March 2011 • Volume 5 • Issue 10 • Adar l / Adar ll 5771

Established in Hong Kong in 1991, this year Carmel School celebrates its 20 year anniver-sary. Quite a milestone for a school that was started as a playgroup by a few parents keen to lay down the founda-tions of a Jewish Day School.

Describing the early days as pioneering would be an understatement. From finding premises to hiring teachers and aligning with local regulatory requirements required focus, grit and determination. Last year the school recognised the contribution of a number of founding board members and two people that were instrumen-tal in seeing Carmel through its early stages – Rabbi Mordechai Avzton and Ivan Greenstein.

Rabbi Avtzon remembers the challenges in the first few years. “On the one hand there was so much energy in the community to establish the school and we received a lot of support. However, on the other hand there was ambivalence among many as to whether the school would succeed at all and if it was viable beyond the kin-dergarten level. Right from the start we envisioned an institu-

Carmel SChool markS 20 yearS - Set for future expanSion

In thIs Issue

regional newsChinese New Year Celebration’s in Israel 3-6

Business newsBlue Diamond looking to provide a cut above the rest 8-10

art and CultureYedid returns to Hong Kong to perform 11-13

featureFrom Shintoism to Judaism – Setzuso Kotsuji 14

CommentWhat is the real meaning of Egypt’s Revolution? 15

festivalPurim 16-17

Jewish communities in asiaCandle-lighting and the months Parshas 19

By Philip Jay

March 2011 • Volume 5 • Issue 10 • Adar I / Adar II 5771 www.jewishtimesasia.org

would otherwise struggle in another international school without Carmel’s support after arrival. But Carmel is so much more than a staging post for families looking to relocate to Asia. At the heart of the School’s ethos is the belief in Jewish continuity.

“I am excited that Elemen-tary School enrolment is strong. This is, perhaps, the first year in Carmel’s history where par-ents will need to secure their children’s places now for the coming year as class size is purposefully limited to ensure quality education and individu-al attention,” said Rabbi David Serkin.

tion that would serve the entire community whilst respecting the practices of all. As a result we spent many hours debating and refining our ethos”. Rabbi Avtzon also recalls the enthu-siastic support received from the Hong Kong government at that time. “Everything needed to come together very quickly. Looking back it seems incred-ible that we met the require-ments and opened the school on-time.”

Current Chairman Mark Konyn has served on the Board for 10 years and has been in the current role for 7 years. He sees the anniversary as an op-portunity to look forward as the school looks to fulfil its mission and provide a Jewish education from the early learning years, through Elementary School, and on to Elsa High School in preparation for university and further education.

“Whilst it is important to

respect the past and recognise the previous achievements, it is critical that we continue to plan for the future. Our professional leadership has never been so strong. Under the careful guid-ance of Rabbi David Serkin in the Elementary School, Mrs. Rachel Friedmann at Elsa High, and Mrs. Aviva Shabbat who manages the early learning programme, we are going from strength to strength,” Konyn commented.

“This year we achieved In-ternational Baccalaureate status for the High School where we will offer the IB Diploma. This is fast becoming the benchmark for international education,” he added.

Carmel’s students come from many different countries with varying needs and parent expectations. For example, a number of parents look to Car-mel to improve their children’s English language skills as they

Carmel School, Borret Road campus

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Jewish Times Asia March 20112 3

www.jewishtimesasia.org

Jewish Times Asia

Publisher & FounderPhilip Jay

Sub EditorTony Henderson

ContributorsBarry RubinJessica Zwaiman Lerner

Design & LayoutThe Green Pagoda Press Ltd

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We welcome editorial enquiries and advertising requests.Please contact our email: [email protected]

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Material in the newspaper may not be used or reproduced in any form or in any way without permission from the editor.

While every effort has been made that the content is true and accurate, the publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions in the printed text.

Jewish Times Asia is distributed on a controlled circulation, complimentary to resident addresses and business’s in the region. In addition extra copies are available at synagogues, Jewish community centres, kosher restaurants, clubs and associations. The newspaper is also on EL AL flights between Israel & Asia.

Chinese New Year Celebration in IsraelAmong cultural exchanges between China and Israel, two Chinese art groups, Beijing Dance/LDTX and the Shaolin Monks Group, were invited to stage 10 performances in Beersheba, Tel Aviv, Jerusa-lem and at Karmiel.

The performances took place during this year’s Chinese New

New Zealand earthquake devastates ChristchurchThe second major earthquake that struck Christchurch, New Zealand on 22 Febru-ary has destroyed the Chabad House and killed hundreds of people and many are still missing.

The earthquake, with a 6.3 magnitude, hit the city lunchtime and came only a few months after the one that rocked Christchurch in Septem-ber, 2010.

According to local media reports, around 120 Israelis were living or travelling in Christchurh at the time of the quake. The majority of these have been accounted for but they say there are five Israelis amongst the missing.

The city’s Chabad House was one of the buildings de-stroyed but no one was in the building at the time. A New Zealand police officer managed to retrieve 2 Sefer Torah scrolls that were buried in the rubble.

New Zealand Prime Min-ister John Key, the son of a Jewish refugee who escaped Europe to England on the eve of the Holocaust, said the quake could turn out to be his nation’s “darkest day.”

Israel sent food and medi-cine to help. With hundreds of Israeli backpackers visiting New Zealand each year, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said there could be up to 150 Israelis in Christchurch.

Rabbi Mendel Goldstein, the chief rabbi of Chabad in New Zealand, said he had spoken to Shemi Tzur, Israel’s ambassador in New Zealand, and Yuval Rotem, Israel’s am-bassador in Canberra, Australia.

Goldstein said he was fran-tically fielding calls and e-mails from worried parents in Israel. Tzur asked all Israeli nation-als to leave the devastated city, which has been declared a di-saster zone.

New Zealand has a popula-tion of approximately 7,000 Jews and about 2,000 live in Christchurch. The majority live in Auckland and Wellington on the North Island.

Cricket fever for India's community India’s Embassy in Israel has announced plans to hold a cricket tournament for youngsters of the Indian com-munity in the country.

Based on the popular T20 tournament, the embassy will hold the event on India’s Re-public Day in March. “Most of the youngsters closely follow Indian cricket and Sachin Ten-dulkar is overwhelmingly fa-vourite,” said Naor Gudket, the

chief executive of Israel Cricket Association.

The matches will be played at Ashdod, Dimona and Beer-sheva and around ten teams will participate. The sport of cricket is very popular amongst the Indian community and amongst many Israelis.

There are also a number of Indian Jews who live in the country who are very enthusias-tic followers of the game. The

tournament comes on the back of the current Cricket World Cup event which started on 19 February and concludes with the final on 2 April, being held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangla-desh this year.

“Though most of the Indian Jews are traditional, they come out in large numbers on Shab-bat to watch and play cricket,” said Eliyahu Yosef, a 72-year-old cricket enthusiast.

Ambassador Zhao Jun (middle) with the Monks

Ambassador Zhao Jun delivering speech at the opening ceremony

Israel’s Ambassador to South Korea, Tuvia Israe-li, welcomed a delegation of members of the Korea Tourism supporter’s net-work to a reception in Feb-ruary.

During the dinner, the Korean Tourism organisation announced that Korean Air will start operating a fourth direct flight to Tel Aviv in March.

Last year more than 40,000 tourists from Korea visited Israel, mostly on religious pilgrimages. In ad-dition, the Korean commu-nity are also looking to visit Israel for other vocational experiences and are enthusi-astic to visit the country.

Business travel will also increase with the additional flights which will help facili-tate both countries’ econo-mies.

Israeli also noted dur-ing the dinner that regular monthly meetings will be arranged with the supporters network to study more tour-ist opportunities.

According to Xinhua news-wires China will dispatch around 160 soldiers to Lebanon to serve as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNI-FIL).

The troops flew from Chengdu the capital of China’s Sichuan Province. The group comprised of 130 engineering troops and 30 medical staff. They are part of the eighth Chinese peacekeeping contingent to be posted to Lebanon since 2006.

The servicemen would operate in the south on mine-sweeping, road construction and humanitarian missions.

UNIFIL, which is man-dated to patrol the southern areas, is obliged to ensure Israel’s security and Leba-non’s sovereignty.

Peacekeepers in Lebanon

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The exchange was initiated by China’s Ministry of Culture and China’s Embassy in Israel. The project was co-ordinated through the Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre in Tel Aviv, together with the Chinese partners.

The opening ceremony was held in Beersheba Performing Arts Centre. Ambassador Zhao Jun and Ms. Zohal, Deputy Mayor of Beer Sheva Munici-pality, attended the ceremony. Shaolin Monks Group staged their first performance in the large theatre to a packed audi-ence.

Israel and South Korea boost

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Regional News

Shalem Gin makes history Professor Firestone addresses Jewish and Islamic Communities Hong Kong’s United Jewish Community (UJC) organised a special ‘scholar in residence’ event in early March. Pro-fessor Firestone was invited to provide interfaith pro-grammes between the UJC and the Hong Kong Network on Religion and Peace.

Events were held at the Jewish Community Centre and also at the Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre.

“The United Jewish Con-gregation was very pleased to be able to make Professor Firestone available to the wider Hong Kong community for this important interfaith gathering.

Thanks to Professor Fire-stone, Rev. John Lemond of the Hong Kong Network on Religion and Peace, and Mufti Muhammad Arshad of the Kowloon Mosque and Islamic Centre, we were treated to a remarkable evening of learning and fellowship. In my view, inter-religious dialogue is a Jewish religious imperative and so I see building bridges of understanding through pro-grammes like this as a central part of the mission of the UJC.”

Said Rabbi Stanton Zamek, UJC Hong Kong.

Professor Firestone is the author of several books and over seventy articles on Juda-ism, Islam, and comparative studies of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Firestone was educated at Antioch College, also the He-brew University in Jerusalem, and the Hebrew Union College where he received his M.A. in Hebrew literature in 1980 and Rabbinic Ordination in 1982, and, New York University where he received his Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic studies in 1988.

From 1987 to 1992, he

taught at Boston University, and since 1993 he has served as as-sociate and then full professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles.

He is a co-director of the Center for Muslim-Jewish En-gagement, a joint programme of Hebrew Union College, the Omar Ibn AlKhattab Founda-tion, and the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the Univer-sity of Southern California.

Professor Firestone regularly lectures at colleges and univer-sities throughout the world and has led workshops in numer-ous synagogues, mosques, and churches throughout the US and abroad.

