AJL magazine - Asian Jewish Life

Featureby Gedaliah Gurfeinto be the King”, had he known about the3,000 wives (three times King Solomon’sharem) in the Imperial City, I’m sure hewould have corrected that to “it is goodto be the Emperor”. Personally I canconfirm that. When we made it to WestLake there was a tourist trap rentingEmperor clothing. I couldn’tresist and within seconds Ihad three wives! (Okay, at least3,000 is a multiple of three).Clearly the more important partof the trip was the exchange.There didn’t seem to be enoughhours in the day (or night) forthe dialogues, each wantingto know more and more aboutChina and the Jews. I hadnever thought about it before,until my new Chinese friendsbrought it to my attention, theJewish impact on Chinese life.Beginning with Jesus, who Iquickly described as a distantcousin who had some “familyissues” and then to Karl Marx,whose grandfather was a greatrabbi and Kabbalist.From their perspective theywere most curious about theTalmud and Kabbalah. I toldthem the story that had justbroken before my trip in Israelwhere the Ambassador from SouthKorea announced at a meeting in TelAviv that “more children in Korea knowwho Rav Pappa is than in Israel.” Sadlyhe is correct, because anyone who hasstudied more than ten (daf) pages ofthe Talmud will have come across thename Rav Pappa. Now, Israel suddenlydiscovered that Koreans study theTalmud and within months Korean TVcrews were all over the Yeshivot (Talmudstudy schools) in Israel.They told me that the Talmud was alsonow becoming of interest in Chinaas the secret to Jewish success inbusiness. I agreed, quoting Rava fromthe Talmud that anyone who wishes tobecome smart should study the sectionof Talmud dealing with business law(Nezikim). I also told them I had beena Rabbi. I know, my friends always say“once you are a rabbi you are always arabbi” and I try to explain that was onlytrue of the Jets (not Jews) from WestSide Story. But I guess if it is in yourblood it is in your soul.So I began to share very deep ideasin Jewish thinking – why the moonwas smaller than the sun, what doesresurrection of the dead mean tomodern thinkers, and how much creamcheese must be applied to the bagelfor it to qualify as a shmear (smear).It was incredible to see these youngminds gobble up this information andretort with almost parallel teachingsfrom the East.Upon my return to Jerusalem I sent themtwo “Torah” books I had written, onecalled Good Morning, Moon and onecalled I Never Prayed for My Father. Iwas touched by the heartfelt feedbackboth positive and negative I received.Reminds me of a classic CharlieBrown cartoon where CharlieBrown is storming away fromLucy standing in her 5 centsPsychiatric box and she is yellingafter him, “The problem withyou, Charlie Brown, is you don’tknow how to handle destructivecriticism.” But I welcomed all ofit. I always remember my rebbeteaching me, “We have two earsand only one mouth becausewe need to listen twice as muchas we speak.” Considering Ilike to talk a lot I don’t know if Iever succeeded in following hisdictate but it has been somethingat least worth striving for.This story continues until aboutJune of this year when I wasblown away to find out myfriends had translated GoodMorning, Moon into Mandarin. Iwas so touched by this gesturethat I decided to give the bookaway for free as an eBook andhave posted the book on awebsite I helped to create forJewish and Israeli books in general atwww.peopleoftheebooks.com and havewatched, in just a couple of months,an incredible number of the hits fromChina. These hits are not just comingin from the main cities but across thecountry. It has been forwarded byfriends, in China, as a gesture to helpbridge a better understanding of ourtwo cultures.The book is light on the heart and deepon the mind. I guess when you speakfrom the soul to the soul you can restassured the content will not get lost intranslation.ASIAN JEWISH LIFE ISSUE 1131