“To be free, we must let go of hate.”
-Rabbi Jonathan Sacks zt”l
In his 22 years as Chief Rabbi and until he died of cancer in 2020, Jonathan Sacks completely changed the global landscape with his uniquely inspirational, thought-provoking discourse that gave a Jewish response to contemporary issues without compromising religious ideals. Far from arguing that Judaism must adapt to fickle public opinion, Rabbi Sacks chafed at what he perceived as a rising moral relativism. While debating evolutionary biologist and critic of religion Richard Dawkins, he offered a strident defense of faith. In times such as ours when argument so often leads to vitriol, Rabbi Sacks personified the ability to disagree without being disagreeable. Just a few months ago, Richard Dawkins tweeted “I had forgotten this debate with the late Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks. Extremely nice man, sorry he’s gone from us.”
That is not to say Rabbi Sacks did not court controversy. Although colloquially referred to as Chief Rabbi of the British Commonwealth, the title is a bit of a misnomer. He led the United Synagogue, a nominally Modern Orthodox institution that represents 75% of British Jewry. Those on the right and left were aggravated by his being seen to represent them. The Ultra-Orthodox community, who derisively referred to him as ‘boychik’, accused Rabbi Sacks of no less than heresy in writing ‘The Dignity of Difference’ calling it a rejection of core Jewish tenets.
His decision in 1996 to not attend the funeral of Rabbi Hugo Gryn, a beloved Reform Rabbi and Auschwitz Survivor, fomented a maelstrom of criticism from the Progressive community. Although he tried to ameliorate hurt feelings by attending shiva and a memorial ceremony, the damage was done especially after a leaked letter he’d written in Hebrew described the Reform movement in less-than-glowing terms.
Rabbi Sacks’ nuanced worldview emerged out of a complicated and sometimes contradictory life experience. Although educated in the Anglican schools St Mary’s Primary School and Christ’s College, Finchley, his career path was laid out for him by the Lubavitcher Rebbe himself, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who pushed him into the rabbinate. The son of parents who left school at 16 and 14 years of age, Rabbi Sacks ascended to the pinnacle of British society receiving a Life Peerage in the House of Lords where true to his centrist worldview, he sat as a crossbencher between left and right.
Come and learn more this Friday night at 8:30pm when we are honored to welcome visiting scholar Samuel Lebens PhD. Professor Lebens will share about the philosophy and legacy of Jonathan Sacks who although he may not have actually been Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom ended up becoming something more akin to the Chief Rabbi of the World.
Services
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, April 21st
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, April 28th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
Bat Mitzvah of Jessie Fishelberg
Saturday, April 29th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:15pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, May 12th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Behar-Bechukotai
Bar Mitzvah of Jonathan Greenberg
Saturday, May 13th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:15pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, May 19th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Bamidbar
Bar Mitzvah of Oliver Roth
Saturday, May 20th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:15pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, May 26th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat – Shavuot Second Day
Bat Mitzvah of Kayla Kleiman
Saturday, May 27th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:30pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 2nd
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 9th
Services: 6:00pm
Shabbat Parashat Beha’alotcha
Bat Mitzvah of Emma Brownstein
Saturday, June 10th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:15pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 16th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Shlach
Bar Mitzvah of Theo Daquin
Saturday, June 17th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:15pm
Events
Yom HaZikaron Memorial Day Service for the Fallen Soldiers of the Wars of Israel and Victims of Actions of Terrorism
Exhibit commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Yom Kippur War
Monday, April 24th at the JCC
Doors open: 7:00pm
Program begins: 7:30pm
Registration Details
Art Show at the JCC
Sunday, May 28th
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Admission Fee: 1,000 JPY for adults and 500 JPY for kids
If you have an idea for an event or a topic you would like to share with others, please visit our website.
Announcements
The Events Committee is planning an Art Show for Sunday evening May 28th at the JCJ. It will feature paintings, calligraphy and photographs from JCC members and others. Admission fee of 1,000 JPY for adults and 500 JPY for kids. A similar show was mounted pre-COVID and was both an artistic and fund raising success. A sign up link on the JCJ website will be available soon.
Thank you to everyone who attended the JCC’s Yom HaShoah event on Monday night which featured the Beit Shalom Choir, remarks by Israeli Ambassador Gilad Cohen, IDF Major General Itai Veruv and JCC Member Paul Chapman and readings by our Post-Bnai Mitzvah. The memorial candles were lit by Ambassador Cohen, General Veruv, US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, JCC President Jonathan Tischler, Kenny and Natalie Schamisso representing the Community Kinderlach and Paul Chapman.
The JCC was honored to host Wednesday Night’s 80th Commemoration of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising led by Kokoro – Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center in partnership with the Israeli Embassy and Polish Institute. JCC Member Janos Cegledy performed beautifully on the piano and Dr. Mariusz Jastrząb, Chief Education Specialist, Education Department of POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw provided a touching and informative lecture on the history of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising as well as the museum’s mission for the present and future.
A new musical tribute to Chiune Sugihara was recently performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall by Jewish-Japanese cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper, a descendant of the recipient of a Visa for Life. We hope to one day experience it in Japan.
JCC Member Dr. Jaime Gerber is starting a chapter of Walk with a Doc here in Tokyo. It is a way to get people outside and walking while sharing information on a general health topic. Walks will take place every 1st and 3rd Friday at 9am.
The JCC office will be closed during Golden Week from 4/30-5/8.
Yiddish Club with Jack Halpern: Monthly meetings have been taking place for quite some time in-person at the JCJ. Please contact Jack at jack@cjki.org if you are interested. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Much more than just language, the club enjoys exploring Yiddish culture as well.
Shabbat Parshat Tazria-Metzora
Candle Lighting: 6:00pm
Havdala: 7:00pm