Monthly Archives: August 2022

JTA With two degrees in Asian studies and 15 years of his life spent living and working in China (everything from acting to the diamond business to real estate), Rabbi Matt Trusch has a lot of experience in the Peoples Republic.

But antisemitism wasnt one of those experiences until he began posting on Douyin, as TikTok is known in China, from his home back in Texas in 2021.

Speaking in fluent Mandarin peppered with Chinese idioms and filmed in front of a bookshelf lined with Jewish texts, Trusch passionately shares Jewish parables from the Talmud and the Tanya a book of Hasidic commentary by the rabbi who founded the Chabad Hasidic movement and the life and business lessons they may offer Chinese viewers. With nearly 180,000 followers, his videos have accumulated nearly 700,000 likes.

But the comment section under Truschs videos is revealing. In China, the line between loving Jews and hating them for the same stereotypical traits can be thin. On his most viral video, which has over 7 million views and explains how China helped give refuge to Jews escaping Europe during World War II, comments laced with antisemitic tropes seem to outnumber the ones thanking Trusch for sharing Jewish culture and wisdom.

You dont want to take my money, do you? reads one top comment.

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Wall Street elites are all Jews, another comment says; others call Jews oily people, a play on the Chinese characters that spell out the word for Jew. Many blame Jews for the mid-19th century Opium Wars between China and foreign powers, or for inflation in pre-WWII Germany. Other commenters repeatedly ask Trusch to address Palestine on videos that have nothing to do with Israel.

The comments reflect the fact that in the minds of many in China, the Talmud is not a Jewish religious text but a guide to getting rich. The belief has spawned an entire industry of self-help books and private schools that claim to reveal the so-called money-making secrets of the Jews.

In Chinese cities like Beijing, above, compilations of the Talmud are packaged and sold as Jewish wisdom on business success. (eje/Flickr Commons/ via JTA)

In his Douyin bio, Trusch appeals to this belief, describing himself as a rabbi who shares wisdom of the Talmud, interesting facts about the Jewish people, business thought and money-making tips. Trusch told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that appealing to Chinese stereotypes about Jews was a strategic decision meant to expose more Chinese people to Jewish precepts.

We do sort of exploit the fact that [Chinese people] are interested in listening to Jewish business wisdom to get them to follow us. We have sort of played to that before, he said, referring to himself and a Jewish Chinese-speaking partner in Australia who is helping with the project.

Appealing to Chinese interest in the Talmud as a business guide is strategic for another reason: Religious activity is complicated in China, where Judaism is not one of the five recognized religions, and proselytizing by foreigners is forbidden.

Pirkei Avot [Ethics of Our Fathers] and the Talmud do not mean religion in China, even though those are Jewish texts that we learn Torah from, Trusch said. If I were to say, Im going to teach Torah concepts in China, that will be forbidden, probably. But if I talk about things from the Talmud, then its not threatening.

Trusch always had an interest in China. After getting an undergraduate degree in Asian studies at Dartmouth College and a masters degree at Harvard University, he spent 12 years in Shanghai doing business in a range of industries. While he was there, he grew closer to Judaism and began flying to Israel every two weeks to study at a yeshiva there.

In 2009, Trusch moved back to the United States with his family and settled in Houston, where he is active at two Chabad centers. Still, he made frequent visits to China on business (including starting his own Chinese white liquor company called ByeJoe) until the pandemic struck in 2020. With no way to visit China in person, Trusch and his partnerbegan making videos about Judaism on Douyin as a way to connect with people there.

When I was in China, I very rarely felt anything but a fond appreciation of Jews from Chinese people, Trusch said. He was aware of the stereotypical way Chinese people think about Jews: as intelligent and business-savvy, paragons of worldwide wealth and power with control over Wall Street and the media. Much of the time, these traits are viewed with admiration, and stereotypes are perpetuated even in mainstream media.

