Japan Earthquake: A Personal Account

Shabbat comes once a week here in Tokyo just like anywhere else but because of time zones and the international date line it comes “earlier” than in most Jewish communities. When we are lighting our candles, most Jews in the world are still asleep or maybe enjoying their breakfast. Tokyo is not the easiest place to be Jewish. You cant get much kosher food at the super markets and it is not always easy to live within walking distance of a shul.

In other ways it is like anywhere see. We have several shuls, a Sunday school for the children and we get along well on some things and not so well on others. Just like in any other city, Chabad is a big part of Jewish life here. Rabbi Mendi Sudakevich and his wife Chana work hard to make sure that every Jew who lives in or visits Tokyo can have a place at the Shabbat dinner table, a chance to learn Torah or provide any other support to Jews in need of assistance.

No one is exactly sure how many Jews live in the greater Tokyo region. The best guess is maybe 1,000 in total. Many of these will be business people and their families sent here for work for a few months or a year and there are also those of us who have chosen to make this our home. Some of us are Ashkenazim, some are Sephardic, some Israelis, Japanese and others but no matter where we are from or the color of our skin we are bound together as Jews. Just like any other community some people we only see on High Holidays or Passover. There are usually three or four public Seders each year which can bring over 200 people each. This year wont be like any other year however. The earthquake and tsunami which devastated part of the eastern coast of the main island of Japan and the problems with the nuclear power plant afterwards have affected all of us in Japan, Jews and non Jews alike.

The quake struck just before 3 in the afternoon. It was certainly a frightening experience. Those of us who worked in tall office buildings felt the floor move up to three feet in each direction and tried to avoid things falling from the shelves above us. Those of us who live here for any length of time become accustomed to small or medium earthquakes but this one was like nothing we’ve ever experienced before. I was not the only one with the Shema on my lips at that time and one of many present at Chabad to bench Gomel the next morning. How nice that even after the largest quake in the history of Japan we had a minyan the next morning!

Although Tokyo was spared from most of the damage, the city of Senedai to the north and the towns around were devastated by the quake and tsunami which followed. Survivors who gathered in community centers or other public facilities had no electricity, fresh water or heat in the near freezing temperatures. Chabad of Japan and Chabad of Asia quickly acted to help supply food, blankets and other needed items to those affected by the quake. Thanks to the generous donations of Jews and non Jews alike, 50,000 ready to eat meals will be provided to the victims of the quake. A bakery run by an Israeli resident of Sendai was spared damage and has become a relief center providing free bread to the people of Sendai who might otherwise only have little more than a cup of rice or a bowl of soup each day. Some Japanese people have asked Rabbi Mendi if the money to support these efforts came from Japanese people or Jews? For them this is a natural question because most of them have never knowingly met a Jew or have any idea why we would be so motivated to help them. For a Jew, to save a life is to save the entire world so what else could we do faced with their suffering?

Since the initial disaster, Tokyo has also faced some food shortages and fears about radiation from the nuclear plant damaged by the tsunami. In the days following the disaster many foreign embassies advised their citizens to leave the Tokyo area or leave Japan altogether. Some of those who left were Jewish people concerned for their safety for medial reasons or that of their children. We hope they will return to Tokyo as soon as they feel safe and that they can join us for the Pesach seder which Chabad of Japan will host. No matter what, Jewish life in Japan will carry on.

The following blog post was written by Israel Barker for Lubavitch.com. Barker, a New Jersey native, was sent to Japan in 1997 for a “Three Month” work assignment. He has lived there ever since. Today he and his wife are members of Tokyo’s Jewish community.