Many Jews more interested in saving the planet than in creating a family themselves and ensuring Jewish survival for the future.
One of the more amazing predictions regarding the Jewish people that appears in the Torah is that numerically speaking we will always be a small nation. That certainly has been the case over our long history. At the time of the destruction of the Second Temple the Chinese were twice our numbers. Almost two millennia later the Chinese are approximately one hundred times our numbers. In 1939 on the eve of World War II there were 19 million Jews in the world. Today, 70 years later we are at least four million under that number. There should be simply by natural growth 60 million Jews in the world but there are not nearly that number extant. This has been the price of what the modern world has inflicted upon us – the Holocaust and its attendant generational impact, assimilation, intermarriage, the reduction of marriage and family as being viewed as subservient to other so-called life values, a very diminished birthrate outside of the Orthodox community and a general tendency to avoid marriage, marry later in life and accepted practices and lifestyles of homosexuality. All of this means that there are fewer Jews and fewer Jews means a weakening of Judaism and Judaic values. Tragically many Jews are more interested in saving the planet (whatever that may mean) than in creating a family themselves and ensuring Jewish survival for the future. Karl Marx, the apostate self-hating Jew, wrote a vicious anti-Semitic pamphlet entitled “A World Without Jews.” He predicted that such a world would be utopia incarnate. Unfortunately much of the world, including a significant number of Jews as well, took him seriously.
WE READ in the Torah and Midrash that immediately after the near death of Isaac, Abraham immediately concentrates on finding a proper mate for Isaac – to marry him off and thus produce the continuity of Abraham’s great ideals and message for humanity. Ideals and ideas are wonderful but in the abstract they eventually lose sway. Only people, real live human beings, can propagate and translate noble thoughts into practical human behavior. Without Isaac marrying and having children, Abraham fears that time and events will bury his hopes and accomplishments. There will be no one who will continue to raise his banner and proclaim monotheism and morality in a world that is always on the brink of depraved and violent behavior, paganism and disbelief, and distorted ideals and values.
I thought that after the Holocaust the Jewish world would also think in that fashion. The greatest tribute to the memory of our martyrs and the ultimate revenge upon those that murdered them is a Jewish people risen from the ashes and numerically and spiritually and physically stronger than before. The State of Israel has accomplished some of these goals but in terms of our numbers we are woefully deficient. Modern society scoffs at those who have large families and our superior intellectuals look down from their selfbelieved lofty perches at them with disdain and contempt. This attitude is self-destructive to all true Jewish interests and to our future survival.
WHEN I WAS a rabbi in Miami Beach 40 years ago the great sainted Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the Ponivezher Rav, visited our community for a few months in the winter to raise funds for his yeshiva, orphanages and other projects. I had the great privilege of becoming close to him. One day he called me and asked me to arrange a meeting in my home with all of the younger couples affiliated with my congregation. I told him that I would do so but I cautioned him that I did not think that he would raise much money from them, what with their tuition and household expense struggles. He gently told me that he was not going to speak to them about money or donations at all.
At the meeting, that was very well attended since I assured everyone that no requests for donations would take place, he arose and said to them: “My beloved children. There are the souls of a million and a half Jewish children, under the age of 12, who were murdered in the Holocaust floating in the air above us. Our task is to give those souls bodies to live within. You are the only ones that can provide those bodies.”
As he sat down after his few words the shock in the room was palpable. But that year 20 children were born into our community. Many of those children are even grandparents today. Without Jews there is no Judaism. That is the message of Abraham and Isaac, Sarah and Rebekah to us as well today.
Time has made a stranger of a once-thriving Jewish community in China.
by Zvi Hellman
“WELCOME TO Kaifeng, and thanks for coming all the way here,” says Tzur. Charming, with a warm smile, Tzur is an experienced licensed tour guide running the Jewish China Tours Company, which, as the name implies, specializes in Jewish heritage trips through China. He is fluent in Hebrew and English, and is a walking trove of historical knowledge on China’s Jews.
But Tzur is not a transplanted Israeli or American who came for a visit to China and happened to have stayed. Tzur is the Hebrew name he adopted nearly a decade ago in Israel; he is more commonly known by the name he was born with, Shi Lei. His surname, Shi, means “stone” in Chinese, which is why he translated it to “Tzur” in Hebrew. And not only is he a native of Kaifeng, a city of over four million in China’s Henan province, he is a scion of the family that was among the leaders of the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng.
When people think of historical Jewish connections to China, the cities that come to mind most often are Harbin and Shanghai. Shanghai’s Jewish community dates from the mid-19th century, when Jews from Iraq and Indiaopened trading offices in that city. They were later joined by European Jews, especially immediately prior to and during World War II, when Shanghai was a protective haven for as many as 18,000 Jews fleeing the Holocaust, assisted by sympathetic Chinese diplomats who issued them passports. At its peak, the Jewish community in Shanghai numbered 30,000, with two synagogues, one Sephardi and the other Ashkenazi.
