Shanah Tova!

We planned to go to the Chabad for Rosh Hashana. http://www.jewishpudong.com/
I'm not a huge fan of the organization's philosophy on religion but since it is China and I didn't think we had many other options for synagogue.

I asked for days off from work for the holiday. I felt super awkward about it since Judaism isn't even one of the approved religions in China. It wasn't a problem though. I just had to use my sick days.

On Wednesday night we went to the Jumeirah Hotel. It was sort of weird going to a hotel for Rosh Hashana as compared to Har Zion and my mom's table. The people were really nice though. They had about 150 people in a big hotel ballroom for services and dinner. The service was ok, except I hate when the men and women have separate seating. It makes me feel like a second class citizen. Plus I can't sit with Danny. There were about twice as many men at the service as women. I think it is because a lot of men travel to China by themselves for business.

The dinner was nice. The food was decent, we had challah and all the traditional foods you might expect at Rosh Hashana. The hotel apparently had a western head chef. Our table was all men except for me and one guy's wife who didn't speak much English. Most of the people we sat with had been in Shanghai for a few years. They were all pretty friendly and had lots of advice about living in Shanghai. The guy sitting next to me told me there was a reform service the following day at a different hotel. I got the info from him.

http://liberaljewsshanghai.com/

The next day I went to the service at the Regal International East Asia Hotel. This time it was really small. There were only about 20 people in a hotel board room. This was the first year they ever had a reform service in Shanghai. I was pretty happy about it existing at all. The service felt a lot more comfortable for me. Afterwards, everyone had lunch at restaurant nearby. It was the first time I had Pad Thai for Rosh Hashana.

The second day the Reform group didn't have a service so I went back to Chabad. It was really tiny. Only about 15 people came. I still am happy I could find a place to go for high holidays. Hopefully the reform group will have more events because I think I'm going to switch over.