Jewish Community in Seoul Prepares for First-Ever Non-Military Services

From this year on, Jewish residents of South Korea won’t need a ticket – or a permit – to attend High Holiday services.

With less than a week until the start of Rosh Hashanah – it begins this year the night of Sept. 29 – Rabbi Osher and Mussy Litzman, who arrived earlier this year as Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries, are preparing for the Asian nation’s first-ever civilian services in recent memory.

“It’s been such a long time,” mused Pierre Cohen, 50, a French national and 20-year resident of Seoul who can’t remember the last time he didn’t have to trek to the sprawling U.S. Army Garrison in Yongsan to pray. “All the rabbis provided by the base were great, but now it’s our synagogue, our place.”

The services in Seoul will be one of several worldwide – including in Lubumbashi, Congo, and Arusha, Tanzania – that will be the first-ever in their communities. All told, Chabad-Lubavitch representatvies in close to 1,000 cities across some 81 countries will be hosting free High Holiday services.

According to the Litzmans – who arrived in Seoul with a toddler in tow just before Passover, after Israeli Ambassador Yigal B. Caspi requested that Chabad-Lubavitch establish a permanent presence there – the U.S. military has for years allowed local community members and Jewish visitors access to their chaplaincy services. The problem, though, was that anyone wanting to avail themselves of the opportunity had to face the not-so-easy-to-navigate military bureaucracy.

Article continued (Chabad.org)