We were hearing more and more about Iceland, and its need for more Yiddishkeit. Although Jews had lived there for more than 100 years, there’s never been a rabbi or any kind of Jewish organization in the country. Beginning more than 50 years ago, groups of Merkos Shluchim visited Iceland from time to time. A Tanya was printed in 1984, and, since 2011, Merkos shluchim had been visiting once or twice per year. It was time for something more.
Our first visit was during Chanukah 2017, when we got to meet some of the local Jews. We hosted a Chanukah event to introduce ourselves to the community. Soon afterwards, we decided to dedicate ourselves to this shlichus. Just before Shavuos 2018, we moved to Iceland.
My wife grew up on shlichus in Gothenburg, Sweden. She noticed a cultural overlap across Nordic countries. Her fluency in Swedish also gave her a bit of a headstart with learning Icelandic. Although most people speak English very well, we make an effort to learn and speak Icelandic, out of respect for the locals and their culture.
The Icelandic Jewish community is small but diverse. There are Icelandic Jews from several generations back, and there are expats from many different countries. Even though the Jews of Iceland come from all different backgrounds, everyone enjoys Jewish events where we can celebrate what we have in common.
While kosher can be challenging, we’re lucky to have some local kosher products, as well as many imported products that have hechsherim. Iceland is famous for its delicious fish, which are easily accessible and very fresh. Kosher meat, chicken, wine, and all chalav yisrael products have to be imported by sea.
Iceland is nicknamed the land of fire and ice. It’s famous for its glaciers and natural hot springs. We use the closest one, a 90-minute drive and ten minute hike, as our mikvah. It’s quite an adventure, especially in wintertime, but luckily, once you get inside, it’s hot. Baruch Hashem, we are now beginning construction of the first mikvah in Icelandic history.
We have four little girls and a son. One of our greatest priorities is to give our kids childhood and social life. Baruch Hashem, they are thriving and have many friends in the community. They also have a tremendous impact on the community. When they speak at the Shabbos table and share what they’ve been learning about the parsha, people love hearing them.
In December, we have only five hours of daylight. In the summer, we experience two months of “white nights,” when the sun only dips below the horizon, but it doesn’t get dark. This situation presents many halachic challenges. We now feature a Halachic FAQ page on our website. In June, Shabbos ends at 1:30am!
When we traveled to Iceland for the first time, it was on Chanukah, and we headed out to JFK airport before menorah lighting time. Because it was winter, with sunrise at 11:00am, we were able to light the menorah when we arrived at our Airbnb in Iceland in the morning!
Briet’s Journey
Briet* was willing to join us for some events, but she remained wary. She told us she wouldn’t bring her kids to any Jewish programs.
We didn’t push her at all, and slowly developed a friendship with her.
Six months later, we started a weekly Hebrew school. The first registrants were Briet’s children.
We’ve found that once the channel to the neshama is opened, there’s no limit to how far it will take the person.
Public Menorah Lighting in Reykjavik
Nowadays, public menorah lightings are almost ubiquitous, with 15,000 menorahs lit in public squares throughout the world every year. But in Reykjavik, such a thing was unheard of.
We sent a letter to the city asking permission to put up a public menorah, and waited eagerly for a response. Bureaucracy is usually very efficient in Iceland, since it’s a small country, so we were concerned when we didn’t receive any response. We feared it might be ignored altogether, but baruch Hashem, a few weeks later, we received approval. They granted us a space right on the main street of Reykjavik! We couldn’t have asked for a better location.
We had a meeting with city officials to plan the logistics, and they were all very courteous and helpful.
“I’m sure you were wondering about the delay in responding to your letter,” the city clerk told us. “Honestly, when we received your letter, we were stumped. We’d never heard of such a thing, and had no idea what to do with it. We passed it to another office, but they didn’t know what to say either! Your letter passed from department to department, until it finally made its way to the mayor’s desk. He approved it immediately!”
That Chanukah, we hosted the first ever public menorah lighting in Iceland. It was heartwarming to see how well it was received by everyone, Jews and non-Jews alike.
The next year, the mayor attended the lighting himself. In his speech, he pledged there would always be a public menorah in Iceland.
The Jewish community took great pride in the mayor’s words, and were very proud and amazed to see Chanukah celebrated openly on the streets!
Just before Covid, we celebrated another Icelandic milestone with the very first Siyum Sefer Torah in the country, donated by the Krauzs family of Zurich. The community had a chance to write letters in the Torah, a once in a lifetime experience for most people. We then paraded the chuppah and the Torah through the streets. There was so much joy and Jewish pride - even the non-Jewish Icelanders were cheering us on!
Discovering Gunnar
Iceland boasts a thriving fishing industry. I once visited a fish factory for kosher certification purposes. I was given a tour, and met the factory owner, Gunnar*. While chatting, I discovered he was Jewish. I immediately invited him to join us for the Friday night meal.
Gunnar agreed, and enjoyed the experience immensely.
