The Other Chabad

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I often feel ambivalent about Chabad. I appreciate their policy of engagement with non-Orthodox Jews but I'm also wary of the sometimes accompanying condescending attitude and slow persistent pressure to "just try it". But I'm in Japan - I couldn't not check out the Jewish tourist site. So I looked up Chabad in Tokyo to find some Jews in Japan while telling myself to just "go and have a good time."

As it turns out, I couldn't find Chabad House despite having meticulously copied down the web directions before I left (yes Jordan, I couldn't find something again!). I did find however a falafel stand - and the Israeli sounding man there directed me to a certain rabbi in charge of the "other Tokyo Chabad (are you really surprised there are two?) - maybe you could catch him before Shabbas." Within a few seconds of calling the rabbi, i was invited to his house for shabbat dinner. His house was apparently "very close" to where I was. It was not (well, my lack of Japan Rail know-how skills contributed to the matter). The 1+ hour trip over there in the midst of Tokyo rush-hour was interesting - I've never been so politely pushed, shoved, squished and squeezed in a subway car. Still, I could see why Tokyo had started implementing women only cars - there really was no way to move.

I was met at the train station by the Rabbi's cute son Mashiach - a highlight of the trip down there actually. They were kids - excited about everything, running a lot, but with the twist of having interalized the Lubbavich teachings. I wish I could remember some of the gems, particularly when they talked about the Japanese. The boys and I were sent on an errand to a nearby hotel to pick up a couple of Israeli lawyers. They were in Japan to help three Hasidic Jews imprisoned for narcotic smuggling (the story being someone else asked them to take Eastern artifacts and they naiively took them... you never know). We were to bring the lawyers to Shabbat dinner at the Rabbi's place. The boys refused to use the automatic hotel lobby door or the elevator - forcing one of the hotel employees to do a lot of work for us (which he did with a smile (the kids were too cute) and some bewilderment). "The Japanese all think we're crazy" says Massiach in his thick kiddy Israeli accent. (Also, on the way up, I dropped my kippah off the balcony on the eighth floor by accident - it landed on the balcony of the floor below, "a miracle!" said the boys).

The family lives in some corner of Tokyo with a gigantic menorah on the front lawn. The rabbi himself is quite young (for my stereotypical image of a rabbi anyway) and obviously relatively alone here, in the sense that HIS family is the heart of the tiny community, such as it is. The wife was sweet and a strong character. Unfortunately I didn't catch the story of HOW they ended up in Japan, only that The Rebbe sent them. The guests were an odd assortment: the family (with four kids, three boys and one girl), a couple of Japanese interested in Judaism, the secular Haifa-Israeli lawyers, another young Israeli the Rabbi seemed to have a particular connection with and a dull American Jewish civilian working for the US military in Japan. The language most people at the table had in common was Hebrew, but they spoke a little too fast for me. I gradually grew uncomfortable. Physically, my body began to react against their house, a la Aunt Mila's house allergies (endlessly runny nose, sinus headache, the works). Miserable and foggy-headed, I went home as soon as I could politely leave, turning down the Rabbi's "why don't you stay over" suggestions. I didn't have the heart to tell him his physical house was the problem.

As a side note, I took the wrong train on my way home (more points Jor) being forced to shell out 2000 yen (roughly $23-24) for the taxi back to the hostel.

Because it was Shabbat, I couldn't take pictures. You can check out their website here http://chabadjapan.org/blog_e/welcome/ . If you're visiting Tokyo and you're interested in anything Jewish, it's a nice family, good food, Judaism talk, and a place to crash Friday night.

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Comments

[jordan]

haha, please don't think i'm sitting here waiting to tally up the lost-points! (... but i am) ah, the awkward dinner table, i guess they have those in japan/chabads (?) too! i need to catch up on your blog! onto the next post...