First Jewish Resident of Cozumel Comes Full Circle at Chabad
Rabbi Dudi Caplin, Shliach and director of the Chabad House on the tourist island of Cozumel, Mexico, recently witnessed a deeply moving moment, as the story of the island’s first Jewish resident came full circle • Full Story, Watch
Forty-one years after she first settled on the island, Rabbi Caplin organized an Aliyah to the Torah, Tefillin, and the Bar Mitzvah of her grandson, at the very Chabad House where 13 years earlier, he had served as Sandek at the child’s Bris Milah, after convincing the grandmother to ensure it was performed according to Halachah.
Rabbi Caplin told that 41 years ago, the first Jewish woman arrived to live on the island of Cozumel—an Israeli woman named Marcelle Cohen, who married a Mexican diplomat. Thirteen years ago, her grandson was born. The child’s father is not Jewish, and initially the mother did not agree to a bris milah. “In the end she was convinced, and we held the bris at the Chabad House. I served as the sandek,” Rabbi Caplin said.
The boy was named Ariel Eitan, and this week the family celebrated his bar mitzvah at Chabad. Ariel put on tefillin, received an aliyah to the Torah, and committed to making an effort to put on tefillin daily.
Rabbi Caplin added that during the Shabbos Bar Mitzva celebration, the grandmother spoke emotionally: “I already thought I would never merit seeing my grandson as an actively Jewish Jew. I am so happy that thanks to Chabad of Cozumel, who never forgot him, my grandson has merited to connect to Hashem.”
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