Newspaper Page Text
The Jews of the Orient
Continued from page 12.
currently fighting and it would be
nice if you talked about all Jews
living in harmony and respecting
each other.” I laughed and told
him that I do this all day long back
home.
On Saturday morning I arrived
at the synagogue. This time women
sat in the gallery upstairs—three
Caucasians, one converted Malay
sian, and a Seventh Day Adventist.
The men ambled in at all hours,
prayed at their own pace, gossiped
and generally walked around. The
Torah was read by an elderly Jew
in a Sephardic drone, and you
really had to work hard to under
stand him.
After the service, we went into
the club section to a sitdown kid-
dush where I spoke. Since there
was no rabbi, they asked me to
address David Levy, who was to
become bar mitzva the next week.
He was an Eurasian child—a very
handsome young man. Lunch the
next day was a wonderful expe
rience. The fascinating part about
that was the fact that it was the
Sunday before Tu B’Shevat and
the children were given packages
of raisins, fruits, etc., just like Jew
ish children all over the world.
Bangkok is a little different story.
It’s head is Isaac Djemal, who
came from Syria about 1940. When
he arrived, one could purchase
land at a modest rate. H is sons and
daughters were educated at Jerusa
lem and London. Currently, there
is a change in Bangkok because
they had to move from the old syn
agogue to a room closer in town
because the Orthodox Jews would
not ride on Shabbat.
Again, we were invited to a Tu
B’Shevat party on the day itself
where the Jewish community would
turn out. It was to be held at the
offices of the Kashani Brothers,
who are Israelis and own a whole
sale gem shop. Since it was a few
minutes from our hotel, we decided
to walk. But, just to besure, we had
the concierge write it out in Thai.
Naturally, we got lost. We showed
the address to people, but we still
couldn’t find it. Out of despera
tion, 1 went into the lobby of
another hotel and called Mr.
Kashani. He said, “You are only a
few minutes away. Just stay there
and I’ll send Tziyon to get you.”
Tziyon turned out to be a young
Israeli learning the gem business.
Here we are walking down the side
streets of Bangkok talking Hebrew.
At the party they served pita and
chumus. The Israeli Ambassador
Navon took us back to our hotel in
the Embassy car.
Our last stop was Singapore.
Out of a population of three mil
lion there are 350 Jews. The syn
agogue, Mogen Avot, has a minyon
every day, morning and evening.
But, there is a catch to it. They pay
the members to attend.
In Singapore we had an interest
ing meeting with the Israeli ambas
sador, Ben Moshe. Singapore is a
very important listening post for
Israel and other activities which
are not proper to mention in pub
lic. Ben Moshe is a very able man.
On the wall behind him he has a
picture of Shimon Peres, the pres
ent prime minister of Israel. On the
wall in front of him he has the pic
ture of Yitzhak Shamir, who by
agreement will soon become the
prime minister. When that occurs,
he will simply switch pictures. He
told us alot of interesting things
about the relationship of Israel and
the Far East. And, in some instan
ces, it is very promising and hopeful.
Being a Jew is always fascinating
and a little different wherever one
is. But, in the Orient it is unique
and stimulating and a visit there
must include a visit to the syna
gogue.
. . . And they shall heat their swords into plowshares
ISAIAH 2.4
nron nmo
Atlanta, JETTlPLE Slf^l Georgia
Torah Day School of Atlanta
•oron njia mis'?
The Board of Directors
and Staff of Torah Day School
wish our families and the entire Jewish community
a year of
health, happiness and prosperity
Rabbi Eliezer Vilensky. Principal
Dr. Henry Edik. President
L’Shana Tova
to the entire community
JEWISH WAR VETERANS
JEWISH WAR VETERANS AUXILIARY
Bicentennial Post #976
Harry Axelrod Muriel Kimelman
Commander Auxiliary President
L’Shana Tova
from the
i Southeastern Region of
HADASSAH
Carol Kaplan, President
Janet Lipsitz, Treasurer
Elaine Antman, Assistant Treasurer
Martha Sanders, Recording Secretary
Debra Adler, Corresponding Secretary
Shirley Michalove, Susan Tourial
Margie Franco & Toby Parker
Vice Presidents
PAGE 13RH THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE October 3, 1986