Saturday, September 19

Celebrating the Jewish New Year in Japan is unlike celebrating it in the United States or Israel, for many reasons. One major difference lies in the difficulty in even realizing that it's the Jewish New Year. I feel as though the only semblances of Judaism in this country up until now have been myself and my Star of David and chai necklaces.

Backing up to Friday morning... I woke up on Friday morning, realized that the Jewish New Year began in less than twelve hours, and panicked because I had no idea of when services started on Saturday morning. I didn't even care about the fact that I had no idea where the synagogue in Kobe is located, I knew I could find it on the Internet or ask around. I looked online, found the website and mailing address for the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Kobe, and sent them an e-mail asking when Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) services began. I didn't check my e-mail until after nightfall because I came home late after a full day of classes on Friday afternoon. I opened my inbox and saw that the e-mail I had sent out that morning had been returned as "undeliverable" to me. I looked online at the JCC website and read that morning worship began at 8:00. I gave my host mother the address of the shul (synagogue) and asked her how to get there. It turns out the shul is quite close to my home, a fifteen minute bus ride and fifteen minute walk away.

I woke up at 6:00 A.M. on Saturday and arrived at shul at about 7:30. I opened a tall, wooden door that led into the shul and saw two men in black suits and wide-brimmed hats speaking Hebrew in the corner. With my head poking through the doorway but my body still outside, I called out "Slicha?" ("Excuse me?") in Hebrew. They saw me and came forward, and as I entered the shul I greeted them with the proper Shabbat (Sabbath) and holiday greetings and then explained to them that I wished to worship there for the holiday. They reminded me of the orthodox Jews of Israel who were incredibly hospitable, even upon meeting someone for the first time. They told me services were open to everyone, they invited me to worship with them during all the services for the next two days, and to eat meals with them at shul.

I sat down in the women's section at the back of the tiny sanctuary. This was a Sephardi shul, so I was not used to the customs, prayers, or melodies. They prayed out loud, as a group, everything was in Hebrew, the prayers were said very quickly, and they were said with much vigor. There was no chazan (cantor), and only a visiting rabbi as opposed to a full-time rabbi. People noticed that I was new, and one of the women spoke with me a lot, as well as several of the men, asking me from where I came, for how long I would live in Japan, and my purpose in coming to Japan. Everyone was very friendly, and they were impressed that I spoke English, Japanese, and Hebrew. I worshiped until 11:30 A.M., when I had to leave. Everyone was very kind, and I anticipate returning to shul again soon (especially since Yom Kippur is quickly approaching). I hope it was not rude to show up only to pray, and I look forward to finding out more about the interesting people who were at shul this past Shabbat.