Hi Everyone! Welcome back to Astronomer in Shanghai! I hope that all of you had an enjoyable, safe, and healthy end of the summer. For those of you that it impacts, I hope that you have had an easy adjustment to the start of the new school year and that whatever restrictions due to covid-19 that are in place are allowing you to feel safe and stay healthy. Additionally, for all of you who celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I want to start by wishing you all L’Shana Tova and hope that you had an easy and meaningful fast! I’ve been very busy since my last post, from introducing Emmet to Shanghai, presenting my research at a virtual conference, to co-leading Kehilat Shanghai’s High Holiday services. So, I’ve got a ton of highlights to share with you!
Adventures with Emmet!
As I mentioned in my last update, Emmet got out of his 2 week hotel quarantine on August 17th, which was then followed by a 1 week period of community health monitoring. He then spent ~ 2 weeks in Shanghai with me before moving to Beijing to start his post-doc at Tsinghua University. I had so much fun hosting Emmet in my apartment and getting to show him parts of Shanghai! Since this was Emmet’s first (of many) visits to Shanghai, I wanted to make sure that he saw some of the most recognizable spots as well as some of my favorite spots in Shanghai!
There’s so much to see in Shanghai, so Emmet and I spent an entire day walking around different parts of the city. From people’s square to the Bund, and then to the Yu Gardens. It was great fun showing Emmet some of the most iconic parts of Shanghai. Of course we had to get a picture in front of the iconic Shanghai skyline on the Bund, which is highlighted by the always impressive Shanghai Tower! Maybe next time we’ll go see the Bund lit up at night! 🙂
We next went to the gorgeous Yu Gardens (Yuyuan). Yuyuan is an amazing Garden complex located right in the heart of Old Shanghai. It’s surrounded by a shopping center (that’s built to look traditional), but you wouldn’t know it once you’re inside. Yuyuan is one of my favorite places in Shanghai, because it doesn’t feel like your in a giant and modern city! I love coming to the gardens every few months, so it was a must share with Emmet!
The part of the garden that Emmet and I enjoyed the most was this really cool bonsai garden that was covered with mist (which was very enjoyable on a hot day–it was almost 100 degrees). The mist made it feel as though instead of being in Shanghai we were in the mountains!
Additionally, since Emmet and I are both huge fans of comic books and manga, we had to go to the Foreign Language Bookstore as well as some of the anime/toy stores around Shanghai! Uniqlo also even had a new Demon Slayer shirt that we bought!
There are so many amazing models and statues! One of my favorite things about living in China is how popular many of the manga/anime that I grew up loving are. You see the influences in advertisements and see the characters all over the place (from t-shirts to stores to kids backpacks). Even though Emmet and I only bought a few little statues, it’s always cool seeing some from our favorite animes including Dragon Ball, Gundam, One Piece, Demon Slayer, as well as Batman and our other favorite DC Comics heroes!
In addition to the more famous sites, Emmet and I also spent a lot of time walking around the different parts of Shanghai near where I live (Xuhui, the Former French Concession) and where I used to live (Xintiandi — Fuxing Park and People’s square).
And how could we not take a photo with the statue of Karl Marx (and Friedrich Engles) in Fuxing park!
One of the other highlights of having Emmet here in Shanghai was introducing Emmet to many of my friends! I’ve been telling my friends for over a year that Emmet would be moving to Beijing and that eventually they would get to meet him. So, I was delighted to finally introduce him to many of them (though I’ll have to have another party the next time he visits, since there were many others who didn’t get to meet him). Along with a few dinners with friends, I also hosted a welcome party for Emmet. For that, Emmet taught me how to make vegan Fomu ice cream (we made oreo and chocolate) for my welcome party for him!
Sadly, Emmet did have to leave Shanghai to go start filling out paper work and to begin his postdoc in Beijing. Emmet took the high speed train to Beijing (what I’ll take to visit him), so I went to the train station for the first time to see him off.
