Wherever you go, there’s always someone Jewish?

The following was written by my partner, Rabbi Julie Gordon — she hasn’t gotten around to setting up her blog yet, so putting it here!

Jeremy and I are living in Jakarta, Indonesia for three months overlapping with the hagim, the Jewish holidays that stretch from Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah. We wonder: Where will we find Jewish community? With whom will we pray during the holidays? Is it true that wherever you go, there’s always someone Jewish? (Rabbi Larry Milder)

Thanks to “Rabbi Google,” I discovered Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky’s blog posts of her visits with the fledgling United Indonesian Jewish Communities (UIJC). Their members are from diverse backgrounds-some have grandfathers who were Dutch traders or parents were German refugees who left before the Holocaust; others are spiritual seekers who learned and were drawn to Judaism from studying the Hebrew Bible; yet others are descendents of traders from India or China who came centuries ago. Rabbi Shoshana and I zoomed and she generously told me about the various communities that have sprung up throughout the 17,000 Indonesian islands. She, an American born Reconstructionist rabbi now serving in Adelaide, Australia, and Rabbi David Kunin, a Conservative rabbi formerly from Tokyo now serving in California, visited the UIJC four times over six years. She gave me UIJC’s Rabbi Benny Meijer Verbrugge’s FB information and I searched to contact him.

I discovered after several zoom calls with Rabbi Benny that this fledgling Jewish community (UIJC) would daven together for Rosh Hashanah in Jakarta. We wondered what the service would be like? What parts of the service would be helpful for me to lead? I offered to chant Torah and he was delighted that I would participate in the service.

Rabbi Benny generously located the service to be at a hotel, close to where we are staying. As we walked 10 minutes to the hotel, Jeremy and I imagined what the service would be. So many surprises and yet familiarity greeted us.

A quick digression: Three expats working at the US Embassy were meeting us at the service: Adam, Eric, and Monica. Until we arrived, Adam and Eric didn’t know there was a Jewish community in Indonesia, much less in Jakarta. I was introduced to Monica before we left Virginia and she generously zoomed with me sharing many good ideas about our life here. She too was excited to learn there is a Jewish community in Indonesia. Because I posted a picture of Jeremy and me on the plane to Jakarta, Chanal, a former St. Paul, MN congregant, spontaneously connected me to her dear friends Adam and Allison who are living in Jakarta. Adam introduced us to Eric, a co-worker at the US Embassy. Wherever you go, there’s always someone Jewish.

We walked into the hotel meeting room, set up with two long tables parallel to each other, a head table, each spot with pads of paper and bottles of water. The central focus of the room was at the front where the very large sefer Torah laid on a white velvet cloth and beautiful white decorated mantel, Torah cover, covered by a white tallit.

We were warmly greeted by Rabbi Benny with smiles and kisses in the air near each cheek. As he happily introduced us to his wife Rahel and three out of his five children, and members of the community, everyone had big smiles on their faces and shook our hands. They were dressed in white, enwrapped in tallitot, including older and younger women. Adam, Eric, Monica, Jeremy and I were ushered to sit at the front table to honor us. Immediately they brought us sweet treats, a lovely hint that the morning was going to be very special and we were going to be well fed.

As the service began, we joined in singing familiar prayers with well-known tunes using the UIJC Shabbat siddur, prayer book, printed with Hebrew prayers and Bahasa Indonesian translations and transliterations. The service was led by Rabbi Benny, his wife Rahel, children Devorah and Karel, and a variety of community members. The entire community actively and joyfully participated in singing Shacharit, the morning prayers.

At the same time in the meeting room behind us, a Muslim group joyously and loudly prayed and celebrated their recent Haj. I wish I could say it represented acceptance of Jews in Indonesia, but that isn’t yet true. I pray for it to be a glimmer of hope for the future.

It was time to begin the Torah service. Rabbi Benny invited Jeremy and me to lead Shema Yisrael, take out the Torah, and bring the Torah to each member of the community to symbolically kiss it. He asked the five of us, Adam, Erica, Monica, Jeremy and me to receive an aliyah, recite the blessings before and after each section of the Torah is chanted. As I chanted the first two aliyot, I thought of all the different synagogues where I chanted these aliyot over the past 50 years. Members of the UIJC took turns chanting Torah, a challenge for them. I guided them as they helped each other using Bahasa Indonesian transliterations. We sang Debbie Friedman’s familiar tune for Mi Shebayrach, healing prayer for those in need of physical, spiritual, and emotional healing. Adam, Eric, Monica, Jeremy, and I felt excited as we shared this unique experience. Who would have thought we would have an aliyah to the Torah on Rosh Hashanah in Jakarta? Who also would have thought that Jeremy would have the honor of hagbah, lifting the very heavy Torah scroll as we prepared to conclude the Torah service?

The day before Rosh Hashana when I spoke with Rabbi Benny, he asked me to lead the Musaf service. Because Rosh Hashanah coincided with Shabbat and traditionally the shofar isn’t blown/sounded, I taught about the three sections in the Musaf service: Malchuyot (God’s sovereignty-the past), Zichronot (divine and human memory-the present), and Shofarot (emphasizing future redemption.) I shared spiritual interpretations: What does it mean to be connected to our past? How do we live each day fully in the present? What are our dreams and hopes for the coming year?

After the Musaf service, we sang familiar prayers: Aleinu, Mourner’s Kaddish, and Adon Olam. I felt very honored when Rabbi Benny, Rahel, and the president honored me with a gift of a royal sumatran Sas (red, black, and gold woven sash)

It was time to share a Rosh Hashanah seder, originally a Sephardic tradition, adapted by many Jewish communities around the world. Similar to a Passover or Tu B’Shevat seder, specific foods are used to offer blessings for the new year. As a liberal rabbi, I taught and reinterpreted the meaning of several of the food items: apples, honey, and dates for a sweet year; carrots for clear insight; pomegranate seeds for sweet and supportive families and community, scallions and beets to keep our enemies far away from us, and round hallah for a full, complete, sweet, and loving connections to family, friends, and community. Finally, a fish complete with head and tail: May we look forward to growth and new opportunities in the New Year rather than being caught in past negative behavior and thoughts.

The seder foods were a taste of lunch that was ahead for us. Delicious fish, rice, and fruit. Most importantly, it was a time for schmoozing to get to know each other better. Listening to stories of families, longing for love, jobs, and career hopes were powerful connections of our humanity. We concluded our time together with coffee, cake, and most importantly, thanking God for our time together, delicious food, and connections to worldwide Jewry as we sang Birkat Hamazon, grace after meals.

Shanah tovah u’metukah. I can’t wait to see what celebrations and learning are ahead when we meet again with Rabbi Benny, his family, and the UIJC community for Sukkot, my favorite Jewish holiday.