Philippine Entertainment
Music icon Mike Hanopol to be ordained as first Filipino rabbi
MANILA — Music icon, Mike Hanopol will be ordained as the first Filipino rabbi next year.
According to a report for the ABS-CBN News, Hanopol discovered that he has a Jewish blood when his father introduced him to their relatives in New York during the ’70s.
He later on developed his curiosity about the Torah, the Jews’ bible and started studying in 1995.
Rabbi is a Jewish word which means religious teacher and is authorized to implement decisions under the Jewish law.
“I’ve been teaching about ten years pero unofficial pa rin. I still need to go through one year for the ordination para maging official.”
(I’ve been teaching about ten years but it’s still unofficial. I still need to go through one year for the ordination to make it official.)
If the ordination pushes through, Hanopol will be the first Filipino rabbi in the Philippines.
He also shared that from the 60 listeners he had when he started Judaism in Antipolo, only 10 remained.
“Nobody has attempted it,” he jokingly said adding that the role is very challenging.