Island's Jewish population gets attention from curious

Many Jews find that Hawaii is free from biases.
HONOLULU (AP) -- On a stop at a North Shore gas station last week, Rabbi Yitzchok Krasnjansky got an unusual request from the attendant.
"The guy asked me if he could take a picture," Krasnjansky said. "He asked me how does the yarmulke stay on my head."
The rabbi obliged. He understands how he might seem like an oddity worth photographing in a state where an estimated 10,000 Jews are peppered among a population of 1.2 million.
On islands where many residents don't even know what "being Jewish" means, the high-profile election of Linda Lingle last fall as the state's first Jewish governor has Hawaii Jews getting more attention.
"I think people are becoming more aware now," said David Bernstein, a 42-year-old Kaneohe man. "I think it's a chance to educate people."
"I've seen some interest," said state Rep. Mark Moses, R-Makakilo-Kapolei, who is Jewish. "I would hope that at least people would take some interest in Judaism and realize, hey, if they agree with the governor on a lot of things and this is her faith, at least take a look at her faith."
'Just curious'
When Lingle moved to Molokai in 1976 "people there had never met a Jewish person before," she said. "I find people, more than anything, just curious."
Many Jews find Hawaii a place free from many of the stereotypes and biases sometimes applied to members of their faith elsewhere.
It's a place where a Roman Catholic priest paired Hebrew with Hawaiian at Lingle's inauguration to greet the crowd with "shaloha." It's a place where surfboard-themed yarmulkes and colorful aloha shirts don't clash, and bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs are held outside under the palms. It's a place where a local paper's food section featured a Passover recipe for "Gefilte Fish Goes Hawaiian" with Pacific-fresh mahimahi.
While Lingle was mayor of Maui and during her gubernatorial run, she did receive some anti-Semitic notes and phone calls, but they were minimal and some suspect they came from outside the islands.
Many island Jews say they are free from such bigotry here, in a state where no one ethnic group represents a majority and cultures meld seemingly with ease.
"Hawaii has definitely been good for the Jewish people," said Krasnjansky. "There's no anti-Semitism here."
Enhances spiritual life
Being thousands of miles from a large Jewish community is something, perhaps surprisingly, that many Hawaii Jews say enhances their spiritual life.
"I think here, Jewish people will tell you you feel, actually, more Jewish here," said Lingle. "I think you are more conscious of it, you feel it more."
Brad Sherman, who moved to Maui two years ago from Long Island, N.Y., agreed. "It's kind of the reverse of what I expected here," he said. "It made me think more about what it means to have this identity."
Still, moving to Hawaii can be jarring for a Jew accustomed to Kosher delis around the corner and darkened storefronts on the High Holy Days.
"The difference in weather is probably a good barometer," said Krasnjansky, who moved to the islands from the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, N.Y., an area home to the world's largest Jewish population outside of Israel. "The cultural difference is about the same."