***Note updated times: Erev Simchat Torah on 10/24 will begin at 5:15pm. Kabbalat Shabbat on 10/25 will begin at 5:00pm with dinner to follow. Please register for Sukkot meals ASAP https://jccjapan.jp/high-holidays-2024/ ***
Before arriving in Japan, I asked a rabbinic predecessor whether getting the four species (lulav/etrog) for Sukkot ‘just happens’ at the JCC. His answer: Nothing Jewish in Japan ‘just happens’. How right he was.
As opposed to bargain hunters who peruse Brooklyn’s open-air bazaars where the scents of palm, willow, myrtle and citron linger in the air prior to Sukkot each year, Tokyo’s Jews have a much harder time importing the above flora through a notoriously nitpicky Japanese Customs. Palm is doable. Willow and myrtle grow wild so no issue there. But the etrog is another story altogether.
The Torah leaves a bit of mystery surrounding the identity of the etrog. The Hebrew description of ‘pri etz hadar’ (fruit tree beautiful, respectively) can be interpreted in several different ways. One commentary ventures a guess that based on the plain meaning of the verse, we are to wave our palm, myrtle, willow and a literal fruit tree in fulfillment of the commandment. Thankfully, this is a minority and very much discounted view given the Jewish predilection for planting trees as instead of uprooting them.
The indispensably sacrosanct fruit now known as an etrog originated in China, specifically Yunnan Province. The citron is called Buddha’s Hand leading to a bit of a mixed-metaphor when used for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. About 2,500 years ago, an enterprising trader likely from Itochu Corporation or another sogo shosha crossed the Himalayas with a bushel to sell and plant on the subcontinent.
When the Persian Empire conquered India, the citron spread further west to Israel where its arrival coincided with a period when Jewish practice was becoming more standardized. Choosing from a variety of beautiful produce to wave with the palm, willow and myrtle would no longer do. The originally Chinese citron’s presence in a Persian-built botanical garden located outside Jerusalem proved the perfect choice and ended up being codified in Jewish law as the etrog we know today.
Thousands of years later, a strange irony arose in wartime China’s Shanghai Ghetto. Given the period’s privations, acquiring the four species was proving an impossible task. The students of the famed Mir Yeshiva set out with Chinese scouts and found a version of the Buddha’s Hand citron. In a feat of Mendelian inheritance, the etrogs they knew from Europe looked nothing like the original. A fevered debate broke out. Could they use these Chinese citrons as etrogs?
It turned out the question had arisen decades earlier when Baghdadi Jews settled China in the 19th century. The answer? It depends who you ask. One Iraqi rabbi gave the Chinese citron his blessing. His more well-known and authoritative student disagreed. The students chose the middle position of using the Chinese citron but without making the blessing.
I am pleased to report that the four species, etrog and all, are safely ensconced in the Jewish Community of Japan ready to be waved by all who desire throughout the Sukkot holiday. Chag Sameach!
Services
Erev Sukkot
Wednesday, October 16th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner in the Sukkah by reservation: 7:00pm
Sukkot Day 1
Thursday, October 17th
Services: 10:00am
Lunch in the Sukkah by reservation: 12:30pm
Maariv Services: 6:00pm
Dinner in the Sukkah by reservation: 7:00pm
Sukkot Day 2
Friday, October 18th
Services: 10:00am
Lunch in the Sukkah by reservation: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat Chol haMoed Sukkot
Friday, October 18th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner in the Sukkah by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot
Saturday, October 19th
Services: 10:00am
Lunch in the Sukkah by reservation: 12:00pm
Shmini Atzeret Evening
Wednesday, October 23rd
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner in the Sukkah by reservation: 7:00pm
Shmini Atzeret Morning
Thursday, October 24th
Services: 10:00am
Lunch in the Sukkah by reservation: 12:30pm
Erev Simchat Torah Service
Thursday, October 24th
Services and Dancing with the Torah: 5:15pm
Pizza, refreshments and drinks to follow
Simchat Torah
Friday, October 25th
Services: 10:00am
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, October 25th
Services: 5:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 6:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Beresheet
Kiddush anonymously sponsored. Find out why next week!
Saturday, October 26th
Services: 10:00am
High Holiday/Sukkot Reservations: https://jccjapan.jp/high-holidays-2024/
Friday Night Dinner Reservations: https://jccjapan.jp/shabbat-meals-sign-up/
Events
Book talk with Eva Izsak Niimura
Friday, October 18th 8:00pm
Silent Tears – The Last Yiddish Tango (live performance)
Sunday, December 8th Time TBD
Event Registration Page: https://jccjapan.jp/event-registration/
If you have an idea for an event or a topic you would like to share with others, please visit our website: https://jccjapan.jp/event-committee-inquiry/
Announcements
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Yom Kippur. During the Kol Nidre service, we were honored to hear the powerful testimony and beautiful song of Liel Fishbein who narrowly survived the 10/7 attack on Kibbutz Be’eri with his mother and grandmother but whose 18-year-old sister Celeste (Tchelet) tragically did not. Liel blew a rousing Tekiah Gedolah to close out Neilah.
We greatly appreciate our Chazzan Yoni Roth and Torah readers who chanted so beautifully throughout the High Holidays. The anonymously sponsored break-fast in honor of Ambassador Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule drew an eclectic crowd including well-known influencers and a former Israeli Cabinet Secretary in addition to nearly 200 ravenous Jews.
The menu included bagels and lox, whitefish salad on onion rolls, egg salad on multigrain bread, noodle kugel with raisins, an assortment of desserts flown in from Chicago and Sydney and a bar overflowing with Chicago’s Goose Island IPA and Koval whiskey. We were proud to offer vegan and gluten-free options as well. Thank you to the army of staff from the office to the kitchen who worked overtime, nights and weekends to pull everything off.
Tokyo was selected as the host city for this year’s BBYO Convention of Jewish Teens in Asia. Building off the success of the chapter’s inaugural laser tag event, our teens and their parents are planning a jam-packed itinerary for participants from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei. If you would like to register, help, contribute or learn more please reply to this email.
Yiddish Club with Jack Halpern: Please contact Jack at jack@cjki.org if you are interested to join. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Much more than just language, the club’s monthly meetings explore Yiddish culture as well.
Sukkot
Candle Lighting Wednesday: 4:46pm
Candle Lighting Thursday: 5:41pm
Candle Lighting Friday: 4:43pm
Havdala: 5:39pm
Don’t forget Eruv Tavshilin