And yet, some of the most popular antisemitic comments on Truschs videos reference the so-called Fugu Plan, a 1930s proposal by several Japanese officials to settle 50,000 German Jews in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. Some in the Japanese leadership were inspired by the antisemitic forgery Protocols of the Elders of Zion, believing that resettling Jews in occupied China would attract great wealth and the favor of world powers like Britain and America.

The Fugu Plan never came to fruition, but the antisemitic and ultranationalist political blogger Yu Li (who blogs under the name Sima Nan) has shared the story with his nearly 3 million followers. In a 20-minute-long antisemitic rant, he says the Fugu Plan is evidence that the Jews colluded with the Japanese to establish a Jewish homeland on Chinese territory a conspiracy that fits a nationalist narrative that China is constantly under attack by foreign powers. A simple search for the Fugu plan on Douyin reveals countless videos explaining the Jewish-Japanese conspiracy and questioning whether Jews are worthy of sympathy for atrocities like the Holocaust.

Sima Nan isnt the only prominent figure known for antisemitism. Even in a country with as few as 2,500 Jews mostly foreign nationals among 1.4 billion Chinese, antisemitic conspiracy theories appear to be alive and well, at least among online commenters, anti-Israel leftists and some prominent Chinese nationalists.

Illustrative: Youth participate in programming in Shanghais community. (Courtesy Kehilat Shanghai)

As Tuvia Gering, a research fellow with the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security puts it, ideas like Sima Nans are seamlessly couched in state-sanctioned nationalistic narratives that warn against foreign encirclement and influence.

Jews living in China are likely to tell you that theyve rarely experienced what they would consider antisemitism. As in any other country, young people on social media are being introduced to antisemitic ideas and conspiracy theories such as a correlation between the Jews and COVID that they would be unlikely to encounter elsewhere, said Simon K. Li, executive director of Hong Kongs Holocaust and Tolerance Center.

I think that the problem of the Jewish conspiracies in our region persists and runs deeper than we think because its expressed more openly in the anonymity of social media and web portals like Douyin/TikTok and Tencent QQ rather than in face-to-face interactions, he said.

One recent study of Chinas online alt-right community did not find signs of significant antisemitism, but Kecheng Fang, a co-author of the study, said its no surprise that sensationalist nationalist figures are spewing antisemitism online.

Chinese authorities are aware of hate speech online: In June, a BBC investigation into an industry of racist videos popular in China prompted a response from the Chinese government. Chinas embassy in Malawi, Africa where one racist video was shot said it strongly condemn[s] racism in any form, by anyone or happening anywhere.

Later that month, China released a set of draft rules instructing content platforms to review social media comments before they are published and to report illegal and bad information to authorities.

But these developments havent seemed to make much impact, at least on Truschs videos, which receive a fresh set of antisemitic comments each time he posts daily.

The Chinese Consulate in Israel did not respond to requests for comment.

Illustrative: Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives an interview to a Chinese newspaper in Shanghai, May 7, 2013. (photo credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO/Flash90)

Truschs mission since he started posting on Douyin was to connect Chinese people with Jewish culture and wisdom, especially given Chinas ongoing COVID-19 restrictions that prevented cultural exchange. Its reflective of the Chabad movement, which often provides the only outposts of Jewish engagement in places with few Jews, including in China, where the movement operates in half a dozen mainland cities. Trusch is even working on translating the Tanya into Chinese an accurate and academic translation, he says, unlike the copies of the Talmud sold in Chinese bookstores.

He and his Australian partner were at first reluctant to address the antisemitism he was getting on his videos.

Initially I wanted to just ignore all these people and never comment about these things theyre saying, he said. But I think sooner or later, we did sort of say, Listen, what theyre saying is not right, its not correct, and these people are being fed false news.

Theyve since begun responding to some antisemitic comments or making more videos that attempt to address and debunk common stereotypes or conspiracy theories.

I want to ask the bloggers attacking Jews, what are you contributing to society? he asks in one Douyin video posted in early May about Jews contributions to the world.