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Shalem Gin has become the first Israel Defence Force (IDF) officer from the Bnei Menashe community. Gin re-ceived the rank of second lieu-tenant at a ceremony held at the Bahad 1 military base in the Negev.

Gin was born in Mizoram, a state in northeastern India and made aliyah with his family in 1995. He joined the IDF in 2009 and enlisted in the Engi-neering Corps.

This is a dream come true. It brings great joy and pride to me and my family,” Gin said. “As the first Bnei Menashe officer in the IDF, I hope that more from

the community will follow.”

“Shalem is a very talented young man with extraordinary ambition,” said Michael Freund, Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel, the organisation responsible for the aliyah of the Bnei Menashe. “When I met Shalem a few years ago, he told me that even as a child in India he always dreamt of becoming an Israeli combat soldier,” he added. In coincidence a new exhibition was recently held in Israel organised by Shavei Israel chronicling the modern day Bnei Menashe commu-nity which was reported in the February 2011 issue of Jewish Times Asia.

Shalem Gin with his family

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Phuket International Airport

Regional News

Phuket Governor discusses tech and security support

New Chabad centre and mikvah opens in Canberra

Chabad Australia, through its directors in Canberra, Rabbi Dan and Naomi Avital, have moved into a new build-ing which includes a living quarter, social hall for com-munity events, mikvah and synagogue.

The opening of the mik-vah has been described as a milestone for the local Jewish community. The announcement to construct began three years ago and was reported in Jewish Times Asia. Approximately 600 Jewish residents live in Canber-ra a mixture of both orthodox and liberal Jews.

Attendees of the formal opening of the Chaya Mushka mikvah, included Australian MP’s, Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Yuval Rotem, and many from the Jewish commu-nity.

The US Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich was

Rabbinical leaders with the US Ambassador to Australia, Jeffery Bleich

given the honour to open the mikvah. Director of Chabad in NSW Rabbi Pinchos Feldman, opened the event with the tradi-tional priestly blessings.

A group of local women, headed by Shoshana Craegh, approached Melbourne based Rabbi Aharon Serebryanski with a request to build a mikvah three years ago.

“Shoshana’s vision ex-tended beyond the construction of a stand-alone facility,” said Eliezer Kornhauser, a Mel-bourne based developer who sponsored the mikvah.

“She saw the mikvah as the groundbreaking element in the establishment of a brand new community, one which would not only complement the activi-ties of the existing Jewish Cen-tre at Forrest, but also enable young Jewish families to live in close proximity to the infra-structure essential to sustaining an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle,” Kornhauser said in his remarks at the ceremony.

Ambassador Bleich, was as-sisted in the ribbon-cutting by community members Shoshana Craegh and Anita Shroot.

Japanese Professor awarded Wolf Prize

A group of Israeli business-men together with Israel’s Ambassador to Thailand It-zhak Shoham visited Phuket in February on the invitation of Governor Tri Augkarada-cha.

Primarily the aim was to of-fer assistance in airport security and in water technology. Ambas-sador Shoham discussed how Bangkok’s Suvarabhumi Airport is based on the Israeli model and that Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv is the most

secure airport in the world.

Phuket International Airport is expected to expand and will-develop a more comprehensive security system than previously.

Regarding water technol-ogy, Ambassador Shoham dis-cussed desalination to alleviate future water shortages and in-vited the Governor to attend the November 2011 International Conference on Water Technolo-gies, Renewable Energy and Environmental Control in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Professor Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University, Ja-pan, has been awarded this year’s 2011 Wolf Prize for medicine.

This award, in conjunction with Rudolf Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., was for creating induced pluripotent stem cells from skin cells and demonstrating that they can be used to cure genetic dis-eases in mice.

A total of 10 scientists and an artist were named as the 2011 Wolf Prize recepients.

Shimon Peres, President of Israel, will present the Prizes at a special ceremony in May during a Knesset (Parliament) session.

Other winners include Professors Stuart Alan Rice of the University of Chicago, Ching Tang of the University of Rochester and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski of Carnegie Mellon University who to-gether received the award in chemistry for their contribu-tions to the research field of organic material.

Two scientists received the award in the field of ag-riculture: Professor Harris Lewin of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was recognised for his con-tributions to fundamental and practical aspects of animal agriculture, and Professor R. James Cook of Washington

State University was named for his discoveries in plant pa-thology and soil microbiology that impact crop productivity and disease management.

The award for physics went to Professor Maxmil-ian Haider of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany; Professor Harald Rose of the Technical Univer-sity of Darmstadt in Germany; and Professor Knut Urban of the Research Centre Jilich in Aachen, Germany, for the development of aberration-corrected electron microscopy, allowing the observation of individual atoms with picom-eter precision.

Painter and sculpture artist Rosemarie Trockel of Co-logne, Germany, was awarded the Wolf Prize for the Arts.

The Israel-based Wolf Foundation was established by the late German-born inventor, diplomat and philanthropist Dr. Ricardo Wolf, who served as the Cuban ambassador to Israel from 1961 to 1973.

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Dr Jose Ramos-HortaSilent bidding

Regional News

UN Holocaust Day remembered in the Philippines

Carmel School Dinner highlights, 20 years – 20 nations

Rabbi David Serkin, Head of Carmel Elementary School

Nicole Izsak

Food of plenty under the marquee

Live auction bidding taking place for a painting

by students of Carmel this year. The evening was more of a cel-ebration, time to spend reflect-ing on the success of the school, in a relaxed and less formal set-ting.

The dinner was well attend-ed by parents, teachers and sup-porters of the Carmel School Association.

This year’s dinner was or-ganised by co-chairpersons Ni-cole Izsak and Michelle Frank, with special assistance by Robyn Winarsky for organising the auctions.

The MC’s were Daniel Gor-don and Neil Hyman, Rachel Friedmann head principal of Elsa High School gave a Dvar Torah and Mark Konyn Chair-man of the Board gave an ad-dress during the dinner.

Highlights of the live auc-tion biddings included an eight day holiday exploring Nepal, a Piaget heart pendant, and a trip to Guam.

In addition, paintings from artist Yin Xin relating to the Jews of Kaifeng donated by the Tollman Collection and Pro-paganda No.7, by Wu Jia Wei, from Opera Galleries donated by

Bernard and Debbie Seroussi.

As with every dinner fund raising was the key and this year was no exception with the generous support of parents to achieve the essential funding for the school’s needs.

To mark UN Holocaust Day, the Philippine Jewish Com-munity together with the De-partment of Foreign Affairs (DFA), hosted an exhibition to honour the memory of the victims of the holocaust. The event entitled Shoah in Europe was exhibited at the DFA’s main lobby building from 9-14 February.

“The exhibit aims to honour the memory of the victims of the Holocaust during World War II and to educate the pub-lic about the Holocaust history to help prevent future acts of genocide,” the DFA spokesper-son said.

The DFA organised the exhibit in partnership with the United Nations Information Center (UNIC) Manila, the Jewish Association of the Philippines and the Philippine

Postal Corporation.

DFA Undersecretary for Policy Erlinda Basilio, Israel's Ambassador to the Philippines Zvi Avner Vapni, and UN Resi-dent Coordinator Dr. Jacqueline Badcock each delivered mes-sages at the opening ceremony. Commissioner on Human Rights chairwoman Loretta Ann Rosales was also present.

This year’s Hong Kong Carm-el School Annual Dinner was held on 3 March at the Jewish Community Centre.

The theme this year cele-brated the diversity and richness of the Carmel families, past and present and the many nationali-ties that have passed through the school.

This was excellently reflect-ed by the choice of the cocktails and canapés that greeted guests on their arrival at the Commu-nity Centre. A varied selection of foods from all parts of the world was served. A special marquee was erected for the evening celebrations.

In a programme different from previous annual fund rais-ing dinners, the evening activi-ties focused on providing silent auction and live auction bidding in more spacious surroundings.

There were no performances

Flood damage in Melbourne Jewish Community

East Timor president on official visit to IsraelDr. Jose Ramos-Horta, Presi-dent of the Democratic Re-public of East Timor and his entourage visited Israel in February and met Shimon Peres, President of Israel. A state luncheon was hosted in his honour.

His itinerary included a trip to the Hebrew University’s Leonard Davis Institute for In-ternational Relations to speak on “Peace-Building, State-Building and Reconciliation: Experience and Perspectives.”

The main part of the agenda was for the East Timor group to meet senior delegates on agri-cultural, and security issues.

Ramos-Horta commented that he had come to Israel to seek support for agricultural self-sufficiency, food, security and maritime security.

While keen to enhance relations with Israel, he admit-ted that the fruits of friendship would be a one-way street because there is very little that East Timor can do that will ben-efit Israel.

This didn’t seem to bother Peres, who pledged: “Whatever we can do for you, we will do gladly and full-heartedly.”

Ramos-Horta also visited the Palestinian Authority while in the region. East Timor gained independence in 2002 from Indonesia after 24 years of oc-cupation. The country is pre-dominantly Catholic.

Exhibition on display

Dr. Jacqueline Badcock delivering a message at the exhibition

Mass flooding triggered by Cyclone Yasi in February caused severe damage to Mel-bourne’s Jewish community buildings.

Some synagogues’ could not open for morning services and for Shabbat. It was also reported that at least two Jewish

suburbs. Almost 6 inches of rain fell in 24 hours as recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology. In low lying areas the water was waste deep.

Melbourne’s Jewish com-munity is spread out amongst several suburbs with a popula-tion of around 50,000.

schools could not open, one of them being Bialik College.

The cyclone had wind gusts up to around 80 miles per hour and driving rain battered Victo-ria, ripping roofs from buildings and closing roads.

The flash floods hit many

Mark Konyn, giving an address at the dinner

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Pieter Wispelwey Eilat Chamber Music Festival Credit Lewis Arnold

Gabrieli Consort Players, conducted by Paul McCreesh, Eilat Chamber Music Festival

Red Sea Classical Music Festival, Valery Gergiev conducting

Fo r t h e s i x t h consecutive year, the Eilat Chamber Music Festival will

take place in Israel’s premier vacation resort on the Red Sea, offering tourists and music-lovers the opportunity to combine a spring sunshine vacation with world-class chamber music concerts, master-classes and workshops.

The festival will take place at the Eilat Theater from 17-26 March, with an international line-up that includes Gabrieli Consort & Players, Maria Jun-

uard Schmieder, will once again serve as the festival’s ensemble-in-residence with three perfor-mances, including the opening concert.

