Just a quick note today: This morning National Public Radio broadcast a piece on President Obama’s nominee to be the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic—Norman Eisen. He is currently the White House “ethics czar” (and once an attorney with the ADL).

Eisen’s 89-year-old mother, living in a retirement home in the L.A. area, is a Czech Holocaust survivor who made it out of Auschwitz. But it gets much better: The U.S. ambassador’s residence in Prague is the former headquarters of the Nazi General staff in the region. As Eisen said, “We have the privilege to be moving in, and we will put up mezuzot on the doorposts.”

The report went on to add, “They will make the kitchen kosher, say blessings in Hebrew and light Shabbat candles on Friday nights.”

Eisen added, “So for me, the freedoms that we enjoy — the privileges that we have as Americans — are very, very precious.”

There are few times when I truly understand how America has been different for Jews than any land in history. This is one of them. Would that more Jews in this country even loosely kept their cultural inheritance. As many others can attest, the depth and meaning that such a path gives one’s life – particularly in times of joy and trauma—is profound.

For the full NPR story, click here: http://www.npr.org/2011/01/14/132742020/dr-no-becomes-diplomat-continues-a-family-story