Not all comments under Truschs videos are negative; in fact, in recent weeks the antisemitism seems to have quieted down somewhat, he said. A majority of commenters continue to express their support and interest in learning about Jewish culture and history from an actual rabbi Trusch was ordained last year after many years of study given that good information is limited within the confines of Chinas great firewall.

Those positive responses, and even the opposition, are what keep him going, he says.

We do try to have a very positive message. We dont try to say negative things about other people in any way and we are trying to portray Jews in a very positive light, he said. And because of the opposition, were trying even harder.

Read more from the original source:

A Texas rabbi is fighting Jewish stereotypes on Chinas TikTok - The Times of Israel

The remarkably honest autobiography of Rabbi Leon Modena, a great Italian rabbinic scholar, describes his heroic struggles to overcome his gambling addiction.

How would you feel if you discovered that your Rabbi a person you respect as a wise, kindhearted scholar was also struggling with addiction? Would his struggle make you think less of him, or even disqualify him as your spiritual guide?

This question is no mere theoretical discussion for a university ethics classroom; its a real-life dilemma that first came to light over 350 years ago in the Jewish ghetto of Venice.

Rabbi Leon (Judah) Modena (1571-1648), one of Italys greatest rabbinic scholars, began writing his autobiography two months after the death of his eldest son, Mordecai, in 1617. The Life of Judah (Chayei Yehuda), one of the earliest and most important autobiographies in Jewish history, offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of a struggling Jewish family in 17th century Italy.

Rabbi Leon Modena (1571-1648)

At the same time, and with surprising frankness, Rabbi Modena admits to a lifelong struggle with gambling an addiction which threatened his familys financial stability in his own lifetime and has damaged his reputation ever since his passing.

With painful honesty, Rabbi Modena describes his difficult relationship with his three sons, each of whom caused him great grief. One died, poisoned by his experiments with alchemy, one was murdered by members of his Jewish gang, and one lives in exile, encouraged to leave the family home due to his delinquent lifestyle. His relationship with his wife was equally complicated; the sister of his intended bride, he was forced to marry her after his fiance became ill and passed away. In later life, his wife was first sickly and later mentally ill, a situation which nearly put him over the edge even as his own health began to fail. All of these personal struggles occurred against a backdrop of instability for the entire Jewish community, which was nearly expelled from Venice in 1637.

Despite all of his travails, Rabbi Modena became one of the great Torah scholars of his time, mastering a wide array of disciplines, from the Talmud and Jewish philosophy to Latin grammar and Italian poetry.

Despite all of his travails, Rabbi Modena became one of the great Torah scholars of his time, mastering a wide array of disciplines, from the Talmud and Jewish philosophy to Latin grammar and Italian poetry. Recognized as a prodigy from a young age, he grew up to become a celebrated educator and orator whose reputation spread beyond the walls of the ghetto, so much so that Catholic friars and foreign notables often came to Venices Great Synagogue to hear him speak.

At the same time, Rabbi Modena authored several important works of scholarship on Jewish-Christian polemics, the history of Kabbalah and Jewish ethics. Jarringly, he includes a list of his writings immediately following his frightening description of his son Zebulons murder, which took place before his eyes. His books were a source of great comfort, a legacy in place of his sons that would ensure his name will never be blotted out among the Jews or in the world at large."

Throughout the memoir, Rabbi Modena refers often to his sins, but writes openly about only one in particular: gambling. He began playing games of chance on Hanukkah when he was 23, playing off and on for the rest of his long life. By his own admission, he almost always lost, gambling away his daughters dowries and going heavily into debt.

Gambling, in all its forms, has been frowned upon by rabbinic authorities throughout the ages. In the Talmud, gambling is viewed as a form of theft, since the person who loses the game never really makes peace with his losses. Though not formally forbidden by Jewish law, the professional gambler is disqualified from serving as a witness in a Jewish court, for gamblers do nothing to promote the benefit of society.