Festival-goers and music students may also attend master-classes and workshops. A new feature at the festival will be the collaboration with the Keshet Eilon Music Center. The centre, based in Kibbutz Eilon, nurtures talented young violinists from Israel and overseas who attend its international Mastercourse each summer, joined by violists and cellists. The Keshet Eilon

2011 Spring Seminar will be part of the Eilat Festival. Most of the teachers will also teach at the 2011 Spring Seminar.

The festival will celebrate 200 years to Liszt with a pia-nists competition; 150 years to Anton Arensky with a special concert featuring his chamber music, 100 years to the birth of Nino Rota – with a special concert and a photography ex-hibition; J. S. Bach’s birthday on 21 March with a strings competition; and will offer outdoor concerts, and special activities, among them amateur musicians’ master-classes.

The 6th Eilat Chamber Music Festival

Timed to coincide with the festival of Purim, there will also be a special concert entitled The Venetian Masque, with music, theatre and comedy from the 16th and 17th centuries, per-formed by singers and musi-cians playing historical instru-ments.

The concert will feature Grammy nominee Avi Avital on the Venetian Mandolin, so-pranos Claire Meghnagi and Ye’ela Avital, Italian Baroque cello player Giordano Antonelli, music director and harpsichord player Yizhar Karshon.

The acclaimed iPalpi t i orchestral ensemble of interna-tional laureates, directed by Ed-

cal, Pieter Wispelwey, Elisabeth von Magnus, Dejan Lazic, Jeru-salem Quartet, Chloe Hanslip, iPalpiti, Maxim Rysanov, Anto-ny Pay and many others.

The Eilat Chamber Music Festival, was founded by artis-tic and general director Leonid Rozenberg.

The festival will mark the opening leg of the European tour of Gabrieli Consort & Players with J. S. Bach’s St. John Passion, conducted by Paul McCreesh.

The festival will also present the Spanish Flamenco dancer Maria Juncal and her ensemble in the performance Tercera Lla-mada.

110311_Final(dtp).indd 7 14/03/2011 12:04 PM


Business News

Blue Diamond looking to provide a cut above the restBlue Diamond Wealth Man-agement Limited, formerly known as Libra Wealth Man-agement, is now established to provide insurance advice and consulting services to both lo-cal and expatriate residents in Hong Kong and the region.

The change of name was finalised November 2010 and with a new office and a team of consultants, Blue Diamond is ready to serve the diverse needs of its clientale.

“We want Blue Diamond to be the one-stop-shop for insur-ance solutions. Insurance super-market,” said Assaf Hochberg, Executive Sales Director.

“We believe that insurance is much more than “re-assurance”, that there will be resources available when things do not go according to plan. We believe that our clients are people who believe in legacy and providing a platform for the next genera-tions to be able to contribute to their families, communities, cities and countries,” said Iris Zion, Managing Director.

The name of the firm, Blue Diamond, is chosen to reflect the rarity and the most expen-

More Asian airline carriers may fly to Israel soonIsraels Tourism Ministry Di-rector General Noaz Bar-Nir has recently commented in the media that some airlines in Asia may soon start to op-erate flights to Israel.

The minister cited Chinese Hainan Airlines and Indian Airlines. The indications are to develop further opportunities, with the growing numbers of tourist visitors from Asia. Para-mount concern is to capture the China tourist market to Israel.

The Chinese tourism min-ister has also commented that, “The Jewish state is an extreme-ly intriguing country for Chi-nese tourists.”

According to Bar-Nir, he began negotiating the agree-ment with Hainan after China identified Israel as a preferred tourist destination last June, a move that increased demand for seats on flights between the two nations.

Bar-Nir noted that the Tour-ism Ministry asked Israeli car-rier El Al to add two additional flights a week to the Israel-Chine route, and many groups of Chinese tourists find them-selves cancelling their trips to Israel because there just aren’t enough seats on flights to ac-commodate them.

El Al CEO Eliezer Shkedi said during a recent tourism

exhibition in Tel Aviv that the company is negotiating a code-share agreement with China Airlines, which will allow the two carriers to reach more areas without expanding service by sharing flights.

Indian Airlines is also con-sidering entering the Israeli market as result of the growing numbers of tourists travelling between the two nations.

“Our data shows that there has been a significant growth in the demand, which currently goes unfulfilled,” Bar-Nir said. “It’s all a question of (Air In-dia’s) ability to allocate planes to the routes between India and Israel.”

About 40,000 Indian tour-ists visited Israel in 2010, a 74% increase compared to 2009. A similar increase occurred in the number of visitors from China and Hong Kong, bringing 22,000 tourists to Israel.

El Al is the only airline to operate direct flights from Israel to China and India, effectively monopolising these two routes. However, there are many Israe-lis traveling to the Asian des-tinations through connecting flights; many fly to India via Amman with Royal Jordanian, while others fly to China with Korean Air and Uzbekistan Air-lines.

sive of all diamonds. The ex-pertise of the key executives is what brings the essential value that sets them apart from the competition.

Iris and Assaf have been advising and serving expatriate clients in the region for over 10 years and have extensive knowl-edge of the insurance market for even longer than that.

Iris, Assaf, and the rest of the team, are fluent in a variety of use-ful languages which is important when assisting foreign nationals generally, specifically Israelis. The firm also provides Mandarin and Cantonese speakers.

Blue Diamond provides a full package of insurance ser-vices for both individuals and corporations, including life, medical and general insurance, wealth management and savings plans. In addition they also pro-vide premier personal diamond insurance coverage in Asia.

“We source as many insur-ance products as are available in the market,” commented As-saf. “We have relationships with around 40 insurance companies and act as a broker to an Israeli medical insurance company, David Shield. We provide our clients with tailor-made solu-tions,” he added.

Dairy expertise assisting Vietnam

India’s Amtek forms a JV with EnertecAmtek Auto announced in February that it has formed a joint venture (JV) with Israel-based Enertec Management to manufacture various elec-tronic solutions for military applications.

The holding company, Am-tek India Limited, is a leading provider of iron cast automotive components in India. The com-pany’s product portfolio con-sists of a range of components for cars, tractors, and commer-cial vehicles. It manufacturers components for connecting rod assemblies, cylinder blocks, flywheel assemblies and turbo

charger housing.

The JV has been formed for “developing and manufac-turing the advanced electronic systems, test systems, simula-tors and electronic systems for military applications,” Amtek announced.

The company, however, did not give details about any finan-cial involvement by both the entities.

The agreement, however, is subject to the receipt of all nec-essary approvals from the Gov-ernment of India and Ministry of Defence,” the filing said.

Israeli company, SAE Afi-kim, is helping Vietnam de-velop its dairy industry. In the largest project of its kind in the world, New Zealand cows are arriving by the boatload in Vietnam as part of an Israeli- led US$500 mil-lion dairy farm project there.

Around 30,000 dairy cows are being flown to Vietnam to supply 300 million litres of milk annually as part of a US$500 million dairy farm project there.

“This is a very large op-eration,” says Daniel Hojman, the Uruguay-born manager of dairy farming professional compliance for SAE Afikim, based in Kibbutz Afikim near the Sea of Galilee. With em-ployees from 10 Israeli com-panies relocating to Vietnam until the project is fully imple-mented, this is quite an under-statement.

AfiMilk and AfiFarm com-puterised systems for mod-ern dairy farm technics are globally-recognised. The com-pany won a five-year contract to manage a new Vietnamese corporation’s scheme, to boost milk production and consump-

tion to unprecedented levels.

After five years, the op-eration will encompass 30,000 cows at 12 state-of-the-art mega dairies and a milk processing plant supplying 300 million li-ters per year. By the end of 2012, 500,000 litres are expected to be produced daily.

Today, the average Vietnam-ese drinks 11.5 litres of milk each year - most of it made from imported milk powder. Each dairy cow in Vietnam produces about 3,500 litres a year, or one-third of the output for an Israeli heifer. Israeli know-how will change that.

“Right now we are building and managing three farms. We went there to train the manag-ers of those farms for a week and then they came to Israel for another two weeks of training,” said Hojman.

“When all 12 farms are oper-

ational, we will be responsible for educating close to 1,000 employees,” Hojman added.

With assistance from Is-rael’s foreign and agricultural ministries, Hojman wants to arrange yearlong internships in Israel for Vietnamese vet-erinary and agriculture univer-sity students to enable them to manage the dairy farms back home.

In the meantime, about 30 Israeli dairy and field crop ex-perts, architects, engineers and construction workers are liv-ing nearby in their own little community.

Even before the dairy ven-ture began, more than 200 Is-raeli companies were doing business in Vietnam and ex-ports from Israel.

SAE Afikim CEO Ronen Zexer says that Ephraim Ben Matityahu, former Israeli am-bassador in Hanoi, initiated many commercial contacts between the two countries and Israeli Minister of Agriculture Shalom Simchon brought a delegation of corporate execu-tives in 2007 to stimulate new business.

Assaf Hochberg and Iris Zion

Hainan Airlines

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Business News

Israeli Diamond Industry expects to top last year’s participation

Israel Chemicals to supply 500,000 tons of potash to China

The Israeli Diamond Industry (IDI) will have an even larger number of exhibitors this year at the March Hong Kong In-ternational Jewellery Show.

This year the Israel Dia-mond Pavilion, organised by the Israel Diamond Institute Group of Companies will feature 61 companies. In addition, 20 more Israeli companies will be exhibiting in various locations throughout the show.

IDI sources say that once again the huge turnout of Israeli diamond companies demon-strates that the Israeli Diamond Industry is looking eastward and is geared to expanding its business in Asian markets.

The Israel Diamond Pavil-ion is located in Hall 3F with an information booth is located at 3F-F29 in the heart of the pavil-ion. An online virtual mini-site, which can be accessed through the IDI portal site and enables buyers to visit the pavilion be-fore and after the show. It in-cludes contact details of all Is-raeli exhibitors, including those not participating.

Hong Kong is Israel’s sec-ond largest market for polished diamonds, representing 25% of total polished diamond exports in 2010. In 2010 net exports of polished diamonds to Hong Kong stood at US$1.487 billion.

IDI Chairman Moti Ganz said that Hong Kong, as the gateway to the Far East, is a major focus for the Israeli Dia-mond Industry. “The Israeli Diamond Industry has been an active trading partner for dia-

mond companies in Hong Kong for many years, and we have developed excellent relations here and other parts of the Far East. We see Asia as a most im-portant target market for Israeli diamond companies and we are working together with the in-dustry to promote these efforts.

IDI Managing Director Eli Avidar stressed that the Far East, with Hong Kong leading the way, represents a growth market for Israeli diamond ex-ports now and in the future. “Our industry, which is known for its flexibility and adapt-ability, is expanding its efforts in these markets. This explains the huge participation of Israeli companies in this show.”

