Chabad Tokyo Japan

This Shabbat Ekev we celebrate the 7th anniversary of Chabad Kyoto.
It is the first and only Jewish synagogue in Kyoto.

Chabad Kyoto has been super active providing many services to local Jews and Japanese people, and for the many tourists that come throughout the year.

Thousands of guests have participated in Shabbat prayers and meals, joyous festivals and events, Bar Mitzvahs, Weddings, Chanuka and Purim parties, and many community celebrations.

Chabad Kyoto organize fun and educational activities for kids and Torah classes for adults and classes for Japanese on the Seven Noahide laws.

Chabad Kyoto is a home for students from overseas, for families working in Kyoto, and any person looking for community and connection. Weekly house visits and care packages are distributed on a constant basics.

We need your help, especially now with the great influx of tourists, to be able to provide our services and assistance to everyone and to further establish our community.

We have many good news that we would like to share with you, coming up on the next few weeks.
Please keep your eyes on the upcoming posts of Chabad Kyoto.

Donation to Chabad Kyoto: https://www.chabadkyoto.com/donate

About today, the 15th of Av:

Today is the 15th of Menachem Av. It is a very joyous and auspicious day. Several great events happened on this day.
1- People who sinned in the sin of the spies in the desert, were destined to die and not enter the Holy land. On this day, the people stopped dying. This was a great joy to all.

2- On this day young Jewish men would go out and choose a righteous woman to marry. The women would purposely all wear similar clothing to emphasize that what is important is the good character of the person and not the outside. The marriages were a great joy to all.

3- Around the time of the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, the Roman emperor, cruelly killed out all the Jewish people in the city of Beitar, which was a stronghold of Jewish fighters. Not only did he mercilessly kill them, he did not allow them to be buried, the men, women and children. Fourteen years later, on this day, the Jews were allowed to bury them which was a great comfort. A blessing was added in the Grace after meal, which we say to this day.

The opening of Chabad Kyoto 7 years ago. Installation of Mezuzah.

Rabbi Moti & Rabbanit Libi Grumach of Chabad Kyoto and their children, currently in their 5th year of the administration, in front of full of Sakura blossoms near Chabad Kyoto.

We would like to share amazing news: This week we started to build our Mikveh onsen.

The large property that we bought this Chanuka, has a beautiful Japanese garden with over 70 trees! Part of the garden we are using to build a Japanese style mikveh.

A mikveh is a special type of bath made of naturally occurring water, such as a spring or

rainwater. It is a Jewish practice and dates back to ancient times. Immersion in the mikvah is traditionally done for ritual purification. Every Jewish community all over the world has a mikveh.

A special gardener was hired to uproot part of the trees to be able to dig the mikveh. They were replanted around the garden to preserve the original garden landscape.  People using the mikveh will experience the beauty of the Japanese-style onsen, in a natural and serene atmosphere.

Reprinted with permission from an article written by Rabbi Bernstein Moshe for all, including non-Jews. This issue is about this week’s Parashah, Yitro.

In this Torah portion, Yitro, we read about the revelation on Mt. Sinai. Mt. Sinai is situated in a desert. The desert has no owner. By giving the Torah in the desert, G‑d showed that everyone regardless of what he has can accept the Torah. The Jewish people accepted the 613 commandments while the 7 Noahide commandments were given to all the nations with no exception. Torah was given with the 7 laws on mount Sinai in order to enable man below to build G‑d a dwelling place in the lowest levels of creation. G‑d gave us the task of revealing the true essence of the world, and transforming its darkness into light, into an environment in which G‑d’s Presence is felt.
The first Noahide commandment, The Prohibition of Idolatry also includes the belief that there is no supreme entity except the creator. The Essence of G‑d is totally independent of any other existence. All other existence depends on G‑d, but He does not need or depend on any other existence. He may therefore be defined as the true existence. It is a principle of our faith that G‑d is One, a belief that not only means a singular being but also that G‑d is everything and everywhere. He was, is, and will always be. He has no beginning and no end. There is nothing whatsoever that resembles Him. It is a principle of our faith that G‑d is One, a belief that G‑d is everything and everywhere. The Divine light undergoes stages of constriction, in order for Him to create the finite world. There is a concealment of His infinite light, however, there is no concealment of His true essence.
“The purpose for which this world was created is that the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to have a dwelling place in the lower worlds,” says the Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.
This revelation on Mt. Sinai was an introduction to the Era of Redemption where all of mankind will be able to comprehend that the world is G‑d’s dwelling place. May this happen in the immediate future.

BH

I am very shocked to hear the news of the attack on former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and I am very concerned that such an evil event should take place.

The Chief Rabbi of Japan, Rabbi Binyomin Y. Edery, calls on all.
Let us all pray for the safety and recovery of the life of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The Creator commands mankind as the Law of Noah.
Do not commit murder.
Not only physical murder or injury.
Mental harm, insults, etc. are also among murder.
We must willfully turn away from such evil.
Man was made in the image of his Creator. We need to treat everyone with respect, including ourselves.
This must be observed regardless of political beliefs.

Let us focus on educating our children so that all people can respect all people, and so that we can achieve a peaceful society. Without these basics, society cannot exist.

Our hearts are with the family of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan.

Rabbi Binyomin Y. Edery
Chief Rabbi of Japan
Chabad House of Japan

Added at July 8th 17:58

I’ve heard just now the very sad news of passing away of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. May he rest in peace.

My sincere condolences to his family.

We need to work hard to repel such darkness and to bring light to the world.

This Hanukkah eve, 22 years ago, Rabbi Edery and his wife Efrat landed in Narita airport with 40,000 Yen, in their pockets. The miracles of Hanukkah in Japan started from then.

They established the first Chabad House in Japan, organizing programs, classes, kosher slaughtering, Jewish Holidays, events, and relief for people in need. 22 years of spreading light and acts of goodness and kindness to every human being. In 2015, they established Chabad of Kyoto. 

This Hanukkah was an incredible success. Lots of guests participated in the lighting of the Menorah, and the festive holiday meals. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the fantastic fun Hanukkah activities, decorating doughnuts, making olive oil jugs from clay and listening to the story of Hanukkah in a fun, interactive way.

Face painting was a great hit, and the grand raffle with many prizes was very exciting. Many thanks to our friends at National Azabu who put up one of Chabad Japan’s big menorahs right at the entrance to the store. There were free menorah for anyone to take. 

Rabbi Edery together with his ”mitzvah crew” also went on daily ”house hopping” bringing the light and miracles of Hanukkah to many homes.