Free Internet, free dinner with red wine on Friday nights and help arranging a hotel in Thailand are some of the delights available in Bangkok’s Chabad House near the backpacker-thronged neighborhood of Khao San Road.
But first, the hosts want to know if you are Jewish.
A stout Israeli security guard will demand to examine your passport — “do you have an Israeli visa?” — scoff at any plastic identification you may offer and interrogate you in English and Hebrew.
The Israeli guard also warns that they earlier called the police and had a man “escorted to the airport, and put on a flight out” because the person took a photograph inside the building.
If the guard deems you kosher, however, Chabad House extends an invite to join their prayer-filled exhilarating Shabbat singing celebrations on Friday nights, led by bearded 37-year-old Rabbi Nechamya Wilhelm.
Chabad House “is for Jewish people, it is not for the public,” says Rabbi Wilhelm.
Asked how his staff could determine if a non-Jew tried to bluff his way inside, Rabbi Wilhelm replies: “You can see from their Jewish nose.” The Rabbi laughs before adding, “I was just joking.”
Making Jewish connections
Israeli businessman Haim Fuchs loves Chabad House. “I come here all the time to meet friends, because after work I am mostly alone, so without Chabad House I would be climbing the walls,” he says before forking into a free Shabbat dinner of boneless fish with chopped tomatoes, onions, hummus and a traditional bread loaf.
During their Friday evening meal in a big, upstairs dining hall, guests passed around sweet red wine in disposable plastic cups and frequently broke into loud, jubilant singing in Hebrew, creating a merry ambiance.
A larger-than-life portrait of Chabad House’s late Lubavitch Rabbi, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, dominates the dining hall. His Hassidic followers are recognizable worldwide by their big, flat, black hats worn atop uncut curling side burns and a beard.
“You don’t have to believe in them to come here to Chabad House,” Haim says. “I would guess that less than 10 percent of the people here are Lubavitch.”
An Israeli woman named Yoki, eating across from Haim at a long table with other men, women and children, agrees.
“When one Jewish person meets another Jewish person, there is an instant connection, even if they don’t know each other,” says Yoki. “That is one of the reasons I like Chabad House. It is like a big family here. And they are so wonderful. I was able to telephone my relatives in Israel, for free, as many times as I wanted.”
Rabbi Wilhelm said free calls were available for any Jewish person who wants to telephone Israel, as well as assistance finding a place to stay.
“Before I came to Bangkok, I e-mailed the rabbi at Chabad House and asked him for help to reserve a hotel room. He e-mailed me back, confirming my reservation at the Viengtai Hotel across the street,” she says.
Patpong and security checks
Yoki explains that her brothers from Israel, who are eating with her, want to go to Patpong after the Shabbat dinner because “they heard about the bars.”
Younger Israelis at Chabad House appeared fresh out of the military, and were holidaying in Thailand. Others were thankful that Chabad House allows messages to be left for friends, and provides a synagogue for daily services and Jewish holidays.
Most visitors do not mind the security drill upon entry, as the Chabad-Lubavitch community center in Mumbai (Bombay) was one of the targets assaulted by Pakistani Islamists last year.
The 163 people who were killed in the Mumbai attacks included six Jewish foreigners in the Chabad building — among them, a rabbi and his wife.
A sanctuary for all Jews
In Bangkok, most of the 250 Jews at the Shabbat dinner are from Israel, but Jews of any nationality are welcome to visit anytime, whether they are traveling or based here.
Earlier on Friday evening in Chabad House’s synagogue, about 70 men solemnly prayed and joyfully sang, led by Rabbi Wilhelm, including some who spontaneously danced in a circle.
The Shabbat service included a handful of American visitors, including a U.S. military prosecutor based in South Korea and two tourists from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Most brought their own yarmulke, or skull cap, because the synagogue and Shabbat dinner requires every male to somehow cover his head. But Chabad House also provides free temporary use of a yarmulke emblazoned with their logo.
Some men, however, simply wore baseball caps in the synagogue while a young man with dread locks used a wide cloth head band.
The five-story Chabad House is located at 96 Ram Buttri Road, one block parallel to Khao San Road. Chiang Mai, Phuket and Koh Samui, plus Luang Prabang in Laos, also offer a Chabad House, including a kosher restaurant.
Chabad House’s late Lubavitch Rabbi, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is displayed in a Chabad synagogue in front of a torah, in Manhattan, New York, several days after the September 11, 2001 attack on America. The rabbi’s photograph also appears in the dining hall in Bangkok’s Chabad House.Happy Hanukkah!
During the Hanukkah festival, Chabad House stages “candle lighting at sunset, and each night there is a small party,” Rabbi Wilhelm said.
“Rabbi Nechamya Wilhelm, who has been supervising the center’s operations for a decade, has become something of a legend with young Israeli travelers,” the Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center says on its website.
“Backpackers often arrive in Thailand with his name and address ready in hand, to seek the comforts of Chabad House’s island of homey familiarity in a foreign ocean of oriental exotica.”
Yesher Koach to the Rebbes greatest shluchim in Bangkok! You continue to be an inspiration with your ever growing force and progress. Would love to come back and visit!! Never met more sincere or emesdike shluchim like you guys! Keep on making the Rebbe beam! There;s no one like you!
whats rabbi kantors email
They tend to see peyos even when not there. Look around nd you will find that most of the people with long & curly ones are Gerim. Interesting, no? On the other hand, the new-Lubavitch minhag to take “Obama” haircuts (or “Islamo” haircuts) with top and sides in almost zero shave, is an abomination to the Arizal who only said the peyos should not be so long as to mix with the beard (and even then the interpretation has been skewered, because he meant below the lower jaw bone). Rabboysay, pleas don’t mess with an issur d’orasa (peyos harosh are… Read more »
They apparently think we are poilishe’s “His Hassidic followers are recognizable worldwide by their big, flat, black hats worn atop uncut curling side burns and a beard.”