Avidar added that he was very optimistic about the me-dium and long term prospects for Asian markets. “China has evolved into an independent market for luxury goods and jewellery, with a great amount of wealth being created. In the coming years we believe that China will become an im-portant consumer of polished diamonds, and we are focus-ing our marketing strategy on developing this as well as other markets.”

According to Avidar, IDI’s representative office in Hong Kong was spearheading efforts to enhance trade contacts with the region. In addition, he not-ed that IDI’s Chinese-language portal site has become an im-portant vehicle for facilitating direct contacts between these countries.

According to Resource Mar-ket News, Tel Aviv-based Israel Chemicals Ltd. an-nounced that its ICL Fertil-izers subsidiary will supply its Chinese customers with 500,000 tons of potash in the first half of the year.

Dani Chen, CEO of ICL Fertilizers, said, “Our new potash supply agreements with Chinese customers testify to ICL’s growing role in this important market, in addition to other markets that we serve worldwide.”

ICL Fertilizers mines pot-ash in underground mines in the U.K. and Spain, but its primary source of potash is from Israel’s Dead Sea which is closer to Asian markets. The company mined 4.1 million tons of potash in 2009, and ex-ported most of it off-shore.

The company signed con-tracts with customers in China for the supply of potash to sup-ply 620,000 tons in 2010 (in-cluding 100,000 optional tons). It is believed that China will im-port more than 5 million tons of potash this year.

In a news release ICL ad-vised that the price per ton in

the 2011 contract with Chi-nese customers “is similar to recent prices concluded by other potash overseas supplies to the Chinese market.” How-ever, ICL did not reveal the 2011 contract price, only stat-ing the price is “approximately US$50 a ton higher than 2010 prices.”

Israel Diamond Pavilion

Avi Paz, President of IDI (left) with Amikam Levy, Consul General of Israel to Hong Kong (centred) visiting the Israel Pavilion

110311_Final(dtp).indd 9 14/03/2011 12:05 PM


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VIV Asia showcases world-class livestock technology Asia’s largest livestock tech-nology show is taking place 9-11 March 2011 at BITEC, Bangkok, Thailand.

The show organiser, N.C.C. Exhibition Organizer Co., Ltd., said that the show will feature 650 leading companies offering the latest livestock technology and solutions to 22,000 industry professionals from 94 countries.

Israel will be attending and is hosting its own Israel Pavil-ion. Other major countries that are also providing pavilions include China, France, Korea, the Netherlands, Italy, UK and USA.

Ms. Ladda Mongkolchaivi-vat, General Manager, N.C.C. Exhibition Organizer Co., Ltd., (NEO) said that “VIV Asia 2011, which is the 10th edition, will be the biggest show in VIV Asia’s 20-year history.” She af-firmed that the strong demand

Business News

Iway launches new communication system for vehiclesIsraeli start-up company Iway Mobile together with Cellcom, Israel’s largest mobile phone operator, have launched a communications, Internet and entertainment system for the automobile.

Iway is looking to other countries to market and sell the product to other operators and have cited countries such as France, Russia and China. The company is in talks with China Mobile.

The uniqueness of the sys-tem allows programming for over 20 languages including Chinese.

The Comodo console, in-cludes a 4.3-inch touch screen, speakerphone, a rear camera to increase security when in re-verse, a GPS antenna and a cel-lular modem for an always-on connection to the Internet via a 3G cellular network. The driver can listen to radio stations from

around the globe.

While mobile handset mak-ers are focused on developing phones that are faster, smaller and better designed, Iway said it concentrated on giving the driv-er a different experience.

To ensure drivers’ safety, videos can be watched only

when the car is not moving, and emails can be received but not sent. Text messaging and chat-ting services are not available. There are over 80 applications that can be activated with two clicks.

The three-dimensional navi-gation system warns drivers when approaching a dangerous road or intersection and can give an alert when the driver is exceeding the speed limit, or to warn of problems up ahead, such as animals on the road.

Iway, which is based in the southern city of Beersheba, far from Israel’s high-tech centre, invested millions of dollars in private funds to develop the product.

The design and development of the console was done in Israel, while the assemblage is carried out in China and Taiwan.

The Comodo console

As in the past, the Israel Na-tional Pavilion was amongst the leading exhibitors at In-dia’s airshow which was held 9-13 February in Bangalore.

Around 600 exhibitors in-cluding 303 from 25 countries, showcased their potential in technologies, products, innova-tions and aircrafts, over a period of three exclusive business days to the industry, government and overseas delegations.

Official delegations consist-ing of defence ministers, air chiefs, minister’s of state from over 50 countries were hosted by Aero India.

The participants included national pavilions, industry pa-vilions, private companies and public sector companies.

The flying display held twice a day, attracted a lot of public too which witnessed spectacular flying manoeuvres

and daredevil acts by the vari-ous aircrafts.

The display of products ranged from high-tech weapons to defence equipment.

Israel is now among India’s largest suppliers. From flight data recording management to inertial navigation system, India has been using Israel’s products. “We’ve just got closer over the years,” RADA president and chairman Herzle Bodinger commented.

The retired major general also has a lot of Indian connec-tions to share. He was the chief of Israel Airforce between 1992 and 1997, the years when the two countries started getting closer. His Indian counterpart then was Air Chief Marshal S K Kaul. “We are both now retired yet share good relations. We are still in touch as good friends” he said.

for exhibition space at VIV Asia 2011 indicated that the prospect of Asia’s livestock industry is bright.

Demand for livestock prod-ucts are on the rise as a result of a more robust world economy. No surprise then that world leading suppliers want to secure a presence in the region. The organiser estimated that invest-ment spending during the show should be a record high, as most leading livestock producers are using VIV Asia as a basis for business discussion before pro-ceeding to make any major in-vestments.

Israel attends Aero India 2011

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Art and Culture

Yedid returns to Hong Kong to perform Stories of the Bible Exhibition

Israeli composer and pianist Yitzhak Yedid will be giving a second solo performance on 4 April at the Skylark Lounge in Wyndham Street, Hong Kong. This follows on from a recent perfomance in February.

This is Yedid’s third visit to Hong Kong. In August 2008 he appeared at the Vibe Jazz Club and last year also at the Skylark Lounge.

Yedid was born in Jerusa-lem, and studied at the Rubin Academy of Music and the New England Conservatory in Boston with Ran Blake and Paul Bley in 1997 and 1998.

His music is influenced by Middle Eastern Arabic music. “When I was a child I went to the Syrian synagogue, where you hear all the melodies in the Arabic scales. I’m using mi-crotonals in my compositions, and also using the Hassidic and Orthodox Jewish scales. This is all with free jazz and classical music, in equal parts.”

Yedid’s music contains a mix of elements. He says: “I’m Samson and Delila by Herzl Adar

A new exhibition entitled Stories of the Bible opened at Alrov Mamilla Avenue a popular shopping and leisure boulevard just outside the Old City Walls in Jerusalem on 8 February. The exhibition is expected to run until 31 Oc-tober.

The artworks of Israeli and international artists will line the popular shopping complex with all material related to the Book of Books. The works of art, which have been fashioned from stone, bronze and other materials, present biblical char-acters.

In this exhibition, animals, people, stories, and parables take on a figurative or an ab-stract form, as visitors are pre-sented with the biblical narra-

Ruth the Moabite by Jamel Dawani

tive as seen through the eyes of contemporary Israeli art.

According to the organis-ers this is the third exhibition to be presented. Requests were received from many artists from all over Israel and from abroad who were interested in participating. Forty five artists were eventually chosen, many of them exhibiting for the first time to display their works.

Yitzhak Yedid

dealing with very classical things, also with jazz and folk things-but it’s not classical and it’s not jazz and it’s not folk. I’m using various techniques, like a painter who’s trying to use all the materials he knows about. I’m trying to bring all these dif-ferent elements together. My music is like a story – it’s like a film or a play.”

In 2002, he joined Israeli jazz saxophonist Abatte Barihun to form the duo Ras Deshen.They recorded their maiden al-bum on September 2002, which featured a blend of Ethiopian music and Free improvisation jazz.

Yedid is best known for composing in 2003, Passions and Prayers-Sextet in homage

to Jerusalem and Oud Bass Piano Trio in 2005. He has per-formed at the Sibiu, Festival in Romania, as well as in Austra-lia, Canada and the US.

Yedid was awarded the Lan-dau Prize in 2009 which honors artists for work in local culture.

His traditional Jewish music includes his own compositions for Kabbalah, creating his ver-sion of Yedid Nefesh and Sha-lom Alechim.

While performing Yedid covers his hand with the base of the piano to intimate the sound of the Oud an Arabic musical instrument similar to a small guitar – one of his trademark flourishes.

110311_Final(dtp).indd 11 14/03/2011 12:05 PM


Hello Kitty making aliyah

Art and Culture

Israeli artists perform at Philippine Jazzfest

Japan, operates two amusement parks, produces films and cre-ates video games.

“Every year the company creates five to 10 new charac-ters,” says Tsuji. The graphic team and designers of the char-acters and products include hundreds of people, most of them in Japan, but also in the United States and Europe. Kitty is undoubtedly the company’s biggest asset.

In Israel Kitty is marketed on 200 products of local manu-facturers, and is dominant in clothing and school accessories.

The brand has 350 stores in eight countries in the world, most of them in Japan, China, the US and Hong Kong. The products are sold also in the “store within a store” method in thousands of sales points, par-ticularly in Japan and the US.

The popular Japanese fiction-al character Hello Kitty will be making aliyah to Israel.

The company that owns the character is looking to set up a new chain of stores in Israel.

The character has been used on 280,000 products worldwide and is a household name in many parts of the world espe-cially in Asia. The product is owned by Sanrio.

Hello Kitty, which has such a Western name, is in fact a Jap-anese cat. The products bearing its image have a sales turnover estimated at more than US$6 billion a year.

Sanrio was founded in 1960 by Shintaro Tsuji, Konihiko’s father, as a company for gifts based on popular characters. Kitty joined the company’s line of characters only in 1974. A year later its image appeared on the first product: A vinyl purse. Today Sanrio is the big-gest greeting card company in

After having dealt with many local clients for more than thirty years with frequent vis-its to Hong Kong, the use of first the phone, then the fax, and nowadays email, The Tol-man Collection of Tokyo, well-regarded Japanese Art deal-ers, have finally ‘landed’ in Hong Kong.

In addition to Tokyo, the Collection is active in New York, and Singapore and for five years operated in Shanghai.

