As we celebrate Passover and Easter in our Jewish and Christian homes here in Chattanooga, I recently had the opportunity to dialogue virtually with the Bermuda Christian Jewish Alliance (BCJA).
You may already know that I grew up on the island of Bermuda, part of the British Commonwealth.
My grandfather was one of the island’s Founding 400, trailblazing as its first professional real estate agent. Also, we’re the only Jewish family to have lived on the island for four generations — going back to the early 1900s.
So given the holidays, it wasn’t entirely surprising to get a request from BCJA to speak about my family’s history, especially our experience regarding the Holocaust.
So I talked about Gramp, my grandfather Myer Malloy, and how he helped Holocaust survivors shipped from Europe to America. The survivors stopped in Bermuda for badly needed medical treatment. They knew no English, and Gramp translated their Yiddish to the medics. He also arranged with the Anglican bishop to hold Yom Kippur and other High Holy Day services at the cathedral. The bishop was a good friend and the only person on the island who could read and speak the Hebrew prayers. The interfaith connection was strong and vital, allowing the survivors to walk up the hill from the ship docked in the harbor to the cathedral as Bermudians looked on in support.