. Rabbi Shalom Cohen, the head of Shas' Council of Sages, traveled from Israel specifically to attend, and used the opportunity to visit the Jewish community in Paris.

"All the people you see here are French Jews. They are all from here, not from abroad. There is a real world of Torah here, and no matter how hard they try, they will never break us," said David Saada, one of the organizers.

During his visit, Cohen met with Rabbi Yitzhak Guggenheim, the chief rabbi of Paris, who said, "I cannot manage to answer all the letters of support. They come from administration officials and from ordinary citizens from Israel and abroad. All of them want to encourage us. They say: 'We are with you,' and tell us that there is no hatred of Jews."

Guggenheim added, "It was our luck that [the attack] happened after the wave of Islamic terrorist attacks. It started with the massacre of the journalists at Charlie Hebdo. The day after, we were very lucky -- when the murderer made his way to a Jewish school he saw the heavy guard and went elsewhere, but unfortunately, he murdered a policewoman. And then came the incident at the Hyper Cacher market.

"It awakened the issue of radical Islam. It is not an attack against Jews only, but deadly terrorism that is directed against everyone. Today our situation is better. True, there is security everywhere, but everybody realizes that what happened was a milestone, a threat that needs to be stopped. The world has awakened, and we are getting a great deal of support."

Cohen, who is the head of a yeshiva, is disturbed mainly by other religious problems that he feels could also cause controversy. During his trip to Paris, he said that in some cases, it was preferable that French Jews not immigrate to Israel, "first because the Jewish Agency and the state will force you to give up your faith and you will end up violating the Sabbath, heaven forbid. Second, if the ultra-Orthodox Jews leave France, the ordinary Jews will have no one to learn their Judaism from."

Cohen explained that "the Sephardi population in France has a Jewish community that acts as a hothouse: fostering prayer services, observing the Sabbath and observing the laws of kashrut. But there are some who immigrate to Israel and go the Jewish Agency, which takes them to all kinds of schools that don't follow the Torah and the commandments, so they also lose the basis that communities abroad possess."

He added that since he had encountered many such cases among immigrants from France, he felt that "those who immigrate to Israel without appropriate guidance would be better off staying abroad."

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