Realising that the Hong Kong audience whom they served from “outside” could be better served from “within”, they decided to transfer their China activity base from Shang-hai to Hong Kong and are now to be found at 5 Old Peak Road.

Founded in Tokyo in 1975 by Mary and Norman Tolman, the Collection has earned a world-wide reputation as the largest publisher of contempo-rary Japanese art.

Israeli author, Nir Baram, will take part in the Literary Fes-tival of Shanghai as a guest of the Israeli Consulate. The Fes-tival, which is organised year-ly by M on the Bund, attracts many international writers from all over the world. Nir’s session will be held on 6 March at the Glamour Bar.

Baram was born in 1977 in Jerusalem, to a family of well-known politicians. In 1998, shortly after his three-year man-datory service in the army, Nir’s first novel, Purple Love Story, was published in Israel. It was very well received, especially by the nation’s young people, and was subsequently translated into German with similar suc-cess. Nir’s second novel, The Mask-Ball Children, was pub-lished in 2000.

In 2002, Nir became the editor of non-fiction book series presenting political, cultural and philosophical writing by young people. Nir has been edi-tor of The Classics since 2008, a series of both Hebrew and translated classics, by writers ranging from Dostoevsky, to Edgar Allen Poe, to Mendele Mocher Sforim.

Nir’s third novel, The Re-

maker of Dreams, was pub-lished by Keter publishing house in 2006. The book ap-peared on the best-seller lists of newspapers in Israel, and was also shortlisted for Israel’s pres-tigious Sapir Prize.

Nir’s fourth novel, Fine People, was published in 2010. It is the first historical novel about the WW11 to be writ-ten by an Israeli author, and is acknowledged by writers and critics to be one of the most im-portant novels to be published in Hebrew in 2010.

In 2010 Nir won the Prime Minister Award for Hebrew lit-erature.

Nir Baram attends the Literary Festival in Shanghai

Tolman Collection sets up in Hong Kong

Nir Baram

As part of this years Philip-pine International Jazz and Arts Festival, Israeli artists Aya Korem and Adam Ben Amitai performed.

P.I. Jazzfest as it is more commonly known, now in its sixth year, continues to feature renowned jazz artists from the Philippines and abroad and gather them all in musical rev-elry. The event lasts for over a month, from February through to March. The festival features over 60 bands and performers and also reaches the island of Bacolod and Boracay.

This international event included artists from Mexico, USA, Korea, and Australia along with balikbayan artists.

In celebration of the annual jazz fest, Israel’s Embassy in the Philippines brought two multi-talented Israeli artists to Manila to grace three different stages at three different dates.

Aya Korem and Adam Ben Amitai are both Israeli sing-ers and songwriters from two different genres. Korem is a famous pop/rock artist while Amitai is better known through his indie music. Together, they awed the audience as they shared their signature music as well as their own renditions of famous English and Filipino songs.

In the evening of 21 Febru-ary, the two artists were the front act at the Manila Pen-

Adam Ben Amitai and Aya Korem

Norman Tolman and Hong Kong representative Daisuke Maruoka

Their exhibitions, all over the globe, have brought Japa-nese prints to the attention of those who have never even visited that country - from as far afield as Finland, and Egypt where their exhibitions were the first ones - ever - of Japan’s outstanding prints.

In Singapore, where they also maintain a presence, the Collection organised a solo exhibition at the Singapore

Art Museum, of the prints and paintings of their star artist Toko Shinoda, represented in most collections throughout the world. It was the first exhibi-tion, at that level of a Japanese artist in that country.

Here in Hong Kong the aim is to stage large public exhibi-tions at various sites, and yet still be available for private consultations concerning Japa-nese prints and Asian art.

insula’s Salon de Ning where they amazed the crowd with their soulful music and their own jazz version of All Single Ladies (by Beyoncé). Then, 23 February, they set the mood at the Greenbelt Open Park.

Finally, at a cocktail concert on 24 February, they sang for diplomats, prominent people from the Philippine public, aca-deme, cultural and business sec-tors, and other special guests.

Aside from enjoying the food served by Via Mare, the guests were overwhelmed with Aya and Adam’s performance which included songs like Hallelujah (a Leonard Cohen original) and their crowd pleas-ing acoustic version of Kahit Maputi na ang Buhok Ko.

Korem, 31, was the runner-up for two Female Singer of the Year awards in 2006. She was born in Nazareth and spent

her childhood there. She served as an instructor at the IDF’s Armored Corps and since child-hood she has been singing and performing, playing the guitar and the piano. Between 2001 and 2004 she studied songwrit-ing, composition and perfor-mance at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Ramat HaSharon. She en-rolled in the music college just to “pass some time” until she decided what she really wanted to study, but ended up having a successful music career. She dreamed of being an architect, and one of her temporary jobs was cake baking at a bakery.

Amitai was born in Tel Aviv. A singer-songwriter, he has produced a number of albums including Kaakua which is al-ternative indie sound and Tatoo. Amitai has very soothing sing-ing voice with good harmonies.

110311_Final(dtp).indd 12 14/03/2011 12:05 PM


Holocaust Commemoration event held in Myanmar

Art and Culture

Jointly organised by the Is-raeli, German and French embassies and the UNDP mis-sion to Myanmar, an exhibi-tion of the Israeli artist Sara Atzmon was held between 24–28 January at Alliance Française, Yangon.

Around 1,000 people at-tended the exhibition, including over 500 students from differ-ent schools and universities, meeting Sara Atzmon personal-ly and hearing her experiences of the Holocaust. This provided many teens and young adults in Myanmar with rare first hand insight into the Holocaust.

The Exhibition titled When Words Fail… deals with Sara’s experience of the Holocaust. Sara was born in Hungary in 1933, and spent the years of WWII in concentration camps and death camps around Eu-rope, such as Auschwitz and Bergen Belzen.

She survived the horrors of the Holocaust, and was in the first group of Holocaust survivor immigrants to arrive in Israel. About 25 years ago, Sara began to lecture in schools

about the Holocaust and soon realized that the best way to express the terrible memories is through art.

Her paintings are perma-nently exhibited at Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust museum, and have been exhibited in Isra-

el as well as in many European countries, the US and India.

The display also provided a venue for a ceremony to mark the International Day of Com-memoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, held on 27 January. Six Memorial

Ambassador of Israel, Yaron Mayer

Personal testimony by Sara Atzmon

Sara with students at the exhibition

Yitzhak Yedid

8:30 pmAdmission: $150

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Candles were lit by Ambas-sador of Israel to Myanmar, Yaron Mayer, Sara Atzmon and Uri Atzmon, UNICEF repre-sentative, Remesh Shrestha, the French Ambassador,Thierry Mathou, and the German Am-bassador, Julius Gerog Luy.

Ambassador Mayer be-lieves that the task is to educate young people in Myanmar about how hate and intoler-ance that Germany’s ultra-nationalism fed on, found its ideological conclusion in the Holocaust. “They know Hitler as a strong man, a nationalist,

but they don’t know the story of the Holocaust, they don’t know that this man was behind the killing of six million people,” he said.

For Fabrice Etienne, direc-tor of Alliance Francaise, the exhibition was an opportunity to reach out to those who don’t understand the full extent of what happened. “I feel it is especially important to explain the tragedy behind some of the symbols still in use among cer-tain young Myanmar people,” he said.

110311_Final(dtp).indd 13 14/03/2011 12:05 PM


Th e re w e re m a n y g u e s t s c r o w d e d around beautifully set tables in Rabbi

Chaim Shmulevitz’s small apartment, located in the Mirrer Yeshivah in Jerusalem.Rising to speak, Rav Chaim, the Mir’s illustrious rosh yeshivah, warmly called out, “Dear Reb Avraham, may you merit to grow in Torah and fear of Heaven, in line with the aspirations of your pure heart! May you become a true son of Avraham Avinu, after whom you are now named.”

This was no bar-mitzvah celebration. The celebrant was Setzuso Kotsuji, a 60-year-old Japanese professor, who had recently been circumcised upon converting to Judaism, taking on the Hebrew name “Avra-ham.”

Setzuso Kotsuji was born in 1900 into an aristocratic Japa-nese family. His father, who himself was a prominent Shinto priest, descended from a long-line of well-known priests; the centre of the Shinto religion was Kiyoto, Setzuso’s birth-place.

His father hoped that Set-zuso would naturally follow the family tradition and study for the priesthood, but he instead embarked on an epic search for truth.

When he was 13, he visited an antique bookshop in which he discovered a Tanach, the Hebrew Bible, which had been translated into Japanese. Thirst-ily, he devoured that sacred work and learned about mono-theism. Realising that this was the truth, he slowly began to veer away from the polytheistic Shinto religion. In the end, he stopped attending the Shinto temple altogether and searched for someone to teach him more about Judaism.

After his marriage, Setzu-so’s search for the truth brought him to the US, here he began to study Tanach and Hebrew in an American university. When he returned to Japan with a doctor-ate in Hebrew and Judaic stud-ies, he continued to broaden his knowledge of these subjects.

In 1937, he published his first book in Japanese on He-brew language and grammar. He also founded the Hebrew Depar tment a t the Tokyo University. Professor Kotsuji gained acclaim in Japan as a scholar and thinker of repute.

At that time, various Japa-nese researchers published stud-ies which linked the Japanese

tion, a high-ranking Japanese colonel who knew Kotsuji very well, visited the prison where the professor was being held. The colonel was startled to see the scholarly professor, one of Japan’s most respected academ-ics, incarcerated on blatantly false charges and locked up with criminals. Immediately, the colonel demanded that Kotsuji be released, and that all of the charges against him be dropped.

After the war

After the war was over, the Jewish refugees who had left the Far East remained in close contact with Kotsuji. When the American army arrived in Japan, he became friendly with its chaplain, Rabbi Mental.

A few years later, Kotsuji finished his translation of The Song of Songs, a project which enabled him to better under-stand the relationship between God and the Jewish people.

Kotsuji continued to corre-spond with his friends from the Kobe period - the sages of the Mirrer Yeshivah. When he felt that he was ready to lead a fully observant life, he informed these friends that he would be coming to Jerusalem to convert.

In 1959, the 60-year-old Kotsuji was warmly welcomed to the Jewish faith by his friends from the Mir and named Avraham ben Avraham Kotsuji.

Kotsuji spent the final years of his life in a religious com-munity in Brooklyn. During that period, he was ill and pen-niless. The heads of the Mir-rer Yeshivah formed a special committee which rallied to his aid and raised money to support him.

He passed away on the 5th of Cheshvan, 5734/1974, in the US. In accordance with his will, his was buried in Jerusalem’s Har HaMenuchos cemetery. His funeral was attended by a large gathering of leading rabbis, communal leaders and students of the Mirrer Yeshivah.

