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“It is an obligation for the Jewish to pray for China!”
Time:2020/2/26 12:55:06
ByBenjamin Peng
“China is suffering from the outbreak of the COVID-19, and the people there are in great trouble at present. We should do something for them; they also once gaveus a helping hand, so it is an obligation( Mitzvah in Hebrew) for the Jewish to pray for China.” said GadiLouzoun, an Israeli rabbi who has long been living in Foshan, China, during a radio interview which was also joined by other two prominentrabbis, Shmuel Eliyahu, the chairmanof the Association of Community Rabbis, and Avi Berman, head of the Israel branch of the Orthodox Union. The program is a regular interview programof a local Jerusalem radio stationat every Thursday night that discusses events around the world and how to explain them from Jewish perspective.
During the program, Rabbi Gadi introduced the coronavirus epidemic in China, talked about the situation of some Jews living in China, and mentioned that the epidemic had become so severe that most Chinese people could not travel normally, and that there were thousands of infected people and hundreds of deaths. “As leaders of the Jewish community, we should pray for China. What’s more, we should call on Israelis to pray together for China.China once helped the Jews. During the World War Ⅱ, thousands of Jews sought refuge in Shanghai, where they were able to survive and pray. Now it is our turn to repay them.It is our obligation to pray for them." The other two Jewish leaders agreed with him and added that, “The Jews shall pray not only for the Jews, but also for the gentiles, for all mankind living under one roof. Our ancestors Abraham and king Solomon interceded for the gentiles."
The Israeli people are praying for China at the Western Wall.(Courtesy of the Association of Community Rabbis)
Three rabbis unanimously decided to hold a special prayer service, and invited all the men of Israel to pray for the health of China. They said, “Theprayer service is very important, and we should pray at the Western Wall(The Western Wall is the most sacred place for the Jews all over the world).” Considering the urgency of the situation, the prayer should be held in a timely manner. In the middle of the live broadcast, they joyouslydecided the time on the forthcoming Sunday which was just two days later.
After the program, the three rabbis made a quick action to call for their friends joining in the prayer service, which was supported by the majority of the people but also opposed by some of others. It’s worth noting that they were not opposed to pray for China, but against for the activity being held at the Western Wall with such significance. Never before had they held such kind of special gathering for a country. Traditionally, they only pray for the people around the world during the festivals such as Sukkot and Yom Kippur. Hence, they somehow could not accept this unprecedented service.But in the end, the rabbis still decided to hold the prayer serviceas planned in a hope that the G-dwill hear the call and bless China for overcoming the epidemic.
Rabbi Gadistayed up very late for thinking about how to invite more people to join in the prayer because the next day was the Sabbath, when many Israeli traditionalists shut down their homes and cut off contact with the outside world. Unexpectedly, he called me at 4am Jerusalem time and 10am Beijing time on Friday.He said that he wanted me to help the organization andpreparation.“Although you are far away in Shanghai, you are still instrumental in publicizing the service and mobilizing more Israelis to join the prayer service." Since I'm not Jewish, I can do something on the Sabbath. Theretofore, I accepted his request and felt quite honored. By the Friday afternoon, the rabbis came up with a theme for the service:???????????????????，which literally means in Hebrew: Israel Prayer for China. I set the slogan in Chinese language as, “犹太人民为中国的平安和战胜困难而祷告的平”, which means: The Jewish people pray for China's peace and overcoming difficulties, which has the same but wider meaning with the original. Although there are differences between the Israelis and the Jews, I still hope that the Jews all over the world will support China in this service considering that it will be attended by Israeli rabbis as well as rabbis who have been living in China, Europe and America for a long time. The service aims to pray for China, specifically for China's peace and overcoming the difficulties caused by the epidemic. The rabbis agreed with the Chinese slogan and immediately sent the notice to their relatives and friends.
The leaflet and roll up banner of this prayer service.
