An unsolicited encounter between a Chabad Rabbi and an Iranian chess team coach might be a sign that the hateful statements by politicians do not have support from the people.
At an international chess competition in Soloniki, Greece, Shliach Rabbi Yoel Kaplan was approached by the coach of the Iranian delegation.
Kaplan and his wife Ruth hosted the Jewish players and the delegation from Israel, headed by Naftali Ben Pinchas.
They spent this past Shabbos together, warmly being accepted by the local Jews at the Kiddush after the prayers on Shabbos day.
The Israeli judge Almog Burstein was among them.
“Throughout the competition there was clear distance between the Iranians and the Israelis,” a participant told COLlive.
“But on the last day, the Iranian instructor surprised us by approaching Rabbi Kaplan and saying to him: ‘The children are the proof that terror and war are not the way.'”
As COLlive reported in the past, a Chabad Rabbi in the nearby Azerbaijan is in touch with the Jewish community in Tehran.