Even though Emmet’s not living in Shanghai with me, it’s so nice having him in the same time zone so that we can talk/text throughout the day! 🙂 I look forward to visiting him in Beijing soon, once he’s settled.
Astronomy Update
Even with the High Holidays and Emmet’s arrival in Shanghai, I still had to squeeze time into my day for my research. While I’m not going to be providing a detailed update on the projects that I’m working on this time (I’ll do more updates when I have exciting things to share), I did want to let you know that I had the opportunity to present my research (my DES Stellar Mass – Halo Mass Relation project and my research on Halo Mass proxies at SJTU) at a virtual conference on measuring the Halo Mass of Galaxy Clusters based in Spain ~ 2 weeks ago! Even though I had to present after Erev Rosh Hashanah (at ~ 11pm), I was thrilled with how my talk went! The conference was all done on Zoom and live streamed on Youtube, so Emmet and my parents got to watch it! And since it’s still on Youtube, I wanted to share the video so that all of you have the opportunity to learn about the research that I’ve been doing!
My talk starts right around the 2:05 mark (in case the link doesn’t start there)! Hope you find it interesting! And definitely let me know if you have any questions!
Additionally, though not related to my research, there’s a lot of interest in space and Astronomy in Shanghai and China! Shanghai built a new planetarium, that I hope to visit with friends once the initial rush to get tickets calms down. Moreover, the first three Taikonauts sent to orbit for the construction of the Chinese Space Station safely returned to earth after their 90 day mission! The name Taikonauts comes from Taikong (space in Mandarin) combined with the naut (like astronaut). Following their return the Taikonauts are required to do a 14 day quarantine, just like all other new arrivals to China. 🙂
Kehilat Shanghai High Holy Days
This year I had the pleasure and honor of co-leading the Kehilat Shanghai High Holy day services with my friend and fellow KS board member Alex! This was the second time that I’ve lead Kehilat Shanghai’s High Holy Day services. However, last year, I did it solo. The process of co-leading with Alex was so much easier and less stressful for me and unlike last year I was able to take the time to both enjoy the services and reflect on the past year, my actions, and how I’d like to improve in the coming year.
We are so fortunate that we were able to gather in person as a Jewish community safely in Shanghai! Doing so allowed us to have lovely in person services that everyone within the community could enjoy and participate in! I hope that next year we are all able to gather and celebrate safely together!
Here, you can see some photos that were taken at our Rosh Hashanah services! Alex and I alternated either leading the service or giving the sermon for each of the services. As you can see, I also had the honor of chanting from the torah at both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur! Thanks to the wonderful recordings from Rabbi Linda and Rabbi Jonathan (my Rabbis at Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs), I was able to successfully learn both portions in ~ 1 week each! So, I’m sure I’ll be able to chant again next year. 🙂
10 days after Rosh Hashanah, we gathered again for a lovely and meaningful Yom Kippur. We were fortunate to have community member who is and professional singer chant a powerful and beautiful rendition of Kol Nidre, which brought tears to my eyes as it reminded me of hearing Gil Harwood’s Kol Nidre when I was growing up within the Temple Sinai community.
One of my favorite aspects of getting to lead services this year was that it provided me the opportunity to give two sermons to the Kehilat Shanghai community. I spoke at Erev Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur day. As preparation for giving the sermons, I spent time reading the different Torah and Haftarah portions associated with each Holy Day. Following that close reading, I outlined what I wanted to talk about and determined how to best convey my message. Special thanks to my Dad for looking at drafts of the outlines and providing insightful advice and feedback! And thanks to both my parents and Emmet for feedback on the final sermon as well.
Since I delivered those sermons to the Kehilat Shanghai community, I also wanted to share them with you all. However, I didn’t actually write them down. Whenever I give Astronomy talks it’s entirely done using notes (no script), so I found it nearly impossible to write out what I wanted to say. So, instead I used an outline. However, since I didn’t think the outline would fully convey my message, I’m sharing with you an audio recording of the sermons that I gave!
