Passover in Okinawa

The Jewish Community of Okinawa celebrated a wonderful Passover Seder on Wednesday night, the 12th of April at the Camp Butler Officer’s Club. This was the kickoff to an exciting week of events celebrating the departure of the Jewish People from bondage in Egypt. The Seder went extremely well with a grand turnout of approximately 70 people. Rabbi Jessica Oleon led the services in her progressive fashion which involved community participation and explanation of many of the things we do during the service.

We had a rest from the events on Thursday, though many of the families in the congregation had their own family Seders. On Friday night we had a guided discussion with the Rabbi about Judaism and homosexuality. This is a hot topic in the Jewish world right now as the Conservative movement continues to wrestle with it. The discussion was lively and insightful especially with the input and points of view from those in the military as homosexuality has also been an issue in the military community for many years.

On Saturday morning we kicked off Torah study in the morning and talked about how we can glean teachings from Leviticus when the talk is of animal sacrifice and rules of worship in the Temple. For the common follower of the faith it can be hard to see the deep meaning of what is being taught and it was wonderful to have Rabbi Oleon here to help us interpret it in an a way more suited to our time. After Torah Study we moved into our Morning Shabbat Service where we actually had a Torah reading and a great time to bring our community together to learn and pray as a people on our little island paradise.

Sunday brought about Children’s Education in the morning and a Jewish Cooking Class in the afternoon. The Children made paper Seder Plates and homemade Matzah, as well as hearing some traditional tales related to past Passover celebrations. After lunch the adult group began their cooking class which lasted most of the afternoon. With Rabbi Oleon once again in the lead; the class made Matzah Blintzes, Matzah Bagels, and Matzah Lasagna! It was certainly good and those that were watching the kids were more than happy to devour the food.

The last big event of the week was on Monday the 17th when the Rosh Chodesh Women’s Group had there monthly meeting. This was hosted by one of the congregants and they all viewed the movie, Quest for the Lost Tribes, which discussed the ingathering of the exiled Tribes of Israel. The discussion was lively and insightful and everyone in attendance had a great time.