My Transformation from Japanese Samurai to Judaism

many people uh in Japan know about Jewish people only through uh the protocols of Elders of Zion mhm which is sort of like a um Foundation of what we know as anti-Semitism today but I didn't know who the Jewish people were um really so it took me about 3 years since this Russian dinner why would a Japanese man from a family of Samurai leave everything behind and become an orthodox Jew meet a man who nowag goes by the name of Moshe his search for purpose in life will blow you away in this episode you'll hear about the most brilliant way to find the right job for you with purplest sters.com the coziest summer clothing with twillery how bipping Solutions make your Workforce more productive and satisfied and you're going to also hear about the three books from fell time that you need to get and you're going to get a little discount this episode is a memory of shim yov as well ASAS yov mosha here we go I'm yov Langer and you're listening to inspiration for the nation okay MOS thank you so much for coming uh we're going to talk about how you got to Judaism but before then where you from and what was your childhood like sure um I I am from from a very traditional Japanese household uh my grandfather who was born I believe he was born in 1926 um as a young man he served the country as a as a pilot for the Japanese Army he was one of the he was one of a uh last generation Japanese boys to be raised as Samurai do you know who Samurai is I know the guy with like a long sword and something to do with honor um whatever you think of a samurai whatever you think you know of a samurai is not it okay so so fill us in what exactly is a samurai so Samurai is a man of honor integrity and a propriety meaning that he lives by the discipline called Bushido Bushi means warrior do means way of so it's it's a code of honor and self-restraint meaning discipline to be able to be the model citizen to be able to protect and defend uh the fellow citizens when necessary at the same time he is the definition of a men so that was my grandfather hold on it's I have to ask so could anyone become a samurai is it only like well if your father's a samurai then you could become a Sam like a cayen type of thing yeah exactly it's like a uh it's it's just like that and one needs to be born into it so my grandfather was a samurai his father was Samurai too his great you know great uh grandfather also so my grandfather's son my father also and I B I was going into it so it's The Unbroken chain of you know brave people of honor and discipline I'm cutting ahead but I'm just so curious are you the first Sam technically Samurai Jew um I think so there's always a first you okay that's pretty cool and we'll we'll get to to Judaism later on but tell me a little more about your grandfather and in context of I guess like how he raised his family and like that so he was born in 1926 and as a young man and bright and physically capable young man uh he enlisted himself on a Japanese Army on the onset of the war and he was promoted to be one of the uh well one of the um one of so so to speak one of the top guns on the Army and he was uh he was a pilot uh of a bomber on the last defense line before the before the Homeland so that was a four man bummer and he was one of them and it the plane was shut down my grandfather told me all this and know his plane was shut down and went into the ocean three other men died miraculously my grandfather survived and my uh my grandfather was floating on a water according to my grandmother and the fisherman fished him out to save him and he he recovered uh from his injuries war ended he came home normally uh coming home alive from a war is a shameful shameful thing especially in his generation but he didn't think that way he he took the pride of serving his Nation and lived he kept on living by the discipline and tradition that he was raised with that is called Bushido Bushido means the code of code of warrior Bushi means warrior d means the way of so it's a code of discipline that he lived by which is the tradition that was raised by also he was the manifestation of what we know as mental K he was an is in a man of Honor discipline Integrity propriety every all the great things you can think of that he was so he came home started uh study a family got married study a family he kept being himself which is quite extraordinary you know war ended the nation was defeated but he didn't way he didn't change his way even for a bit so he came he as he was building his family he raised his sons according to the way that he knew how to be a gentleman so his sense of Pride uh to be to be the last standing Samurai so to speak in in in Japan after the war which I call it the new world and after during and after American occupation Japan everybody um sort of uh left the tradition that was so heavy with the sense of discipline honor they wanted they want it out mhm which is your father's generation basically yes my father was born in 1948 which was 3 years after the end of the War which was um during uh during the years of American occupation okay and then let's fast forward to when you're a child at that point did you have any sense of what a Jew was I had no idea no idea I had no idea who Jews were and growing up were you were you a part of a certain religion was this Bido in quotes your religion like how does religion work Ah that's a good question question religion over there in Japan doesn't mean the religion we know here M it's it's it's not like religion over there doesn't mean that they're just like our notion religion that is our service to God according to the Torah and not just Torah shik but also shab it's that's our discipline but there is no notion of one and absolute God which