For Rosh Hashanah, I was inspired by the story of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, as well as the Haftarah story of the birth of Samuel and the idea of faith that exists in both stories. Additionally, I focused on Abraham’s use of Hineini and what that means in a modern context for our community. For Yom Kippur, I was inspired by the Prophet Isaiah’s description of “Is this the fast that I have chosen” and spent time talking about what it means to fast and what actions we can ask atonement for.
As a fun sidenote, after giving both of these sermons, Emmet, commented that I had given two sermons that were unknowingly inspired by the manga/anime My Hero Academia, one of our favorites! 🙂 For Rosh Hashanah, I had captured the spirit of All Might, who’s catch phrase is “I am Here,” which is a loose translation of Hineini. For Yom Kippur, I had captured the spirit of Endeavor and his quest to atone for his past actions. So, even though I hadn’t thought of this while I was preparing the sermons, this connection was to fun not to share! 🙂
While I know not all of you celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I hope that many of you take the time to listen to my sermons (~ 12-13 minutes each). If you do and have any thoughts on them, please let me know! I hope you find them as meaningful and interesting as the members of the Kehilat Shanghai community did.
Overall, it was a very positive experience leading the High Holy Services! Thanks to Alex for making it a much easier and enjoyable experience than last year. It was so nice hearing from so many community members how much they enjoyed the services, how much fun it looked like Alex and I were having, and how meaningful the sermons that we both delivered were. While I hope that in the future the covid-19 situation around the world recovers to the point that we can again invite guest Rabbis to Shanghai, it was very meaningful for me to have the opportunity to help my Kehilat Shanghai community celebrate and begin 5782.
Life in Shanghai
As I noted in the beginning, this was a very busy month. However, that didn’t stop me from exercising and doing some other fun activities. It’s finally getting cool enough that I can comfortably go running, which makes me very happy! However, I’ll still be going to the F45 HIIT classes as well. In addition to what I already described, there were also a few other smaller events that I wanted to mention. As usual, we had our Trivia Night at Tacolicious! I was really happy that Emmet was able to come and participate in this one! I even wrote a twins category in honor of it! (The questions are posted at the end).
Additionally, in the middle of the 10 days of awe, Kehilat Shanghai had another community Shabbat, this time led by Alex. It’s been really nice having these monthly Shabbat gatherings (with services) over the last few months and I look forward to continuing having these in the coming months!
In addition to fun events with friends within the Jewish community, I also got to spend a lot of time with cats (and 1 dog, Pina!)! Part of that was because I was cat sitting for my friend Anton and taking care of his cat Solo (the white/gray cat below)! I also got to meet Kate and Ilan’s new cat Magey (who is so adorable to watch playing with Pina)! Plus, there are always plenty of friendly and photogenic cats in my neighborhood and around Shanghai! Magey, Pina, and Solo are very friendly and cute, so I look forward to playing with them more soon!
Additionally, I saw some other cool street art, art, and signs that I wanted to share!
Food in Shanghai
During Emmet’s visit, I took him to all of my favorite vegan/vegetarian restaurants in Shanghai! So, in addition to cooking together, we had tons of great meals!
First, we had an amazing dinner with my friends John, Alex, Ha, and Nadav at Vegetarian Lifestyle, the first vegetarian restaurant I ever visited in Shanghai and one of my favorites! We enjoyed tamaki hand rolls, spicy mushrooms, fried lotus root, cauliflower, lotus root balls, vegetarian chik’n (seitan), dumplings, eggplant, dragon fruit juice, spicy sword beans, noodles, braised tofu, mushroom bao, fruit, and red bean buns!
The food was so good that it’s hard to pick a favorite. However, the highlight was probably the braised tofu, which melts in your mouth !
After visiting the Bund and Yu Gardens, Emmet and I went to Hui Yuan vegetarian, another personal favorite (though closer to my old apartment). We enjoyed kaofu (spongy seitan), sweet and sour seitan, sword beans, tofu skins, apricot mushrooms (mushrooms with an apricot sauce), and a braised mushroom with seitan dish!
This was another fantastic meal filled with so many different and unique flavors and textures!
