Knowledge from the East

Abraham sent his other sons to the East. Pebble to Michael Gros from Jewish Press.

For [Rabbi] Shlomo Aharon[Fenster] it was a time of great soul searching as he was trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life.

While sitting together with his host father Mitsuo Kiyosu in the kitchen sipping green tea, Shlomo Aharon unburdened the challenges he was facing. The conversation turned from his job search to his larger search for direction in his life.

"My host father realized that I was searching not only for a job, but for spirituality," Shlomo Aharon said. "He told me that when he dies 'there will be such and such spirit in the next world who will save me. I live this life with confidence because I know I will be saved when I die. On the other hand, a Christian person has Jesus. A Christian person has Jesus, who is a bridge to the Jewish G-d. That’s how he will be saved when he dies.'"

"'But you, you are a Jew. You have a direct connection to the Jewish G-d. What more are you searching for?'"

That comment opened Shlomo Aharon’s eyes. He grew up hearing about G-d as the Judeo-Christian G-d, but he had only ever heard Christians speak about G-d. His host father said No! It is not Christianity that has a direct connection to G-d, and not even Buddhism. It is the Jewish people who have a direct conduit to G-d.

"He woke me up to the fact that I have a unique place in this world as a Jew and an intrinsic relationship to G-d," Shlomo Aharon said. "G-d had been just a philosophical concept to me and the last thing I was searching for."

...(published in The Jewish Press July 6, 2007)