The rabbi could not attend. The rebbetzin (his wife) was out of town, and he had to take care of the kids. So he asked me if I would mind giving the oration at the Día de los Muertos event Thursday night in the Jardín. I had witnessed it before; the head of each religion takes a turn addressing the crowd for a few minutes. In an earlier incarnation, having, somewhat less than half-jokingly, referred to myself as "Anything for an Audience," I accepted.

I sat down, wrote my idea of a speech, and sent it to the rabbi to see if it would fly. The Jews say that you should not fully praise someone to their face. And the rabbi is a very nice person, anyway. But, given these circumstances, the voice message I received in return was positively brimming with enthusiastic approval.

Thursday evening (last night, depending on when you are reading this), I pedaled up a very festive Calle Aldama, locked my bicycle to the bars of a window, and made my way to the stage. Padre Luis, in full vestment, went first. While he recited, sometimes reading, a standard liturgy, a bell and then another of the Parroquia began to ring. It must all be mechanized, but I thought, "How rude that the church interrupts its master." The crowd, already familiar with the text, had no trouble following along. Then, with Catholicism, you only have to show up; faith, not understanding is required.

But, I thought, "My talk will not be heard, let alone understood with these damn bells." Thirteen years in Mexico has taught me a certain fatalism, not to worry about the inevitable. I remained calm, waiting my turn, not listening to the padre's prayers, as a good Jewish boy should not listen to such things. One minute before he finished talking, the crowd having chimed in on cue, the bells stopped ringing. When he gave his final benediction, and I was introduced as the representative of the Jewish community, I took the mic and gave this speech, in Spanish:

For us the death anniversary, the day that the person died is a special moment during the year when we light candles, say prayers, give charity and do good deeds to honor and benefit the dead.

The death anniversary is also the day when it is particularly easy for the deceased to benefit the living. This is especially true with the spirits of great individuals, who benefit those who connect with them.

Through our prayers and our good deeds, especially on the anniversary of their death, we help elevate the soul of our loved ones to a higher, holier level of heaven, from where they can better enjoy the light of G-d.

Through our prayers and good deeds we become better recipients of the spiritual strength that they send down to us.

Judaism believes that while we need the help of the saintly departed, the saintly departed also need our cooperation. Up in heaven everything is known and revealed. There is no choice. Here on Earth we experience uncertainty and challenges. Here on Earth we must make choices.

In heaven everything is fixed and determined; this choir of angels sings at noon; another choir of angels sings at 2 in the afternoon, etcetera. The angels are jealous of us, because when, in our darkness and doubt, we human beings choose to be good, when we do a good deed, we increase the goodness in all the worlds, on earth and in heaven. We elevate even the saints.

I love the weather and the food here in Mexico, But what I like best about Mexico is neither the weather nor the food. What I love best about Mexico is the community, the togetherness of the people, families, friends, neighborhoods. You extend the community to also include us foreigners. Thank you. Belonging is the best medicine.

The central prayer, the most famous saying of the Hebrews is, Listen Israel, the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One. But we do not mean one in a numerical sense, like one, two, three. We do not only mean that G-d is unique; that there is no other. We mean that the Divine is whole, entire, holistic, completely integrated, including all in Its unity. We mean that there is nothing else.

We Jews believe that the community has a soul of its own, that the community has a collective spirit, a spiritual existence. We call this the Congregation of Israel. We believe that the best way to affirm that group soul is to act for the benefit of others. The best way to feel the human family is to treat others like brothers and sisters. As G-d is One, we should be one.

The Day of the Dead is the day to connect with the soul of our departed loved ones. And when we all do that together, we connect also with our communal soul. We elevate the spirits of the dead and of the living. We elevate our collective soul. We build community.

I will end with the Jewish prayer for the dead. This prayer, like the Day of the Dead, is not sad. In fact, like the Day of the Dead it is a celebration, a celebration of G-d's greatness, holiness, salvation and oneness.

When I raise my hand I ask you to respond Amen. Let's rehearse. Ready?

¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!*
Amen.

¡Viva San Miguel!
Amen.

¡Viva Mexico!
Amen.

Now I am going to read, in Hebrew, the prayer for the dead.
 

Which I did, the crowd responding Amen at the right moments, as you can see in the video below.

We could talk at length about the irony and the magic of the moment, but that's for another article. The rabbi, who sent me the video, departing yet again from the Jewish manner of understatement, summed it up in a one word message, "Amazing."

Here, let me just add, that when I got to the part about thanking them for welcoming us extranjeros into their community, there started a smattering of applause which, when I paused to acknowledge it, grew into a great round.

¡Viva San Miguel!

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*"The people united will never be defeated."

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