World religious leaders could learn a thing or two from the tiny Jewish community in Myanmar (Burma). This little Myanmar synagogue welcomes everyone and has become a beacon of ecumenism in this primarily Buddhist country. As a result, curiously enough, it has also become one of Trip Advisor’s Top Ten places to see in Yangon, the country’s capital.
“I credit my father, Moses Samuels,” says Sammy Samuels of the Trip Advisor recommendation. Sammy and his sisters, Shana and Dinah, have taken over from his late father, as caretakers of Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue in Yangon (Rangoon). ” Under my father’s care, the synagogue welcomed everyone. He never asked if they were Jewish. If they were interested, he would explain about our history.”
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The relentless sun shimmering on gold temples, the inevitable dust and sand at the end of the dry season, the difficulty of coping in a language so foreign to me that even after a week, I can’t easily remember simple phrases – these are the impressions I have taken away from Myanmar. 