As anyone struggling with addiction can relate to, Rabbi Modena experienced ups and downs in his fight to overcome his addiction. During Hanukkah [December 23-20, 1598], Satan duped me into playing games of chance, and by the following Shavuot [May 30-31, 1599], I lost more than 300 ducats. But from then until the eve of Hanukkah [November 30, 1600], I watched myself carefully, devoting myself to my teaching for 18 months, and paid all my debts.

Though he was able to control himself for long stretches of time, his addiction always threatened to drag him back to the card table.

Though he was able to control himself for long stretches of time, his addiction always threatened to drag him back to the card table. In the month of Heshvan 5369 [September-October 1608], I moved into the Ghetto Nuovo There I had many pupils throughout the winter. But I did what the angel messengers said to Sarah in answer to her denial [namely, played games of chance] until my behavior became so wild that I agreed to go live away from Venice. Through correspondence I contracted to go to Florence, to preach and to teach students for an annual salary of 220 ducats, paid by the community. His gambling problem threatened, but fortunately never ruined his career.

Troubled by his conscience, Rabbi Modena offers excuses for his repeated lapses. His gambling episodes almost always followed some personal or professional calamity. After the death of his favorite son Mordechai, he writes I returned out of great anxiety to the enemy . . . playing at games of chance. Given Rabbi Modenas tragic family life, its hard not sympathize with him. In the wake of tragedy, its only natural to seek some form of diversion, however transient.

Ultimately, however, Rabbi Modena himself was not satisfied with these excuses. He considered gambling to be his primary sin, the sin of Judah, and was troubled throughout his life by the incongruity of his rabbinic role and gambling addiction.

A fairytale ending seems to have eluded Rabbi Leon Modena. To the very end of his life, he struggled, with only partial success, to control his desire to gamble. His inability to achieve a clear-cut victory over his temptations commonly present in Christian autobiographies of his time significantly damaged his reputation in many circles.

Controlling our passions and temptations is not a zero-sum game. It is possible, even within our failures, to serve God with great authenticity.

But declaring Rabbi Modena a failure strikes me as simplistic and misguided. All recovering addicts understand that addictions are rarely conquered once and for all. The danger of a relapse is always present; battling an addiction is a long-term process that rarely comes with a definitive or perfect ending.

Delving deeper, Jewish thinkers have long recognized that controlling our passions and temptations is not a zero-sum game. It is possible, even within our failures, to serve God with great authenticity. As Rabbi TzviMeirZilberberg, a prominent Hassidic Rabbi in Jerusalem with a diverse following, argues powerfully, Every effort, every attempt, every desire, every yearning and every prayer [to God to overcome ones temptations] brings great pleasure to the One above. In particular, when we do not succeed in overcoming the animal within us, and yet continue to struggle and do our best to overcome our inclinations - this brings the greatest possible joy to God and is more precious to God than those moments in which we do succeed in controlling our temptations (Sichos Hischazkus, Simchas Beis HaShoeva 5760).

During this month of Elul, the Hebrew month leading up to Rosh Hashanah, Jews traditionally begin the process of repentance and return to God which ultimately culminates on Yom Kippur. What does this process of repentance consist of? Maimonides identifies three critical steps: regret, confession before God and ultimately abandoning ones sin. Tellingly, the first two steps the beginning of real change consist of honesty; honesty with oneself, and honesty before God. Rejecting excuses and justifications is the first step to real and lasting change.

Rabbi Leon Modena never fully overcame his gambling addiction, but as his remarkably honest autobiography makes clear, he heroically refused to give up, continuing his struggle until the day he died. Despite Rabbi Modenas shortcomings, he taught us that true greatness comes not with success, but through our tireless efforts to achieve them.

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I'm a Gamblin' Man: The 17th Century Rabbi who Battled Addiction - aish.com - Aish.com

Question: As we now read Sefer Devarim, the Torah tells us that Moses was instructed by Hashem to appoint a successor. Moses wanted his sons to succeed him but Hashem tells him to appoint Yehoshua as the next leader. Why was this request of the greatest and most righteous of men denied? Also, were Yehoshua and Caleb the only named leaders or personalities to enter the land of Canaan?

