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?
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.
Bangkok
Thailand
8 December 2007
Hello,
Happy Chanukah.
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.
"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.
Gonder
Amhara Region
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
April 20, 2011
Gary Metzger
Administrative Director
NACOEJ – North American Conference on Ethiopian Jewry
New York, New York
USA
Dear Mr. Metzger,
cc: Family and Friends
Thank you for providing me with the contacts at the Jewish Community in Ethiopia. Asher and Rabbi Waldman from Israel were generous hosts.
The Ethiopians in the Jewish Community were welcoming and kind. Despite the difficulty of their lives, everyone was smiling and eager to meet me – especially the children.
