The amazing thing about our Jewish communities around the world is the way they are, in their own way, centers of the universe. Down here in Florida, it appears there are a number of centers of the universe if you can view it that way.
Let me step away for a moment as a resident of one of those universes to say that the community that Rabbi Efrem Goldberg has constructed and developed here in Boca Raton is truly a legitimate center of the universe outside of Israel.
That was clear last Shabbos as they featured Scholar-in-Residence at the Boca Raton Synagogue, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York City. A grandson of Rav Aron Soloveichik and a great-nephew of the Rav, R’ Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Rabbi Soloveichik is not just a scholar. I would categorize him as a natural born genius who knows how to share his vast Torah and historical knowledge that he has accrued over his lifetime.
Aside from his appearance over Shabbos at BRS, he drew a packed house on Motzaei Shabbos of people from the general South Florida area to listen to his insights and words of wisdom.
The Rabbi spoke for an hour, and to encapsulate his subject matter, let’s just say that the thrust of the address was—Japan. If you came away from the evening thinking that Rabbi Soloveichik is a connoisseur of sushi or that he went on a visit to Japan last summer with Rabbi Ari Berman, the president of Yeshiva University, you probably weren’t paying attention.
The personality that the Rabbi was focused on was Abraham Setsuzō Kotsuji, who was a Japanese Orientalist and the son of a Shinto priest who descended from a long line of Shinto priests. During the Holocaust, Kotsuji helped Jewish refugees escape the Nazis by arranging for them to first stay in Kobe and later in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. He also fought against Nazi inspired anti-Jewish propaganda. A book about how he helped Jewish refugees was written by Japanese actor Jundai Yamada and published in 2013. The book was published in Japanese and will be available next year in English.
Among those saved by the actions of Kotsuji were Rabbi Soloveichik’s maternal grandparents. The Rabbi’s delivery was smooth and insightful. You leave the lecture feeling as though you’ve been exposed to an aspect of Jewish history that has never been spoken about or written about before.
In fact, while writing this piece I had a flashback to when I was a teenager and accompanied my father to visit a Japanese ger who was in New York on a speaking tour. The more I think about the encounter, the more I can remember it. It was a Saturday night sometime in November, which means that Shabbos ended early. I suppose it was a weekend activity for my father, my mother, my brother, Yossy, and myself, and no doubt research for one of his articles.
I’m scouring the internet for photos of Kotsuji and can now recall his face. He came down from the apartment where he was staying while we waited in the lobby, and when the elevator doors opened, they revealed a brightly lit cabin with fluorescent lighting and the bright smile of Abraham Kotsuji as he smiled at us. He shook my father’s hand and they began talking warmly. I was just a teenager at the time, no more than 13 or 14, and I’m not sure what they talked about or in what language, but I do know I wasn’t really paying attention.
Kotsuji played a pivotal role in saving the Jews of the Mir Yeshiva who received transit visas from the famed Japanese diplomat, Chiune Sugihara, who was the Japanese consul to Lithuania and the hero who saved thousands of Jews in the same fashion as the renowned Swedish diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg.
The transit visas furnished to the yeshiva students and rabbis were valid for just ten days. Abraham Kotsuji took it upon himself to take a 12-hour train ride every ten days to the Japanese visa office to have the visas renewed for an additional ten days until the yeshiva was settled in Shanghai.
Once safely in Japan, the Jews were not yet out of harm’s way. The Nazis dispatched an officer to Japan to propose to the Japanese leaders at the time to grant them access to the Jews that would lead to their murder. The Japanese officer in charge of the Jewish group summoned two of the leading rabbis, the Amshinover Rebbe (Rabbi Kalish) and Rabbi Shmidman.
According to Rabbi Soloveichik, the Japanese representatives posed the following question to the rabbis: “Why do the Nazis hate you so much?” To which the Rebbe responded, “Because we are an ancient people.”
To that the Japanese diplomat responded, “We are also ancient.” To which the Rebbe said: “You are on their list, too.” After that they became fast friends and the Jews of Shanghai were protected by the Japanese government.
Kotsuji later converted to Judaism and lived in Eretz Yisrael until his death in 1973. He was a key player but still a somewhat obscure figure in the vast and often mysterious history of our people.
Today, Kotsuji is buried on Har HaMenuchot just outside of Jerusalem. n
Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