Avraham ben Avraham Kotsuji will go down in history first as one of the world’s most outstanding righteous gentiles.His total dedication to the Jew-ish people and his willingness to risk his life for them is an ev-erlasting source of inspiration.

Supplied by D. Sofer The story was published in the American edition of “Yated Ne’eman” - a weekly To-rah newspaper, and it is reprinted with the permission of the Editor, Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz.

From Shintoism to Judaism – Setzuso Kotsuji

nation to the Ten Lost Tribes exiled by Sancheriv. These er-roneous claims evoked a wave of interest in Judaism among Japan’s intelligentsia and Prof. Kotsuji’s books became widely read.

During his studies in the US, Prof. Kotsuji had not encoun-tered Torah-observant Jews. He first met such Jews in Harbin, the capital of Manchuria, where a large community of former Russian Jews had existed since 1890. When Manchuria was conquered by Japan, the Japanese emperor invited Prof. Kotsuji to serve as his Jewish Affairs Advisor. He accepted this offer and moved to Harbin, where he remained for a few years.

While there, the professor formed warm relationships with its Jewish community and its chief rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Aha-ron Kiskilov. Prof. Kotsuji’s friendship and admiration for the Jewish people reached a peak in 1941, when the Jewish refugees of the Holocaust began to stream to Japan in search of a haven.

When the Mirrer Yeshivah arrived in the Japanese city of Kobe, Prof. Kotsuji went there to familiarise himself with the Torah world. In Kobe, he be-came very close with the Mir’s illustrious rabbis and students, whose refinement and nobility of spirit had a profound impact on him.

A saving friendshipThe permits which the Jew-

ish refugees had received to

revolting caricatures of Jews were plastered all over the Japa-nese newspapers.

Determined to portray the Jews to the Japanese in a posi-tive light, Prof. Kotsuji pub-lished a book, called The True Character of the Jewish Nation, in which he exploded all of the German myths and lies about the Jews, and portrayed the Jewish people as a highly ethi-cal, righteous nation.

Kotsuji travelled through-out Japan, delivering lectures that praised the Jewish people and refuted the lies of her en-emies. He even appealed to the Japanese to assist the Jews, declaring, “Divine Providence has brought thousands of unfor-tunate refugees to our shores, so that we should help them and grant them a safe haven, where they will find peace and tran-quility. This is our mission in life. Let us not betray it.”

When a delegation compris-ing the leaders of the Jewish refugees, headed by the Amshi-nover Rebbe and Rabbi Moshe Shatzkes, met with Japanese government representatives in Tokyo, they were greatly aided by Prof. Kotsuji who acted as their mediator and translator.

As a result of his interven-tion, the Japanese improved their attitude toward the Jewish refugees and withstood Germa-ny’s pressure to banish the Jews from Japan, at least temporar-ily. In 1941, when the Japanese government changed its attitude and banished the Jewish refu-gees to Shanghai, he continued to maintain warm and active ties with the Jews.

True dedicationMany warned him that he

was risking his life by publish-ing such material and deliver-ing his lectures. But the brave professor paid no attention to them. Towards the end of 1942, the Japanese Bureau of Inves-tigation began to believe the German reports that Jewish sub-versives were planning to gain control of the world, and they accused him of abetting Japan’s enemies, the Jews.

Kotsuji was arrested and interrogated under torture, in which his interrogators demand-ed that he reveal his role in the plot. When he said that there was no such group of Jewish subversives, and that it was all a figment of the imaginations of the anti-Semites, he was further tortured to the point that his life was in danger.

Then a miracle occurred. At the peak of the interroga-

enter Japan were only transfer visas, meant to expire within two weeks of their arrival there. Although the Japanese au-thorities extended these visas a number of times, after a while there was pressure exerted upon the yeshiva to leave Japan and continue to their destination - which was, of course, non-existent since they had nowhere else to go.

For purely humanitarian rea-sons, Kotsuji became involved in the refugees’ problems and made vigorous efforts to have their visas extended. He utilized his friendship with Japan’s For-eign Affairs minister. When top ranking members of Kobe’s po-lice force opposed the extension of these visas, he bribed them with vast sums of money, which he borrowed from his wealthy brother-in-law, and repaid him-self.

As a result of his interven-tion, the Japanese authorities agreed to extend the refugees’ visas several times, letting them stay for eight months instead of the original two-week period. Later, when the Japanese de-cided to banish the Jews from Japan, they did not expel them completely but instead deported them to Shanghai, China, which was under Japanese rule.

Fighting the anti-SemitesAs more Jewish refugees

streamed into Japan, anti-Se-mitic sentiment increased. This was because Germany, Japan’s ally, attempted to persuade Ja-pan to expel its Jews. This poi-sonous anti-Semitic propaganda flooded the Japanese media and

(from left) Rabbi Shlomo Shapira, Kotsuji, Rabbi Shimon Shalom Kalish (the Amshinover Rebbe), Rabbi Moshe Shatzkes (in Japan)

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110311_Final(dtp).indd 14 14/03/2011 12:05 PM


In a leading local Egyp-tian newspaper,“The People Toppled the Government,” is al-

Ahram’s headline, and the general interpretation of the Egyptian revolution around the world. That’s true but only partly true. Mubarak’s pedestal was shaken by the people but he was pushed off it by the army and the establishment.

Let’s remember something that nobody wants to hear right now. The revolution in Egypt succeeded because the army didn’t want President Husni Mubarak any more. When people say things like: The army wouldn’t shoot down its own people. Why? It has done so before.

In normal times the army would have been content to let Mubarak rule until he died, despite being very unhappy with his behavior. He had been declining as a leader due to his age; had refused to name a vice-president, step down, or prepare seriously for succes-sion; and he was trying to foist his son, Gamal, on them who was not a military man and was inadequate for the job.

When the demonstrations began and built up the army had a choice: do nothing or fight for Mubarak. Those with griev-ances and everyone in Egypt has lots of grievances-seeing that nobody would stop them, poured into the streets. Hence, a people’s revolution. Something similar happened in Tunisia, though the civil society base for democracy – and chances for success – are far higher there.

Now, what happens in Al-geria or Syria, for example? These other countries do not face this special situation like that in Egypt and the security forces do not hesitate to break up demonstrations. People do not want to be killed or beaten, so they don’t come into the streets.

I s tha t a j aundiced or cynical view? No, that’s how politics in authoritarian states works.

From this, we can draw conclusions:

First, it is possible that Arab politics have been transformed forever by people power. But it is equally or more possible that this is a matter of one uprising, one revolution, one time.

Second, conclusions that the

to stop terrorists from crossing the Egypt-Israel border; not providing proper protection to Israeli citizens travelling in Egypt or to the Israeli em-bassy; recalling Egyptian dip-lomats from Israel; stepping up hostile and official anti-Israel incitement; and so on.

The most critical, which would be a treaty violation, would be to disregard the limits on Egyptian troops being sta-tioned in Sinai.

The Egyptian army might want to avoid this as being too provocative. But if it did send additional forces, Israel would have to turn to the US and ask President Barack Obama to keep the US pledge to enforce the treaty by putting massive pressure on Egypt. And you can complete this paragraph on your own.

T h e r e i s a n o t h e r a n d most critical point being swept under the rug. Even if the Egyptian government doesn’t actually violate the treaty, Israel cannot depend 100 percent on peace with Egypt surviving a number of potential crises.

If Hamas or Hizballah at-tacks and Israel retaliates will Egypt remain passive? What about the possibility of a future Israel-Syria confrontation?

Supplied by Professor Barry Rubin. Professor Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (ME-RIA) Journal. www.gloria-center.org

What is the real meaning of Egypt’s Revolution?

usual rules of Middle East poli-tics have disappeared is greatly exaggerated.

If you think that democracy cannot lead to violent Islamists taking power, consider the Muslim-majority country in the region with the longest tradition of democracy: Lebanon, where Hizballah and its allies now run things.

Consider Algeria, where free elections (you can blame it on the military if you want) led to a bloody civil war. Think about Turkey where, though the regime still operates basically by democratic norms, the noose is tightening (though there it may well not be irreversible).

Third, without stinting the courage and efforts of the urban, middle-class, young, Facebook crowd, the Muslim Brotherhood had more to do with this event than Western observers realise. It was in close touch with the Facebook crowd and knew what was going on at every moment. It was not caught by surprise but simply held back to avoid committing itself to a devastat-ing defeat that would end in harsh repression. The first thing the government forces did when the events started was to round up the usual suspects, that is Brotherhood leaders.

all-out (and far more cleverly than their Western opponents) around the clock.

If one side is sophisticated and realistic while the other en-gages in fantasies, who do you expect to win? And those roles are precisely the opposite of what Western hubris thinks.

Finally, what does the Egyp-tian revolution mean for Israel?

The single most salient is-sues is whether or not the next government will maintain the peace treaty with Israel. Not only the Muslim Brotherhood but also the two best-known op-positionists (Ayman Nour and Muhammad ElBaradei) have spoken of the need to revise the treaty, hold a referendum, or dispense with it altogether. Even if they never do it, Israel must assume that this kind of thing is in the realm of the pos-sible.

What is most l ikely is that the treaty will not be for-mally torn up—due to Egyptian fear of losing U.S. aid or of Israeli retaliation—but rather emptied of content.

If Egypt violates the treaty without admitting it, Israel may have trouble convincing the United States to act. And how does Israel respond without triggering a confrontation?

There are many steps the Egyptian government could take: letting weapons flow and terrorists walk across the Egypt-Gaza border; not trying too hard

Finally, history has not ended in the Middle East. The Muslim Brotherhood will con-tinue to maneuver patiently for power. The military will set limits and implement them.

All the radical dictator-ships and movements that hate America,the West, Israel, and real democracy are still working

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– How can we improve our editorial content and stories?– What areas of the paper do you like to read?– Any suggestions for features and articles?

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110311_Final(dtp).indd 15 14/03/2011 12:05 PM


Enjoying the Festival of Purimthe king’s top advisor, obtains a decree to have all the Jews de-stroyed.

In the end, through a com-plex twist of events, Esther gets the decree reversed, Haman is hanged on the gallows, and Mordechai becomes prime min-ister.

The name Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther) actually mean “revealing the hidden.” Unlike every other book in the Bible, Megillat Esther never mentions God’s name even once. The hidden hand of God is revealed through the maze of events. There are no coincidences.