Lastly, Emmet and I went to Duli, a vegetarian/vegan Asian fusion restaurant! We enjoyed a wonton soup, ma po tofu hummus, Szechuan tofu stir fry, and cauliflower and corn dumplings!
This was another amazing meal and so different from the others we had enjoyed together!
As you can see there’s so much different and unique dishes that I’m able to enjoy in Shanghai! I’m so grateful that there are so many vegan/vegetarian restaurants that allow me to explore different parts of Chinese cuisine! I’m also so glad that I got to share some of my favorite foods with Emmet and look forward to trying some new vegetarian/vegan restaurants when I go visit Emmet in Beijing!
As you can likely tell, this past month was very eventful and very fun! It was so wonderful to be reunited with Emmet and get to spend so much time together. I was also very grateful that I was able to have a meaningful High Holy Day experience. This upcoming month will definitely be a lot calmer/quieter and more research focused. However, there are two Chinese Holidays, the Mid-Autumn Festival (happening now) and the Chinese National Holiday (celebrating the founding of the People’s Republic of China) at the beginning of October, so I’m sure there will be plenty of interesting things and fun things to share with you all next month. In the meantime, I hope that all of you continue to stay safe and healthy.
In peace,
Jesse
Trivia
Twins
1). In The Prestige, Alfred Borden is actually the stage name of secret twin brothers played by this actor?
2). The twin brother of this famed rock and roll legend, Jesse, died at birth.
3). This protagonist of the Millennium series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series) is a twin (though her sister only plays a role in the 3 most recent books).
Bonus: Name the sister.
4). These twins “co-founded” Facebook along with Mark Zuckerberg?
5). Who are the first pair of twins to appear in the Bible?
6). In this novel by Alexander Dumas, this French monarch is secretly replaced by his hidden twin brother.
7). In this film, Tom Hardy plays Reggie and Ronny Kray, violent gangsters in the London underworld.
8). Name this pair of twins that make up the Constellation Gemini.
9). Twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin are the electro-pop duo behind this hit song from the Lego Movie?
10). Name these two twins who legend says founded Rome.
Famous Philosophers
1). Though it’s unclear if this philosopher existed, he is known as the founder of Daoism.
2). This philosopher and author of the Republic, whose birth name was Aristocles, is considered the founder of Western political philosophy.
3). Name this Philosopher and tutor to Alexander the Great.
4). This philosopher and monk is credited with bringing Buddhism to China
5). “The End Justifies the Means” is often attributed to this author of the Prince, though he never actually used that phrasing
6). This philosopher was the founder of contemporary Kabbalah.
7). “I think therefore I am” was the end result of this Philosopher’s search for a statement that could not be doubted.
8). This Danish Philosopher is considered to be the first existentialist philosopher and wrote texts criticizing religion, Christianity, morality, ethics and many other subjects.
9). This philosopher is considered by many to be the greatest philosopher of the 20th century and his early work included Tractatus, which focused on the logical relationship between propositions and the world.
10). This American philosopher and writer is best known for his work analyzing the Hero’s Journey in The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Answers
Twins: 1). Christian Bale 2). Elvis Presley 3). Lisbeth Salander — Bonus) Camilla 4). Winklevoss Twins 5). Esau and Jacob 6). The Man in the Iron Mask 7). Legend 8). Castor and Pollux 9). Everything is Awesome 10). Romulus and Remus
Philosophers: 1). Lao Tzu 2). Plato 3). Aristotle 4). Bodhidharma 5). Nicola Machiavelli 6). Isaac Luria 7). Rene Descartes 8). Soren Kierkegaard 9). Ludwig Wittgenstein 10). Joseph Campbell
Hi Jesse,
Again, it’s a bit surreal to comment on a blog post that I played a role in, but it’s great to see all the pictures from our time together! It really was wonderful to have you show me around Shanghai. I can’t wait until you can come to Beijing to visit! I’m so glad that your talk went well! I think you did a great job! I’m also really glad that the services went smoothly! It’s so great that you could go-lead with Alex! Your sermons were really meaningful and I really enjoyed listening. I’m glad I caught the My Hero Academia reference. :). I’m definitely a bit envious of your cat time with Solo! I’ve spent time with the dogs here in Beijing, but I haven’t seen many cats. Anyway, I hope you have a great month ahead. Stay safe and healthy!
