׃
A Benjaminite ran from the battlefield and reached Shiloh the same day; his clothes were rent and there was earth on his head.
-Samuel 1 4:12
500 years before Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens, an unnamed man from the Tribe of Benjamin trekked 42km from the battlefield at Eben Ezer/Rosh Ha’ayin to Eli the Prophet in Shiloh. According to the founder of the Maccabiah games, that distance edges out the Greek sprinter by 2km. Fortunately, the vigorous Jew who made the journey did not keel over and die like Pheidippides of olde. Eli the Prophet did shortly thereafter but that’s another story. No, our hero ends up becoming none other than King Saul at least according to the 11th Century French commentator Rashi.
3000 years later, Israeli-American marathoner Beatie Deutsch. will take on Tokyo this Sunday. In addition to being a mother-of-five who ran the Tel Aviv Marathon seven months pregnant, Beatie demonstrated her commitment to Shabbat by giving up on a chance to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics when the day of the race was moved from Sunday to Saturday. She will begin her Friday running with Ambassadors Rahm Emanuel and Gilad Cohen, assuming they can keep up. Beatie will then experience the JCC’s legendary hospitality. In making Beatie’s Tokyo dreams a reality, our own Mika Fink has generously volunteered her time and expertise to wrap Beatie in kimono at the JCC.
Lest you think Beatie is merely picking up where the Benjaminite left off, it helps to remember that the long arc of Jewish history bends more towards running than wandering. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics in a decision as controversial as the games themselves, precisely two Jewish sprinters, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, were the only Americans excluded from competition with the great Jesse Owens futilely advocating on their behalf. 34 years later in 1970, Romanian-Jewish Holocaust Survivor Fred Lebow founded the New York City Marathon. Whether training for a marathon or a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, the words of Fred Lebow continue to ring true. “It doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, ‘I have finished.’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that.”
Services
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, March 3rd
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner with reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Zachor/Parshat Tetzaveh
Kiddush Sponsored by the McCormack Family in honor of Yokota’s Jewish Community
Saturday, March 4th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, March 10th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner with reservation: 7:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, March 17th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner with reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Vayakhel-Pekudei
Kiddush Sponsored by the Bleiweis-Fischer Family in honor of Dr. Nathan Fischer’s first visit to Japan
Saturday, March 18th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, March 24th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner with reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Vayikra
Kiddush Sponsored by the Greenfield-Ichikawa Family in honor of Rina’s Tokyo Bat Mitzvah
Saturday, March 25th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Events
Purim with Japanese Klezmer Band CICALA-MVTA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOyXmpW_2EQ
Sponsored by the Bleiweis-Fischer, Nadler, Sitbon, Tseinyev and Anonymous families for their sponsorship of our Purim festivities. Izaki-san’s famous hamantaschen sponsored by Kenden Alfond of Jewish Food Hero. https://jewishfoodhero.com/about/
Monday, March 6th
Megillah Reading in the JCC Sanctuary
Time: 7:00pm
Donation: 1,000 yen
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
Condolences to Jonathan Kushner on the loss of his dad, Ronald. May the family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Two eagles landed this week in Tokyo:
The first was El Al Flight 91 direct from TLV-NRT. Needless to say, various members of the JCC were instrumental in bringing nonstop flights between Tokyo and Tel Aviv to fruition. May demand outpace supply so that ANA and JAL want a piece of the action placing flights into Haneda.
The second was our Passover shipment which chugged along across the Pacific Ocean before arriving at the port. Thank you to Dan Turk, Carmel Rosenthal, Tal and Ayako-san and others for bringing the delicious (at least for eight days) Kosher for Passover goodies to Tokyo.
This Shabbat we read Parshat Zachor, the only Biblically mandated Torah reading. Even if you are not a regular Saturday morning attendee, feel free to drop in and perform what is ostensibly the easiest mitzvah in the Torah by hearing a total of three verses. Give your zayde some naches bubbeleh and come to shul.
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 Tetzaveh
Candle Lighting: 5:19pm
Havdala: 6:16pm