Chabad of Kansai

With the opening of Japan to the world in the middle of the 19 th century, foreign traders began arriving here, settling in the main port cities: Yokohama, Nagasaki, Kobe, and Hakodate. Among them were Jews – from Russia, India, Iraq, Syria, and other places. The Jews in Kobe, located in the Kansai region, lived mostly in the Kitano neighborhood.

In 1912 the “Jewish Community of Kansai” was established, an organization that operates to this day. This is the only Jewish community in Japan that has been operating continuously for more than a hundred years.

During the Second World War, the community took in Jews who escaped from Europe using transit visas issued by the Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara, the Japanese consult in Lithuania, and a Righteous Among Nations. The Jewish Community Center was destroyed by US Air Force bombs in 1945, and the Sephardi community moved to a warehouse which also served as a synagogue. In 1968 the warehouse was purchased through donations by the community members, and its location became the ‘Ohel Shelomo’ synagogue, named after the father of the synagogue’s founder, Rahmo Sassoon. The cornerstone of the synagogue was laid down in 1970, as is noted on a plaque at the south-western corner of the building.

During the 1970s, following an order from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, a mikveh was built by the Rebbe’s emissary, Rabbi Avraham Feigelstock, currently serving as the rabbi of Vancouver, Canada. In 1995 a major earthquake hit Kobe, causing thousands of deaths, and destroying vast areas of the city. The community center was lightly damaged, and the building became a shelter for many of the neighborhood’s residents.

From jewishkobeosaka.com