Love,
Emmet
Thanks Emmet! It was so great having you in Shanghai! I look forward to your next visit and am excited to come visit you in Beijing soon! Thanks for the kind words about my research talk and my sermons! I hope that you start to see more cats once you move in to an apartment (though the warm temperatures in Shanghai may make cats more common). I hope that you have a great, productive, safe, and healthy month!
Hi Jesse and let me wish you (and Emmet, and your parents in Saratoga) a very sweet and happy, healthy New Year, one of peace and true brotherhood for all mankind.
Lisa and I very much enjoyed your mother and father’s company for lunch on the first day of Rosh Hashanah.
That you are asked to lead the services and deliver divre torah (sermons) on RH and YK suggests to me that you are perhaps one of the most Jewishly knowledgeable people in Shanghai. Does that strike you as accurate? Certainly, many small communities in Britain, may not have anyone who can read from the Torah and chant the melodies, but to act as the prayer leader and the one giving the sermon is a lovely honor and does I think show the respect and fondness the community must have for you as well as their love.
The mists in the Yu gardens: are they mechanically generated or are they a natural feature of the space?
Russia has , I think 11 time zones but China has one? That must mean that some people are switching lights on in the dark as others are wearing sun glasses in the noon time sun. 😉
Cannot wait to listen to your sermons. But here’s something I can share with you. A beautiful rendition of Avinu Malkeinu by a Jewish Scottish folksinger that was promoted by the Forward just before Rosh Hashana. https://forward.com/culture/475457/avinu-malkeinu-streisand-scotland-chemeche-jewish-folk-song-covid-pandemic/ The essay is good too but the Youtube video is inserted in the middle. Hope you enjoy it.
Take care and stay safe.
Bernard
Hi Bernard! Thank you! In terms of being one of the most Jewishly knowledgeable people in Shanghai, I’m not sure. There is a Chabad and a Orthodox Sephardic community in Shanghai, so the members there are likely more knowledgeable then I am. That said, I am likely one of the more knowledgeable people (or maybe just one of the more willing to invest my time) within the Kehilat Community. 🙂 I completely agree with your sentiments about how the community feels about me. I definitely felt the support and appreciation from the entire community.
The mists in the Yu Gardens are mechanical. Sadly, it’s just emulating the mountain landscape. China does have 1 timezone (set to be best in Beijing). I haven’t traveled to western China at all yet, but this would mean that the sun rises later and sets later in Western China than in Shanghai.
And thanks for sharing that wonderful rendition of Avinu Malkeinu!
This is such a rich and wonderful post that I plan to read it over many times, Jesse. I also want to listen to your excellent sermons again. I told Rabbi Linda and Rabbi Jonathan that I was lucky enough to have such meaningful sermons–yours and theirs–and I believe that the rabbis are going to find a way to post their sermons, so you can tune in as well.
I feel lucky that I was able to listen to you give your talk at the Astrophysics conference held virtually from Spain at a time that was more convenient for me (11:30 AM) than for you (11:30 PM). The feedback you received and questions you received were excellent, and I kvelled as I listened.
The pictures in this blog are amazing. I could almost see the mist of the Yu Gardens. I wanted to try some of the amazing culinary delights. I love seeing pictures of you and Emmet together, smiling in your new homes in China. I am so looking forward to coming to visit to see the Bund and the Yu Gardens and the other amazing sights of Shanghai. How neat that you created a trivia category on twins in Emmet’s honor, and I understand you won trivia that night. And the cats are delightful–so glad you have animals in your life. May I ask if you bought one of those adorable panda statues?
