Judaism to Go!
Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netayahu's teenage son was with his father this week on a State Visit to China.
They toured the ancient Ohel-Moshe Synagogue in Shanghai, which the Chinese Government has established as a Jewish Museum tribute to a past, instead of a living-breathing Synagogue of today.
While touring, teenage Avner Netanyahu had something else on his mind. He turned to (my friend) Rabbi Avraham Greenberg, one of the Chabad rabbis in Shanghai (Esty’s brother is engaged to his niece…) who was on hand, and asked "Do you have a pair of Tefilin here?"
And right then and there, in front of the shocked Israeli diplomatic corp, the communist Chinese delegation, and the ecstatic press who were snapping away, he laid Tefilin and began praying, from his iPhone... When one of the puzzled Chinese asked him what he had just wrapped around his arm, he kindly explained that "it reminds us daily of who we stand before."
Sometimes, while traveling on business or vacation, we leave our Judaism behind.
So Avner taught us an important lesson: Judaism is not only for the comfort of our own Synagogue or home. Rather, it is there to remind us ‘who and what we stand for’ every day, no matter where we are. In fact, sometimes we may need that reminder while we are abroad, more so than when we are home.
And this week I got a local reminder too, just yesterday, a Bellaire couple, whose summer travel plans include a weekend in Lisbon, Portugal, asked me to introduce them to the local Chabad Rabbi, and arrange for them to join their family for Shabbat dinner in Lisbon. Within three hours it was done.
That is Judaism on the go. Thank you Avner and N. F. for the reminders!
See you on Shavuot,
Rabbi Yossi Zaklikofsky