The service invited many Jewish rabbis, and was also actively responded by many other rabbis living in China and other countries. Recently, the Israeli Ministry of Health has also instructed that all those who have just travelled back from China must be quarantined at home, so the Notice reminded those whohave just returned from China not to attend the gathering It has proved that a great number of Israelis conducted the service at home. Meanwhile, most of my Israeli friends have also expressed their concern about the epidemic and have been keeping praying for China's combating the virus at home since its outbreak.
On Sunday morning, rabbi Gadi asked me to film a short video and say some words in Hebrew to the Israelis; hence in the video with my terrible Hebrew, I invited the Israeli people to attend the service and expressed my gratitude for their support and care for China. Unexpectedly just a few hours later, some of my Israeli friends watched the video on Israel HaYom, a polularlocal Hebrew news media and many locals knew the information of the service through the video.
Dozens of rabbis stand side by side in a circle to express their solidarity of humanity during the prayer service whichlasts nearly an hour and is attended by more than1000 Israelis.
The weather was not so goodthat afternoon. The sky over Jerusalem was cloudy and the weather turned cold. It had been clear the day before.When it came to the afternoon, it had not yet rained, and shortly after the rabbis finished the praying, the sky began to rain heavily, as if their prayers had been answered by the G-d.They put the banner printed with the Hebrew theme "The Jewish people pray for China's peace and overcoming difficulties" on the table in front of the Western Wall, a move that has almostnever happened before. Rabbis at the scene prayed 12 times for the Chinese epidemic in Hebrew, English and Chinese languagesseparately. "We the Jews of Israel are here to express our support for our dear friend, the Chinese nation! We pray for China on behalf of the Chinese Jewish community in Chabad, the Israelis living in China and peoplein Israel..."
Heavy rain falls during the service, but it does not stop the praying.
Reporters from Israel, Italy, Japan and France also came to the scene to cover the event, and some media broadcast the news live. The chief reporter of a Japanese media, Asahi Shimbun asked the rabbi leading the prayer whether they have prayed for other countries before. Rabbi Shmuel replied, "We are far away from China, but we are connected with it. We have an inseparable bond with the people who work in China. Our hearts are with the hearts of the Chinese people and we hope the virus will be eliminated as soon as possible." Rabbi Avi Berman added that during the great Sukkot holiday, they pray for the nations of the world at the Western Wall. “Traditionally, we pray for the multitude of Jewish needs, but today, just as our ancestor Abraham pleaded G-d for the gentiles of Sodom and Gomorrah, we pray for all coronavirus victims. We look foreword to the end of the epidemic. We are here to join hands with Shmuel Eliyahu, Uri Sherki, GadiLouzoun and other rabbis living in China to pray for the recovery of those infected with the new coronavirus. We hope doctors and experts will find a quick cure for this coronavirus as soon as possible.”
The service started from the traditional Jewish afternoon prayers (Mincha) to evening prayers (Maariv). Orthodox Jews pray three times a day, and this service specifically for the Chinese people contained both the second and the third prayer. During the second prayer, which is also regarded as the most significant one, Rabbi Amichai Eliyahu blew a shofar specially.
Prayer leaflets distributed at the site with quotation ofKing David's poems and other Jewish classics.
What organizers did not expect is that the prayer service also drew great attention in China. Thanks to the report by China's major social media, more than 100 million Chinese people around the world have noticed the eventaccording to the data showed on WeChat and Weibo(Chinese equivalentof Twitter). Numbers of people were touched and hoped that the pious prayer will help China win this battle with the virus as soon as possible.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic in China, the Jews and their organizations in both domestic Israel and abroad have provided various forms of support, including donations and materials, for the anti-epidemic operations in many parts of China.
The article is written by Benjamin Peng and translated by Liu Ti from Shandong University of Finance and Economics. The author is also the founder of IPO, or the Israeli Plan Organization, an NGO founded in 2013 with the missionof promoting the China-Israel relationship.