we serve so the religion over there is the tradition touched by emotion this is my uh uh term uh tradition touched by emotion that is that the tradition becomes your life that's a tradition was L you know uh tradition was what my grandfather lived by and that he was that way until the last day of his life you growing up did you get raised with that traditional sense or it was a completely new wave of whatever past that traditional raising family was like oh well uh my grandfather uh Tau my father very well baram and God bless my father he didn't change the weight even for a bit h so I was my sister and I were raised according to the way that my grandfather lived so the we are very very famous for being traditional I was actually the only only child in my class whose family still kept old tradition everybody else just moved on from it can you give me a practical example of like how your family was different than everyone else um first of all our family uh lived all together meaning that the my ponal grandparents my grandfather and his wife my parents and the children all lived in the same house you know whereas my classmates probably just lived in a small apartment with uh just W with with their parents so that alone is very different right yeah and uh the children in my in my generation didn't quite have the close relationship that I had with my grandparents you know most of most of day when my parents were busy you know taking care of things especially my father was at work my mother was running the household so most of the time when I was not in school what I did was to spend time with my grandparents so that's how the tradition was hunted down I suppose and did you at all at that time rebel against the way you were brought up or that that wasn't an option I didn't uh I did not resent the tradition that I raised with I felt lonely MH nobody else knew what it was and rather everybody else thought you know who are you you know what do you what do you what do you think you're better than the rest of us you know it's not that at all but uh they rather resented that resented the fact that we still had it but hold on just paint it for me because to me it doesn't sound okay it sounds like okay your grandparents lived with you that's definitely different but like how else was it so different than everyone else well we had a quite uh Vivid emphasis on family and it was a sense of selflessness not not self sacrifice that the we think uh that we we think when we talk about the you know people in Asia it's it's not it's not like like self s sa sacrifice that you literally you know put yourself in danger uh to uh for for the sake of others and it was like like it was not like that it was rather selflessness uh of a person for for his family for his children and for his grandchildren and you know duty of a man was to make sure that that chain of tradition the chain of good life um was continued that's what my grandfather did that's what my father did so going back to your question nobody else in my class had it so that's the tradition that everybody else forgot you're making me so curious of like okay you have this extremely powerful chain of family and keeping tradition and now you're sitting here wearing a yamaka right how in the world did you get to Judaism right I should I should think of a book called the Japan to Judaism yeah and the subtitle should be why on Earth did he do it right right let's maybe maybe the title for this yeah right that should that should be that should be that should be my book or my life story so how did this happen story goes all the way back to my grandparents my grandfather and how I was um unique not strange but unique in my generation and I did could I didn't quite have the kinship uh to what my generation was about over there in Japan so this a chain reaction really and in 1998 I met I met a Jewish Professor uh from California I was I was in sophomore in college and I had I had an opportunity to come to one of the satellite campuses that my college had so there here comes the professor Jewish Professor secular but the really really proud Jew and he came over to give us a lecture um he talked about um how a person achieve a good life can a person achieve a good life by pursuing material wealth money Prestige you know fancy job title you know fancy degree can a person truly accomplish a good life in pursuing those Earthly things or something else would define a person that that question really intrigued me quite deeply and at the time him J he him being Jewish really didn't mean anything to me because I didn't quite know who the Jewish people were at the time of 1998 so what I saw in him was that you know uh the man of in integrity and a deep knowledge and a man a profound uh message uh to to to the to the professor I really uh felt kingship with I wanted to know what you know how I can do to achieve a good life you know my Japanese name is given Japanese name I don't know tell me um my given Japanese name name is hiroichi hiroichi so that means a good that means the right path so I'm you know in Japanese tradition like the Jewish tradition the name makes the person so I was always um searching the right path to a good life so that's that was my main focus by you know that at the time and that uh at the time when I met met this professor so I stayed in touch with him and from Southmore to the guu graduation from college and he coached me through uh the senior thesis and I wrote I wrote the senior thesis about uh Adam Smith and not Wealth of Nations but I was going to say that's the only thing I know from Adam Smith it's like huge book wealth right it's a big dictionary size book yeah and but he wrote a book called uh theory of moral sentiments so that was the foundation of Perhaps Perhaps