It’s more than just a saying that all politics are local. Not even five months ago Alan Gross was released from Cuba after years of protests, negotiations and pleadings to and from his family and the U.S. government. Just
a month later, Warren Weinstein was killed in a U.S. drone attack on al Queda targets in Pakistan after more than 3 years as their hostage. Unexpectedly, both these men became pawns in a never-ending international chess game, businessmen-soldiers in a world economy where the dangers of going to work may be far greater than bad drivers or airplane tragedies.
So, how is that local? The Gross family lives in Rockville, the Weinsteins as well. We likely shop in many of the same stores, go to the same movie theaters, and dealt with the very same Pepco power outages. While we are not friends, we are neighbors. Both men were doing their jobs when captured. Alan Gross was working on a USAID project expanding internet access in Cuba, contrary to the wishes of the regime. Warren Weinstein had been working for several years on economic development projects in Pakistani tribal areas. When these men took their jobs they were well into their careers. Whether the draw for the assignments was the challenge, the money, the exotic locale or a decision to try to make the world a better place, each left his family to do a job.
And their families are all too similar to mine. Elaine Weinstein and Judy Gross are both mothers of two daughters, like me. And they are both members of our local Hadassah chapter, just like me. And while Dan’s efforts to make our corner of the world a better place take him just around the Beltway, their husbands were drawn to projects around the globe where the American belief that access to information and education will improve society are not necessarily shared.
Tonight as we sit at our table celebrating the end of the work week and the special peace of the Sabbath, I will think of the Weinstein and Gross families. May they continue to receive the support they need to deal with their suffering and may they find a measure of peace.
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