One of the world’s largest menorahs, located in Manado
The Jews of Indonesia are in mourning. Their leader, a man with the initial Y, breathed his last breath on Wednesday at a hospital in Jakarta.
“He died from heart disease,” said his brother, Hendrik, when he met with Merdeka.com journalist Faisal Assegaf that night at the funeral home, after a prayer in front of Y’s glass-coated coffin . “He left a great legacy, Faisal.”
Faisal says he had long been familiar with Y. Because he met the Jewish leader a decade ago, he was finally able to get access to the local Jewish community, which is forced to remain closed off due to safety concerns.
Y has been suffering from heart disease for several years. A week before he died, Faisal had contacted him.
Y said, “Faisal I am in the hospital. I am already dead.”
Y was the leader of Indonesia’s Jewish community. He encouraged the growth of the Jewish community in the city of Manado, now led by rabbi Yobby Ensel. He also helped form an organization named UIJC (United Indonesian Jewish Community).
UIJC aims to record and preserve data about people of Jewish descent Indonesia. According to its chairman, Benjamin Verbrugge, the organization has more than two thousand members, spread from Aceh to Papua.
Y was also a liaison for Israeli humanitarian missions into Indonesia. For example, a nonprofit institution, Israeli Flying Aid to Indonesia, helped victims of the earthquake in Yogyakarta in 2006. They operated from a village in Klaten.
As an entrepreneur, Y was also actively involved in politics in Indonesia. Although Jewish, Y had a great love for Indonesia. He was also so concerned with the fate of the people of Papua.
“I do not want Indonesia to be broken. Indonesian We have to make Indonesia better, Faisal,” he said during a Sabbath celebration a few years ago at his home.
Following his wishes, Y was buried yesterday in accordance with Jewish burial customs.
Source: Merdeka.com
For more information on the Jewish community in Indonesia, you can also read yoou can also read Faisal Assegaf’s 2011 interview with Y in Tempo or the New York Times feature, “In Sliver of Indonesia, Public Embrace of Judaism”.
