"Shliach" is the Singular of "Shluchim"

Posted October 9, 2015 by twj

ב"ה

Shliach is the Singular of Shluchim

 


Brooklyn
New York
November 8, 2015

 

I met Harley Greenberg in Chengdu, by chance....

……….

Harley Greenberg and I first met in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China in the fall of June, 2010.  We have been friends ever since.

Harley was a Peace Corps Volunteer in China.  He smiles, a warm and caring smile.   

Harley and his wife Helen live in Chengdu (population 9.6 million).  They have a darling infant daughter who they named Jeanne.  From the recent photos he has sent, Harley appears to be one of the most affectionate men I have ever known.   He overflows with gratitude and joy and love as he embraces his wife and child.

Harley and Helen operate the Windhorse Tour travel agency in Chengdu – the gateway city to Tibet.  In 2010 they helped me with my local plans and also booked me on the Yangtze River Three Gorges Cruise.

In the spring of the 2011, I called Harley from Bangkok.  During the course of our conversation I happened to ask him if he was planning to attend a Passover Seder in Chengdu.  Not only did Harley have no idea if there were any other Jews in Chengdu, he was quite unaware that Passover was soon to arrive.  

As we spoke, I did a search and found a small group of Jews in Chengdu who were gathering to conduct a Seder.  I gave Harley the information and encouraged him to make contact.

Two weeks later I called Harley again. 

The Big Birthday!

Posted September 20, 2015 by twj

Bangkok

Thailand

September 20, 2015  

Hello,

My Birthday weekend has come to an end.  It was a quiet day today after two wonderful events.  

On Friday night, my actual Birthday, September 18, I decided to attend synagogue Sabbath services where I gave a brief talk appropriate for the day and the location.  

On Satuday night, I had a typical birthay party with both old friends and new friends.  We enjoyed a variety of Thai food dishes and two birthday cakes: fruit cake and mocha layer cake.  

Of course, I gave a short speech and thanked my friends for celebrating with me. (Photos attached.)

And thank you all for your birthday wishes from around the world.

Below is the text of my remarks at Synagogue.

Be well,

Jan

.....................................................................................

Temple Beth Elisheva

Bangkok, Thailand

September 18, 2015

Friday

My Dear Family.  My Dear Friends,

Shabbat Shalom.

I am Jan Robert Polatschek.     I live here in Bangkok.   I am a member of the congregation Temple Beth Elisheva.

Today, September 18 is a special day for me.

On this very day in New Rochelle, New York, Ruth Rebeka Lifson Polatschek and Otto Siegfried Polatschek became the proud parents of a six pound eight ounce baby boy.  The date on the Hebrew calendar was 15 Elul.

Last Days in Greenland

Posted September 2, 2015 by twj
Greenland

East Greenland

September 1, 2015

Hello my friends,

The ice sheet on Greenland is second only to the ice sheet at the Antarctic.

Here in late summer, wildflowers abound.  Yet, I have seen little or no agriculture.  The mountains are black or covered with ice and snow.  The fjords are filled with icebergs that have broken free of the ancient glaciers.

My next adventure is in Iceland.  There I anticipate sheep and horses grazing in lush pastures.

So here's the question: "Why is the continental-country of ice called Greenland?

Why is the more temperate locale called Iceland?

 I wish you safe and colorful travels, 

Jan

The Story of Icebergs - Greenland

Posted September 1, 2015 by twj
Greenland

 

 

 

 

The Iceberg Story

A Poetic Story:

“The Migration of Icebergs” by Daniel Anet*

“It’s a naïve iceberg, pure ethereal sculpture, a floating mountain that rolled over one day and plunged into the sea.  But it’s also the wide open sea, an infinite constellation if icebergs, like a migration of swans; or perhaps it might be the reflection of the Milky Way slipping across the dark blue sea, through the drifting fog.

The fjords thrust into granite lands for hundreds of kilometers, like inland seas; and their waves will eventually lap against short beaches of grey and black pebbles, onto which slump the pleated fronts of age-old glaciers polished by waterfalls. 

Ikateq: Debris and Discovery

Posted August 30, 2015 by twj
Greenland

 

Ikateq Airbase

Ikateq Fjord

East Greenland

August 28, 2015

 

If I had had a vote I would have voted “no.”

Since I didn’t have a vote, and without any discussion, our tour proceeds up Ikateq Fjord to visit an abandoned United States Airbase built during World War II.

On this occasion, dictatorship trumps democracy.

But why would we want to spend any time at an obsolete gravel airstrip and the adjacent forlorn remains of construction equipment and the rubble of overturned oil drums, discarded and left to rust and decay?

The scenery surrounding the airbase is as dramatic and pristine as any I have seen here in East Greenland.  Yet, is there something moving and compelling and even attractive about this detritus of the not so distant past?

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