Vol. 31 No. 2 A Publication of the Sino-Judaic Institute July 2016 Crisis in Kaifeng

Mea Culpa Open Letter to SJI By Anson Laytner By Some Kaifeng Jews via Barnaby Yeh Mea culpa. It is all my fault. I deliberately chose to break the Around the time when You Qing appeared in an immigration institutional silence that everyone from Shavei Israel to the Si- court in New York, there were concurrently some police visits no-Judaic Institute to China-Judaic Studies Association even to and crackdowns in Kaifeng, which targeted myself and those the Kaifeng Jewish community had been observing for close to who were associated with me. I was in Israel at the time, so I a year. avoided the full brunt. Nevertheless, it was deduced (largely from the oddly specific targets and non-targets) that the family I did it because Elinor Fuks, a well-intentioned reporter from of You Qing had been making reports to the police. In Chinese Mako, an Israeli online journal, asked me for information about society, where there is no rule of law, police only seek individ- how Pesach is being observed in Kaifeng so that she could in- uals either on a whim or if someone informs them. clude them in an article about Jewish communities around the world. Knowing what the community was going through, I At the same time, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer’s tour group was chose to tell her the truth and disregard the wishes of the Kaifeng barred from entering Kaifeng. This was the point when news of community. this incident reached Western ears. As more parties heard of this news, they either leaped to assumptions or demanded explana- Freed from my silence, on 28 April I wrote a blog for The Times of Israel that broke the news to the English-reading world that tions. Many were ready to swing the hammer of persecution the Jewish community in Kaifeng was in trouble with certain prematurely without knowledge of facts on the ground. In re- Chinese authorities. On 3 May, writing in The Forward, Sam sponse, major players in the community of Jewish descendants Kastenbaum elaborated on my article reaching a still wider audi- gathered together and drafted this letter clarifying the situation, ence, and on 11 May, Dave Gordon, writing in Ami Magazine, including pointing out the real culprits and reaffirming the com- broadened the information still further. munity’s loyalty to the Chinese government.

Earlier, through Barnaby Yeh, Kaifeng representatives had let us You Qing goes by Sarah Liwei on Facebook. She arrived in the know that they wanted us not to raise their situation publicly or US on a tourist visa and has overstayed since, and presumably through our channels with Chinese officials but rather to keep been granted asylum by the immigration court. Her last where- quiet and join them in waiting for the situation to pass. That was abouts were in Flushing, NY, and it is rumored that her son, a year ago. A year later, nothing had changed; if anything, con- Sun Youtian, has also immigrated, legal or otherwise. Her niece, ditions seemed to be getting worse. After receiving a distressing You Yeheng, is also here illegally with her husband, Zhu He. report from Barnaby, I decide to speak up. This family has caused irreparable harm to the community of descendants of Kaifeng Jews and must be held accountable. I hope I made the right decision. Only time will tell. If any of you has any whereabouts of You Qing and/or her fam- It is hard to believe how radically different the situation in Kai- ily please inform us, as well as Immigration and Customs En- feng is today from a year before. forcement at the Department of Homeland Security. A year ago, in April 2015, about 50 members of the renascent Barnaby Yeh Jewish community of Kaifeng, China gathered in a hotel ban- quet room for a Passover seder. Barnaby Yeh, a Jewish Chi- The Letter nese American representing SJI, led the seder in Hebrew and Chinese. Even a local city official attended. The unique event It has been clearly investigated that it was Kaifeng Jews Li received worldwide attention after it was covered by The New Xiurong “Aviv”, You Yong “Yoel”, You Qing “Sarah”, and Peng York Times (6 April 2015). Shavei Israel also ran a well-attended Wenxia “Neta” (being one family) [hereafter the You Family] seder of its own. who informed to the Kaifeng City Police Department. 1. The main information given out to police was that not only But by Pesach 2016, Barnaby Yeh was persona non grata in Barnaby Yeh was proselytizing in Kaifeng, but also that Li Bo, Kaifeng; the Jewish center had been shuttered; foreign Jewish Li Suisheng, Li Wei, Li Xin, Bai Xiaojuan, Gao Chao, Jin Guang- tour groups are not permitted there; the Sino-Judaic Institute’s zhong, Shi Mingxia, and Ai Zhenshui are the organizers of Kai- educational program has been suspended; security forces are feng Jewry, having organized Passover celebrations and learning (continued on page 4) (continued on page 8) 2 Points East FROM THE EDITOR TABLE OF CONTENTS Points East Letters from the Kaifeng Jewish commu- Anson Laytner, Publisher Featured Articles: nity to Western Jews have been few and Points East is published by the Sino-Judaic Crisis in Kaifeng far between, but this issue features a fiery Institute, a tax-exempt, non-profit organization. The opinions and views expressed by the denunciation by some community mem- Mea Culpa ...... 1 contributors and editor are their own and do Open Letter ...... 1 bers of one of their own along with a plea not necessarily express the viewpoints and for us to be more discerning in how we positions of the Sino-Judaic Institute. use our money there. Letters to the Editor and articles for Points East From the Editor ...... 2 may be sent to: It’s sad that this is what we have to hear To the Editor...... 