that was a foundation of his ideas of God's invisible hand and that he uses he utilizes in his Wealth of Nations so that book really really uh had a message of what the human life can mean and not to the world not to not only to the world not only to the society but to himself what what's his life about what are you about if somebody asks you in the elevator saying hi my name is John and what's your name where you from and if the person in some off chance I I think it's unlikely to happen but in off chance he asks you I see you're Jewish what what is your life about what are you what are you about who are you then what what your answer be so that was the message of the book so I'm glad that I studied that book for my senior thesis and the that Jewish professor in suggested that I that I should come to the states and he is Los Angeles bace that's where I came when I moved to when I moved to United States that was in 2001 that was 3 weeks before 9911 the time was correct I probably I made it in the last minute if I miss the opportunity you know 911 was something that nobody none of us could have predicted if I missed the point uh when I when I came over I needed to wait for another two years until the Border reopened so the time was right that's when the Hashem thought that I should come to California and Hashem made it Hashem made sure that this Jewish Professor was based in Los Angeles he's actually Los Angeles native and hash that I should come to La first you know the boy from the traditional household member Yakov yeah that's oldfashioned thinking Japanese boy from a traditional household comes to Los Angeles what what can you think of what's going to happen next that I was completely lost when I was over there in Japan of course J English was one of the mandatory subjects but it was a subject I didn't know how to speak it I couldn't even order a Big Mac and then you know asked them to supersize it I have no idea how to do it so so first thing I needed to do was to learn how to speak the language when I came over to California I had no family I only knew this one person one Jewish Professor that's all that's the um only connection that I had to to the place and I had also had no idea what I was doing was practically just jumping off the cliff diving into the ocean without knowing how to swim so what did I do learn the language and if you dive into dive into a body of water e and there are two choices either you just sit still or you know stay idle and go go down and die or learn how to swim so I learned how to swim I wanted to make it there so I wanted so badly that I was able to study it Night and Day Day and Night Pro probably I just slept like 3 hours a day and I couldn't uh I I can do that today and maybe I got old but you know so that was my determination I really wanted to make it there you know my mother who who I miss very very much and then and my parents still live in Japan and my entire family is still in Japan you know just me and my wife here in this country so my mother you know just pushed my back saying you know just don't I mean don't think too much stop thinking just go see see what you can do if you succeed that' be great you know but until you succeed don't come back you know that's the uh kind of a spart sparten love that you know she I'm just like her you know once I do it once I decide to do it I do it m if I don't have the right cavana to do it I don't do it so so that was the uh first step in America a fascinating part is coming up but let's face it work is a routine not thrilling necessarily but not terrible most days either fear of job searching while employed can paralyze the best of us you return to the same old grind even though you know there's something better out there for you you guessed it I'm talking about the new job platform purple stairs the platform has really taken off and I'm not surprised why wouldn't a candidate sign up by the hundreds they have nothing to lose employers are looking for people exactly like them and they have nothing to worry about because the platform has security features that allow them to hide sensitive information decide to share it with specific employers only side effects of joining purple steers may include sudden job satisfaction unexpected career of advancement and severe excitement go and check out purple steers candidates sign up free 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at all times and everything is in the language that I just mastered how to speak I know I knew the language but that's my foreign language that's my second language I I really had a a difficult time adjusting to the new environment new academic environment situation in a Strange Land in a strange culture in a strange language so I I felt really really lost so by the time by the time 2003 uh by the virtue of uh of the my professor Bean you know the same Professor who suggested I should come over that I did and and um he had amazingly amazing this Jewish Professor had a family tradition with one of the Orthodox rabbis at the organization called Simon wizd Center yeah sure in Los Angeles his name is Rober Cooper Robert Abraham Cooper who is who is one of the probably the one of the most influential rabbis in America probably worldwide I think he uh he he he's everywhere yeah you know very energetic and very influential he he has been doing many many things to help the Jewish people to increase the awareness of rising TI of anti-Semitism you know the what happened in the past who the Jewish people are my professor had a family tradition of getting together for the first night of russan dinner so the rabbi bar kashm after two years of my being a drift in American society you know he invited me over I became part of this family tradition bam for right