Celebrating the High Holy Days in every corner of the world

Currently, there are around 8.2 billion people in the world. And just 15.8 million of us Jews. That puts us at approximately 0.2 per cent of the global population.

While most of us are concentrated in Israel and Western countries
such as the USA, France, Canada and Australia, there are still Jewish populations in more than 100 countries around the world. Yet, no matter how small the community, each and every one finds a way to celebrate the chaggim, especially the High Holy Days.

For the community in Jamaica, Rabbi Yaakov Raskin and his wife Mushkee are there to ensure that every Jew has a home, and a way to practise their Judaism.

“Our goal is simple: to be a one-stop for everything Jewish on the island, and to spread acts of goodness and kindness to everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike,” Rabbi Raskin told The AJN.

“When we arrived over kosher food and explanations for those who require them. And having visitors is always special.

“Last year, a guest told me it was the first time in his life he heard the shofar. Another said it was the most meaningful Avinu Malkeinu she ever sang — surrounded by locals and travellers, the ocean in the background, and tears in her eyes,” he recalled.

It’s the same for visitors to the community of Uganda, which has
a Jewish population of between 2500 and 3000 people. Their Rosh Hashanah services blend traditional elements with distinctive choral harmonies that have become famous worldwide.

Seth Jonadav, who heads a community high school named Semei Kakungulu High School and works as an assistant rabbi, said Rosh Hashanah services are made special by wearing white clothes, as per Jewish custom, and changing the melodies of the prayers. It is Jonadav who has the honour of blowing the shofar and, as he told The AJN, everyone and anyone is welcome at their kiddush table.

The welcoming nature of many of the smaller communities means families like Maayan’s can find an open home anywhere in the world. Maayan and her family spend six months of the year at their Jewish Centre, Beit Halev – The House of the Heart – in a beach town called Varkala, in the south of India near the border of Sri Lanka. Beit Halev is an open home, available all day every day, throughout the year, for Jewish travellers who need to feel a sense of Jewish belonging. Maayan refers to it as a “Jewish ashram”. For the other six months of the year, the family, who go by The Jewish Nomads on Instagram, are nomadic, sharing their lives as they travel.

Maayan told The AJN she was bitten by the travel bug very early in life, saving up all of her money to travel both before and after her army service. She explained, however, that nothing about their nomadic life has stood in the way of observing Judaism in the way that suits her, and passing the traditions down to her children.

“At the end of the day, if I believe that being Jewish is my lifestyle, that
I want to live in a Jewish way, bring that into everything I do, into my girls’ education, and into the deep roots of our family, then it naturally becomes part of my everyday life. Everything we are is Jewish,” she explained.

“Shabbat is a very important part of our life. No matter where we are, we always find a way to celebrate it, we often have guests, and our girls get so excited helping us prepare.”

Maayan said the family plans their travels around the chaggim to ensure they are visiting Jewish communities at that time, and they eat vegan or vegetarian so they never have to say no to a particular destination.

“We’ve realised that we’re not going to skip visiting a country just because it doesn’t have vegetarian restaurants or because it barely has a Jewish community. The only reason we’d avoid a country is if we feel it’s not safe whether that’s due to antisemitism or any other reason,” she said. “We love going for Shabbat or joining for holidays. That’s another way we keep connected and make the chaggim feel special, no matter where we are.”

The family has spent many Shabbats and chaggim with very small communities, including in Kenya, Uganda, Guatemala and even Pesach in El Salvador, with an Orthodox Jewish community of converts.

“We’ve realised that these communities love having us over, and there’s so much giving in both directions. We help however we can whether that’s physical help, cooking, spiritual guidance, or tzedakah and in return, we receive so much inspiration, warmth and love,” Maayan explained.

“One of the most beautiful things is realising that a holiday doesn’t need to look exactly like the one you grew up with. In fact, for us, it often looks even more beautiful seeing the customs we know expressed in different ways all over the world and hearing the same tunes for Havdalah, Kabbalat Shabbat … no matter where we are.”