3 Preferred Form: from them, particularly at this time of cri- In The Field ...... 3 e-mail:[email protected] sis, but it points to problems endemic to Articles: or to: Rabbie Anson Laytner the Kaifeng Jewish community. Anyone 1823 East Prospect St. Israeli-Chinese University R&D who has spent time there will hear alle- Seattle, WA 9811-23307 gations of financial chicanery, conver- Centers Blossom in China ...... 3 Points East is published three times a year, in sion to either Christianity or Islam, and March, July and November. Deadlines for Malaysia’s Anti-Semitic Attitudes 5 other assorted misdeeds leveled against submitting material to be included in these those who have assumed leadership posi- issues are January 15th, May 15th and Let’s Dance for Peace tions—which is not to dismiss the allega- September 15th. in Chinese ...... 9 tions, merely to note a pattern. From the Five Kaifeng Women ...... 10 time of Moses on, it has been a thankless FINANCIAL REPORT AVAILABLE task to be a Jewish leader, and apparently SJI members interested in receiving a Book Nook ...... 10 all the more so in Kaifeng. copy of the annual financial report should send a self-addressed envelope to: Steve Jewish Identities in East and Hochstadt, Treasurer of the Sino-Judaic Southeast Asia In an attempt to make lemonade from Institute, Illinois College, 1101 W. College the lemons we’ve been handed, I suggest Ave., Jacksonville IL 62650. China and Israel: that we take encouragement from the fact From Discord to Concord that they actually have taken collective Sino-Judaic Institute action instead of just complaining end- c/o Rabbi Arnold Mark Belzer Briefly Noted Jew Asian lessly to visitors. Now the descendants 34 Washington Avenue Savannah, GA 31405 U.S.A. need to take responsibility for their future by organizing themselves effectively as a SJI Officers community in order to recreate a native Arnold Mark Belzer, President Chinese Judaism and then to convince Vera Schwarcz, Vice-President Steve Hochstadt, Treasurer the authorities to recognize it and them. Ondi Lingenfelter, Secretary What they need is a Jewishly knowledge- Anson Laytner, Immediate Past President able person from the community who is Managing Board SJI MEMBERSHIP able to meld this factionalized communi- Denise Yeh Bresler, Joel Epstein, Bev Friend, ty into a single unit, a kehillah. At this Seth Garz, Mary-Anne Graham, Ron Kaye, Country Total point, one of the Kaifeng men that Shavei Dana Leventhal, Den Leventhal, David Mar- United States 142 Israel took to Israel could fulfill this role, shall, Jim Michaelson, Art Rosen, Eric Roth- berg, Marvin Tokayuer, Tibi Weisz, Cynthia Canada 27 assuming the people would let him lead Zeiden without impediment. But is there, in fact, China 19 International Advisory Board Israel 17 such a man willing to step up? Wendy Abraham, Jan Berris, Mark Cohen, Irene Eber, Avrum Ehrlich, Fu Youde, Jonathan England 6 The Chinese authorities have made it Goldstein, Jerry Gotel, Judy Green, Len Hew, Australia 3 Tess Johnston, Donald Leslie, Michael Li, clear that what had been the status quo Japan 2 Maisie Meyer, Mark Michaelson, Sonja Muehl- no longer applies. We cannot continue berger, Gustavo Perednik, Andrew Plaks, Pan Switzerland 2 the intermittent paternalistic century-long Guang, Shi Lei, Yitzhak Shichor, Elyse Silver- Germany 1 effort to “save” the Kaifeng Jews and they berg, Josh Stampfer, Shalom Wald, Xiao Xian, Xu Xin, Zhang Qianhong, Albert Yee, David South Africa 1 need to act independently, collectively Sweig and proactively. The golden rule of liber- Indonesia 1 Past Presidents ation is: “Do for yourselves what no one Taiwan 1 Al Dien, Leo Gabow else can do for you.” And as Hillel said: In Memoriam, z”I “If not now, when?” Total: 222 Marshall Deneberg, Leo Gabow, Phyllis Horal, Teddy Kaufman, Rena Krasno, Michael Pollak, Anson Laytner Louis Schwartz Points East 3 Letter to the Editor stadt, professor of history at Illinois Israeli-Chinese University R&D Dear Sir, College and author of many scholarly Centers Blossom in China works including Exodus to Shanghai: By David Shamah, Excerpted from I have read the excellent article by Jor- Stories of Escape from the Third Reich, The Times of Israel, 6 April 2016 dan Paper, “The Issue of the Jewishness and Death and Love in the Holocaust, of the Chinese Jewish Magistrates” in the as well as being Treasurer of the Sino For the second time in a week, an Israeli uni- March 2016 issue of Points East. Judaic Institute; and Danny Spungen, versity has announced a major new project compiler of the Spungen Holocaust with a Chinese institution of higher learning. I was astounded, however, at one state- Postal Collection and originator of the On Tuesday, the University of Haifa said it ment in said article namely: “This ancient Jews of China Shanghai Memorial Med- would establish a joint laboratory building on wall [the Wailing Wall] is not a remnant al. That evening, Xu gave a talk on the the campus of East China Normal University wall of the last Temple as many think, but new liaison with Israel, what currently (ECNU), the largest university in Shanghai. a retaining wall of the mound on which is happening in Kaifeng, and the future The lab will specialize in research in ecolo- the last Temple is assumed to have been of Judaic Studies in China. Among the gy, big data, biomedicine, and neurobiology. located (a number of archeologists today guests were longtime friend, colleague, The building will be funded entirely by the would disagree).” and China travel coordinator Ken Lubo- Chinese government, the University of Haifa wich and Rabbi Neil Brief—who led the said. While all the agree that the Wailing Wall first American tour to