Megillat Esther teaches us that life challenges work out for the best, because what appears as obstacles are really opportu-nities to develop ourselves for the better. And it all comes from God’s invisible hand that guides our fate, every step of the way.

How to celebrate Purim today

There are four mitzvot specific to the holiday of Purim:• Reading the Megillah (Scroll

Purim is Judaism’s most dramatic, fun-filled holiday. When else can you dress up

like a bunny rabbit and eat doughy triangles filled with prunes and poppy seeds?

Purim occurs on 14 Adar. (In certain walled cities like Je-rusalem, Shushan Purim is cel-ebrated on 15 Adar.)

The main event is reading the Book of Esther. Set in Per-sia 2,300 years ago, the Megil-lah (as it is commonly called) recounts how a seemingly un-related series of events spun to-gether to save the Jewish people from annihilation. A summary version is as follows:

When King Achashverosh throws a huge six-month party and the queen refuses to fol-low orders, she is replaced by a new queen – Esther the Jew-ess. Esther’s uncle Mordechai, the leader of the Jews, uncovers a plot to assassinate the king – putting him also in a favourable position with the king. All this comes in handy when Haman,

of Esther)• Festivity and rejoicing (the

Purim meal)• Sending food to friends

(Mishloach Manot)• Giving gifts to the poor

(Matanot La’evyonim)

The Book of Esther is read on Purim night, and again the next day. Every word must be clearly heard. We read it in the synagogue, because the larger the crowd, the greater publicity is given to the miracle

of our being saved.

On Purim morning, we visit friends and deliver tasty treats – Mishloach Manot. Purim is the day we reach out to embrace our fellow Jews – irrespective of any religious or social differ-ences. After all, Haman did not discriminate amongst us... that’s why it is particularly good to give gifts to those who you may have had an argument with, or someone new in the community who needs a new friend.

On Purim, it is also a special mitzvah to give gifts of money to the poor. The Jewish people are one unit – we can’t possibly enjoy the holiday if poor people don’t have enough.

Then comes the day’s grand finale – the festive meal. We eat our fill and pamper our bodies – because it is the Jewish bodies that Haman sought to destroy. Also, we are obliged to drink some alcohol (responsibly, of course) until one doesn’t know the difference between “cursed is Haman” and “blessed is Mor-dechai.”

We dress up in costumes, to let our defenses down and open up to the deeper reality of our-selves and our world.

All our current problems and life’s imperfections blend into good, until they become one unified expression of the Almighty’s infinite perfection.

There is truly no other holi-day like Purim.

Supplied by Aish.com

Purim

Megillah Esther

110311_Final(dtp).indd 16 14/03/2011 12:05 PM


Do e s G o d s t i l l p e r f o r m m i r a c l e s ? I ’ d really love to see

something that ranks with the splitting of the Red Sea, the 10 plagues or the sun standing still at the command of someone like Joshua.

Where are all of God’s mir-acles today? He hasn’t gone on vacation, so what’s going on?

There is a holiday on the Jewish calendar whose main point is to resolve this very problem. And that’s why the rabbis of the Talmud main-tained that even though every other festival will eventually fall by the wayside in the mes-sianic era, one holiday will be observed forever. Its message is so powerful that we can never dare to forget it.

It’s not Passover or Yom Kippur. Surprisingly, the sole festival granted immortality in Jewish tradition is the seem-ingly minor day of Purim. And that certainly begs for an expla-nation.

I Can’t Go OnA personal story will shed

some light on the matter. Thirty years ago in the middle of giv-ing a lecture to my class at Yeshiva University I was sud-denly called out due to “a life-and-death emergency.” One of my students was threatening to commit suicide in his dormitory room and desperately needed some counseling.

I rushed over and found the young man wailing and moan-ing. “This is the worst day of my life!” he screamed, “I don’t want to go on living anymore.” Slowly the story poured out of him. His girlfriend had just broken up with him and he was inconsolable. “You don’t un-derstand, Rabbi. I’ll never ever find anyone like her. I’ll never meet someone as perfect as she is. I can’t go on, I just want to die.”

I stayed with my student all day, as well as the follow-ing night. I tried to reassure him that his life was not over. By morning I finally got him to promise me not to give up on his future. He agreed that suicide is a sin and that he’d struggle to go on, even though it pained him to lose what he was certain was his only pos-sibility for happiness.

There are times in life when we mistake blessings for trag-edies.

A little over 20 years later I was teaching in my very same

he could introduce his wife and three children. “I’m just like that student in the story you told us that unforgettable Shabbat. Today I’m the happiest man in the world. I can honestly say that the curse of that Saturday night has turned out to be my greatest blessing.”

Turnabout

There is a Hebrew word in the book of Esther central to the story of Purim that captures this idea best: V’nahafoch – it was turned around. Everything that seemed like a misfortune at first was in retrospect recognised as a Divine miracle. Because there are miracles, unlike those in the Bible, that come camouflaged as seeming coincidences, as natural events, as incidents that “just happened,” but that in reality are the products of heav-enly intervention in the affairs of mankind.

Everything that seemed like a misfortune was in retrospect recognised as a Divine miracle.

The ve ry name Pur im comes from the word meaning “lottery.” Some call that a game of pure luck, the winner deter-mined by random inexplicable forces that have no rational ba-sis.

Faith however allows us to understand that in a world governed by an All-seeing God there cannot be room for blind chance. A lottery is far more than luck; it is allowing the Di-rector of the universe to decide the outcome while hiding in the background.

Purim is the holiday that harps on what people call co-incidence. It reminds us, as the proverb has it, that “coincidence is God’s way of choosing to remain anonymous.”

Purim has many miracles in its story. Not the kind of miracles that override the rules of nature. Rather the miracles that happen so much more fre-quently in our own lives. The miracles that we so often dis-count because God chooses not to shout but rather to whisper. It is His still small voice that we have to attune ourselves to hear as He turns tragedies into bless-ings.

And that is why the festival of Purim, with its message of miracles camouflaged as coin-cidence, will outlast every other holiday on the Jewish calendar.

Supplied by Rabbi Benjamin Blech, re-printed from Aish.com

Coincidence is God’s way of choosing to remain anonymous

classroom when there was a knock on the door. A young man asked permission to enter and then, with a smile, asked, “Rabbi, do you remember me?”

It took but a moment for me to realise who it was. “Of course I recognise you,” I told him, “and you still owe me a night’s sleep.”

The young man returned to tell me the end of the story. “You know that day when I wanted to commit suicide and I told you it was the worst day of my life? In retrospect I now realise that day was really the luckiest day of my life. The girl I thought I couldn’t live without she’s been involved in drugs and a series of scandals that even hit the newspapers. My life would have been a horror had we stayed together. I came back to thank you Rabbi, because today I am married to a woman who is truly the best in the world and we have four amazing children who give me joy every single day. I guess what you taught us is true. There are times in life when we mistake blessings for tragedies.”

But that’s not the end of the story

Just one year after this mov-ing experience I was invited to serve as scholar in residence at a synagogue in Los Angeles. For my Sabbath sermon I chose a theme based on a verse in Exodus in response to Moses’ request to see God.

God told Moses, “You can-not see My face, for man cannot

The almost-to-be-groom later described to his friends what happened next. For a mo-ment he felt suicidal. He wanted to rage, to vent his anger, to scream. But one thought kept repeating itself in his mind. Why was it that on that very morning he heard a sermon describing an almost similar event? He had not intended to go to that particular synagogue. It was a last-minute decision that brought him to a place where, almost as a Divine mes-sage, he could hear words that in the aftermath of his own tragedy might offer him some solace.

Little did he know that my inserting that particular illustra-tion was also totally unplanned. A higher source put into my mind and my mouth – a gift from God to allow someone to survive incredible pain just a few hours later.

And this story, too, has a happy ending. This past July my wife and I were strapping ourselves into our El Al seats on the way to Israel. Passengers were still filing by on the aisles when one of them began to stare at me and suddenly shout-ed, “Aren’t you Rabbi Blech?” When I responded that indeed I was, he identified himself. Five years before, he told me, he was sitting in a synagogue in Los Angeles on the day before he was supposed to get married. He proceeded to share the part of the story I already knew.

With tears in his eyes he asked me to come with him so

see My face and live... you will see My back, but My face shall not be seen” (Exodus 33:20). Of course God has no body. It was not His physical appearance that was being discussed. Moses wanted to “see” to comprehend God’s ways and His interaction with His creations. What he was told is that with our finite intel-ligence we can’t understand events as they unfold; it is only retroactively that “You will see My back” and grasp God’s infi-nite wisdom.

I quoted Kierkegaard who expressed the same idea when he said, “The greatest tragedy of life is that it must be lived forward and can only be under-stood backwards.” And then, as I was speaking, the story of the suicidal student suddenly popped into my head and I told it as an illustration.

The following Sunday night, one of the congregants told me that my speech had unwittingly saved a life. It seems that in the audience on the previous day for the Sabbath service was a young man just 24 hours before his wedding. He was scheduled to fly out to New York late Sat-urday night to join his bride for the wedding ceremony they had been happily anticipating for the last six months.

No sooner was the Sab-bath over when he received the phone call that shattered his dreams. His fiancee at the last moment decided she couldn’t go through with it. She called to regretfully inform him that it was all over.

The Purim mask - anonymous disguise

110311_Final(dtp).indd 17 14/03/2011 12:05 PM


The annual Tour de Dead Sea, a cycle r a c e a l o n g t h e contours of the Dead

Sea, will take place for the fifth time this year on 5 March 2011.

With over one thousand cy-clists from Israel and overseas cycling in support of the Dead Sea’s candidacy in the finals of the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign.

The cyclists – amateurs and professionals from Israel, Jordan and overseas – will be joined by families, tourists and locals in this colourful race which takes place amid the breathtaking primordial scenery of the lowest place on earth.

For the first time, cyclists will be able to ride to the his-toric Beit Ha’Arava, the King Abdullah bridge and Qasr el Yahud, the site on the Jordan River where, according to Christians, Jesus was baptised.

Participants will be able to choose from four different routes along the Dead Sea, with professional riders enjoy-ing two of the finest routes in Israel: 65 kilometres on-road, or 45 kilometres off-road from the Dragot cliffs, over the He’Etekim cliffs and down to Kalia beach.

Amateur cyclists and fami-lies can enjoy the 25 kilometre on-road route from Kalia beach, through Beit Ha’Arava and King Abdullah bridge to Qasr el Yahud. For younger cyclists,

This natural phenomenon offers tourists and health-seekers black Dead Sea mud and thermo-mineral hot springs; desert-dry, air free of pollution and pollen and rich in oxygen, bromine and magnesium and year-round sunshine with fil-tered UVB rays.