Cooper and Mrs Cooper I I believe her food is responsible for my becoming Jewish you know that was that was the um really really comforting to eat you know home cooked meal not only just a some you know homecooked meal but homecooked meal prepared for the first night of Russia China which which foods were you like of course simanim right you know the uh and lot of lot of honey that I remember and one thing I I don't quite remember what the menu was but at this very table at this very Table after being a drift in among the strange people in Los Angeles I saw all the elements of the same tradition that I was raised with of course my mother cooks like a genius right just like all the yish mama you know she cooks so I I I was raised with good food and at the same time the sense of honor the sense of service to others you know everybody's asking you know how the other person is how are you you know where's your life holding you know how's how's everything been so their entire eating experience was not not just for the sake of eating as we all know eating was the worship a formal worship which I really had a kingship with because eating in you know at family gathering you know when I was growing up was not just eating it was carrying for others food was only a vehicle uh to achieve that home environment for the entire family so that really resonated with me at the table and there's sense honor integrity propriety in accordance with the Torah in the missor or the tradition and the great food I mean that that really brought me home and after the dinner with a tremendous excitement I called my parents so I told them that the tradition that that raised me with um unfortunately uh was dead uh in Japan and in that I told him that the same tradition that they raised me with was vividly alive and well with the Jewish people and they were so proud perhaps at the same time very relieved to hear uh that I you know re encountered um with his tradition but at the same time I was not drifting away from the tradition rather rather Hashem has spark made made sure that I come back to it so that's what happened at the first night Russia so that was the beginning of my journey in terms of uh getting to know the Jewish people now I saw now I saw that witnessed in a I was part of of the Jewish life only so briefly at the table but that really um intrigued me to the extent that that I really really wanted to know this people I want to I want to get to know them and I have so I feel so much kinship with the people so they must have something deep in in common with my upbringing so that happened at the same time at the same time I was struggling through the graduate school so the my effort to get my life by getting a PhD in political science but at the same time my Divine guided effort to Define myself and see what I am as a person so those two things completely different directions one uh to the right Perhaps Perhaps higher and deeper you know the other way in graduate school it was very narrow and straight if you understand the subject and get the concepts or not what you know the other way it was very broad open-ended inquiry about what like my life was about how long after after that rashash Shana meal until you became a full-fledged Orthodox JW ah it's a short period of time really but again there are many many steps in between so I first of all asked Robert Cooper what books read and um my professor in Robert Cooper traveled together a lot and I had a chance to ask him what the books to read and he made recommendations at the same time you know when we went to Asia together I uh and then Rabbi had two bags uh to check in one small and one big so I thought oh Rabbi I thought the big bag and he's a wor dressed person so he must have a lot of wardrobe to bring uh uh abroad so so that the he will look you know uh fresh and well-dressed out at all time so maybe he brings the food on the side because he keeps koser man I was wrong the big bag had all the kosher food stuffed in it was bursting from seams in a small bag he had a uh his his shirts and suit and all the Necessities I was shocked by it why you know can he not eat you know what he could eat over there rather than slepping all the food along so those the um ex pieces of experience that I had you know traveling with the rabbi invited many more questions so my journey progressed in a very fast pace but at the same time this was uh the Deep journey of getting to know the people at the same time defining myself so it took me about a few years if I'm not mistaken it's like three years before I was uh started keeping koser was there ever a point of contention with you and your parents about you becoming Jewish or was always the same sentiment as the beginning of he's continuing the tradition maybe in a in a different way than they envisioned but there's the sense of the tradition continuing which which one was it more uh they they have been continuously uh supportive wow I'm I'm very lucky I'm very lucky that you know many people uh in Japan know about Jewish people only through uh the protocols of Elders of Zion M which is sort of like a um Foundation of what we know as anti-Semitism today but I didn't know who the Jewish people were um really so it took me about three years since this Russ Shan dinner before uh before I was keeping kosher already and my life my health was completely ruined by eating you know hamburgers cheeseburgers double burger super siiz fries sodas you know by the end of fifth year and after moving to America my health was in shambles you know at the same time of course I was sleep deprived in grad school so I started keeping kosher and you know be I did this because I thought wait a minute Rabbi is always healthy energetic and my friends who my koser keeping