Kaifeng about 30 is a retaining wall, no one, including no years ago. The deal was similar to one announced last reputable archeologist, suggests that the week by Ben-Gurion University of the Ne- Temple was not located on the Temple On Tuesday, Xu dashed back to Los An- gev, which said it was establishing a joint Mount. We would like to see where the geles where he met with AJC members center for entrepreneurship and innovation author obtained his information from? as well as with John Fishel, manager with Jilin University (JLU), the biggest univer- of the Diane and Guilford Foundation, sity in China… Yours very truly, which funds the Judaic and Israeli Insti- Neither can take credit for being the first Is- David C. Buxbaum tute at Nanjing University. raeli institution to open an R&D center in Dr. Paper responds: My major source is .Mazal tov, Kehilat Shanghai! China. In December, the Technion laid the the following. I personally find the argu- Dan Krassenstein, of Kehilat Shanghai, cornerstone for its new research center in ments persuasive, although, of course, it writes that the Shanghai Hongkou Dis- the southern Chinese city of Shantou. The is controversial: www.askelm.com/tem- trict Foreign Affairs Office has again Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Tech- nology (GTIIT) will be located on a 330,000 ple/t001211.htm. granted permission for the Reform Jew- ish community (Kehilat Shanghai) to use square meter campus and is to be paid for by In the Field the synagogue for its Rosh HaShanah the richest man in China, Li Ka Shing, who . Xu Seen morning service. Last year, at that same donated $130 million for the project. And in Bev Friend writes about the travels of the service, the community dedicated its 2014, Tel Aviv University said that it would indefatigable Xu Xin. new Torah, which had been donated by establish the XIN Research Center with Bei- a Liberal/Reform synagogue in Brazil. jing’s Tsinghua University, to research early Even before he headed for the US, Xu stage and mature technologies in biotech, Xin zipped over to Israel from May 31 .Shanghai Jewish Refugees Exhibit in solar energy, water, and environmental tech- to June 2. While there, he met with Dr. Prague nologies. Zahan, Vice President of Bar Ilan Univer- Danny Spungen informs us that an ex- Over the past five years or so, business re- sity; Prof. Rein, Vice President of Tel Aviv hibit featuring Jewish refugees in Shang- lations between Israel and China have blos- University; and members of the Council hai has opened at the Jewish Museum somed. “The Chinese – investors and gov- of Higher Education of Israel. The pur- in Prague. ernments alike – are realizing that a tech pose was to sign the agreement for what economy, like the one Israel has, is their best is informally known as Seven plus Seven The exhibit is told mainly through the growth option, and in the coming years, this (signifying seven institutions of higher photographs of American photojournal- is going to be good news for both Israelis education both in Israel and in China) ist Arthur Rothstein, who took 22 photos and Chinese,” according to Andrew Zhang, of the Hongkew Ghetto in April 1946. and more formally known as The Chi- a consultant who has engineered numerous In addition to these photos, there are nese National Institute for Jewish Studies. deals between some of China’s biggest banks artifacts and footage of the Jews 1941 and tech firms and Israeli start-ups. Xu left Israel June 2 to be in New York arrival in Shanghai. The VHA is utilized June 4 to attend the American Jewish in reels that play clips of testimony of Chinese leaders realize that “the era of rap- Committee (AJC) Global Forum where refugees who escaped to Shanghai. id growth based on industrial production he joined 2,700 delegates from 70 coun- and government infrastructure spending has tries to exchange ideas and celebrate the The “Stranded in Shanghai” curators come to an end, and right now there is noth- 110th anniversary of the organization. hope that by including the testimony of ing to replace it. The only viable replacement Following this, he headed to Los Angeles the refugees themselves, they will allow for these growth vehicles is high-tech, and to attend a Nanjing University Alumni of the protagonists to tell their own sto- that is one reason China is very interested in North America meeting. ry, rather than simply telling it through Israel,” said Zhang. He added that officials Then, he headed for Chicago. Rothstein, an outsider. The exhibit will there have figured out that it’s more efficient On the evening of June 11, he arrived in be on display until September 11. For to bring Israeli R&D to China than to schlep Chicago and began two days filled with more information go to: http://www. out to Israel – hence the spate of universi- family activities with Bev Friend and jewishmuseum.cz/en/program-and-edu- ty-level research centers announced in re- family. He also met with Steve Hoch- cation/exhibits/852/. cent months… 4 Points East Mea Culpa were all too intimidated to speak out. media attention drew the ire of the lat- (continued from page 1) ter group, which then moved to suppress What has been happening in Kaifeng, continued expressions of Jewish commu- keeping a vigilant eye on community Ellison noted, “is in distinct contrast nal cultural life. However, since we are members; and we had second-hand re- to Shanghai and Harbin, where Jewish not privy to the thinking of the United ports that the authorities had removed museums have been established, and Front, this remains only a theory. There all commemorative signage regarding Jewish heritage is an important tourism have been dozens of articles written in the old Jewish neighborhood. angle.” China