A Year of Shake-Ups Inspires Reflection, Action

Japan’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster six months ago left Chabad of Tokyo representative Rabbi Mendi Sudakevich with an unfinished building, a half-completed mikvah, and a whole lot of uncertainty.

“For months we could not start building again because the ground kept shaking,” he said. Support for the building project dried up as donors scattered around the world and struggled to make up for their own losses.

“Everything is functioning, but the earthquake changed everyone on a deeper level,” he said.

Now he expects the mikvah, the first one in Tokyo, to be completed and open in time for Rosh Hashanah. Until then, Japan’s only mikvah is in Kobe, a four-hour bullet train ride away from Tokyo, with a ticket cost of $350.

Chabad centers throughout the world are not relying on the harrowing moments throughout the Jewish year of 5771 to bring in worshippers this High Holiday season. Crowds will be large, record breaking in some areas, but the message is hopeful, urged on by the momentum of new accomplishments.

In California, an area that had its share of Richter readout moments, Rabbi Moshe Brisky, executive director of Chabad of the Conejo said he will be addressing the shake ups – geological, economical and otherwise – from the perspective that “G-d is in control of the bigger picture and our job is to focus on things within our control” such as interpersonal relationships and mitzvah observance. His congregation will strengthen bonds of community as they walk together, a procession of 1,200 worshippers, to perform the Tashlich service on the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashana.

Rabbi Shraga Sherman, director of Chabad of the Main Line in Lower Merion, PA, is hoping for sunny skies during his community’s Tashlich walk. Hurricane Irene’s wrath, which wiped out bridges, commuter trains, and power lines in Pennsylvania, exacerbated his community’s anxieties, already high due to financial struggles. When he steps up to the lectern on Rosh Hashanah before an expected crowd of 200, Rabbi Sherman will address living with faith.

“We need the ability to put our trust in G-d, so he will give us the strength to carry on in the face of things we can’t control,” he said.

The financial troubles in Greece, on the other hand, have been molded by human touch. Stores are closed, real estate magnate have gone belly up, but life continues, says to Rabbi Joel Kaplan, a Chabad rabbi in Thessaloniki and chief rabbi of Albania. But Kaplan will not be dwelling on strategies for coping with income woes on Rosh Hashanah.

“Jews need Judaism. There is a great amount of Zionist pride in Greece, but many Jews were not educated about the basics of prayer, blessings, the nature of the Jewish soul.”

Last week, Rabbi Kaplan traveled to Tirana, Albania’s capital city to dedicate a new Torah, a first since the pre-WWII era. Last year, when Rabbi Kaplan was appointed chief rabbi of Albania by Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Chief Rabbi of Israel Shlomo Amar, he helped organize the first minyan there in 70 years. The Torah is the next step in bringing Jewish life back to the country which has had a Jewish presence for over 1,300 years.

Albania’s fortunes are rising on a tsunami of investments, but the lone bright spot for Greece over the past year appears to be upsurge in tourists stretching their vacation budget by visiting the isle. Traffic in Thessaloniki’s airport grew 23% this June over last. Two months ago, PAP corp’s Astoria Hotel in the city opened a full time glatt kosher kitchen with Rabbi Kaplan’s assistance. Mayor Yiannis Boutaris has discussed capitalizing on Salonika’s rich Jewish history, whose port was once so dominated by Jews that it closed on the Jewish Sabbath to bring in more visitors.

The ripples of economic edginess have reached comparatively prosperous areas like the Flamingo community of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. Rabbi Mendel Kaplan, director of Chabad of Flamingo, expects more than 2000 people will attend one of three full services, a youth minyan, and children’s programs, not counting the 250 walk-ins during the Kol Nidre or Yizkor services.

Like his colleagues, Rabbi Kaplan will encourage his community to enrich their experience in the year ahead through mitzvah observance. It is, he says, the most reliable scaffold to steady people during trying times, whether brought on by paltry bank balances or extreme weather. Better yet, it is a perfect way to embark on the promise of a new year of great blessing.