Missionary Work in NY

Qnts2 · Sep 11, 2012

ChavaK said:
They have an interesting story. There is a resurgence of Jews and Judaism in China. A recent article read stated that although there are Chinese of Jewish descent, they are not considered to be halachaly Jewish are are required to undergo conversions when they make aliyah (which several have done in the last few years).

Thanks for the info, I had not come across that article.

yedida · Sep 11, 2012

Hashem promised that there'd always be a remnant, regardless how remote. We have a record of thousands of years of His faithfulness, no reason to doubt it now.

Gxg (G²) · Sep 12, 2012

Qnts2 said:
My father was in the air force as a mechanic during WW2, and was stationed in India. He flew 'over the hump' into China, to deliver supplies. He used to tell me the story of coming across a very small and poor group of Chinese Jews. To help, he would take army blankets to them, and they would make amazingly nice clothes and sell them. I can't remember a lot from his stories. These Jewish people looked Chinese, and that they still had an ancient Torah and/or some other Hebrew things, but actually practiced more like Buddhism.

About 8 years ago, I met a Moody Professor of OT and Hebrew. In the conversation, I mentioned the story about my father. He said, it was thought that the KaiFeng Jews had disappeared before that, but based on my description, they could only have been the KaiFeng Jews that my father met. We were both excited but unfortunately, my father had passed away so there is no more information I can get.

There've been a lot of cases where groups seem to disappear and then resurface. Awesome to see KaiFeng Jews still rolling...although their battle has been a sad one when it comes to Jewish identity since othersKaifengers who go to Israel are sometimes floored to discover they need to go through a rabbi-certified conversion to be accepted as Jews, while the ones staying home squabble over which of them are really Jewish. According to the Chinese government, there are no Kaifeng Jews because there are no Chinese Jews--for Judaism isn't one of China's five official religions and Jews aren't designated as one of the country's 55 official minorities. Orthodox Jews have a similar view, though for different reasons. Kaifeng Jews trace their heritage through their father, as Chinese traditionally do, while orthodox Jews define Judaism as passing through the mother.

There was a fascinating article by Bob Davis that appeared in Wall Street Journal about the group known as the Kaifeng Jews and the challenges they face identifying with a community they've been estranged from and learning traditions long-forgotten. The subtitle says it all: "Divided and Diminished: In Eyes of Judaism as Well as Beijing, Tiny Kaifeng Community Isn't Quite Kosher."

The Jewish Descendants of Kaifeng.wmv

Finland TV7 about Kaifeng Jews and Bnei Menashe (English)

Many in Kaifeng turn to Timothy Lerner——who claims to be a "Messianic Jew"——to learn Hebrew and Jewish customs. In 2002, Timothy Lerner came to Kaifeng and tried to find the Kaifeng Jews with the purpose of bringing them back to Israel. He lived in Kaifeng for four years. He gathered together a lot of Kaifeng Jews and established a small school. The school he set up, called “Kaifeng Israel School”, has been something many Kaifeng Jews have noted thankfulness for since it was set up to help Kaifeng Jews “learn the Jewish lifestyle” and move to Israel, where about a dozen of them have taken up residence, thanks largely to funds from Shavei Israel, an Israeli group.

Gxg (G²) · Sep 13, 2012

ChavaK said:
There is a resurgence of Jews and Judaism in China

The resurgence is in many ways a rediscovery of what was always present throughout China and other parts of the East...except that many times it was ignored. A pity it was ignored by so many, in light of the Biblical example of Job:

Job 1:3/Job 1

Prologue

1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

There are some who note how Job himself was an Oriental/East Asian.....and for more, one can go online/look up the article entitled The Image of the Oriental: Western and Byzantine Perceptions and the other here at Cyclopaedia of biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical literature - Google Books Result (concerning how Job's tomb is still shown to many Oriental tourists). Also, in the event you (or others) may be interested, there are some excellent articles on the subject of Asian Jews...specifically, those who are Chinese Jews. For more info, one can go online and investigate under the following: