by dan pine
staff writer
On Monday, April 2, Erev Pesach, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was in Beirut conferring with Lebanese leaders. But before sundown, she and her congressional delegation hurried back south to enjoy a Passover seder in Israel.
Joining her and her husband, Paul Pelosi, at a Jerusalem restaurant were several of her fellow San Franciscans, including Rabbi Doug Kahn, executive director of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council, and his wife, Ellen.
As Kahn tells it, it was a memorable conclusion to a historic trip.
“There were about 30 people in attendance at the seder,” said Kahn by phone from Israel. “[Pelosi’s] delegation was in Lebanon all day, yet it was important to the speaker that she be in Jerusalem for the beginning of Passover and that she participate in the seder. It was a warm, wonderful experience.”
California Reps. Tom Lantos and Henry Waxman, who traveled to the Middle East with Pelosi, attended other seders in Israel that night.
The seder came after Pelosi’s Knesset speech over the weekend, which Kahn and others from the Bay Area witnessed.
Kahn was in Israel to lead a contingent from the Bay Area’s LGBT community on a 10-day fact-finding tour.
Pelosi delivered her remarks in the Knesset’s formal hall with Marc Chagall tapestries as backdrop. “It was a formal state dinner,” said Kahn. “The speaker of the Israeli Knesset [Dalia Itzik] and [Pelosi] spoke eloquently and passionately about the strength of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. [Pelosi] reiterated something we’ve heard her say: the establishment of Israel was one of the great achievements of the 20th century.”
Kahn said that after the dinner began, Pelosi came to his table to express “how appreciative she was of us being there. Subsequently she brought [Itzik] over and introduced all of us to her. It appeared to mean a lot to her to have a presence from San Francisco.”
Also in attendance were some 30 members of the Knesset and world Jewish leaders such as Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism.
For Kahn, it was a moment he’ll never forget. “It was a great privilege and honor to hear her talk about her committment to Israel while at a state dinner at the Knesset,” he said. “It was a very special occasion, and all there felt the same way.”
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California