My grandfather Maurice Hedaya A”H was best known as a local visionary, political champion and dedicated community servant.
In the late 80’s, in response to the crisis of the Jewish community in Syria suffering from the persecution of the local regime, Maurice founded the Sephardic Voters League – with an objective to raise awareness about the political support required to make changes to preserve and save the Jewish community members in Syria.
Maurice rallied local community members to exercise their right to vote and galvanized political leaders to make change, yielding a rescue of 3,500 Jews from Syria.
From as young as I can remember, there was never a shortage of voter registration cards in any of his pockets. They travelled with him from business meetings to family affairs – knowing that the opportunity for change could present itself anywhere with anyone.
Ahead of Election Day I’m reminded so clearly of my grandfather and that if we want to truly be heard, but more importantly to see change, we must show up and vote.
Picture: my grandparents and I at my sister wedding. My grandfather was handing out voter registration cards this night too.
Source: Mo Hedaya
