Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff urges Mormons and Jews to stick together

SALT LAKE CITY — When Daniel Ayalon, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States, visited Utah, he was surprised and delighted to find a Jordan River, a Zions Bank and a city called Moab.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff recalled the story earlier this month at the semiannual meeting of B'nai Shalom, a society composed of Mormons and Jews.

"Ayalon has said (of Utah), 'There's something about the people out there. I felt home,' " Shurtleff said.

B'nai Shalom is a 43-year-old organization that brings together Jews and Mormons of Jewish heritage, as well as those who have an affinity for Jewish culture. The organization promotes appreciation of Jewish heritage and advocates genealogical work. The president is Daniel Rona, a prominent Jewish convert to the LDS Church.

Shurtleff was the keynote speaker at the meeting at an LDS chapel in downtown Salt Lake City.

Another well-known Jewish convert to the LDS Church, pianist Marvin Goldstein, played at the event, blending LDS and Jewish hymns. After he played "Hatikva," or "The Hope," the national anthem of Israel, a visibly moved Shurtleff addressed the congregation.

Shurtleff, who serves on the board of the America-Israel Friendship League, emphasized the connection between the U.S. and Israel as democratic nations.

"As goes America, so goes Israel," Shurtleff said. "(Israel) is our sister democracy in a sea of totalitarianism; it is surrounded by people who want to throw them off the face of the earth."

Having developed an intense love for Israel and the Jewish people during his years as a college student, even writing his senior thesis on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Shurtleff recalled his elation upon meeting the late former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2003.

Shurtleff referred to Sharon, a personal hero, as a "bull of a man" and a "warrior." He asked Sharon if he could tell him why a Mormon boy from Utah loved Israel.

Sharon, who was supposed to be ushered off to a meeting, stopped and said, "By all means."

Shurtleff recited from memory the poem "Never Shall I Forget" by Elie Wiesel, having read and been moved by it while visiting the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The poem recounts the brutal, inclusive experience of the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

By the poem's end, Shurtleff and Sharon were in tears, bonding over a mutual desire for peace.

Shurtleff concluded by saying Americans and Israelis, Mormons and Jews, need to "stick together as nations, religions and people."

Rona commended Shurtleff's passion, thrilled that the organization has witnessed the coming together of "the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph with Jehovah as the connecting line."

For more information about B'nai Shalom, visit mormonsandjews.org. There is no charge to become a member of the organization.

e-mail: eschmuhl@desnews.com