Posted on 09/24/2016 5:04:52 PM PDT by Theoria
The rooms where ruddy-faced Chinese men and women once assembled to pray in Hebrew and Mandarin are silent. Signs and exhibits that celebrated centuries of Jewish life have disappeared. An ancient well, believed to be the last visible remnant of a long-demolished synagogue, was recently buried under concrete and a pile of earth..
After locking down Buddhist monasteries in Tibet and tearing down church crosses in eastern China, President Xi Jinping’s campaign against unapproved religion and foreign influence has turned to an unlikely adversary: a small group of Jews whose ancestors settled in this now faded imperial city near the banks of the Yellow River more than 1,000 years ago.
A few hundred residents had staged a lively, sometimes contentious rebirth of Kaifeng’s Jewish heritage in recent decades, with classes, services and proposals to rebuild the lost synagogue as a museum. Some residents even migrated to Israel. For years, the city government tolerated their activities, seeing the Jewish link as a magnet for tourism and investment.
But since last year, the authorities have come down hard on the revival, in an example of how even the smallest spiritual groups can fall under the pall of the Communist Party’s suspicion. The government has shut down organizations that helped foster Jewish rediscovery, prohibited residents from gathering to worship for Passover and other holidays, and removed signs and relics of the city’s Jewish past from public places.
“The whole policy is very tight now,” said Guo Yan, 35, a tour guide who advocates a distinctively Chinese strain of Judaism and runs a small museum in an apartment filled with pictures of Kaifeng’s Jewish past. “China is sensitive about foreign activities and interference.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They should ask Israel to intercede for them with the Chinese government. Israel and China have a lot of trade and technical cooperation.
Years ago I remember hearing a radio segment about an American Jew who went to study the Jews of China. He got to know them very well and they welcomed him into their families. He told a story: An old woman he knew there said to him (and I’ll call him Joel; I don’t remember his real name), “Joel, you talk and think like a Jew but you sure don’t look like one.”
So are they called “Chews”?
God is gathering His children, rather ominous for the rest of the world.
“Joel, you talk and think like a Jew but you sure don’t look like one.”
That is awesome! I’m a German Jew - my Great Grandpa and his brother fled Germany post WWI, looking for adventure and a better life. They became Lutherans when they landed in America around 1895. Rebels, LOL! My Grandpa was born here in 1913, my Dad in 1937 and me in 1960.
My Maternal side are prim and proper Englishmen/women who showed up here about the same time. How they got together, I’ll never understand, but, love obviously won that round. ;)
Never in a million years would I have thought of a Chinese person converting to Judaism...or even KNOWING of that religion to begin with!
Wow. Just, WOW! :)
Cool! You are a German Jew because someone on your Father’s improper side became Lutheran when they fled Europe, converting in the name of courage and adventure, Good thing they got out of the doldrums. You are astute, having read the article, to refer the conversion of the Chinese to your faith. An interesting chapter in history!
bump
Yeah, well, I’m no hero - but my ancestors certainly were - setting me up for one d@mn good life in America, that’s for sure! :)
We have a very old picture of my paternal Grandfather and my great uncles from the 30’s. They were in pinstriped suits with a leg up on the runningboard of grandpa’s 1933 Buick. Even though we’re Jewish, mainly Polish and Lithuanian with some German ancestry they looked like “made men”, like a scene out of the Untouchables ;)
Indeed you are a hero by virtue of your ancestors who bravely eschewed and wisely abandoned their spiritual identity when it became dangerous that you might adopt it generations later for purposes relating to your deep faith and knowlege. You should be proud of your Jewish (paternal) heritage and true spiritual identity as a Lutheran Jew, better yet, one on your father’s side! I applaud you as do all Jews who did the right thing - like Luther, Torquemada, etc. did - in the fire of Europe, That’s for sure! As a Jew don’t forget to say yahrtzeit for your surely grateful patrimony, remember the evangelical, paternal roots of your blood-faith Judaism, and congratulations!
Prayers offered up for them.
I do! I will! :)
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