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i originally posted this on ‘Mother’s Day – Yes or No?’… and was encouraged (thank you d a )to start a thread with my post… so here goes…this was my post about ‘Mother’s Day – Yes or No?’:
“…..a few weeks ago this same question was posted by our rabbi here in north miami beach… who concluded that every day is ‘mother’s day’ for the Jewish People… and he brought to mind the three mothers whose sons are sitting in Japanese jail cells… the three bochrum … and he (rabbi S.) not only prays daily for their quick release…but feels that this mother’s day should be a special day of tehillim for those precious Jewish mothers who have to live through this…
on this note… and since being asked what we could do to escalate their release (tehillim plus anything else)… it came to me while lighting candles just this past Shabbos (the day before mother’s day)… why don’t we just boycott everything Japanese until those bochrum are released? i have a close friend who recently bought her son a used Honda… and even though it was used, it made me think about Japanese products … about how we could use our great buying power to say something …. if we could abstain from buying Japanese products … we could use it as leverage to get those young men released…
i know if i were the mother of one of those young men, it would turn my stomach to know that there were people i loved … including the entire Jewish nation … who were buying Japanese products while my (obviously innocent) son was trapped (G-d forbid) for years in their jail….. i think we should start a boycott… on behalf of the three mothers … on behalf of our version of mother’s day… our Jewish ‘mother’s day’….. don’t buy Japanese until the three are released and safely back in Israel… they know these young men were used as mules… everyone knows they are innocent… we have to start somewhere…
on behalf of those three mothers, someone needs to start a group boycotting Japanese products on facebook… tell it to the world… i know i would feel that this would be a great help if i were one of those mothers … to get their boys back … we don’t need a ‘mother’s day’ to do what’s right .. we should be able to show our loyalty everyday… what else should ‘mother’s day’ be but a day in defense of, and loyalty to, our holy Jewish mothers, whoever and wherever they are…”
so yoheved, you did it!
I thought that one of the young men had been returned to Israel.
And I don’t understand the reason for the boycott. There is absolutely no question that the boys WERE smuggling drugs, and they have admitted that they thought that they were indeed smuggling but just thought that it was something less obnoxious (but equally asur). The Japanese criminal justice system, while harsh, does not discriminate against Jews and it is very likely that the other two young men will eventually able to be sent to Israel to serve the balance of their sentence. (Remember that Japan didn’t turn a single Jew over to the Nazis and while the treatment of Jews in Shanghai was harsh, it was far better than the treatment given every other European civilian whom they interned.)
I’d prefer to boycott REAL anti-Semites like the rasha who rules Venezuela and the Arab regimes who let their citizens fund terrorism.
I thought that one of the young men had been returned to Israel.
This is true, Boruch Hashem.
charliehall, you are right about what you said.
yoheved – Tell the world what; that Jews are not grateful that the Japanese made a rare exception and are allowing these fellows to serve their time in Israel. These men were permitted to have their t’filin, kosher food, and other religious items in prison; not so Shalom Rubashkin who languishes in solitary confinement in an American cell. Are you going to boycott America too?
I strongly disagree.
While my heart goes out for these mothers and these boys, Japan is not to blame here. They don’t deserve to be punished.
The boys in reality smuggled drugs, even if it was unwillingly, and its only normal of the Japanese govt to hold them on account for their crime. Japan is not judging them with hatred or antisemitism. They even let the boy go to israel and finish his term there. (I think the american justice system is full of antisemitism. What a shame and disgrace.)
The most we can do for them is daven and donate $.
So yocheved, just continue to have them in mind every wk when you light candles. Its nice that ur concerned about them.
May Hashem send them their Yeshua Bekorov.
While the Japanese did not show themselves to be anti semites in particular, you can read up on some pretty horrible stuff they commited against humans. The judge there says that he believes that the boys did not know about it. It was a well represented case, and few doubted it. Nevertheless, they were sentenced.
That being said, an attempt at boycotting them would be counter productive. They would not suffer from your efforts, and they would only they it more so as a world wide jewish conspiracy.
yoheved,
before you take any actions think about huge work rabbies /lawers etc. did and keep doing to help these boys. Think if your actions will help them or, has v’sholom, will demage the situation rabbies got as of today.
The best we (people who do not know all details of this deal) can do – to daven for boys, to help with $$.
This came up early on with the letter writing campaign: please understand that we are dealing with a country with a very different mentality. Strident public actions such as this will only be counterproductive, and shouldn’t be proposed without discussion with someone in the trenches.
I don’t think this is a good idea. Despite what the brochures have been reporting, the Japanese have been reasonable and cooperative. making them mad will not help
Tzippi- I completely agree with what you said. I always find it amusing to observe interactions between two different mentalities (e.g.- America and Syria). Nothing beneficial is accomplished!
Ok Yoheved so stop buying any products made in any countries who deal badly with jews – i think you should stop using your car because the gas comes from the arabs, its time to boycott them and show them who’s boss. Unfortunately we live in a world where we are not liked – our position is just to daven that we should not be harmed by them not to publicly start trying to defend our “rights”. You’re right that we should think of these poor mothers, i cant imagine to think what they’ve gone through – but i think your idea of davening for them at candle lighting would be a lot more effective.
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