So I went to the Korean JCC/Chabad House to pick up a memorial candle for my grandfather who passed away last Sunday.

Luckily, there was a sign pointing the way as I meandered through the small alleyways of Itaweon to find the place.

Chabad Korea

I finally found the house (very telling as there was a Succot in the front yard), and as I walked in I saw many pairs of men’s shoes in the entryway,  I knocked on the doorframe and the Rebbe came up from the basement wearing a Talis.  I explained that I was looking for a memorial candle and he said, sure, and they were reading the Torah and asked me to join him.  As we walked downstairs, he asked a couple of times if I was Jewish, and whether my mother was Jewish.

Long story short: I was gifted with an alliyah (an honor – I read the blessing before and after the reading of a portion of the Torah) and as I stood there in front of the holy scroll, I felt my grandfather’s presence there in the basement of a seemly random house in South Korea.

Rebbe gave me a candle, offered to light it with me but gracefully declined. Thanks Phil for reminding me of who I am.