Our Bruno

Our Bruno was a man of faith - in many ways. Not only was he a deeply religious man and served as a priest but he had the great belief that it is possible to put into action every positive inspiration that suited his ideals, if only he wanted it sincerely and seriously.

I never knew a man who loved to repeat as he did the sentence, “If you will it, it is no dream” and thus, Herzl and the founding of the state of Israel were for him a proof and a model that all is possible and given to fulfillment, if we only truly want it.

This is the way he thought and believed, in every project he undertook, from the beginning of his way to the end. From his involvement in the Nostra Aetate document up to Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam. He believed with such conviction that everything is given to attainment that he did not pay attention to the formalities required when he began. He started with nothing and, with sustained and continuous effort, created something. The nothing did not bother him, and the something, when created, did not invoke pride or cause him any diversion from the way he had chosen.

Our Bruno taught us that even in our material secular world it is possible to attain things with the power of faith. He showed that, even in our time, there is still a power in faith, and precisely in the simple, naive and unsophisticated faith that was his.

His simple faith, his ability to find small sparks of light and goodness everywhere and all the time, conquered hearts, endeared him to people, made them partners to his dreams and their realization; partners who adhered to his faith and the warmth of his heart. Those who followed in his path and were loyal to him did so on account of his love, his caring and his every word. They wanted to help him, and they followed him.

Regarding the strength of his faith, he was not a formalist. He saw mainly the essence of things; their internal side. Neither affiliation to frameworks nor acceptance of doctrines interested him. His faith was open, broad… so he could accept both “Neve Shalom” and its members as people of faith, as brothers from the spiritual and interior perspective. Even if they did not behave or speak in the language of tradition or what is accepted by it, he saw beyond the framework and knew its importance.

Besides his being a man of faith, he was also a man of dialogue. Bruno loved to converse with people, to listen to what they had to say. Even if he did not agree with everything, they saw that he cared very much about what they were saying, and that he attempted to relate to it seriously and help as much as he could.

But above and beyond everything, our Bruno was a loving person. He loved the people around him, those with whom he spoke, and those with whom he lived. And everyone felt his love.

And like all great lovers, his love was accompanied by another trait: an enormous modesty. He was not important in his own eyes. For himself, he asked nothing, and he was ready to manage with less than nothing.

Deep faith and great love – these are the characteristics of “our” Bruno. We will remember him always as one who was a great believer and a great lover.

Yosef Emanuel (from Hebrew)