Category: Newsletters

Shabbat Parshat VaeraCandle Lighting: 4:34pmHavdala: 5:35pm

Shabbat Parshat ShemotCandle Lighting: 4:34pmHavdala: 5:35pm

During the past 30 years, Israel and Egypt have waged war. But for the past 16 months, these same two great nations have waged peace. Today we celebrate a victory, not of a bloody military campaign, but of an inspiring peace campaign.-President Jimmy Carter at the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty Signing Ceremony There may be no...

Abba, why don’t we celebrate Christmas? Is it because we’re not Japanese?-Asher on the way home from hoikuen The first night of Hanukkah falling out on December 25 will undoubtedly lead to social media posts about how many Christmas songs were written by Jews in early 20th century America. The story is well-trod, well-known and...

If you thought the Hanukkah story represented an epic battle pitting gyro-eating Greek soldiers against their falafel-devouring Israeli nemeses, you’d be wrong. King Antiochus IV was less Aegean than Seleucid which is a fancy way of saying Syrian-Greek. The Seleucid Empire’s capital was not Athens or Thebes but Antioch, located in northwestern Syria. The misconception...

In an imagined conversation with his great-great grandfather, Rabbi David Wolpe shares “We’re having a tough time at Harvard.” His ancestor, flabbergasted, interrupts him to blurt out, “There are Jews at Harvard?” Rabbi Wolpe continues, “Yeah, but there’s a lot of hatred of Israel.” Rabbi Wolpe’s great-great grandfather again interjects to exclaim, “There’s an Israel?!”...

The cultural spheres of sport and religion mixed recently when Jake Retzlaff, a proud Jew, became the starting quarterback for the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars. The fiercely Zionistic, unquestionably Mormon institution of higher (4,500 feet above sea level) learning might just be the safest school to be Jewish anywhere in the United States of...

The JCC is swimming in Scholars-in-Residence. While other synagogues empty their treasuries hosting thought leaders, we are fortunate to exchange only a taste of Izaki-san’s challah, an Ikea mattress and a roof overhead. Who says inbound tourism doesn’t have benefits? On Friday night December 13, we will welcome Noah Notis, Princeton alum and current PhD...

Given our isolated location, the Jews of Japan have historically been disconnected from the rest of the Jewish world. There are a few exceptions, namely the nascent Nagasaki community’s late 19th century relationship with Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Shanghai and former JCJ president Anatol Ponve’s selfless work rescuing European refugees from the Shoah. But in...

Join us on Sunday, December 8, for an exclusive Japan performance as Lenka Lichtenberg and her ensemble will perform songs from her award winning albums Thieves of Dreams + Silent Tears, the Last Yiddish Tango and other songs written during the Holocaust. ‘Silent Tears, The Last Yiddish Tango’ is a concert program based on testimonies...