By COLlive reporter
Tekiah, shevarim and Aruba.
Rabbi Aharon Blasberg, Director of Chabad Aruba, paid a special visit this week to Mike Eman, Prime Minister of Aruba, ahead of the upcoming new Jewish year.
During the meeting, Rabbi Blasberg assisted the Prime Minister in putting on Tefillin and reciting Shema Yisroel. He then sounded the shofar, as is customary throughout the month of Elul, to inspire feelings of teshuva.
Eman, born to a Jewish mother, has long expressed pride in his Jewish heritage. Over the years, he has developed a close relationship with Chabad both on the island and internationally.
He has welcomed groups of Merkos Shluchim (rabbinical students) visiting the Caribbean, and during an official trip to New York, he visited Chabad-Lubavitch Headquarters – 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where he was warmly received.
Aruba, a small island nation in the southern Caribbean with a population of about 110,000, is known for its year-round tourism and thriving hospitality industry. Its Jewish community dates back centuries.
Today, it is served by Chabad led by Rabbi Blasberg and his wife Mrs. Chaya Blasberg. They provide religious services and Jewish programming for locals as well as the many Jewish visitors who vacation there.
Prime Minister Eman has actively supported these efforts, strengthening Jewish life on the island. He exemplified it this past week by having a new mezuzah placed on the door of the Prime Minister’s office. “It was a beautiful meeting,” Rabbi Blasberg told COLlive.com.