also has long touted its newspapers all over the world about the treatment of Jews, both those Western Kaifeng Jews without precipitating such After my article appeared in The Times communities to the east and the one in a harsh reaction. Why is this story differ- of Israel, I was contacted by Mark Elli- Kaifeng. This clearly is no longer the ent from all other stories? son, a Jew from Hong Kong who had case in Kaifeng where, apparently, some visited Kaifeng in March 2016. He con- authorities in China want all traces of A second factor to consider was the im- firmed what Barnaby Yeh had report- Jewish identity obliterated, regardless of migration of 5 Kaifeng women to Israel ed: that the street sign marking the old any economic advantage that could be in March of this year, accompanied by Jewish quarter is now only in Chinese derived from tourism. significant media coverage in the Israel and transliteration, the English transla- and the Diaspora. This too could have tion has been removed; that markers What led to this drastic change? enflamed those authorities in China who commemorating the Jewish area had prefer to see Jewish identity in Kaifeng been removed; that the “Jewish well” In my Times of Israel blog, I identified wither, who might fear that the immi- abutting the site of the synagogue has three possible reasons for the crack- gration of these women, the first group been filled in and built over; that the down. brought to Israel by the organization Municipal Museum is now refusing Shavei Israel in 7 years, would perpet- The first possibility was the seder itself, access to the famous stelae stored on uate a renewed sense of Jewish identity or rather the international attention that its third floor and its small permanent among the Kaifeng Jews even if only to it drew. Since the opening-up of China exhibit on the Jews in Kaifeng has now seek a better life in Israel. However, it in the 1980s, Jewish life in Kaifeng has been dismantled; and that the Kaifeng should be noted that the suppression of operated best when it has gone unno- Guildhall (Shan Shan Gan), which has Jewish life in Kaifeng began well before ticed. This is because Chinese officials an exhibit on the various communities this event and, although it may have con- at various levels are divided about how of Kaifeng , has removed all traces of tributed to the continued crackdown, it to handle the tiny community. On the its presentation on the Kaifeng Jews, should also be pointed out that back in one hand, some in the local government which included a brief history of the October 2009, 7 men from the commu- want to encourage a revival of the Jewish Jewish community in Chinese and a nity came to live in Israel without any community in order to stimulate tourism photo of one of the tablets. Taken to- reprisals back in Kaifeng. gether with what we knew already, it and improve the local economy. On the was clear that a major suppression of other hand, the United Front, which op- But the third and most plausible explana- Jewish identity was taking place in Kai- erates locally, provincially and nation- tion for the crackdown is that the author- feng. Both the Wall Street Journal and ally, adheres to a 1953 central govern- ities were reacting to a claim for political the South China Morning Post tried to ment directive that regards the Chinese asylum, on grounds of religious persecu- speak with some Kaifeng Jews but none Jews now as part of the Han nationality. tion, filed by a Kaifeng Jewish woman in was willing to go on the record. They According to this rationale, the foreign an American court. [See related article “page 1“ in this issue.] In this scenario, the authorities were rightfully infuriated by this specious charge and decided to punish the entire community for the ac- tion of this one individual, thinking that it had been a serious miscalculation to continue with the more open policy that had been allowed to flourish. Hers was a deed that may have provided the United Front with the opening it needed to re- turn to the pre-1980 status quo, one that denied the existence of a Jewish pres- ence in Kaifeng, past or present.

Whatever the actual reason for the cur- rent suppression of Jewish cultural life in Kaifeng, I felt it was time to break the silence about it. There are those who rightly point out that what is occurring in Kaifeng is probably part of the govern- ment’s overall crackdown on religions and dissent. Furthermore, the crackdown The former exhibit on the Kaifeng Jews at the Shan Shan Gan. Photo by Mark Ellison. against SJI and Shavei Israel may be part Points East 5 of the national government’s moves live both individually and collectively man rights, and because I honestly be- to limit Western influences. It recent- as Jews, some Chinese authorities saw lieve that the Jewish communal revival in ly passed a law to restrict the work of yet another foreign organization work- Kaifeng is too fragile just to wait out the foreign organizations and their local ing with Han Chinese citizens to pro- current crisis. partners. More than 7,000 foreign non- mote an illegal religion. In their eyes, governmental groups may be affected. we were guilty of the crime of prosely- And it is also time for the Chinese nation- Perhaps ours have the distinction of be- tizing. al government to step in and stop this ing restricted before the law even came repression. It is time for us to come to into being. What we did was wrong. Rather than an understanding about this tiny group working in Kaifeng under the radar (to and not let our differences taint good But there is no justification whatsoev- the extent that this is possible to do in Jewish-Chinese relations. Ideally, Chi- er for the government’s action against