By: Chaya Chazan
After an amazing one and a half year shlichus opportunity in Berlin, we were back in New York, looking for the next step in our journey. 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.
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.
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. 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.
Our winter days can be very short. 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, so, after consulting with a rav, we now feature a Halachic FAQ page on our website. In June, Shabbos ends at 1:30am!
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!
When we first moved and started meeting members of the community, we asked for their input: how do you envision the future of the Jewish community? What would you like to see happen? One repeated answer was a wish that Judaism would be recognized as an official religion. Seeing how important this recognition was, we made a concerted effort to bring it to fruition. It took two years, but the Chabad house was finally recognized as the official Jewish community of Iceland. This governmental approval granted us the right to a Jewish cemetery, recognition of a chuppah as a valid marriage, and the ability to receive religious tax funds. Most importantly, it instilled a sense of pride and belonging in our community.
Reprinted from: www.dollardaily.org
