***In honor of International Women’s Day, the JCC welcomes Israeli attorney and public policy specialist Ayelet Razin Bet Or to address us on Friday evening at 8:30pm. The topic of the lecture and discussion will be wide-ranging but with specific focus on women’s rights in Israel. All are welcome.***
“Resolved that we, Jewish women, sincerely believing that a closer fellowship will be encouraged, a closer unity of thought and sympathy and purpose, and a nobler accomplishment will result from a widespread organization, do therefore band ourselves together in a union of workers to further the best and highest interests of Judaism and humanity, and do call ourselves the National Council of Jewish Women.”
So read the 1893 declaration that established the NCJW. Shortly thereafter, the Union of Jewish Women was founded in the United Kingdom and the Jüdischer Frauenbund in Germany. In the years to come, an avalance of similar organizations were formed.
In 1912, a group of Jewish women at New York’s Temple Emanuel formed Hadassah with the intention to expand healthcare in the land of Israel. That same year, the International Council of Jewish Women came together to represent the interests of Jewish women more globally. The ICJW is still extant with chapters across 34 countries. Sadly, Japan is not (yet) represented but with a bit of ganbarimasu gumption that could easily change. Before Hadassah and the ICJW, Jewish Women International, an auxiliary of B’nai Brith, was founded in 1897 to promote sociability, volunteerism and patriotism.
To be clear, meetings were not knitting circles and coffee klatches. These balaboostas made it their sacred mission to effect lasting social change. As referenced in the NCJW declaration, workers’ rights were a central focus of that era. March 1911’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, when doors to stairwells and exits were locked from the outside preventing escape, galvanized public support for organized labor. The completely avoidable tragedy claimed 146 lives, many of them new arrivals from shtetls/small villages. Worse yet, the factory owners not only evaded criminal liability but made out like bandits, receiving more money from their insurance than they were forced to pay out in compensation. The resulting outrage galvanized support for unions and safe working conditions.
Sadly, sweatshop conditions were not even the worst affliction plaguing Jewish women at the turn of the 20th century. Human trafficking was so widespread that in 1885 the Jewish Ladies’ Society for Preventive and Rescue Work was formed in London to aid victims who were considered outcasts by the mainstream Jewish community. Lured by the false promise of domestic work or marriage, the women were maltreated, to put it very mildly, by their captors before the ships even left port.
The South American branch of the scandal, known as Zwi Migdal, remains a source of shame in the Jewish communities of Argentina and Brazil where it is rarely discussed and even then, in hushed tones. An iconoclastic Jewish woman who had been a trafficking victim herself, Raquel Liberman, courageously led the effort that dismantled the criminal enterprise before passing away at 34 years old from thyroid cancer.
On this Shabbat coinciding with International Women’s Day, we hope to see you at the JCC for what promises to be a fascinating talk on today’s challenges and the important work that lies ahead. The Jewish woman we are proudest of in Japan? Beate Sirota Gordon, ASIJ alumna Class of 1939, who authored Articles 14 and 24 on Equal Rights and Women’s Civil Rights in the postwar Constitution of Japan.
Services
Kabbalat Shabbat
Lecture and discussion led by Ayelet Razin Bet Or
Friday, March 8th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Shekalim – Parshat Vayakhel
Kiddush anonymously sponsored in honor of International Women’s Day and the important work of Friday night’s guest speaker Ayelet Razin Bet Or
Saturday, March 9th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, March 22nd
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Zachor – Parshat Vayikra – Erev Purim
Kiddush sponsored by the Guyton Family in celebration of their 6th Wedding Anniversary
Saturday, March 23rd
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, March 29th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, April 5th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Friday Night Dinner Reservations can made on our website: https://jccjapan.jp/shabbat-meals-sign-up/
Events
Friday Night Lecture
Guest Speaker Ayelet Razin Bet Or
Expert on women’s rights and gender equality; public policy specialist
Friday night, March 8th
Lecture: 8:30pm
The World’s Best Purim Party
Sponsored by the Karp Family
Drinks sponsored by Baird Beer
Saturday night, March 23rd
Megillah Reading: ~6:30pm
Klezmer by Jinta-la-Mvta: 8:00pm
Nijikai: 11:00pm
Sanjikai: 1:00am
Registration Details: https://jccjapan.jp/event-registration/
Stay tuned for film screenings, cooking classes and lectures
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
Mazal Tov to The Right Honourable Lord Jonathan Kestenbaum, who we welcome this Shabbat, on his appointment to the Board of Directors at JP Morgan Japanese Investment Trust Plc. While you might think the JCC is just another synagogue to this member of the UK’s House of Lords, Baron Kestenbaum was one of our Kommunity Kinderlach back in the 1960s when we still had a pool in the back.
The Baron’s father and former JCC Board Member, Ralph Kestenbaum, laid out the vision for ‘A Vital Jewish Community’ in our 1956-57 Yearbook. If you have ever walked past the Japanese screen in the lounge and thought “this is where my membership dues are going?”, rest assured that piece of art was not purchased with communal funds but was instead a donation by the Kestenbaum Family on their departure from Tokyo.
It’s not too late to buy Wilco tickets for their performance at EX Theater Roppongi. Lead singer Jeff Tweedy released a version of Mi Sheberach with his sons in the weeks after 10/7. Will he lead services Friday night? We can only dream.
Congratulations to all shareholders of Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) on the stock’s rocket ship like performance last Friday. We hope it helps pay for your children’s college education and maybe a well-deserved vacation. The company was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell who is also the namesake of the Jewish Community Center located in Austin, Texas.
Odaiji ni to all our JCCers and visitors from around the world who ran the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday morning. On Friday night, we hosted Ivan Lyons who once ran 100 marathons in 100 weeks. Needless to say, he had no problem walking back to his hotel after dinner. Onwards and upwards to Boston, London and beyond!
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.
Shabbat Vayakhel
Candle Lighting: 5:24pm
Havdala: 6:21pm