China), we ought to have sought out na should enable the Kaifeng Jewish de- the entire community because of one the appropriate authorities, clarified scendants to continue to learn about their woman’s action based on her personal perspectives and plans, and gotten ap- Jewish heritage even as they continue to situation. I am sure that her motivation proval in advance. Instead, we took the live as Han Chinese—or it should let them to move to America was simply in or- easy way in. leave to go live as Jews in Israel. Ideally, der to better her life and she chose a China should herald the fact that it has means that best would guarantee a fa- But guilt, like hindsight, is 20/20 and never persecuted its Jewish community vorable outcome (which it did), even if casting blame does no good. The pow- much as it celebrates its having served it was duplicitous. But instead of closing ers that be have instituted the first offi- as a refuge for European Jews fleeing the things down, the authorities should have cial suppression of Jewish life in Chi- Nazis. Ideally it should promote the his- allowed the Jewish community to thrive nese history. This is sad beyond words. toric Jewish presence in Kaifeng just as it even more in order to prove to the world We can only hope that it is short-lived does those in Shanghai and Harbin. Only that there is no religious persecution in and an aberration. good would come from such a decision. Kaifeng. It would be an act of kindness for the Kai- What can be done? It is still not too feng Jews, economically beneficial for all It is a sad irony that, whatever the pre- late for SJI and Shavei Israel to make the of Kaifeng and good for China as a whole cipitating cause for the crackdown, the case to Chinese authorities that we are in so many ways. situation in Kaifeng now justifies her not trying to convert Chinese people asylum application after the fact. How to Judaism; that we are simply trying many times have the hopes of the Kai- to provide Jewish educational and cul- feng Jews been raised up only to have tural opportunities to interested Jewish them smacked down? Perhaps it is time descendants in Kaifeng. It is still not for a mass aliyah of Kaifeng Jews to Israel too late for us to bring young Jewish as Shavei Israel has long proposed? descendants to Israel or elsewhere to Malaysia’s Anti-Semitic study so that they can return and edu- But when it comes to making a mea Attitudes cate their own people without our help. By Jon Emont culpa, SJI and Shavei Israel also have to And it is still not too late for the Kaifeng Excerpted from Tablet Magazine, admit culpability. Both our organiza- Jewish descendants to set aside their 8 February 2016 tions acted inappropriately. First of all, differences, show some independence www.tabletmag.com it should be noted that Judaism is not a and initiative, and take steps to deter- legal, i.e. recognized, official religion mine their own future. Malaysia is in political and economic cri- in China. It is fine for foreign Jews to sis as it has been, now, for many months, practice it; not fine for Chinese citizens But it definitely was time, in my opin- due to a huge and still unresolved cor- to do so. Second, the Chinese national ion, to speak up about the situation in ruption scandal featuring a mysterious government does not consider the Kai- Kaifeng. Some, including members of $700 million that was transferred into a feng descendants to be Jews in any way, the Kaifeng community, argue that the bank account belonging to the country’s only to be of Jewish ancestry, as per the best strategy is simply to wait for things Prime Minister Najib Razak. The money 1953 document. Consequently, these to change in China. It is true that soon- arrived just before a hotly contested 2013 “Han” Chinese were trying to practice er or later all things do come to pass national election, which saw Najib’s Unit- an “illegal” religion. Our organizations but sometimes one has to disregard the ed Malay National Organization (UMNO) disagreed on the principle that, given actual wishes of the group involved to triumph by a whisker. Where this money the history of the Kaifeng Jews since the effect more immediate results. I rec- came from is anyone’s guess. The Wall early 20th century, those descendants ognize that the Kaifeng Jewish descen- Street Journal, which first uncovered the who still maintained a sense of Jewish dants are fearful of more repression but scandal, reported that it came from the identity should have to opportunity to I spoke up because sometimes an ex- 1MDB, a Malaysian state development learn about their heritage and then de- ternal perspective is a better one in the fund, which is now many billions of dol- cide if they wanted to pursue a more ac- long-term, their immediate fears not- lars in debt. Malaysia’s Attorneys General tive Jewish life or remain content with withstanding. After waiting for more Office, in a recent report, insisted that the being Han Chinese of Jewish descent. than a year, I felt it was time to shine money wasn’t looted from a state institu- So we set about to educate some of them a light on the situation there because tion and that the $700 million was actual- and help them organize as a community. their very survival as Jews is at stake, ly a gift from the Saudi royal family. Where we believed we were simply ed- because it is always good to shine a ucating a group of Jewish descendants to light on injustice and the denial of hu- But this, needless to say, isn’t a very good 6 Points East explanation. Even assuming the money did ing responsibility to an unseen hand.” Salberg of the ADL agreed that the issue come from the Saudi royal family, why was not simply one of Muslim anti-Sem- would the prime minister be