Return to Synagogue

I was in the mood to attend Friday night services at synagogue, so I made my way over this past Friday. Shabbat evening services begin at 6:15, which is earlier than what I'm used to, but they still begin after sundown as opposed to beforehand, which is not what I would expect at a synagogue with more a more observant congregation. I sat in the women's section, as usual, but I was the only woman sitting there. There were only about fifteen men praying, just barely a minyan, and there were barely any women at the synagogue at all, much less anyone praying. I wanted to pray, but I couldn't because the prayers were Sephardi prayers, and the service is almost entirely in Hebrew. I can't follow along in the prayer book because they pray very quickly, and they may jump around, so I just sit and listen to the prayers, wishing that I could join in. The visiting rabbi who comes every Shabbat to help lead services has a very kind wife named Yonah, and she talked with me this past week during the services in between praying and taking care of her child. I also met another kind woman named Root (Ruth in Hebrew), and I sat next to her and spoke with her a lot during Shabbat dinner. Both Yonah and Root are Japanese women who married Jewish men and converted to Judaism.

After services I was allowed to eat dinner with everyone. It is difficult to obtain kosher meat in Japan, so for the meat course everyone ate fish. I spoke in both Hebrew and Japanese with one of the men in the congregation a little during dinner. I found out that most of the men at that congregation are Israelis who come to Japan to work overseas for their Israeli companies. Some of the men start dating and eventually marry Japanese women, some of whom convert and become Modern Orthodox Jews. The men of course miss Israel and want to return, but if they do, what would become of the congregation here in Kobe?