friends seemed happy I'm miserable fat you know sort of like a overed in many ways so I'll try there must be some wisdom behind it B I did that I lost weight quite rapidly and my head became very clear I became energetic bash I regained my health so that was uh that was 3 years since the rashan dinner every year since then I was part of the dinner again annually so every year I I sort of like a um um reminded myself what I what I saw at the first Russ table second year I I've noticed M many many more things that I want to know about because because of reading books and getting to know the people during that year the third year fourth year you know all my uh knowledge about Jewish people deepened so since I started keeping kosher it only took me about uh like two years um before before I was partly participating in Chavis we'll be right back this week's episode but I need to tell you the next books you need to put on your shelf get ready to delve into the depths of Jewish law custom and ethics with Rabbi mosha walters's enlightening series of books a distinguished leader and Scholar Rabbi Walter serves as the r of Woodside synagogue aavas Torah and is the executive director of the rabinal Council of greater Washington okay you're going to discover the making of AIC decision and explore the intricate processes behind Jewish legal rulings from selecting a rabbi to understanding the nuances ofak ala his book provides profound insights into the daily practice of ala then you're going to transition into the making of a minog where you'll uncover the roots and reasons behind Jewish Customs why do we light bonfires and lock Bower what ises it sign ific of adorning our shoes with flowers and Shas right Walter navigates these questions and more shedding light on the Customs that shape our 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that cuts cost and unnecessary resource es offering significant savings this is why they charge for an initial consultation it's for businesses serious about transformative software Solutions if you're ready to elevate your business contact bit Bean today now back to this week's episode was there as you're learning more about Judaism was there any part of the Torah that you were like more fascinated with than the other parts not that you w didn't appreciate the others but like one thing that you were like whoa this is mind-blowing coming from a culture of discipline and I didn't think for a moment that the discipline Jewish life is a limited type of life you know discipline often times gives the person the framework of his life you know just like for my grandfather and but one thing that really really caught my eye was that the degree of kindness that every Jewish person shows to his or her you know fellow Jews unbelievable kindness doing kindnesses is one of the pillars that this world stands just like P says those are the three pillars and what my I was such an active involvement of each Jew that I uh that I had a relationship with in in doing the kindness that they are always involved in something in helping others that was a great that was a great misah that I I really thought wow these these people really care about each other I want to be I want to be part of this people so that one mitvah really opened another door you know after started observing shabas starting to um being part of the community you know when I went to Rabbi Cooper to tell him that I want to become Jewish you know why he said why on Earth are you nuts because he he reminded me that you know there's a thing called anti-Semitism because if were Jewish people people in the world would be unforgiving and hateful you can be hate for and that was proven in in Jewish Jewish history and why do you want to become Jewish you're a great friend of the Jewish people why why don't you remain that way so so my answer was was that that was not being a friend isn't good enough this with this life with the Jewish people I Define myself with the discipline I came alive I want to be part of your people so he tried to disway me several times just like just as a halaka dictates and but but after several um attempts you know every time he rejected me then I I thought it I took it as a personal challenge you know I come from the samurai background remember yeah so every time rejection came my attitude you know hardened and determination became stronger and at one point the rabbi referred me to another Rabbi his name is Rabbi itak Adin by whom and by his rabbitson who of course you know Cooks like a genius as well and and I became good friends with him and he's a second Rabbi to whom I told that that I want to become Jewish again he tried to disway me many many times but along the way uh instead of saying no no no he he gave me books in know very deep books like Keri and and he said read this if you feel any relationship if you see anything that you really devote your life to you uh come back I'm here for you we will talk again so I went back and forth between the books and Rabbi at the same time I was you know working you know during the day and going to school you know the late later in the day not at night so that was full life and along the way in our conversations you know so like a life searching conversations we became friends so raber Ain brought me over to his house as a guest for shabas shabas suda Friday night that Friday night um I used still remember just as vividly as the first night um that was one step closer one step deeper in in in the Jewish life and I Lov the food I Lov the company I like the Torah amount of Torah that RAB had on his table and every week literally every week I was there and along the way you know Rabbi OS steam you know brought me uh over to his Shore it's it was not his Shore but the shore that