Harbin, in China’s far northeast, was a major hub on the trans-Siberian railway, when Tzarist Russia occupied China’s Manchuria province in the 19th century, and a sizable community of Russian Jews seeking employment found its way there. The community there was further bolstered by a wave of Jews fleeing the Russian revolution, among them the grandparents and parents of former prime minister Ehud Olmert.
After World War II ended, China became the communist People’s Republic of China and virtually all the Jews in the country left. Many made their way to the new State of Israel. The synagogues in Shanghai were shut down permanently, although they were recently temporarily reopened as part of the celebrations associated with the 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai.
Long before Jews built the first synagogue in Harbin or Shanghai, however – a very long time before, in fact – there was a thriving Jewish community in Kaifeng. But it has almost completely gone lost in the pages of time.
“THE JEWISH COMMUNITY here was founded in the 11th century by Jews from Persia, Central Asia and India, according to our communal history,” explains Shi Lei, who is in his early thirties. “The community’s founders were merchants following the Silk Road. They brought cotton cloth from India, which was considered exotic at the time in China, and sold Chinese silk in the West.”
The Silk Road traditionally ended in Xi’an, far to the west of Kaifeng and there was a Jewish community in Xi’an associated with the Silk Road. But as any visitor to Kaifeng is told repeatedly, Kaifeng in the 11th century was the capital of China, under the Northern Song dynasty. At the time, it may have been the world’s largest metropolis, with an estimated 1.5 million inhabitants.
Jews gravitated to the capital city. There was also a Jewish community in Hangzhou at one time, and perhaps several other cities. Only the Kaifeng community, however, lasted for centuries.
“The community must have been quite wealthy,” says Shi Lei. “There used to be a large synagogue in the old Kaifeng downtown, in an area where land prices were very high, attesting to the wealth of the community. At its peak, in the 14th century, the community numbered well over 4,000.”
With such a glorious history, why is Kaifeng not on the well-trod path of visitors to Jewish sites in China? For one thing, there is almost nothing left. The community once had a synagogue with a Torah study hall, a communal kitchen, complete with kosher butchering facilities, and ritual bath. But Kaifeng is situated near the Yellow River, which, until it was tamed in modern times, was notorious for flooding. There are estimated to be at least six layers of flooded-over remnants of Kaifeng underneath its contemporary, somewhat dusty streets. A flood in 1642 buried Kaifeng, devastating the Jewish community and bringing its golden age to an end.
Although the synagogue was eventually rebuilt, it was assimilation that really put an end to the community. “My great-grandfather’s generation would still place red paint on doorposts in the spring, in place of the lamb or chicken blood that was previously used [to mark Passover],” says Shi Lei. “The community also strictly avoided eating pork products. But most Jewish traditions were gradually lost. Even our Torah scrolls were removed over time.”
Of the 13 Torah scrolls the community once had, none remain in Kaifeng. Ten were sold to Western collectors over the years and three were lost entirely. “I did get to see a Torah case belonging to my ancestors,” notes Shi Lei, “but in Canada, in the Royal Ontario Museum.”
By the mid-19th century, the synagogue in Kaifeng was shut down, and today all that remains of it is a well (presumably part of a mikve), hidden in one of the back rooms of a hospital that was constructed on the site where the synagogue once stood.
There is, in fact, very little that is Jewish-related for a visitor to see in Kaifeng today. An exhibit sponsored by American and Canadian organizations of three stone steles telling the Kaifeng community’s history and dating from the 15th and 16th centuries is locked away in the attic of the local museum. The writing on the stones, in classical Chinese, is largely faded, but experts can read rubbings of it, and the steles are visually impressive. Avisitor wishing to see the exhibit, however, needs to know about its existence beforehand, ask the curators for special permission to enter, and pay 50 Chinese yuan (general admission to the museum is free) before the keys to the room are fetched.
Similarly, the Jewish pavilion at Millennium City Park, a theme park in Kaifeng based on the famous Qing Ming scroll painted by Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan, is locked away and its existence is not even revealed to visitors to the park.
About 20 years ago, the remaining Jewish cemetery was vandalized by grave robbers. It has yet to be restored. “My grandfather’s heart was broken seeing the bones of his fathers removed from their graves,” says Shi Lei sadly.
Despite what may appear to be an attempt on the part of local authorities to keep the Jewish history of Kaifeng out of sight, Shi Lei insists that there is no such active agenda. “There is no desire to hide [anything],” he says. “If tourists want to see any of these things, they only need to ask; tourists never have a problem getting to these things in Kaifeng when I show them around here. To China, it is not worthwhile to hiding this part of the history.”