M. GorinVia email

Synopsis: Last week we cited Rambam (Hilchot Talmud Torah 3:1) who states, The Jewish people were adorned with the three crowns, Torah; priesthood and royalty. Aaron and his progeny merited priesthood; David and his progeny merited royalty. The crown of Torah is available to all Israel. We noted Moses promise to Jethro that his firstborn son adopt Jethros idolatry and thus Moses was punished in that his sons would not inherit his leadership. Instead, Joshua, his student, earned the leadership. Yet Moses saw that if the daughters of Tzelophechad could inherit, possibly his sons could as well. Yet the reply remained the same. There is a view that his two sons died during his lifetime; thus, the question is moot. We noted that Caleb and Joshua were the only ones of that generation to enter the land, but we did note a few exceptions: Elazar the high priest, his son Pinchas (Elijah, Bava Metzia 114b, Rashi ad loc.) who served as high priest in the land of Israel. We noted our Sages criticism of both Pinchas and Yiftach, the leader at the time, in the matter of Yiftachs daughter.

Answer: The following are responses to your first question that were received from readers of this column. Mr. Asher Weingarten of Brooklyn offers additional information on the subject of Moses offspring:

The Targum of Rav Joseph (by the Amora Joseph ben Hiyya) identifies Shevuel (I Chronicles 23:16, Bnei Gershom, Shevuel Harosh) as Jonathan, the idolater priest (Judges 18:30, And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Menashe [read: Moshe], he and his sons). As related in Tractate Bava Batra (110a), David put him in charge of the treasuries. He was called Shevuel because he repented and returned (shav) to G-d.

Moses offspring are mentioned again as Temple treasurers (I Chronicles 26:24). Shevuel is cited as chief treasurer with his brothers (Eliezers) great-grandchild, Shlomot (Shlomit), also a head treasurer.

The promise Moses made to his father-in-law, Jethro, is difficult to understand and the commentators (the Baal HaTurim, and the Zayit Raanan on Yalkut Shimoni) discuss Moses behavior. It is difficult to imagine that a grandson of Moses would be an idol worshiper.

My uncle, Rabbi Sholom Klass, seems to resolve it as follows: It is interesting to note Ralbags commentary to Judges 18:30. Yehonatan, according to Ralbag (citing the Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot ch. 9) misinterpreted the teaching of his fathers house: Hire yourself out to idol worship rather than to be dependent on others. The true meaning of avoda zara (strange gods) in this context is work strange to him, work that he is unused to do. Thus Moshe probably agreed that his son would do work strange to him.

Returning to Rambams ruling that we cited at the outset, we seem to be faced with a contradiction in the very verse he quotes, Torah tziva lanu Moshe morasha kehillat Yaakov The Torah that Moses commanded us is the inheritance of the Congregation of Israel. Simply put, the verse would be stating that every Jew is automatically imbued with Torah. [This seems to mean every Jew is entitled to inherit Torah leadership.]

Tiferet Yisrael (to Avot 2:12) reconciles this inconsistency by explaining that the inheritance is to the Congregation of Israel as a whole, as stated (Deuteronomy 31:21), Ki lo [t]ishachach mipi zaro For it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of [Israels] offspring, meaning that the observance of the Torahs commands shall not change in any time, place, or generation. However, it is not an inheritance for the individual, even if that individuals father or grandfather is a scholar. To the contrary, this may cause one not to make efforts to become a scholar. We must explain this statement of Tiferet Yisrael to mean that while a father would be only too willing for his son to succeed him in Torah scholarship, the son, seeing the scholar that his father is, might not fully appreciate the effort that went into attaining that level of Torah knowledge and would be inclined to rely on the family inheritance.

