Pepper, Silk & Ivory

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There is a missing page in Jewish history. We tend to assume that Jewish history is to be found in the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, and the Americas – but not in the Far East. Pepper, Silk & Ivory has discovered that missing page, revealing the amazing stories of Jews who both benefitted from and contributed to the Far East. You will read about the “uncrowned Jewish king of China,” the indefatigable World War II refugees in Kobe, the woman who refused to give up until the Japanese constitution included rights for women and children, and the baseball player who became an American spy in Japan, as well as the Jew who served as Singapore’s first prime minister, the amusing comedy of errors surrounding the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng, the smart and eccentric woman who introduced China to the West and never went anywhere without her pet gibbon, and the extraordinary tale of the sixteenth-century Marrano physician in India. Jewish contributors to Eastern music and the Jewish members of Mao Zedong’s inner circle also have their stories told. Consummate storyteller Marvin Tokayer, Lifetime Honorary Rabbi of Japan’s Jewish community, draws on half a century of personal experiences and a wealth of knowledge as he, in concert with writer and television producer Dr. Ellen Rodman, weaves together the characters and history of the Jews of the Far East into this fascinating book.

Rabbi Marvin Tokayer began his rabbinic career in 1962 as a US Air Force chaplain stationed in southern Japan. In 1968, he returned to serve as rabbi of the thousand-member Jewish community of Japan, a post he held until 1976; he remains Lifetime Honorary Rabbi of the community. He also served on the Federation of Jewish Communities of Southeast Asia and the Far East and as Founding Board Member of the Sino-Judaic Institute. He contributed seven articles on rabbinics and the Orient for the Encyclopedia Judaica, authored twenty books in Japanese on Judaica and Japan, and coauthored (with Mary Swartz) The Fugu Plan The Untold Story of the Japanese and the Jews during World War II.
Ellen Rodman is a writer, producer, and the president of LN Productions LLC, a production and media consulting company based in New York. Prior to founding her own company, Dr. Rodman served as an executive at NBC, where she launched the first missing children's campaign in connection with the broadcast of the made-for-television movie Adam, and at Group W where she accepted a DuPont Columbia Award for Whispering Hope, the company's outreach program on Alzheimer's disease. The former family entertainment reviewer for the New York Times, Dr. Rodman is also the author of numerous magazine and newspaper articles on subjects ranging from culture and media to education and health.
BindingHardcover
LanguageEnglish
Pages300
Published2014
ISBN-139789652296474
Dimensions15 × 22 cm
Weight0.84 kg

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