...to my little garden in the garden state. To the people that I love, and the places that I hate. --”Ode to New Jersey,” composed many years ago by someone who probably wishes to remain anonymous Ah Jakarta—how I have missed you! There’s nothing quite like the feeling of walking out of the airport into the warm soupy air tinged with the dull haze of pollution. It was wonderful to be reunited with our local rabbi Benny Verbrugge and also to connect with Rabbi David and Shelley Kunin. Less wonderful to spend the next two hours negotiating Jakarta’s horrendous traffic trying to get to our hotel. We were not long into our trek when we reached an intersection which was completely gridlocked despite the presence of an actual stoplight—apparently mostly there for decoration. We waited patiently for at least ten minutes before Benny began to ease us gently through the scooters, trucks and cars that were blocking our way. We moved about six feet, then stopped. A garbage truck on our right tried to cut in front of us and misjudged the distance, scraping across the front bumper and headlight of our car. Benny informed us that it was futile to try to persuade the trucking company to pay for the damage to the car; it just wasn’t going to happen. The driver didn’t even make an effort to apologise! Instead, the truck crossed in front of us, and we finally made it through the intersection and drove off towards our destination. Quite the welcome! But although Jakarta is honestly one of my least favourite places, this is my fourth visit here. And that is because if you go through the doors of an unassuming local catering hall, walk up two flights of stairs, and open a very thick door, you will find yourself in Jakarta’s synagogue. And that is where I find the people that I love. David and I are the consulting rabbis for this community, and there are lots of things that only happen when the community is able to save enough to bring us for a visit. Since we hadn’t been in nearly two years, we had a lot to do. On Friday afternoon, we interviewed two women who were ready to convert to Judaism after two or more years of study and participating in the Jakarta community. One of those women happened to be engaged to Benny’s son, so he was just a bit nervous as we spoke with her with Benny as our interpreter. We also spoke with three more candidates who are nearly through the process and who wowed us with their knowledge and their commitment. In their essays and interviews, all spoke of their previous religious connections, which were quite diverse: one had grown up with Confucianism, one of the religious traditions for Indonesians of Chinese descent. A brother and sister had come from a Buddhist household, and another student came from a non-practicing Muslim home. Most of the Jews in Indonesia were raised as Christian, but this was a helpful reminder that Indonesia, known as the world’s largest Muslim country, officially recognises all of these faith traditions and Hinduism as well. All five conversion students inspired us with their desire to become Jewish, despite the possible sacrifices and complications that such a decision might mean for them. From there, Benny, David, Shelley and I rushed over to the synagogue for the start of Shabbat. Well, “rushed” is not the most accurate term: it took more than 30 minutes to travel the relatively short distance, even as we used an alternative route through some back streets and local markets. It was lovely to come back to the space where we had spent some very sacred hours two years earlier. It was especially wonderful to reconnect with the community’s children, who had all grown at least a head taller since the last time we’d seen them. As soon as we began singing the beloved children’s song “Shabbat shalom” at the start of the Friday evening service, everyone joined in loudly. The level of energy over Shabbat was palpable, whether it was channelled into enthusiastic singing or listening intensely as David and I took turns teaching on various topics. The service on Shabbat morning was particularly special: we brought out the beautifully-written donated Torah scroll that David had brought to the synagogue two years earlier. First up to the Torah was Benny’s eldest daughter Rebecca. Rebecca is already eighteen and a university student, but this was the first time that she had read from the the Torah scroll. Thanks to my hard work with my Indonesian teacher, I was able to read the Indonesian translation of the mishebeyrach blessing to her and personalise it a bit for her situation. The children in attendance threw candies at us, and we all sang “Siman tov and mazel tov” to Rebecca. This was only the first of two celebratory call ups of the morning. Of course the second special call up was for Benny’s son Karel and his fiancee Junitaa, who would be married the next day. This time, David was the one to shower the couple with blessings. More candies, and more singing. After the service, we all enjoyed a meal together, then the congregation sat with rapt attention as David shared the complex history of Hanukkah. David, Shelly and I got to go back to our hotel for a nap before returning late in the afternoon, when I taught about that week’s Torah portion and we brought Shabbat to an end. It was then, that David and I sat down with the wedding couple to make sure they knew what to expect at the ceremony the next day. After that conversation, we finally got to the traditional post-Shabbat ritual in Indonesian communities: taking photos together! The wedding was planned for the early hour of 9:00 am on Sunday so that Karel and Junitaa could start the long journey back to their home town of Lampung on the east coast of Sumatra early that afternoon. David, Shelley and I waited in the lobby of our hotel starting at 8:30 in our wedding clothes, but no car arrived. Finally, a full hour later, a member of the community rushed in to fetch us. It seems that Sundays are “Car-free day” in Jakarta, and a number of main roads are closed each week in an effort to encourage the local population to walk and exercise more. This is a great idea in theory, but the roads are already so completely jammed even when all streets are accessible that the main impact of closing some main roads is to ramp up the traffic still more elsewhere in the city. Our drive had spent an hour trying to figure out how to get to our hotel with all the street closures and was in quite a state by the time he got to us. It was a comfort to appreciate that the wedding wasn’t going to happen without us. The wedding itself was beautiful, as all weddings are. Karel and Junitaa are a very sweet couple, and it was especially lovely to see members of both families gathered for what was certainly their first experience of a Jewish wedding. I must say I have never had so many cameras fixed on me in my life: it seemed that nearly every guest felt compelled to take photos throughout the ceremony despite the presence of a professional photographer. Nevertheless, the sense of joy and celebration was quite magical, and I felt so privileged to get to be a part of this day for them. We said goodbye to the members of our community who had joined the wedding celebration, then headed off to a hotel near the airport in anticipation of a morning flight tomorrow to Ambon in the Maluku Islands. It is at our hotel that we’ll light the first Hanukkah candles shortly, with the rest of the festival celebrated in Ambon and then in Bali. David has visited Ambon before, but it will be the first time for me and Shelley. I anticipate that Ambon will be as different from Jakarta as Jakarta is from Bali, and I’m really looking forward to the next adventure!
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Rabbi Shoshana KaminskyI've been the rabbi of Beit Shalom Progressive Synagogue in Adelaide since 2006. As part of the Council of Progressive Rabbis of Australia, New Zealand and Asia, I'm now on my fifth trip to Indonesia to teach, pray and celebrate with the communities here. Archives
July 2022
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