receiving such *** itism and instead is deeply rooted in Ma- a princely sum from foreign royalty on the laysian society. eve of an election campaign? It’s hard to The Penang Jewish Cemetery, established imagine someone dispatching $700 million in 1805, is the oldest Jewish cemetery Malaysian hasbara [public relations/pro- in South East Asia. Tucked behind gray without expecting anything in return. (The paganda] makes the country out as a ra- decaying buildings in Georgetown, Pen- Attorneys General Report did not explain cial paradise. In “Malaysia: Truly Asia” ang’s capital, this small, nearly immacu- why the Saudi royal family would be mo- the Malaysian Tourism Ministry’s cam- late plot is tended by a Hindu Indian care- paign to woo visitors to Malaysia, adver- tivated to make such a generous donation.) taker, Rajim, who brushes fallen coconuts But as Aziz Kaprawi, division head of the tisements promise visitors a “multi-cul- from the graves. He is about 70 years tural harmony,” as images of Buddhist United Malay Party Leader and deputy old, plump, with a slight hunch, dressed temples and indigenous tribes flash past. head of the Transportation Ministry, ex- in a sarong. He also sports an impressive “The wonders of Asia in one exciting plained, the prince did expect something in white handlebar mustache that moves up destination,” the campaign promises. return. “If we had lost [the 2013 election], and down as he guides me through the Najib Razak, the country’s embattled [rival political party] DAP would be in pow- cemetery’s history in a local patois of Ma- prime minister, promotes Malaysia as a er. DAP with its Jewish funding would con- lay and English. Members of his family country enjoying exemplary racial har- trol this country. Based on that, our Muslim have been caretakers of the Jewish graves mony. But Malaysia is not actually a ra- friends in the Middle East could see the for generations, he explains, as he shows cial paradise, and the corruption scandal Jewish threat through DAP.” According to me the oldest grave, of a Shoshana Levi, enveloping the country has only thrown this account, the mysterious Arab prince interred on July 9, 1835. this into sharper relief. had sent $700 million to the prime minis- ter’s bank account for a cause that any av- There are about 110 graves here, marking Najib’s political party, the United Ma- erage Malaysian might be expected to un- the lives of the Jewish British colonialists lay National Organization (UMNO) has derstand, even sympathize with: to protect and Middle Eastern Jewish traders who ruled since independence, on a platform Malaysia from the Jews. had settled in Penang over the centuries. that guarantees affirmative action bene- Shuffling slowly along, Rajim takes me to fits to the Malay Muslim majority, whom As this bit of Malaysian current events triv- the gravestone of Mordechai David Mor- the country’s constitution refers to as ia suggests, blaming Jews for all manner of dechai, buried in 2011. When Morde- “sons of the soil.” Roughly 50 percent of machinations, crimes, and failures is a nor- chai died he was, to the best of anyone’s Malaysia is Malay Muslim, roughly 20 mal part of Malaysian politics, even though knowledge, the last Jew on the island— percent is Chinese, another 7 percent is very few of the country’s citizens have ever quite possibly the last practicing Jew in Indian, with indigenous and other mi- laid eyes on a Jew. While Malaysia, a Mus- Malaysia, though in Kuala Lumpur, the norities making up the rest: “Sons of the lim-majority country of 30 million, nestled capital down south, there are doubtless soil”—i.e., the Malay Muslim majority just south of Thailand, had a minuscule some foreign Jewish expat workers (and or plurality—receive free state educa- Jewish population that mostly emigrated at least one Jewish-American journalist). tion, preferential access to government decades ago, it still has a very active history jobs and a wide range of benefits from Anti-Jewish prejudice in Malaysia did not of selecting leaders who make anti-Semitic the state that are denied to the country’s develop in response to the tiny popula- remarks. Mahathir Mohamed, Malaysia’s ethnic minorities. This system of affirm- tion of Jews who lived here but instead prime minister from 1981 to 2003, gained ing the majority reduces non-Malay Ma- was tuned to the frequencies of a Muslim laysians to permanent second-class sta- international notoriety (as well as, in some world that saw the rise of Israel—and the circles, approbation) for his 2003 speech tus, regardless of how many generations subjugation of the Palestinians—as their their families have lived in Malaysia. at the Organization of the Islamic Confer- religion’s great humiliation. According to ence, where he suggested that while Jews Daniel Chirot, Professor of International Though formal state privileges accrue and Muslims were natural enemies, “1.3 Studies at the University of Washington, only to the Malay majority, the country’s billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a since the Iraq War, global anti-Semitic ethnic Chinese dominate many sectors few million Jews.” He also noted that, “The discourse has focused on the ways that of the Malaysian economy. Ethnic Chi- Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 Jews use political proxies to fulfill their nese, many of whom came to Malaysia million. But today the Jews rule the world geopolitical goals: This idea is present in as traders, continue to maintain exten- by proxy.” the claim that Jews are using rival political sive business networks with the Chinese parties as proxies to dismantle the Muslim mainland and are criticized by Malay Malaysian leaders’ anti-Semitism has trick- Malaysian