About The Authors

Rabbi Marvin Tokayer

A US Air Force chaplain stationed in southern Japan in 1962, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer returned in 1968 and served until 1976 as the only English-speaking, university-trained rabbi for the Jewish community of Japan, where he remains Lifetime Honorary Rabbi. He also served on the Federation of Jewish Communities of Southeast Asia and the Far East and as a board member of the Sino-Judaic Institute. He contributed to the Encyclopedia Judaica, authored twenty books in Japanese on Judaica and Japan and coauthored (with Mary Swartz) The Fugu Plan: The Untold Story of the Japanese and the Jews during World War II. Tokayer also coauthored (with Ellen Rodman, Ph.D.) Pepper, Silk & Ivory: Amazing Stories about Jews and the Far East.

Dr. Ellen Rodman

A writer and television producer, Dr. Ellen Rodman is president of LN Productions LLC. At NBC Dr. Rodman launched the first national missing children’s campaign in connection with the made-for-television movie Adam. At Group W she accepted a DuPont Columbia Award for the company’s television programming and outreach program on Alzheimer’s disease, Whispering Hope. The former family entertainment reviewer for The New York Times, Dr. Rodman coauthored (with Richard Flaste) The New York Times Guide to Children’s Entertainment. She coauthored (with Rabbi Marvin Tokayer) Pepper, Silk & Ivory: Amazing Stories about Jews and the Far East and is also the author of numerous articles in diverse publications on subjects ranging from culture and media to education and health.