Moses leadership, as the central [pre-eminent leader and Torah] authority, continued with his pupil, Joshua, as the verse states (Exodus 33:11), umesharto Yehoshua bin Nun naar lo yamish mitoch haohel but his servant [student] Joshua son of Nun, a lad, would not depart from within the Tent.

Ones student, indeed, is like ones own child (Vaetchanan 6:7, Sifrei).

To be continued

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Q & A: The Mantle Of Leadership (Part II) - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

Some people get angry at the Jewish calendar. It takes away their ability to decide when they want to rejoice, when they want to mourn and when they want to repent. While narrowing our choices is true of halacha in general, there is something about the calendar that can feel especially oppressive.

But even without the anger, who has not experienced the discomfort of not feeling spiritually ready for a holiday? And of all the holidays, I imagine that we are most likely to experience this with Rosh HaShanah. Besides the greater difficulty that teshuva entails, Rosh HaShanahs date may feel negotiable. What I mean is Pesach, Shavuot, Purim and Chanukah all celebrate events that happened specifically at that time of year. Rosh HaShanah however does not really celebrate a historical event. And if you tell me that it celebrates the creation of man, I will remind you that the Talmud (RH 10b) relates to the date of mans creation as an unresolved debate. The Talmud (RH 16a) also tells us that there are different days of judgment for different things scattered throughout the year, not to mention the more intuitive approach of Rabbi Natan that our judgment by God is actually constant.

Yet precisely because we would be so likely to delay the observance of Rosh HaShanah, it is the most important not to delay. I would go even further and say that this may well be its most central teaching. You see, deadlines are a tricky thing. Though they are usually self-created, they are also a key element in making sure we get the job done. When it comes to teshuva, it is trickier still, since it only really needs to be done once in our lifetime. Like anything really, our lives can only be fully evaluated once they are complete. (Of course, there are immediate benefits to doing teshuvah regularly, which is another reason why we are instructed to do it yearly at this time.) Yet if we choose to wait until the last minute in our lives to put our lives in order, it is not just that we might suddenly die or be incapacitated and never actually get the chance. It is also that we will simply be unprepared and not know how to go about it. Hence if we do not do teshuvah now and every year, it is more than likely that we will never do it.

This makes Rosh HaShanah a tricky exercise indeed, all the more so when life expectancy is high and danger from war, pestilence and the like are even at the height of the Covid pandemic relatively low. Yet it is clear that people have always procrastinated. Why else would the Talmud (Shabbat 153a) have pointed out that we must constantly repent, since we never know when we are going to die, or Rabbenu Yonah (Shaarei Teshuvah 1:2) have pointed out the great moral failure that comes with not repenting for sin at the earliest possible moment? But neither of these teachings is enough by themselves. The Torah anticipated the critical need for a time of year dedicated to buckling down and fighting our all too human tendency to procrastinate even the most important things.

Keeping the above in mind allows us to fully appreciate what Rosh HaShanah is all about and why it is so important. This yearly day of judgment is meant to truly maximize our chances of a favorable judgment after concluding our time on Earth. As such, it is not meant to just be good advice. It is meant to make us realize just how much is truly at stake.

To reinforce this, Jewish tradition constantly and advisedly conflates our yearly deadline on Rosh HaShanah with our ultimate deadline (ever wondered why it is called a deadline?). For example, it is no coincidence that we speak about Rosh HaShanah as Yom HaDin (the day of judgment), even though the term is also and technically more correct used for the day of our ultimate judgment. This also explains the power and impact of the famous UNetaneh Tokef prayer, as well as why some Jews wear shrouds that are otherwise only used for burial. But more than anything else, it is this holidays very existence that serves to remind us that just like we cannot prevent the smaller day of judgment from coming, so too can we not prevent the ultimate day of judgment from coming as well.

This is presumably why the month of Elul is singularly associated with preparation. Whether saying selichot or simply listening to the shofar, the traditions of this month are all about taking the deadline of Rosh HaShanah seriously. As taking it seriously means we may not delay.

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Anger, Procrastination, and Elul - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com