Life here is busy, too. I am back to teaching, which despite mandatory mask wearing is going well. I made grape jelly from grapes from Clyde O’Scope Farms where we get our weekly farm share. And this coming week is the annual Fox-Adler Lecture, which is virtual for safety reasons. I know it is a bit early for you to tune in, but given that the topic is on a comic, I hope you will watch it at a later time.
Keep on excelling at your research and enjoying your life with the Kehilat Shanghai community, Jesse. I am very happy that you and Emmet could have such meaningful time together. Stay well and safe. I love you and miss you. Mom
Hi Mom! Thanks Mom!! I’m glad you found my sermons meaningful. It was really nice knowing that you were able to listen to my talk! I don’t think you’ve been able to do that before (other than my dissertation defense)! 🙂
I’m so glad that you enjoyed seeing Emmet and I explore the Yu Gardens as well as all the delicious food! I look forward to having you and Dad visit! There’s so much I want to show you! I didn’t buy one of the panda statues (they didn’t have them in stock other than in the display), but I’ll go check again.
I’m glad to hear that you’re back teaching. It’s nice that you still have time to make jam! I hope that the Fox Adler Lecture goes well (I’ll make sure to watch it later!). I hope that you have safe and healthy month!
Just a quick thought on your talk about the akeida and Abraham’s actions and beliefs. I think that this story is so very complicated given the fact that Abraham appears to have both no doubts and at the same time he sorta kinda challenges the G-d that asks Abraham to sacrifice his son. “Take your son” … “But I have two.”
“Your only one” “But each is the only one by their mother” ,
“The one you love”… “But I love them both” –
“Take Isaac…”
And he does… And yet this is the same Abraham who earlier in his life argues with the same G-d about G-d’s intention to destroy S’dom . But later when it comes to killing his own child (sacrifice) he appears to say OK. When it comes to the punishment of of a community, Abraham struggles with G-d. This suggests to me a view of the Divine that is very hard to comprehend, Not so much one of faith but of a view of G-d that we cannot accept today, a view of the G-d of the akeida as a god that is very similar to the polytheists who lived in that time and place. But Abraham appears to also have a very different nderstanding of G-d when he fights to try to save those two cities.
“Will you destroy the innocent with the guilty?”
What if there are 50 innocent people?
What if there are 45?
If there are 40?
Thirty? Twenty?
What if there are 10 innocent people?
And then there is the question of the sacrifice of the ram. Everyone (was it the Israeli poet Carmi?) returns home except the ram after this akeida event. Caught in a thicket of branches he is “sacrificed” … why?
On a very different note – in every society, the Abrahams are willing to sacrifice their children to the gods of wars and their children, like Isaac, accept this. And so few of us, behave like that angel to say Stop. Enough. .
Just some thoughts…
Bernard
Hi Bernard! Thanks for sharing your insights. I agree with you that Abraham is an incredible complex character, who appears to often waffle between different aspects of his relationship with G-d. That’s an excellent point about Sodom and Gommorah that I hadn’t thought about while preparing the sermon. And your point about the modern Abraham’s is spot on. Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Jesse! (And Emmet!!!)
What a wonderful and beautiful blog post. So many special moments. Like your mom, I will have to read it again to enjoy all of the fun adventures and honors that you and your brother have experienced. I have not had a chance to listen to your sermons, but I will! One of these days I will get to try out some of the amazing food you always take pictures of. My stomach is grumbling just thinking about all of it. For now, wishing you a very happy and healthy new year. (Do you have plans to go see Emmet anytime soon?)
Love from our entire crew!
Peri
Hi Peri! Thank you!! I’m so glad that you enjoyed this update (It was such a fun/eventful month and there was so much great stuff to share). And please, let me know when you listen to the sermons. 🙂 The food in Shanghai (and based on Emmet’s photos, Beijing as well) is so amazing! I love that there are so many different flavors, textures, and ways to cook different vegetables and tofu than what I’m used to at Chinese restaurants in the US. In terms of visiting Emmet, I’m waiting for him to be settled (i.e., find an apartment). Once he does, I’ll definitely go up for a weekend (hopefully in either October or November) . 🙂 I hope that you and your family have a happy and healthy new year!