JamaicaRabbi
Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan Explores Caribbean Wisdom
Available at Amazon.com
Dana Evan Kaplan has explored Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean with passion for its culture as well as its topography. A writer and speaker as well as a rabbi and historian, he has grown to love his adopted home.
In 2011 he became the first rabbi in Jamaica in 33 years. He has reached the peak of the Blue Mountains three times so far. He may learn to surf and already scuba dives. He likes to hum Bob Marley tunes in the shower so perhaps he may join the Jamaican bobsled team next...
Sharks...
It’s Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, the one week each year when everyone suddenly becomes obsessed with sharks. For me, though, Shark Week is a bit more personal, an annual reflection on a terrifying, beautiful experience I had years ago in South Africa.
Sand...
​Even though I knew the synagogue had sand floors, the actual visual image of all that sand shocked me momentarily. And even though I knew that Jews do not take off their shoes to enter synagogues, I nevertheless asked, "Should I take off my shoes?"
Looking backward...
Making any transition is difficult. But moving to a new country to become the only rabbi for an entire island is a huge leap. If that wasn't enough, when I passed through immigration and customs at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica on Aug. 31, 2011, I became the first ordained rabbi to lead the Jamaican Jewish community in 33 years.
