Bess Hoffman, Marcel and Sandra Grossman, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer and Dena Laufer

 We were asked by Sandra and Marcel Grossman of Herzliya Pituach if we could arrange an evening at their home for their friend, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, who had been the Rabbi of Japan for ten years and who has a wealth of knowledge about the Jews of the East. He is the recipient of The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays from the Government of Japan in appreciation of his continuous contribution to the promotion of mutual understanding between the Japanese and Jewish people. He is the author of a number of books, some in Japanese.

So how could we refuse? We had only two weeks to get this going, so we hastily set up a flyer which was distributed to all ESRA members, organized some delicious refreshments, and waited for people to register.

About 100 people filled the beautiful home of the Grossmans. From the moment Rabbi Tokayer started speaking he had us all spellbound with stories of amazing Jews who lived in India, China and Japan who contributed significantly to the countries in which they were living and who were wonderfully honored by them, but are unknown to Jews in the West. They are not included in our History of Famous Jews, and Rabbi Tokayer is changing that by telling their stories which he is writing in books, as there are too many for just one book.

The Grossmans had his books brought from the publishers. All of them were sold, and many more people wanted to know where they could purchase them.

The Grossmans have requested that the proceeds from this evening be used for a scholarship to a student in our Students Build a Community project.