Ministering to Jews in Japan is not exactly what Rabbi Marvin Tokayer had in mind when he studied rabbinics at Yeshiva University and the Jewish Theological Seminary. But ultimately that is what he did, spending over a decade in the Far East and writing no fewer than 20 books in Japanese, including a book on the Talmud that became a bestseller in South Korea.
Rabbi Tokayer, who currently lives in Great Neck, New York, is also the author of The Fugu Plan: The Untold Story of the Japanese and the Jews During World War II and Pepper, Silk & Ivory: Amazing Stories of Jews and the Far East (both Gefen Publishing). He currently is writing volume two of the latter work as well as eight books on the Jews of India and a commentary on Meseches Avodah Zarah from an Oriental perspective.
The Jewish Press: How did a Jewish boy from New York wind up becoming a rabbi in Japan?
Rabbi Tokayer: I was a chaplain in the Far East with the U.S. Air Force in the early 1960s, but I had nothing to do with the local Jewish communities. I wound up serving as a rabbi in Japan because of a meeting with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. I’m not a Lubavitcher, but when I was a student [at the Jewish Theological Seminary] there was a young man teaching Lubavitch philosophy as a volunteer and I went to his class.
I didn’t understand what was being taught, so I asked many questions and the constant reply to my questions was, “The Rebbe knows.” I said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, “If there’s a problem, the Rebbe has studied it and resolved it. If it’s okay with him, it’s okay with me.”
Well, that wasn’t okay with me, so this young Lubavitcher said to me, “Why don’t you write to the Rebbe?” So I wrote a letter and got a response that the Rebbe would like to meet me. I was given two minutes and was there for about two hours. We discussed a wide variety of subjects, and I was very impressed by the Rebbe’s erudition.
How did that meeting lead you to Japan?
Well, many years later, when I was finished with the military, I was engaged to be married and the mashgiach for the caterer of my synagogue happened to be Lubavitch. He said to me, “You know, the Rebbe has total recall. Why don’t you invite him to your wedding?” I said, “I have enough people coming to the wedding.” He said, “The Rebbe isn’t going to come, don’t worry. But maybe he’ll invite you for a berachah and it’ll be a chance for your fiancé to meet the Rebbe.”
So I sent the Rebbe an invitation and shortly thereafter I get a call that the Rebbe would like to see me and my fiancé. So we went to see him. We walk in, and the Rebbe smiles and says, “I haven’t seen you for a long time, you disappeared on me.” And then he says to me, “Stop working with the dead, start working with the living.” I didn’t understand that. So I said, “Excuse me, but I don’t understand.” He repeats it: “Stop working with the dead, start working with the living.” I still didn’t understand. So he said, “I read somewhere that when you were in the military, you discovered a Jewish cemetery in Nagasaki.” He continued, “Why are you wasting your time looking for cemeteries? There are living Jews in Japan and you should go there and be their rabbi.”