Michael Feathers asks if syntax is important.

I think the answer is maybe.  Certainly a language with a familiar syntax will allow you to pick it up faster if you have already learned a language with similar syntax.  For example, I found Java very easy to understand since I had a background in C#.  

Of course, there are the countless winers who complain about lisp's syntax or lack thereof. 

One tricky point is syntax that is legal in one language but not so in another.  I constantly found myself typing foreach in java just to be kicked in the head by the compiler.

I think syntax really matters for the first month or so of learning a new language.  Once you get beyond that you are able to "think" in the new language and your ideas start showing up in your new language.