o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at
office@ikg-wien.at
Dear Mr Deutsch,
I am writing to add my support for Beth Alexander (formerly Schlesinger), and to plead for your help for her children, Benji and Sammy Schlesinger of Vienna.
I have known Beth since Cambridge, and was present both when Michael Schlesinger first asked her for a date and at their wedding. The Beth I know is a sweet, loving woman who does not deserve to be separated from her children.
When Beth got married, my own parents were getting divorced. For many years, one of my parents unfortunately manipulated me against the other. This caused lasting harm to my relationships with both parents, as well as to my own sense of self.
My case is nowhere near as extreme as Benji and Sammy's, and I can barely imagine the mental damage that has already been done to them by their estrangement from their mother, Beth. If they are to have any chance to recover and to live as healthy adults, they must be at least allowed to heal their relationship with Beth and her side of their family.
I do not know much about you other than that you are the leader of the Vienna kehilla. I also do not know what pressure is being put on community members behind the scene to turn a blind eye to what is happening here. However, I do know that true leadership means taking a risk and stepping out of one's comfort zone to create change. A few weeks ago, the midrash spoke of Nachshon ben Amminadav showing leadership by stepping into the Yam Suf before it parted. Your own namesake, Oskar Schindler, put his life on the line time and again to save Jews during the Shoah.
Benji and Sammy will soon be bar mitzvah. As leader of the community, if there is anything you can humanly do to allow Beth and her family to attend the bar mitzvah and become part of their lives again, now is the time to act.
Kind regards
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