state. nationalists for exploiting the country’s led down. A 2014 ADL survey found that wealth for themselves. As a result, vio- more than 60 percent of Malaysians exhib- But Malaysian anti-Semitism cannot sim- lence has periodically erupted against ited anti-Semitic beliefs, making Malaysia ply be explained by the influence of glo- ethnic Chinese traders throughout Ma- the most anti-Semitic country surveyed in balized Islam on the country’s politics. laysia’s modern history, most notably in Asia outside of the Middle East. Michael For one, only 60 percent of the country is 1969, when 150 ethnic Chinese were Salberg, the Director of International Af- Muslim. Indonesia, Malaysia’s neighbor, murdered in race riots. fairs at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has a population that is 90 percent Mus- said, “There is a decades long tradition of lim, but anti-Semitic beliefs are much less There are strong similarities between political leaders in Malaysia defaulting to prevalent, according to the ADL survey, the prejudice that the Jewish “entre- anti-Semitic tropes to explain all kinds of and mainstream Indonesian politicians do preneurial minority” faced in Europe social, political, and economic circum- not have the same history of blaming their and the one faced by ethnic Chinese stances. It is classical scapegoating, deflect- country’s problems on the Jews. Michael throughout South East Asia. In both cas- Points East 7 es, heightened senses of nationalism in leader of a separate Malay Dignity Up- of anti-Semitic rhetoric as an attempt to host countries in the 20th century led rising rally, threatened to march with “out-Muslim” rival political parties. to systematic persecution of the “entre- his men to Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown preneurial minority” based on accusa- because, according to him, the Chinese *** tions that the minority was abusing its traders did not share their profits with host country’s generosity and exploiting Malaysia’s other races. When, eventual- When I first arrived in Kuala Lumpur, I locals for its community’s own benefits. ly, “Malay dignity” protesters gathered in scheduled interviews with student leaders (The parallels are explored in a fascinat- front of Chinatown they were only dis- who were involved in the Bersih Move- ing book of essays co-edited by Chirot: persed by police water cannon. A red- ment to protest Malaysia’s culture of cor- Essential Outsiders: Chinese and Jews shirt rally was threatened in Penang, the ruption. From the outside Malaysia looks in the Modern Transformation of South racially diverse, majority ethnic-Chinese like it’s headed for some type of reckon- East Asia and Central Europe.) In con- island that once hosted Malaysia’s Jew- ing, I told them. Where did they think trast to prejudice against the Chinese, ish community, in response to so-called their country was going? prejudice against ethnic-Indian citizens insults to Malay dignity and Islam. The One of the students I met with was Lau of Malaysia takes the form of stereo- rally ended up being called off at the last types that they cause crime and drink Yi Leong, an ethnic Chinese Malaysian minute but not before Jamal, the Red too much. activist who had recently been arrested Shirt leader, suggested that the Chinese for protesting the government in front of After the Wall Street Journal report- community pay his organization $10 mil- Parliament. He told me that when he was ed the appearance of $700 million in lion to guarantee that there wouldn’t be released from the police, he thought his the prime minister’s bank account, the anymore “Malay dignity” rallies staged father would be angry at him for mak- Bersih (Clean) protest movement was in Chinese communities. ing trouble. Instead he found that his fa- jump-started in major cities throughout It was during this precarious period that ther was simply grateful that he was still Malaysia. At its peak a hundred thou- alive. “If you understand my father’s back- sand yellow-shirted Bersih protesters the Malay political leader Aziz Kaprawi suggested that the political party DAP— ground, being in Malaysia pre-merde- rallied for days in Kuala Lumpur, call- ka [independence], when there was so ing for Prime Minister Najib to step the primary political party of the coun- try’s ethnic Chinese, whose platform much racial violence, it turns out he is down and for Malaysia’s culture of cor- justified to think like that,” Lau said. But calls for ending Malay special privileg- ruption to be ended. But the protesters Lau is from a younger generation where es and establishing a secular state—was were drawn largely from the country’s the races mingle more freely, and where, funded by Jews. Anthony Loke, DAP’s Chinese and Indian ethnic minorities, thankfully, ethnic-Chinese don’t have to organizing secretary, denied the charges denying the protests the broad base worry they will automatically be beaten they would need to force Najib to step that DAP received Jewish money, call- or even murdered by the police if they are down. Even the surprise appearance ing them a blatant diversionary tactic. detained. of Mahathir Mohamed, who served as “UMNO leaders are not ashamed to mis- prime minister for 22 years, in support use the name of Islam and to ‘defend’ When Lau grew up he was determined of the protesters, has not permanently Islam in order to make halal the $700 to think of himself as Malaysian rather dented Najib’s standing. million in Najib’s account,” he said. than Chinese, but he is now is deeply disillusioned by the state’s role in keep- Instead, Najib counterattacked. He The claim that DAP, a political party that ing the races separate. One of the things shifted the issue from his own alleged