Tourist attractions in the area, among others, include the Roman fortress at Masada, the Ein Gedi and Einot Tzukim nature reserves and Qumran, home to the Essenes sect and the area where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

Tour de Dead Sea -a cycle event with scenery

there is a 5 kilometre section on the family route.

A large camping site will be available at the Kalia and Neve Midbar beaches, family attrac-tions will be available free of charge throughout the weekend.

At over 400 metres below sea level and with luxury hotels in the Ein Bokek area, the Dead Sea is known as the lowest and largest natural health spa in the world.

Dead Sea

Tour de Dead SeaCycling through the scenery

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110311_Final(dtp).indd 18 14/03/2011 12:05 PM


China

Beijing Beijing Chabad: Kings Garden Villa, 18 Xiao Yun Road, F1 Chao Yang District 100016, Beijing, PR China Tel: (86) 13911 650 967 www.chabadbeijing.com

Chabad of Ya Bao Lu: Jian Guo Men Diplomatic Bldg, Building 3,2/F, 223 Chaoyangmennei Street, Beijing, PR ChinaTeL: (86) 1352 2016 427 Email: [email protected]

Kehillat Beijing (Reform): Capital Club athletic Center, 3/F., Ballroom, Capital Mansion, 6 Xinyuan nanlu Chaoyang District, Beijing, PR China Tel: (86) 10 6467 2225 www.sinogogue.org

GuangzhouGuangzhou Chabad: 31 he Ping Lu, Overseas Village, Guangzhou, China Tel: (86) 137 1050 5049 www.chabadgz.org

ShanghaiShanghai Chabad (Shanghai Jewish Center): Shang-Mira Garden Villa #1, 1720 hong Qiao Road, Shanghai, 200336, PR China Tel: (86) 21 6278 0225 www.chinajewish.org

Chabad of Pudong: Vila # 69, 2255 Luoshan Road,Shanghai, 200135, PR China Tel: (86) 21 5878 2008 www.chinajewish.org

ShenzhenShenzhen Chabad: no.4, Block a, Guishan Xiaozhu Yanshan Road, indus-trial area, Shekou nanshan District, Shenzhen, PR ChinaTel: (86) 755 8207 0712 www.chabadshenzhen.org

hOnG KOnG Jewish Community Centre: One Robinson Place, 70 Robinson Road, Mid-Levels, hong Kong Tel: (852) 2801 5440 www.jcc.org.hk

Chabad hong Kong: 1/F hoover Court, 7-9 Macdonell Road, Mid-Levels, hong Kong Tel: (852) 2523 9770 www.chabadhk.org

Ohel Leah Synagogue: 70 Robinson Road, Mid-Levels, hong Kong Tel: (852) 2589 2621 www.ohelleah.org

United Jewish Congregation (Reform): Jewish Community Centre, One Robinson Place, 70 Robinson Road, Mid-Levels, hong Kong Tel: (852) 2523 2985 www.ujc.org.hk

Shuva israel (Orthodox): 2/F Fortune house, 61 Connaught Road, Central, hong Kong Tel: (852) 2851 6300 www.shuva-israel.com

KowloonKehilat Zion (Orthodox): Unit 105, 1/F, Wing on Plaza, 62 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon Tel: (852) 2368 0061 www.kehilat-zion.org

Chabad of Kowloon: 11 hart avenue, 2/F, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Tel: (852) 2366 5770 Email: [email protected]

inDia (MUMBai) Magen David Synagogue: 340 Sir J.J. Rd, Byculla, MumbaiTel: (91) 22 23006675

Kenesseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, 43 Dr V.B. Gandhi Marg, Fort, MumbaiTel: (91) 22 22831502 / 22839617

Kurla Bene israel: 275 C.S.T. Rd, Jewish Colony, Kurla (W) Mumbai, indiaTel: (91) 22 511-2132

JaPan KobeOhel Shelomoh Synagogue and Community Center: 4-12-12, Kitano-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650, Japan Tel: (81) 78 221 7236 www.jcckobe.org

TokyoTokyo Chabad: 1-5-23 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo Japan 108-0073 Tel: (813) 5789 2846 www.chabad.jp

JCC Japan (Reform): Tokyo Jewish Community Centre, 8-8 hiroo 3-Chome, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo 150 0012, Japan Tel: (813) 3400 2559 www.jccjapan.or.jp

LaOS Chabad: Ban Pakham, Unit 03, 46 Soulignavongsa Rd, Luangprabang, Laos Tel: (856) 20 508 2014

nEPaL Chabad house: Gha-2-516-4 Thamel, Kathmandu, nepal Tel: (977) 980 324 1294 [email protected]

PhiLiPPinES Beth Yaacov Synagogue: 110 h.V. de la Costa cnr, Tordesillas West, Salcedo Village, Makati City, Metro Manila 1227, The Philippines Tel: (632) 815 0265 www.jewishphilippines.org

SinGaPORE Chesed-El Synagogue: 2 Oxley Rise, Singapore 238693

Jacob Ballas Community Centre & Maghain aboth Synagogue: 24-26 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187950Tel: (65) 6337 2189 www.singaporejews.org

United hebrew Congregation (Reform): email:[email protected]

SOUTh KOREaChabad: 744-18 hannam-Dong, Yongsan, Seoul 140-893, South KoreaTel: (82) 107 730 3770 www.jewish.kr

TaiWan Taipei Jewish Community: 16 Min Tsu East Road, Second Floor, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC Tel: (886) 2 2591 3565 email:[email protected]

ThaiLanD Jewish association of Thailand: 121 Soi Sai nam Thip 2, Sukhumvit Soi 22, Bangkok, Thailand Tel: (662) 663 0244 www.jewishthailand.com

Chabad of Thailand: 96 Rambutttri St. Banglamphu, 102000 Bangkok, Thailand Tel: (662) 629 2770 www.chabadthailand.com

Bet Sefer Chabad: 221 Sukhumvit Soi 20, Bangkok, 10110 ThailandTel: (662) 258 3434

ViETnaM Chabad: 5a (villa) nguyen Dinh Chieu St., Dakao ward, District 1,ho Chi Minh, Vietnam Tel: (84) 90 9166770 www.JewishVietnam.com

JEWISH COMMUNITIES IN ASIA

Candlelighting times are taken from Chabad.org.Candlelighting times are taken from Chabad.org.

Countries 4 March 11 March 18 March 25 March

Bangkok 6:09 6:10 6:11 6:11Beijing 5:50 5:58 6:05 6:12Guangzhou 6:13 6:16 6:19 6:22hong Kong 6:10 6:13 6:15 6:18Katmandu 5:47 5:52 5:55 5:59Kobe 5:39 5:45 5:50 5:56Manila 5:47 5:48 5:49 5:49Mumbai 6:27 6:29 6:31 6:33Perth 6:31 6:23 6:14 6:05Shanghai 5:36 5:41 5:45 5:50Singapore 7:01 7:00 6:58 6:56Seoul 6:10 6:16 6:23 6:29Taipei 5:39 5:42 5:46 5:49Tokyo 5:20 5:26 5:32 5:38

Candle Lighting Times

Rosh Chodesh:6 March 2011 (30 adar i 5771)7 March 2011 (1 adar ii 5771)

Fast of Esther:17 March 2011 (11 adar ii 5771)Purim:20 March 2011 (14 adar ii 5771)

HOLIDAYS/ FASTS/ ROSH CHODESH/ SPECIAL DAYS

March Parashas

5 March 2011 / 29 Adar I 5771: PEKUDEIPARSHAT SHEKALIM/ SHABBAT MEVARECHIM

This is the first of four Special Shabbatot preceding Pesach (Five if we include Shabbat HaGadol). On each of these four Shabbatot two Sifrei Torah are taken from the Ark. The Parasha of the week is read from the first Sepher, and the reading for the appropriate special Shabbat is read from the second Sepher to the Maftir. Parshat Pekudei contains a detailed account of what was collected for the Taber-nacle Mishkan and how it was used. The Torah gives an account of how much gold, silver, and copper was collected. The silver was donated by every Jew that was counted with the mandatory half-shekel. The reading for Shekalim is taken from the Parashat Ki Tissa – the counting of all males ages 20 years and over with the half shekel. Shekalim is always read on the Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh Adar (Adar II in a leap year).

12 March 2011 / 6 Adar II 5771: VAYIKRA The Parasha deals primarily with the laws of the Kohanim- The High Priests and the sacrificial service in the holy Sanctuary. And the various descriptions of the types of offerings. With mention concerning the korbon chatas -the sin-offering. The Torah discusses a variety of individuals who unfortunately sin the complex laws and details. Also decrees that have not been observed since the destruction of the Bet Hamik-

dash ( The Temple) nearly 2,000 years ago are difficult to comprehend. The offer-ings of animals, flour and oil mixtures, birds, and spices upon an altar are described.

19 March 2011 / 13 Adar II 5771: TZAV PARSHAT ZACHOR

The Parasha covers instructions regarding the Olah - ascent offering, and the Min-cha - meal offering are detailed. The special meal offering of the Kohain Gadol and the special inaugural meal offering of the regular Kohain is described. This was the same offering in both cases; however, the Kohain Gadol brought his offering every day while the regular Kohain did so only on the day of his inauguration into the service of the Temple Additional laws of the sin offering, and the guilt offering are detailed. Laws of the peace offering are detailed along with those portions of the of-fering that must be shared with the Kohain. The remainder of the Parsha describes the first seven days of the inaugural process for Aharon and his four sons. Moshe functioned as the Kohain Gadol to officiate over the inaugural process, and Aharon and his sons were forbidden to leave the Mishkan the entire time.

26 March 2011 / 20 Adar II 5771: SHEMINI PARSHAT PARAH

The Parsha begins with the seven-day inauguration of Aharon and his sons. The ceremonies for the Mishkan consecration had begun. Over 40 offerings would be brought on that first day. Aharon blessed the nation with the standard priestly bless-ing. The deaths of Nadav and Avihu are recorded at the very same time that fire descended from heaven to light the Mishkan. Moshe instructs Aharon and his two remaining sons, Elazar and Isamar, that they are forbidden to overtly mourn the deaths of Nadav and Avihu in the standard man-ner. It is from here that we are taught the standard practices of tearing Kriyah and of mourners not cutting their hair. The basic laws of kosher and non-kosher animals, fish, and fowl are recorded. The basic laws of purity and impurity are recorded.

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Jewish Times Asia March 201120 PB

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Documents

March 2011 • Volume 5 • Issue 10 • Adar l / Adar ll 5771