Rabbi Yaakov Raskin | My friend Hugh Hart: A legendary figure with a huge heart

On Thursday, April 16, I got a notification that former senator and government minister Hugh C.E. Hart had passed away at age 96.

We first met in 2018 and I quickly grew to become very fond of him. I made a habit to stop by to visit Hugh before Jewish holidays. We would sit and chat, wrap Tefillin (leather boxes word during prayer) and he would ask me all sorts of questions about Judaism.

He would also give me advice about life, gleaned from the wisdom he accumulated over his life.

What struck me most about Hugh was his kindness, curiosity and warmth that made every encounter a pleasure.

Over the course of our friendship, I learned about how Hugh descended from some of Jamaica's oldest and most prominent Jewish families – the Harts, the deCordovas and the Delgados, each of which had an outsized impact in Jamaican history. Hugh's great-great grandfather was Joshua deCordova, who co-founded The Gleaner back in 1834, and was a distant relative of Moses Delgado, a leading 19th century businessman who won civil rights for Jamaica's Jews.

The many glowing tributes to Hugh highlight his many prolific accomplishments, and also how behind all that, he was a genuinely warm and humble man.

Jewish tradition teaches that a person's character is revealed not by what they do when it is required of them, but by what they do when nothing requires it. The Ethics of the Fathers, one of the best known books of Jewish wisdom, teaches: "Who is wise? One who learns from every person.". Hugh embodied that. Here was a man who had been in the highest chambers of power, and listened to a young rabbi with openness and genuine curiosity.

The Torah portion we read recently contains the famous verse "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18), the foundation of all Jewish teaching. However, the verse doesn’t stop there. The full quote is “Love your Fellow as yourself, I am the Lord”.

Torah commentators throughout the ages have asked why the second half of the sentence is there. What purpose does it serve? Classical explanations say that loving your neighbor, much like other commandments such as not bearing a grudge, or not hating your fellow in your heart, are interior acts that no human court can see or punish. "I am G-d" functions as a reminder that the confines of our heart also have a witness. G-d knows whether you are abiding by these inner rules.

However, Chasidic interpretation, as taught by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, reads that verse not as a commandment followed by G-d's signature, but as a single continuous statement: "Love your Fellow as yourself, I am G-d [which exists within both of you]".

In other words, our capacity to love another person as ourselves does not come from willpower or good character alone. It comes from recognising that we are both a part of a larger divine whole. The same G-d who is present in you is present in the person across from you.

HIS LEGACY

When I met with Hugh, he wouldn’t quote scripture. But when he sat across from someone, whether a head of government or a rabbi visiting before a holiday, he would live by this commandment. His warmth and attention were rooted in recognising a common humanity and divinity with everyone. He gave them the same attention, the same genuine curiosity, the same warmth.

This is something that everyone can learn from my friend Hugh. It doesn’t matter who you are speaking to, or who you are doing business with. When you meet someone, recognise their G-dly essence. By doing that, you fulfill the Mitzvah of “love your neighbor as yourself”.

After ninety-six years of negotiating with presidents, prime ministers and society’s top leaders, he never failed to see the humanity in every person.

Hugh will be remembered for his humility, kindness, generosity and curiosity.

Hugh asked me once what Jewish tradition says about what happens after we die. I told him that the good a person does can never be extinguished and stays in the world long after they are gone.

In Jamaica and in the Caribbean, his legacy will endure for a very long time. May his memory be for a blessing.

- Rabbi Yaakov Raskin is the director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Jamaica and the ARK Centre, located on the Hip Strip in Montego Bay. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com