An ultra-Orthodox rabbi visited North Korea where practicing religion is punishable by death — here's what he saw

Courtesy of Meir Alfasi

• Meir Alfasi is a rabbi, photographer, and former photojournalist who lives in Israel and has traveled to 80 countries.
• He spent five days in North Korea, where non-state-sanctioned religion is strictly forbidden.
• He had some close calls with North Korean officials and told INSIDER he'd "never felt so scared in my life."

Wherever Meir Alfasi goes, he wears the uniform of the Chabad sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism: a black hat and long black coat called a bekishe. 

A rabbi, photographer, and former photojournalist from Israel, Alfasi has been to 80 countries. He's spent a year living in India doing Jewish outreach and even printed copies of religious books at Everest Base Camp and in Antarctica.

"I travel with the uniform of a religious person, a Jewish person, because maybe someone will see me and ask a question, then I could tell them more about Judaism," he told INSIDER. 

In North Korea, he had to hide his religious identity.

While North Korea's constitution says it allows for freedom of religious beliefs, a 2017 report from the US State Department found that any religious activities that are not state-sanctioned, including reading the Bible or praying, result in "executions, torture, beatings, and arrests" or other forms of "severe punishment, including imprisonment in political prison camps."

The report also estimated that between 80,000 and 120,000 political prisoners were being held in prison camps, some for religious reasons.

Alfasi spent five days touring North Korea, calling himself the first Chabad rabbi to visit the country. He couldn't speak openly about Judaism and hid his religious books and ritual objects from authorities. But he did wear his black hat and bekishe.

Here's what his trip to North Korea was like.

Meir Alfasi wanted to be the first Chabad rabbi to visit North Korea.

Courtesy of Meir Alfasi

"I heard on the news that Trump and Kim [Jong-un] were talking together and I decided that maybe this is a good time for Chabad to come," he told INSIDER. "I thought, I'll check it out. I'll be the first Chabad rabbi ever to go to North Korea."

He applied for a visa directly through the North Korean government after getting rejected by tourism companies.

Courtesy of Meir Alfasi

At first, his request was rejected because the companies saw that he had worked as a photojournalist, and journalists aren't allowed into North Korea. He then reapplied and listed his occupation as a wedding photographer and was approved.

On the plane from China to North Korea, flight attendants wore pins with photos of the North Korean leaders.

Courtesy of Meir Alfasi

When he got up to stretch his legs, Alfasi says he was sternly told to sit back down.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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from Business Insider https://read.bi/2RRhMZc