SHI LEI REVEALS A STUBBORN insistence not to let what remains of the Kaifeng Jewish community die away entirely.
He grew up hearing stories about the glory of the community from his grandfather. “After China opened to the West a few decades ago, scholars started coming to Kaifeng to study the history of the community,” he recalls. “They all came to interview my grandfather, to learn as much as they could from his memories, and the rituals he still preserved. He was perhaps the only person 40 years ago who still remembered the traditions.”
When he came of age, Shi Lei was fortunate enough to receive sponsorship for two years of Jewish study in Israel. “I was the first Kaifeng Jew ever sent to study Judaism in Israel,” he recalls proudly. “In 2001, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, who was living in the Far East at the time, arranged for me to enroll in a one-year Jewish studies program at Bar-Ilan University. After that, I went on to study at Yeshiva Machon Meir in Jerusalem, with the generous assistance of Michael Freund of Shavei Yisrael [an organization that helps lost tribes and wandering Jews reconnect to their roots and return to Israel].”
Shi Lei returned to China, determined to devote himself to reviving the community. He teaches Hebrew and Jewish traditions in Kaifeng as a service to the community, while supporting himself leading Jewish heritage tours.
The effort is an uphill one, facing many odds. Judaism is not recognized as an official religion in China, nor are Jews listed among China’s 55 minority groups. Only about 500 Kaifeng residents today identify themselves as descended in some way from the Jewish community. They live in one of China’s poorest provinces and have little access to any Jewish ritual objects – not even a Torah scroll.
The Orthodox rabbinic leadership in Israel has determined that they must undergo conversion if they officially wish to rejoin Judaism because of centuries of assimilation and the fact thatthe Kaifeng community implemented patrilineal descent of Judaism as opposed to the matrilineal descent of normative Judaism.
Yet, despite all these obstacles, some 18 members of the Kaifeng community recently agreed to be converted and moved to Israel.
“Please do help spread the word about the Kaifeng community,” Shi Lei asks The Report. “Very few in Israel have heard about it. We need to raise awareness, to give opportunities for more young people from our community to get to Israel, and to learn the traditions.”
A two day event: Faith and the City: The mosque in the contemporary urban west, with a presentation of case studies of recent mosque building across Europe.
Wednesday 10 November 2010, 7pm
Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA
Thursday 11 November 2010, 2-6pm
The Architectural Foundation Project Space, Ground Floor East, 136-148 Tooley Street, London SE1 2TU
Keynote lecture:
Michel Abboud – architect and Principal SOMA, Architectural design consultants for New York’s Park51 Community Centre
Symposium contributors include:
Michel Abboud – architect and Principal SOMA
Ergün Erkoçu – architect and author
Foreign Architects Switzerland
Lukas Feireiss – curator, writer, artist and editor, Studio Lukas Feireiss
Alen Jasarevic – architect and founder, Jasarevic Architekten
Ali Mangera – architect and founder, Mangera Yvars Architects
Ziauddin Sardar – writer, broadcaster, cultural critic
THE YUNUS EMRE INSTITUTE THE OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY OF THE NEW YUNUS EMRE TURKISH CULTURAL CENTRE WILL TAKE PLACE ON 9th NOVEMBER 2010, at 1200 HOURS, WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE TURKISH REPUBLIC, Mr. ABDULLAH GUL THE YUNUS EMRE TURKISH CULTURAL CENTRE IN LONDON WILL NOT ONLY SERVE AS AN ULTIMATE SOURCE OF EDUCATION FOR THOSE LEARNING AND RESEARCHING, BUT ALSO TO HOST ART, CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC EVENTS
The Yunus Emre Institute, which concentrates its activities introducing and spreading the Turkish language, culture, arts and history across the world, together with ongoing studies on international co-operation in these areas, opens its new Turkish Cultural Centre in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centres have opened in Bosnia Herzegovina, Albania, Egypt, Macedonia and Kazakhstan. Plans are underway for new branches in other countries including Germany, France, Kosovo, Syria and Russia. The Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centres offer services for all who are interested in Turkey, its language, arts and history. In addition to providing vast resources for those learning and researching, the Centres stage a variety of scientific and cultural events such as drawing, arts and photography exhibitions, film shows and thematic conferences and seminars.
Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centre 10, Maple Street, London, W1T 5HA Contact Numbers for Details and Programme: Press Relations: Eriskay02 Ltd, E02 PR www.eriskay02.com/ info@eriskay02.com Press Liaisons: Ms. Esra Dillon, +44 7956 965 760 – esra@eriskay02.com Mr. Nigel Chism, +44 7904 210 452– nigel@eriskay02.com The Yunus Emre Foundation The Yunus Emre Foundation has been established for the purpose of introducing and promoting Turkey and her language, history, culture and arts, serving whoever wishes to gain access to and receive education in the Turkish language, culture and arts abroad and encouraging increased friendships and mutual understanding between Turkey and other world states, through increased cultural exchanges. The Yunus Emre Institute Established under the Yunus Emre Foundation, the Yunus Emre Institute pursues in addition, all kinds of educational, training and promotional activities, scientific research and practices in order to realise the above-mentioned profound goals of the Foundation. Positioned at the heart of the Foundation’s educational activities, the Institute’s objectives include, among others, giving scholars and researchers high levels of competency in the areas of the Turkish language, history, culture and arts and by training and education practices, through certification schemes. The Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centres Based in Sarajevo, Tirana, Cairo, Scopie and Astana and (having already entered the incorporation phase) in various countries such as Kosovo, Syria and Russia, starting with Germany and France, the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centres spend both separate and collective efforts for the purpose of strengthening friendships and developing intercultural relations between Turkey and other world states. This is achieved by introducing and promoting Turkey, the Turkish Language, arts, culture and history, through a variety of projects, cultural events and course programmes.
Observant Mitte regulars may have noticed a new Turkish shop appear recently on Linienstrasse, just across the road from popular bar-restaurant Schwarzwaldstuben.
While ‘Turkish shop’ in Berlin traditionally means a new restaurant or imbiss, Confiserie Orientale is about as far away from a run-of-the-mill kebab stall as it’s possible to get. The store sells high quality Turkish Delight (or Lokum, as they’re traditionally known) alongside diverse Marzipan products made with almond, pistachio and fruits.
Before you yawn and let your attention wander, you should know that that these particular sweets are not the sickly, overly saccharine, mass-produced stuff you’ve probably experienced in the past. Nuh-uh – these are hand-made, high-quality confections imported from a world renowned manufacturer in Istanbul called Cemilzade.
Cemilzade has a long and distinguished history. The company was started back in 1883 by Udi Cemil Bey, who as well as being an able confectioner was also allegedly a talented composer, lute player and hafiz (a person who has committed the Koran to memory).
Bey lived and died in Cairo but upon his death, his sons Mehmet Ali and Nurettin returned to Turkey and established a shop in Kadikoy, Istanbul.
Today the company is still run by the same family (third and fourth generations) and Confiserie Orientale is their only official outlet in the whole of Europe. The shop is run by Istanbul-born Berlin intercultural-communicator Sevgi Guerez, who has taken her role as European ambassador for the company seriously, along with Berlin-based designer Claudia Medrow.
Eschewing Oriental kitsch for the upmarket, arty minimalism of her immediate neighbourhood, Medrow has created a space every bit as sophisticated and appealing as the goods on sale, from the subtly whitened floorboards to the furniture she specially commissioned to resemble the 100 year + Istanbul originals.
The main room consists of just a couple of chairs, a white wooden shelf featuring beautifully packaged collections of the Good Stuff and a cabinet-cum-counter that hosts a tiered platter of samples for customers to try out.
The flavourings include rose and almond, mastic and marzipan and it’s a foregone conclusion that you’ll soon be scanning those shelves for something delectable to buy. Fortunately, with prices ranging from a reasonable e4.00 (100g) to e9.50 (250g), you won’t leave entirely bankrupt.
Unless you’re buying something as a gift (ribbon-wrapping available) or want to share your treats around at home, we recommend you take a seat in the adjacent room – equally chic with white wooden tables, the lightest hint of Asiatic kitsch in the gold tiled stripe along the back wall and a long bench with cushions to relax on – and savour your Delights with a cup of authentic Turkish tea (served from a Samovar) or coffee.
İstanbul’s film buffs are being treated to a weeklong fiesta of documentaries from 24 countries through next Thursday, thanks to the 13th İstanbul International 1001 Documentary Film Festival, which got under way on Friday.
The festival, organized by the Association of Documentary Filmmakers in Turkey (BSB), is presenting a total of 68 films in admission free showings at the Muammer Karaca Theater, the Tarık Zafer Tunaya Cultural Center and the Goethe Institut on the European side, and at the Nazım Hikmet Cultural Center in Kadıköy.
Among the 68 titles featured, 20 are from Turkey with the rest coming from a diverse set of countries, including Germany, Iran, Argentina, India, China, Ireland, France and the US, the Anatolia news agency reported this week.
This year’s festival will introduce a special section called the Cinema Laboratory, which is a series of seminars on novel, experimental approaches in filmmaking. Under the supervision of Ersan Ocak, the seminars will not solely focus on documentary filmmaking, but also on the entire cinema industry, Anatolia said.
The various sections in this year’s festival are “Work and Labor,” “Of Hard Times,” “Modern Times,” “Of Men and Women,” “Away from Home,” “Art and Passion” and “Environment.” The majority of the films included in this year’s lineup were produced in the past two years, and most of them will be shown in Turkey for the first time, the organizers said.
