WHEN PRESIDENT Mary McAleese visited the Belfast synagogue yesterday morning, many of the pews of the striking modernist building were empty.
It wasn’t through lack of interest – quite the opposite. Although the Jewish community has played a vital role in the life of the city for many decades, its numbers have dwindled in recent years, and now only 80 people regularly attend the synagogue in north Belfast.
But it’s a place where everyone is greeted with smiles and hugs, and the effusive warmth of the welcome Mrs McAleese received belied the size of the congregation. “You are one of ours, a Belfast girl, and we are entitled to be proud of you,” said Ronnie Appleton, a leading figure in the Jewish community, as he introduced the President.
The community was so touched by the President’s visit – a first for them and her – that they took the unusual step of changing the wording of a prayer usually dedicated to the British head of state and her family. So instead of entreating “the supreme king of kings in his mercy [to] preserve the queen in life, guard her and deliver her from all trouble and sorrow”, Rabbi Menachem Brackman blessed the President of the Republic, calling on God to “put the wisdom of understanding in her heart . . . and to advance the welfare of the nation”.
Rabbi Brackman was keen to emphasise this was not in any way a political move. “In welcoming the President to our synagogue, we offered a prayer for her well-being. If it had been the president of America or of Spain, we would have done the same.”
And the affectionate feeling was mutual. Speaking with emotion, Mrs McAleese said that the Jewish community in north Belfast was “part of the warp and weft” of her childhood. Describing them as “legendary” and “extraordinary”, she insisted that “Belfast and Ireland would not be what it is today without your contribution”.
The President’s words evidently meant a great deal to her listeners. Shoshana Appleton said, “It brought tears to my eyes. It couldn’t have come at a better time. We are so few now: less than 100 souls, and half of them are over 80 . . . There is a Jewish saying, ‘From your lips to God’s ears’. I hope he hears the President’s words of hope.”
The synagogue was just one brief stop in the President’s schedule, which concluded with a visit to the PSNI training college in east Belfast.