he D in took part in uh that's called that's that show has a nickname Rabbi beses sh it's it's a formally known as the Bas M K Yakov and the rabbi best RAB G best is R there and he brought me to the shore and I I was really really in a foreign country I didn't understand the Hebrew I didn't you finally mastered English now you're like put into the Hebrew you're like oh man oh I I mean there was no English in in the shore so I was out of place but I wanted it m right so I started u taking classes you know the Hebrew classes at at another show in the neighborhood and I learned out based with everybody else there was a rebi there was there was a rabbi in there there are students I I was so eager uh to learn so I learned master other place okay so my attitude was like okay I learned the ABC so okay let me get back to the shore and I still didn't understand a thing right but the people took me in the rabbi Rabbi best seated me to the seat right next to him that's that was the only seat empty seat I saw that's the base middle always always packed there there was no other seat so I went up to the rabbi said Rabbi I want to be part of this show where can I sit so Rabbi pointed at the seat right next to him said nobody sits here this is your seat and so I started diving in there and that's remind you that's a very small base of M packed with people and in arriv out one wanted me to be closer in a situated closer to him so I sat between Rabbi best and Rabbi Adin in front of me was Rabbi best behind me was Rabbi Adin left to me was a w and the right to me was another Rabbi so guess what I learned I learned how to diving in a hurry under strict ranal supervision that happened and because of that my D improved uh quite rapidly I became more familiar with the phrases not only phrases but got familiar with the Holy language the very very sweet language uh that everything that we we say the holy you know words of Torah and that whole experience together with getting to know the people you know being a rockar you know in the neighborhood going to as a single minder I went to a different table for every meal wow so were you officially Jewish at that point no no I was not even officially in the Gs program oh wow so after you I have two years of getting to know the people okay I can I can now be in the program officially let's get this started so I went to the K very reputable K Bing called rabano Council of California with you know whose gear certificate is recognizing as also many G program in this country are unfortunately not recognized so thank God I I went through the GES program very hard very thorough very deep and the rabbis ask you you know how are you happy where are you holding in this journey you know what did you find what did you find difficult what did you find easy are you really sure that you need to be at a sure for M Mar at a certain time in a day that can you handle that that and a life that I have before didn't have any set schedule I mean it was BS busy but I was running around at all time 7 24/7 yeah but all the sudden there's shabus okay there shabas 25h hour period of disengaging from the mundane that itself was eye opening uh you know when I started keeping shops minus one M okay so what was the one Mala you did um I did whatever you know was helpful you know during summer you know one family you know forgot to turn on on on a fan M so instead of asking a child to put the fan on so I said that that would be my mil for today so I turned the fan on and some point uh hat member uh uh his hat member needed uh to have his you know the uh uh communication device that he carried uh turned on because the battery went out he need to change the battery and turned it back on yeah so that person uh was asking the rough you know is there uh is there any you know non-jewish workers already working upstairs and then didn't know if that was the case so I overheard it I was not I was not Jewish so I said Rabbi please see me please see me in my office so that was about of the sh and then there you know I I was able to turn that back on for him you know those things not one particular me but that's what I did uh in a program and there was a throw learning there was a thorough experience of the Jewish life was a very potent program that I went through I'm so glad and that was the program I want to fast forward a little unless I'm missing something integral let me know but I want to get to how you and your wife got together oh man you you know fast forwarding a little bit too too much here okay so we could take it back if need be I just we're we're we're we're well on the way we're almost an hour into it so I just want to make sure we cover oh man time flies yeah time is flying we're having fun okay great so after okay I I'll uh I I'll oblig and a fastport I mean unless you want to say something quickly about the process or no process was as I said that I was very fruitful and I I was me in 2012 April 1st 2012 April four day MH right yeah and this was after year and a half a little bit more in the conversion process so the name funny uh that that this happened I don't want to sound strange here but I had a dream and in that dream a man that was a man because he had a long ha and a long beard and he was glowing I didn't see his face because it was glowing so much I couldn't see but I gathered that he was wearing some kind of a Kido perhaps and um he looked very holy in and you he told me that your name is mosak when did you have this dream about a week or two before the mikah wow so your name is at the time you know that's a very authoritative uh you know command so all I could say was okay yes sir that'll be my name so I had a different name in mind about that that's the name I took and as soon as I came out of the mfah