re: #54 Surabaya Stew

It used to be normal; sadly, there has been a great loss in Worldwide Jewish diversity (in terms of living in different countries) since the beginning of the 20th century. So many anicent communities have been eliminated, forced out, or have shrunk to nearly nothing. :-(

It’s not really horrible in the sense that many have moved to Israel. Since we have a place to go, they don’t have to languish in out of the way places.

My mother and I are absolutely fascinated with “Jews in weird places” as I like to call them and the unique cultures they have developed.

What’s frustrating to me, particularly with Iranian or Iraqi Jews, are those people who refused to go to Israel when they had the chance to do so. People get stuck in their own thing, their own cultures and don’t want to change, much to their own peril.

In better news, the Knesset just voted to bring in the remaining 7,232 members of the Bnei Menashe community left behind in India, which is very exciting. I have to find the link.