After a much-needed nap and and shower on Friday afternoon, we headed over to John and Ariella’s home to begin our Shabbat celebration. We arrived to an enthusiastic welcome from guests who had flown in from Jayapura as well as those local to Timika. The house was full to over flowing with people, most especially several dozen children dressed in their Shabbat best. I was charged with leading kabbalat Shabbat, the opening section of the Friday evening service that puts everyone in a mood for a day of joy and tranquility. I started with the song “Shabbat shalom,” and the response from those gathered was electric. The children exploded into song. One little girl stood in front of me in her pink princess dress. I’d last seen her when she was four, and now she was nine years old. She absolutely belted out every song she knew, meeting my eyes with a fierce sense of pride and ownership. The younger children were not quite so confident with the words, but they made up for it by clapping whenever they could. A little futher back in the room sat the adults, singing with just as much gusto. The energy reached its climax for the song V’shamru in the evening service. I had forgotten the infectious enthusiasm of this community, and I could feel my soul being restored by the level of celebration in the room. This is our first visit to Timika in southern Papua since January 2018, and it’s amazing to see how the children have grown up. More children have come along as well: one family now has six children, and another five. John and Ariella share their home with their two daughters who are in their twenties, but also an eleven-year-old boy and a gorgeous two-year-old girl that they’ve adopted. They are well into their fifties, but seem to be finding the energy to look after a very active toddler. They’d also found the funding to enable two families to travel in from Sentani in northern Papua so they could celebrate with us. Both families are desperately poor, surviving by catching fish from Lake Sentani each morning and them selling them at the local market. Other families are more affluent, but it is all relative here. I consider that I live a fairly modest life my Australian standards, but I am impossibly wealthy compared to these families. I am reminded of a text in the Talmud, in which God praises the Jewish people for declaring that they have eaten their fill even when all they have eaten is a portion of food the size of an egg. I have no doubts that many of these families have had times in their lives when getting enough has been a struggle. Shabbat morning was a marathon of prayer, study and celebration. The community had been saving up its special occasions for our visit. Five young people read from the Torah scroll for the first time, including two sets of siblings. Ariella had spent hours coaching them through the Torah reading, and I could see her mouthing each word as the students read. I realised that we had not seen the Torah read since Rabbi David delivered the donated scroll back in 2018. Each teenager read with grace and confidence, some more loudly than others. After each reading, the congregation threw candy and applauded, and we all sang “Siman tov v’mazel tov.” The sixth aliyah to the Torah was given to the three mothers who had watched their five children called to the Torah. It turns out it was the first time each of them had blessed the Torah, so it was appropriate to sing to them too. The last aliyah went to John and Ariella, in anticipation of a very special celebration: after thirty years of marriage, the two of them would be married in a Jewish wedding ceremony that evening. After a few hours’ break and a delicious nap at the hotel, we all returned late in the afternoon for more prayer and Torah study. Once Shabbat was over, the wedding could begin! A rented wedding dress arrived at the door, and Ariella dashed off to her room to change. She emerged looking absolutely gorgeous to huge cheers and good-natured laughter. David led the couple through the signing of the marriage contract, the ketubah, and then through the bedekin ritual in which John lifted Ariella’s veil to make sure he was marrying the correct woman. Then the wedding ceremony itself began. John and Ariella’s two daughters Sabatin and Melanesia walked their mother down the aisle. As the ceremony moved forward, the children crowded closer in to get a better view, all with broad smiles. I sang the seven wedding blessings near the end of the ceremony which recall the first wedding of Adam and Eve. I noted that the two of them were made at the same time by God in the first chapter of Genesis and so were created as equals. It has been abundantly clear to me in the years I have known John and Ariella that they stand as equals in their home and in the Jewish community they are largely responsible for creating and nurturing. John broke the glass, and the community sang out their congratulations. Then I tried to nudge the couple into the traditional kiss to great hilarity. After the customary five minutes of solitude, the newlyweds emerged. Each was lifted up in turn on a chair carried by a number of very nervous people to more cheers. What a joy to be a part of this moment in their lives! Monday morning saw still more celebration. One further young man, already twenty years old, was called to the Torah. David also conducted a baby naming for three little ones who had been born in the last two years. And then, after lunch, we headed over to a nearby river to immerse John and Ariella’s adopted daughter. She squealed with joy as her mother coaxed all of her into the calm waters. I was greatly relieved that the water was so quiet after the heavy rains we’d experienced. On Monday evening I led the evening prayers and then we enjoyed a last dinner. We’ve almost grown used to the awkardness of eating at our own table, with the adults of the community waiting until we’ve finished to eat their own dinner. Just one of many ways we are elevated in every community we visit. David and I each taught briefly, and then it was photo time! John and Ariella’s daughter took literally hundreds of photos of the five of us with each and every community member in all different configurations. Even though my cheeks started to hurt from smiling so much, it was a lovely time. We had one more ritual to perform: a community member had asked us to afix a mezuzah or amulet to the front door of her home. We finally made it back to the hotel at 10:30 pm so that we could prepare to depart the next morning.
The entire community joined us at the airport for the hour before we made our way to the gate. And we had a special surprise! A young man had come home the previous evening from his posting as a police officer in Jakarta. We remembered what a strong impression he had made on us when we first met him in 2016: he was only sixteen at the time, but already appeared as self-possessed as his police-officer father. He had shared at the time his hope that he would someday go into the same profession as his dad, and here he was, standing straight and tall. His mother told me that for his first two years in Jakarta, his responsibilities had now allowed him to join with the Jewish community there, but that he now would be able to celebrate Shabbat. There was little time for hugs as we walked into the airport, but we had had plenty the night before. The day before, Ariella had spoken tearfully of how David, Shelley and I see each of the children of Papua as our own children. I couldn’t agree more! These young people, whom with luck we’ll see in another two years, are part of our lives now, and we would love nothing more than to see them live joyful and successful lives. We will wait eagerly for our next visit.
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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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