you know B thing asks you know what is your name so I proudly said my name is mosim Ben abrahamu that's my name that's my name on so the two of the rabbis there had a son named mosim so oh okay we have moshim good we can use one more welcome and that was one special day and during this time I was in graduate school more I proceeded with a gays program the more I learned about about hakos and Jewish hashkafa and everything about Jewish life which I'm still still on a learning curve everything that I was studying and you know F I have been finding very profound became obsolete so I had a two years probably like a two and a half years to go at the time until the the end of my PhD program uh until uh the end of authoring doctor dissertation so at the time and things became obsolete which I thought very profound before but this is my future this is my life I'll do both so I did so 2014 I finished my PhD and that was dissertation defense was get uh try guess the the sortation defense was a day before my over shabis you know I met my wife in 2014 uh you know this again Rabbi aistin who was a scholar in Residence in Philadelphia at the show and whose Rabbi is a friend of his so at the table my wife's there my future wife was there and about spoke about me so that's you know initially how my wife you know realized that I existed okay so so that was earlier in the year and duringa I moved from LA to Philadelphia I was a single man that was a simple move and that year November 23rd Ros KES klave we got married at at the LA Maring synagogue that was the local wedding that everybody was very happy about they didn't have to drive they just walked over nice wedding bar and my parents came also they from Japan they don't speak English when I used to live in a lake they didn't have to speak English they just h on a plane and receip by me on the other end so here you know we now live in Philadelphia they need to change ples in Chicago of all places they don't speak English you know changing ples from International to domestic but they made a trip that should prove to you that how proud my parents were that really beautiful and um you know right before the wedding I I finished my disseration so I called my future wife said you are marrying a PhD so and that was the side note but in getting married to my wife was a one of the happiest moments in my life so for that that I couldn't do without becoming Jewish really beautiful I I like to ask towards the end of the interview guess if there's one favorite Mitzvah out of the 613 and I I think the questions always a little extra special when I'm talking to someone who's chosen the path to become a Jew so very curious what your answer is first of all umem M should come that will have all the 630 mises amen with us in our lives um until then uh one thing the first Mis that I did was wearing sissors and that was probably the prohibited Choice as a gentile for wearing scors but that meant so much to me that was a very symbolic and a reminder of you know how many books of Bible that we received at the Mount Si so that's the reminder how many mitas are there in there that's the symbol of a relationship with Hashem Our God so that's the one Mitzvah that's very very special to me of course in theing you know all that keeping shops of course and but tis tis are very close to my heart if there's one person from history it could be someone that's from recent history or someone from the Torah or whoever that you could spend some time with who would you spend that time with I wish to spend time with you know people who I miss uh but beyond that I'd like to ask M ofu as many questions as I have and he he he's the one he's the one person who could answer you know all my questions because he received the Torah he gave the relay the Torah to us and you know of course you know when we when we finish our days in this world we go up there and all answers will be answered but i' like to ask more bra first you know what you know things really are and going to be and find out later in heaven what do you think your grandfather would I Was he alive when you were going down this path or he was already passed away no he already passed away he passed away when I was 10 okay so what do you think he would say to the fact that you're Jewish probably he would be very proud you know I tell you this because when I decided to come to America I asked my grandmother I felt a little strange because United States was the country that he fought against right and I didn't think that was quite appropriate if if I went there without asking my grandmother so as my grandmother if my grandfather would be proud of me uh or or even be if my grandfather feel um appropriate for me to go to the United States uh to pursue my uh studies so my grandmother said and gave me a stample approval saying saying that your grandfather would be very proud so this story of becoming Jewish stting you know boring you know born into a family when the only family where the similar values are kept you I see hash's guidance in this like he held my hand all along and walk me through life one even another time at the end I became Jewish that was the beginning not the end that's the beginning my grandfather would be very proud because that started my life started the with the tradition that my grandfather brought over um from the old world to the new really beautiful before I I get to my last question if someone wants to hear you speak or get in touch with you what's what's the where's the best place to find you my email address and that's something I'm happy to give you my email address is Mo mosim 48 at protonmail.com I've never heard of protonmail.com but we'll get to that but first spell it for everyone and we'll we'll have it also for anyone listening