Am Yisrael

2010 Passover in Bangkok

Posted December 1, 2014 by admin

Bangkok

15 Nisan 5770

Dear Family and Friends,

חג שמח

My best wishes to you and your family for a sweet and joyful Passover.

I will be attending two Seders here in Bangkok. The first night there will be a gathering at The Davis Hotel - 100-150 participants. The second night will be at the Shul - Beth Elisheva. Rabbi Kantor is an enthusiastic and brilliant religious leader. I am looking forward to both events where the Four Questions will be chanted in Hebrew, Yiddish (the Rabbi is a Chasid) and Thai (several members are married to Thai women).

2010 Chanukah in Bangkok

Posted December 6, 2010 by admin

What Was the Rabbi Thinking? 

Bangkok

Thailand 

06 December 2010 

29 Kislev 5771 

What is the Rabbi thinking as he stares off in the distance towards the huge menorah?  

Is he pausing for a moment to relax?  Is he composing his remarks for this Hanukkah celebration?  Is he praying silently? 

Yom Kippur 2007: "Good Advice"

Posted September 23, 2007 by admin

Bangkok

Thailand

Sunday

23 September 2007

Dear Stanley,

Thank you for your Yom Kippur e-card with the printed sentiment, "Wishing you an easy fast."

Many of us have been using this greeting for as long as I can remember.  We all wish for an easy fast on Yom Kippur.  We recall the difficulty of not eating or drinking for twenty-four hours, especially we coffee addicts.

But your additional, special greeting was both a surprise and a challenge: "Enjoy your fast." Enjoy!  This was the first time anyone made this suggestion to me. What a great idea. Excellent advice.  I accepted the challenge to enjoy my fast this year.

Harbin: "The World's Treasures"

Posted January 12, 2008 by Jan
China: Provinces

Harbin

Heilongjiang Province
China
January 12, 2008

My Dear Friends and Family around the World,

Now, here's a list of names from the 1920's:

Kulas, Soskin, Longovich, Kabalkin, Gofman, Makievsky, Katz, Azachovski, Trabgin, Kagan, Skidelski, Kisiliov, Kaufman, Drizin, Dobisov, Mordokovich. Russians all. One Austrian: Rosenfield.

Such names! Are they from the Lower East Side of New York? Northeast Philadelphia? The Near Westside of Chicago? Moscow?
None of the above.

To Shanghai with Love

Posted July 6, 2010 by Jan
China: Shanghai

"When everything seemed hopeless, there was an open door.  I don't want anyone to forget where that door was.  That is why the story needs to be told.  Soon there won't be anyone around to remember how we survived against all odds."   Shanghai Refugee

       "To Shanghai with Love"

By Jan Polatschek and Cheng Na Dai (Daisy)

Jan writes:

The Goldstaub Family loves Shanghai.  The Blumenthal Family loves Shanghai.  The Rossback and Zysman and Rosenfeld Families love Shanghai.  These European Jewish families along with thousands of others owe their lives to the government of China and to the people of Shanghai.  When they visit China, they come to Shanghai with love.

 

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