Pepper, Silk & Ivory: Amazing Stories about Jews and the Far East

by Marvin Tokayer, Ellen Rodman

Pepper, Silk & Ivory reveals a missing page in Jewish history, the amazing stories of Jews who both benefitted from and contributed to the Far East. Here you will read about the juvenile delinquent who later became known as the "uncrowned Jewish king of China;" the woman who refused to give up until the Japanese Constitution included rights for women and children; the secret behind one of the world's most famous logos; and the American baseball player who spied for the United States in Japan. You will also learn the stories of the Jew who served as Singapore s first chief minister; the eccentric writer who introduced China to the West with her pet gibbon always at her side; the Marrano physician in India whose famous volume on botany and pharmacology in the sixteenth-century caused as much excitement as the discovery of penicillin did in the twentieth-century; the Jewish musicians who enhanced both Eastern music and the quality of life for everyone in Asia; the ashram in India created by the Jewish guru who became known as The Mother; and the sexual therapist, poker buddy, doctors and other Jewish members of Mao Zedong s inner circle.

Consummate storyteller Rabbi Marvin Tokayer draws on a half century of personal experiences in Asia and a wealth of knowledge about Jews and the Far East, and prolific writer and television producer Ellen Rodman, Ph.D., weave together colorful characters and their captivating stories into this fascinating book.

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Genres: Nonfiction, Judaism, History, Religion, Japan, Biography, Jewish

316 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2014

Reviews

[rivka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who has read much about the Holocaust knows about the Mir Yeshivah's sojourn in Shanghai. And has probably heard of Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul who personally wrote 1000s of visas which saved many Jewish lives. But most of us know little more of Jewish life in the Far East -- unless perhaps we read Pearl Buck's Peony, and were saddened by the portrayal of total assimilation into the surrounding culture. For us (and those who perhaps don't even know that much), this book is the answer to a question we didn't even know to ask!

It is absolutely marvelous. Each chapter can be read on its own, or as part of the larger whole. Story after story of fascinating, inspiring, remarkable people -- and some who are merely intriguing, but nonetheless interesting to read about. While Rabbi Tokayer and I might disagree about the degree to which some of these individuals deserve admiration, and he seems remarkably unfazed by the many intermarriages he reports on, I can definitely say that this is a book everyone at all interested in Jewish history should read.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I wouldn't have chosen this book for pleasure, I'm glad I did read it because I learned a lot from it. There's a lot of Holocaust-related material in it but also a lot of other Jewish history. Each chapter contains at least one fascinating biographical sketch of a figure in Asian-Jewish history, and often more than one person is featured. Did you know that it was an Austrian-born Jewish woman who wrote the part of the postwar Japanese constitution that guaranteed equal rights for women? Or that a Jew invented the oil tanker ship, and it was a Jew who obtained financing for Japan's side of the Sino-Japanese War?

This would be a good addition to any university library's collection of Judaica, and possibly for a public library collection for that matter.

[Neill & Linda Brownstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rabbi Marvin Tokayer takes us on his person tour of millennium of Jews in the East -- China, Japan, India, Singapore. Packed w so many stories and so many insights , the lineage is fun to try to grasp especially since we are in India frequently and one of our kids and his family lives in Japan.

We heard Rabbi Tokayer speak in Palo Alto. He is a terrific story teller in person.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some fascinating nuggets of Jewish history throughout the Far East within the pages of this book. But most of the pages briefly biograph a laundry list of Jewish notables who lived in Asia during the late 19th, through 20th century. Not exactly ancient history. Interesting, all the same, especially since the author personally found and interviewed many of the individuals whose lives he shares with us in this book.

It will still surprise most people to learn that Shanghai was a destination for many of the Middle East's and Europe's Jewish exiles. When I visited Hong Kong only 15 years ago, I did not know that the Sassoon and Kadoorie names were Jewish (I would've been more excited to explore their legacy).

I certainly would never have expected active synagogues at any point in the last 200 years anywhere in Asia, and through this book (and some other research) I have learned how mistaken I am.

Still... I picked this book up initially over 6 months ago, but made the rare decision to read over a dozen other titles before picking this one up again. It isn't a rivoting read, but perhaps a stepping stone in someone's research towards a deeper dive.

[Andrea Tyson]

Very interesting stories - can be read and then put down as stories are stand-alone and very good.

[Talya · Rating 2 out of 5]

האמת היא שמאוד נהנתי לקרוא את הספר, אבל הוא לא ספר לקהל שומר המצוות. רוב הסיפורים בספר הם על יהודים מתבוללים, כך שלדעתי אין הבדל גדול בינהם ללא יהודים שהגיעו מהמערב למזרח הרחוק. קראתי את הספר שהיה מאוד מעניין אבל העציב אותי שעם ישראל איבד כאלה כישרונות ענקיים שיכלו להועיל ולקדם את העם שלהם במקום גויים וזרים.

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sehr interessante Informationen. Leider fehlt es an Struktur. Es gab keine thematische oder chronologische Aufteilung. Das Buch sprang von einem Thema zum anderen.
Außerdem wären mehr Infos über die Jüd_innen aus China und Indien interessant gewesen

[The Jewish Book Council]

Review by Philip K. Jason for the Jewish Book Council.