Tagged Indonesia

Indonesia revisited: Synagogue welcomes Shabbat visitors

The Shaar Hashamayim congregation in Tondano, Indonesia, on July 20 with Yaakov Baruch, center, AJP's Debe Campbell to his left, and Campbell’s husband, Gil Alvidrez, third from right. (Courtesy Debe Campbell)
August 30, 2019 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor

Having lived in Indonesia, an Islamic nation, for two decades, I never imagined the opportunity to visit a synagogue there. My first visit to Manado in the early ’90s was as a journalist covering Indonesia’s then-president Soeharto as he opened a new tourism center in North Sulawesi. Almost 30… Read more »

Jewish roots stir revival in world’s largest Muslim nation

Yaakov Baruch, a ‘born-again’ Indonesian Jew, visits the world’s largest permanent menorah in Manado, Indonesia. (Photo courtesy Yaakov Baruch)
August 30, 2019 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor

Editor’s note: AJP Assistant Editor Debe Campbell lived and worked in Indonesia for more than 20 years. Returning in July on holiday with her husband, Gilbert Alvidrez, she visited Sulawesi island, where she conducted research and interviews for this story. The world’s largest permanent menorah looms over Manado, the… Read more »