and Link in the show notes so someone could just copy and paste it but spell it for us please so moak m o s sh e c h a i m in one word in 48 in the Arabic numerals so M 48 gria at proton p r o t n Mail those are and that's also in one word.com this is a new uh Gmail alternative oh is it that I would recommend proton male proton the proton male oh interesting never heard of it before but I'm happy with it okay good um and there's there's I I just want to say whoever you know maybe Yeshiva or shul I I we there's only so much to we covered here I know there's a lot more to your story okay so I definitely recommend anyone to to uh get in touch with you about that and there's also I'm just so I talking before I'm like I'm just so curious culturally like which Japanese food do you miss or that the America is doing wrong or just the Jewish I if we quickly touch on that right before I ask my last question I okay um one thing I miss um there's a thing called barbecue eel in Japan eel like the animal eel like a uh you know long fish okay right then people say that that looks like a snake in the sea yes but it's not at all like that you know when MOS comes he should be kosher um but um you know the barbecue eel which is very um deep deeply flavored barbecued you know piece of delicate delicate meat white you know fish that melts in your mouth I never even had a TIA for it but you're explaining it like it's like the most delicious y me food ever exactly I mean because because in American culture it's it sounds like even to I I can't do they even have it in America no I believe it's available anything it's available anywhere right okay interesting it's not like the same thing as like uh Burger King or McDonald's you know oh come on it's ban to compare it right but then rice on top of rice on top of steaming rice perfectly made there is this you know glorious barbecue eel that's what I miss most and I'm just curious cuz I mean how many you know people from Japan that are Jewish is our sushi so much worse than like the actual Japanese sushi or like we're we're doing pretty good kosher Sushi it's a different thing it's like a whole different world completely okay not even it's a American food right people eat that for lunch oh you're saying America's Sushi is so different it's not even like the kosher Sushi that's so different well you know the kosher Sushi are better than other Sushi available interesting like is it weird for you that like you go to a piz kosher pizza store and they have sushi you're like what ah my and the rule of thumb that I give you everybody is is that the um the koser restaurants everything is available like Chinese food and and sushi at the same time but if you want to have a good sushi just get it at the at the right place mhm I will I will say that much I'm sure those place are delicious but um coming from the background where Sushi was only once a year special special food which was not eaten for lunch daily right and I I would say that I should still be special and I'd like to you know keep it special MH you know uh for for the for the sake of my good memory okay beautiful what what's all parting lesson that you want to give all our listeners so as much as I planned uh to be a professor in political science and I just went through the very intense program I'm not a professor I plan to be a professor but I'm a wagon driver I I drive people around I'm a KAS mosak that do those jobs Define me not at all why the man plans and the got laughs and that was my plan but you know Hashem had a different plan making me a Jew and shifted my entire Focus to my own planning to his Divine Providence so today's in today's world you there's a major crisis called crisis man I I don't know what to started but why are people so picky and she look in marriage is not shopping you know finding somebody special is something that that you you could plan it you could have a laundry list of the you know why she or he uh should have or look like okay fine you know but uh those things will change those things will change or what are you picky about them you know you know uh he will he may he may lose his hair he may gain weight so he will not look like in what he looks like now so why you why are you being picky about it so your plan I I would say then we should set aside our plan and just a place of trust in Hashem everything will be okay but that first step starts with having a courage to place trust in Hashem not making all the decisions in your hands really beautiful one last question how do you say thank you in Japanese okay I'm not going to attempt it but thank you all right I go to everybody fascinating if you got this far please comment on the YouTube the word honorable because what is a good word to describe mosha and his journey besides the word honorable remember the most brilliant way to find the right job for you is with purpl sters.com the coziest summer clothing with twillery use a code Inspire for $18 off bit Bean Solutions make your Workforce more productive and satisfied and by the making of the L decision making of a minog and the making of a mench with the code Walter LL for 20% off your order on Feld time.com if you love this episode go check out my conversation with Dr y de price who became a Jew while he was in jail incredible story and and will link the episode below if you love what we do at Living the for S thank you you can help power what we do by donating to our company we are nonprofit 501c3 and your tax deductible donations literally help us put the best content you can support us at living.com donate remember inspiration is everywhere l living l

Channel: Living Lchaim

Views: 42,945

Keywords: jewishpodcast

Id: PLpQ0xtYzf4

Length: 70min 49sec (4249 seconds)

Published: Sun May 12 2024