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March 29, 2024

One Man’s Remarkable and Heroic Journey from Shintoism to Judaism

The story of Abraham Kotsuji.

When Mosaic asked Rabbi Meir Soloveichik to recommend some books he had read in 2023 to our readers, he named From Tokyo to Jerusalem, the memoir of Abraham (né Setsuzo) Kotsuji. Raised in a devoutly Shinto household in Kyoto, Kotsuji discovered the Bible as a child, adopted Christianity, became his country’s leading Hebrew scholar, and, at the age of sixty, converted to Judaism. He also played a crucial role in rescuing thousands of Jews who had fled from Europe to Japan during World War II and were in danger of being handed over to the Nazis. Soloveichik writes:

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March 29, 2024

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