Israel has such an attraction power on people of all nations, and it is so exciting and moving to see this! What makes the founder and chairman of Vanke, China's largest real-estate company leave his base in China and come to Israel as a simple student of Hebrew and Bible studies at the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus? Wang Shi, 68 years old, whose company's worth is estimated at 200 billion dollar, with about 80,000 employees, came here for a few years to study the culture that, according to him, influenced the whole world, and the Book through which it did that.
Wang Shi, who climbed the seven highest mountains in the world, including the Kilimanjaro in Africa and Mt. Everest (twice! The second time at age 60!), says in an interview to the Hebrew University student newspaper that learning Hebrew is a harder task for him than climbing the Everest. It is a mental mountain, that in order to climb it, he gave up the desire to climb other, physical mountains.
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| Wang Shi with his Hebrew University Student Card |
Wang Shi says that his acquaintance with the Jewish culture has been an eye opening experience. "The Jews believe in one G-d", he says, "while the Chinese used to believe in many gods, and today they believe in a different god: communism. That is, the Chinese believe in blind obedience, whereas the Jews believe in constantly asking 'Why?'. Asking questions has a great importance these days for entrepreneurship and HiTech - an integral part of which is asking questions and not just obeying. In addition, the Chinese must learn from the Jews how to rest. In the Chinese culture, from the traditional agricultural era until the industrial era of our days, there is no set time for rest, and accordingly, people do not appreciate rest, and this is very different than the Jews, who have the Shabbat. I think that we, the Chinese culture, can learn from the Jewish rest."
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| At the Hebrew University Library on Mt. Scopus |
Wang Shi lead the Chinese delegation to the UN Climate Change Conference four times already, and at the beginning of the year he won the Asia Game Changer award for his activities in the areas of environmentalism and climate. From this perspective, he says: "The Shabbat is also important for the land, which needs rest". Indeed, the Land in Israel gets rest once every seven days, and also once every seven years for a whole year - by religious Jews who observe the divine laws of the Torah. So much wisdom in these laws, wisdom that is above what any human being can come up with.
This weekend is a special one. Right after Shabbat starts a very important holiday, the Holiday of Shavuot, also known as the Holiday of the Giving of the Torah. We celebrate receiving the Torah: the Torah that so changed the world, the Torah that the wisdom of its laws slowly and gradually becomes apparent to all residents of this world, the Torah that defines us as a nation which is dedicated to the promulgation of G-d's name in the world. It is thanks to the Torah, and G-d's will which is expressed in it, that we survived as a nation for almost 2000 years in exile; it is thanks to the Torah that other nations started learning about G-d and turning to Him; it is thanks to the Torah that divine moral laws such as the Ten Commandments have become the basis and foundation of the judicial system of great world powers, such as the United States of America. To celebrate this great divine gift and our special role in keeping it for the whole world - we celebrate this weekend the Holiday of Shavuot, in which we will stand up on our feet in synagogues that are decorated with flowers and hear the reading of the Ten Commandments from a Kosher Torah Scroll. We will then also read one of my favorite stories in the Bible, that of Ruth. I will spend it in the holy city of Hebron, the place of burial of Ruth and Yishai (Jesse; father of King David), and also of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Leah and Avner ben Ner.
Shabbat Shalom, and Happy Shavuot!
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