On Friday afternoon, just before the start of Shabbat, the Jewish community of Ambon welcomed a Torah scroll to its little synagogue in Moshe and Vera’s home. Rabbi David Kunin’s Syracuse congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas kindly donated the scroll. This is the third scroll whose donation David has facilitated; the first two were delivered to grateful communities in Jakarta and Timika in 2018. When we arrived at the home, four men were already standing at the ready with a chuppah (marriage canopy) set up. David and Shelley passed the Torah to me, and I in turn passed it to Ben, representing the United Indonesian Jewish Community. The chuppah was walked slowly in to the house, where the scroll was passed to a tearful Moshe. As with leaders of previous communities, he was overcome with the emotion of receiving something so precious. We quickly moved from one celebration to another, as Shabbat began with the setting sun. Since David had led the ceremony to dedicate the new Torah scroll, I led the Friday evening service. In the Timika community, female service leaders and Torah readers have been nurtured by Ariella to stand as equals with the men. Ambon is different; here the most active leaders are all men, including Moshe. I’ve loved the women I’ve met, especially the three women whose weddings we’d celebrated. But they’re more inclined to stay in the background and especially in the kitchen rather than stepping up to lead services. I’m hoping that seeing me and Shelley leading parts of the Shabbat service during our visits will inspire the women of this community to do more in the future. Shabbat services came with a wonderful surprise: I discovered that this is a community that loves to harmonize. At points, the room was filled with four-part harmony. I found myself adding on song after song so that I could participate the beautiful singing. I truly experienced oneg Shabbat--the joy of Shabbat. We enjoyed a delicious Shabbat dinner following services. Vera is a wonderful cook, and the food of Ambon is absolutely delicious—just spicy enough, but not absolutely overwhelming. Rabbi David led the blessing after meals from the dining room, which posed a challenge to those sitting in the living room just around the corner. I kept scurrying around making sure everyone was on the right page, since it was a bit difficult to hear. Once birkat hamazon was done, we returned to our hotel for a much-needed sleep before Shabbat morning services the next day. Unlike other synagogues in Indonesia, where services begin at 9:00—or whenever most people are able to arrive!--Moshe begins his services in Ambon at 8:00 am sharp. He and Vera are high school teachers, and Indonesian schools meet six days each week. The two of them have been able to negotiate an arrangement with their school that they can miss the first several lessons on Saturday mornings, but they are expected to put in an appearance eventually. On this particular Shabbat, both had the day off, so we enjoyed a leisurely journey through the Shabbat morning service. The highlight of the service was reading from the new Torah scroll. Both Moshe and his wonderful assistant Shmuel David had prepared a small portion of the Torah portion to read. Shmuel David in particular had taken advantage of the large number of resources now available on the internet to guide Torah readers. We had another lovely meal, then went back to the hotel for a long nap before more prayers and Torah teaching that evening. We sang the havdalah service to bring Shabbat to a close, and the walls shook with our joined voices. As the evening drew to a close, we were approached for much-anticipated photos. I slowly realised that this was our last night in this lovely place. Moshe and Vera live far up the hill from the busy Ambon City centre, and at night most of what we hear is the sound of insects and frogs. The synagogue in their home feels like an island of serenity when other times the evangelical Christianity and fervent Islam of the region are completely overwhelming. Moshe and Vera have adopted a gorgeous, very active and intelligent boy named Aharon—Hebrew for Aaron. Like the other children of the community, he is being brought up with a sense that Judaism is his home. Just about everyone joined us at the airport the next day to say goodbye, and Aharon rewarded all of us with big hugs. I look forward to watching him grow up with Jewish joy and a sense of confidence that his community will always be there to embrace him.
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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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