{"id":7832,"date":"2011-09-28T15:42:51","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T19:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=7832"},"modified":"2011-09-28T15:51:09","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T19:51:09","slug":"now-that-hes-safe-syngogue-dares-to-reveal-hiker-is-one-of-their-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/09\/now-that-hes-safe-syngogue-dares-to-reveal-hiker-is-one-of-their-own","title":{"rendered":"Now that he’s out of Iran, synagogue dares to reveal hiker Josh Fattal is one of their own"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Iranian TV shows Josh Fattal being hugged by his mother when she visited during his imprisonment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When hiker Josh Fattal\u00a0was finally released after being\u00a0held for two years in Iran, his friends and family — and particularly his synagogue — could finally reveal a secret kept under wraps even by the news media.<\/p>\n

Iran — an Islamic Republic whose president repeatedly vows to destroy Israel and blames “Zionists” for most of the ills in the Middle East — didn’t need to know Fattal is Jewish or that his father lived several years in Israel,\u00a0writes\u00a0Steward Ain in\u00a0New York Jewish Week.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

But now that he’s safely out of Iran, “The shofar was blown in one suburban Philadelphia synagogue last Friday night to celebrate an answered prayer,” writes Ain.<\/p>\n

As a 13-year-old, Fattal celebrated\u00a0his bar mitzvah at\u00a0Congregation Kol Ami in Elkins Park. The\u00a0coming of age\u00a0ceremony involves the young man reading from the Torah — the books of law — as well as a\u00a0portion of the\u00a0Haftarah — the books of the prophets as it is publicly acknowledged that he’s reached an age where he is responsible for his actions.<\/p>\n

Remembering the\u00a0young man\u00a0who once stood before them, \u201cPeople were in tears,\u201d recalls Rabbi Elliot Holin. \u201cIt was a highly emotional moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each week for the past 26 months\u00a0the rabbi\u00a0had recited the captives\u2019 names aloud during the prayer for healing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first we included the names of all three,\u201d Rabbi Holin said, referring to their female companion, Sarah Shourd, who was released last year on $500,000 bail. \u201cThen it was just the two of them,\u201d according to Ain:<\/p>\n

Although it was \u201cwell known\u201d in Elkins Park that the Fattal family is Jewish, according to resident Judy Chant, members of the Jewish community said the Fattal family did not wish to publicize it while their son was held captive in Iran. As a result, members of the news media who were aware of it deliberately omitted any reference to it.<\/p>\n

Adam Kessler, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Philadelphia, said, \u201cWe were asked not to be involved. We were here to do what we could, but they did not want to make it a Jewish communal thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when Fattal\u2019s father, Jacob, delivered a lecture at a local synagogue, Melrose B\u2019nai Israel Emanu-El, in which he described being born in Iraq and escaping to Israel before coming to the United States, he made no mention of his son\u2019s captivity, according to Joan Theil, who attended the address.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But now Josh is free. And those who love him are giving thanks that Iran apparently never figured out his heritage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When hiker Josh Fattal\u00a0was finally released after being\u00a0held for two years in Iran, his friends and family — and particularly his synagogue — could finally reveal a secret kept under wraps even by the news media. 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