On the seventh night of Hanukkah, Saturday night, a man wielding a machete charged into a Hanukkah party at the home of a Hassidic rabbi in Monsey, New York and stabbed five people. Reports in the media are that the man had suffered from mental illness for many years that had been inadequately treated, but that does not in any way diminish the terror of the attack, especially when the man yelled, “I’ll get you!” as he lashed out. This incident capped a horrifying week of violence and intimidation against ultra-Orthodox Jews in the New York City area, with anti-Semitic attacks on the rise in the United States and in many other corners of the world. Meanwhile in Indonesia, we’ve had the opportunity to connect with dozens of people who are committed to living fully as Jews in a time and place where many things are uncertain. The villa where we are staying in Bali was rented for a year by a community member in Jakarta who was concerned enough about the political environment that he set aside a refuge for himself and his loved ones if they needed to flee. Our gracious host for Shabbat here in Bali admitted that for most of the 22 years she’s been welcoming people to her home for Jewish celebrations, she’s been doing so in secret. And yet, we’ve seen time after the time the incredible joy that our members experience by being Jewish. This was especially true this last Shabbat when we called seven young people up to the Torah. One was a 17-year-old from the Muslim stronghold of Surabaya, who had only finalised his conversion the day before. His father was the fourth generation of Surabaya Jews to look after the city’s synagogue. When that community was torn apart by tensions from within and without and the synagogue was demolished, his father fell into a deep funk and only emerged when he made contact with Benny years later. Now he and his son recited the prayers over the Torah together, and his eyes were alive with a complex mix of emotions. Benny and Rachel’s daughter Devora, who is a very gifted singer, sang the hymn El Adon with Shelley Kunin and then read Torah with grace and ease. So did Sabatin, Melanesia, and Solagratia, three young women from West Papua, 2400 km away. Ariella, who is mother to two of the girls, teacher to all three, and leader of her community, admitted that she’d made sure they got the work done. Her two daughters had already read Torah on a number of previous occasions, but did not want to miss the opportunity to celebrate with us, their rabbis. We’ve visited West Papua twice before, but the current political situation there is very volatile, and the community reluctantly told us we should stay away. It was bittersweet for me to celebrate with these two families, when I’d grown accustomed to praying in their home town of Timika with dozens of adults and children belting out the prayers at the top of their lungs. Ariella had brought that community’s Torah scroll with her to Bali, carefully wrapped in a thick blanket and then packed in a backpack. This is the scroll that David arranged to bring from Edmonton; I was delighted and amazed to hear that the Timika community reads from the Torah every week. Usually, it’s Ariella who does the reading, but she has now been joined by her daughters. Now Sologratia has joined the ranks of Torah readers, and I hope she has many more opportunities to read with her family and friends back in Timika. Florence, a quiet medical student whose father is the patron of the Jakarta community, read Torah too as her father proudly looked on. Benny and Rachel’s older daughter Rebecca, who had celebrated her bat mitzvah the week before in Jakarta, insisted on having the chance to read her own Torah portion once again so that she could be a part of this great occasion. Our hosts Liat, whose villa has welcomed thousands of Jews from overseas over the years, and her musical assistant Dan looked on with wonder. We were joined that morning by a number of overseas visitors, who had come for Shabbat dinner the night before and came back for the festivities on Shabbat morning. When all seven students had been called up, David and I offered a mishebeyrach—a prayer of blessing—to all of them, and then the congregation sang the song “Siman tov v’mazel tov” with great joy. We moved on to lunch and enthusiastic singing, then Torah study, a few quiet hours, topped off with a rousing havdalah ceremony to bring Shabbat to a close. Now, after only 24 hours together, it was time to say farewell to our beloved friends from West Papua. We are so different in so many ways, divided by culture, language and political and economic circumstances, but my love for them seems to transcend all of these obstacles. What a whirlwind it has been! In the nine days we spent with the Jewish community in Jakarta, Ambon, and Bali, we conducted conversions for nine new Jews, celebrated a wedding, and called seven people to the Torah. Perhaps even more important was the time we’ve spent connecting with people through teaching and private conversations. We’ve spent hours listening to Benny share his many stories of the challenges he faces working with communities all across the country. I would like to believe that our work here has strengthened the light of Judaism in Indonesia.
I learned during Hanukkah that the term “to light the candles” in Indonesian is menghidupkan api lilin Hanukkah, which literally means “to bring the fire to life.” I have no question that the people who let me into their lives here in Indonesia are finding that fire, and nurturing it from a tiny flame to a mighty bonfire. It continues to be my great privilege to be a part of that journey. As an afternote, we are currently raising money to assist the Indonesian committee to produce a daily prayerbook similar to their Shabbat prayerbook, with transliteration from the Hebrew and a translation into Indonesian. All donors will be acknowledged in the prayerbook and donors of $250 and above will receive a copy of the book. Please contact me at [email protected] if you are able to assist.
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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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