represents ethnic-Chinese, takes money that made him realize this was falling in corruption to that of “Malay dignity,” from Jewish interests, is effective because love with a Malay girl but not being able arguing, in a mid-September speech racist stereotypes of Jews and Chinese in to maintain the relationship. “Malay girls before crowds of pro-government “red- Malaysia are similar. Daniel Chirot says, are very pretty, we can get along with shirt” protesters, that Malaysia’s mi- “The association of secret finance with each other very well. They tend to be norities had to learn to respect Malay Chinese is not so difficult to believe, so very humble, easy-going people. But be- institutions and leaders. “Slapped once, the association comes naturally. It’s also cause of legal regulations we don’t have we [Malays] did not do anything. The known that [predominantly ethnic-Chi- the opportunity. From the very beginning second time … nothing … the third nese] Singapore and Israel are very you understand it’s impossible because time … nothing … but the fourth time friendly. All these things can be used.” of religion,” he said. Muslims in Malaysia had crossed the limit. Malays also have are not allowed to convert to different re- rights,” he thundered. “The Malays will The other element is that Najib’s UMNO ligions, and inter-religious marriage is for- stand up when their pride is scarred, ruling party is facing challenges from the bidden, so if he wanted to marry a Malay when their leader is insulted, con- Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, an Islamist demned, and humiliated.” party which promotes the use of Islamic During the tense days surrounding the law. Despite their major philosophical Readers: Visit our website: Red Shirt rally there were a number of differences, The Islamic Justice Party and www.sino-judaic.org. anti-Chinese provocations. Malay pro- ethnic-Chinese DAP have formed an alli- testers called Chinese reporters “pigs,” ance to challenge the ruling UMNO, so SJI Members: an offensive slur. Red-shirt rally orga- linking DAP with Jewish money could Email [email protected] nizers defended the use of the term, be an attempt to undermine the alliance. to receive the user name and saying that it wasn’t offensive to call According to Daniel Chirot, “The more password needed to access the ethnic Chinese “pigs,” as the Chinese insecure the ruling party is the more like- “members only” section. dietary code had no prohibition against ly it is to use anti-Semitism to counter consuming pork. Jamal Md Yunos, the the opposition.” He described the use 8 Points East woman he would have to convert to Islam. warnings. Thus, Yeh told everyone the one named Li Qiaoyun, thinking that He considered doing this, but decided he situation of the Kaifeng Jewish commu- the race written on the identity card was didn’t want to be put under the authority of nity, and so all of us support Yeh, and Jewish. You Qing has claimed Li Qi- the state’s Islamic enforcers. re-organized the school leadership. Thus, aoyun as her mother, so You Qing is a [the You Family] had a negative reaction scammer! We hope that you Jews will Lau sees anti-Semitism as a symptom of a to Yeh! They wanted to expel Yeh from not help You Qing, as if you continue wider problem about racial intolerance. China! They wanted to let the government to assist in her lies, the result would be “For Malaysia’s progressives there is a con- shut down our school in which we learn extremely severe. sensus that there are good Jews and bad Torah! Jews, as with any other people. But it’s still 7. The family of Li Xiurong has done only a small minority [of Malaysians] that 4. As well, their family is very wealthy! many bad things in the Li family, scam- understands that,” he adds. Because most You Qing’s [ex-] husband Sun Bing has ming parents, family, nephew, and Malaysians continue to believe Jews are worse than other people, he said, “If you done business in Africa for a period of brother, as well as scamming [NAME are anti-government the first label they will over ten years and is very wealthy. You REDACTED] to beat members of the Li put on you is you are sponsored by Jews.” Qing has been in the United States for family that they dislike. three years, with a monthly salary of He was determined to continue fighting for $4,000 USD. Li Xiurong is a retired fac- 8. [The You family] was baptized by a multi-cultural democracy. “People think tory supervisor/engineer, with a very high Christians in Hong Kong in 2009, and its impossible to get rid of Malay suprem- retirement fund. You Yong, Peng Wenxia, Li Xiurong’s godson is a Christian pastor acy, but for me its possible as a long as and You Qing own storefronts in the most named Mr. Wong. we can persuade the majority Malays that luxurious parts of Kaifeng. They have luxu- 9. Attention! You Yeheng exploited the there isn’t anything scary about giving up ry homes in Kaifeng! With such a wealthy American organization Kulanu in order their special rights. There is still this fear family, You Qing’s son (Sun Youtian) still to obtain a visa for half a year in the U.S., among them. I don’t hate them. I don’t requests scholarships from Rabbi Tokayer. hate these radical Malays, because they are but after one year she has not returned Sun Youtian and You Yeheng, the daugh- a product of the regime. Everyone is born to China. She has scammed Kulanu. You ter of You Yong, have clearly expressed not racist. Racism is a product of the state.” Yeheng’s boyfriend Zhu is not Jewish, that they dislike Israel and Judaism. They but he also claimed to be a Kaifeng Jew have only claimed Jewish identity to scam Jon Emont is a journalist based in South- in order to go to the U.S. This kind of girl east Asia. His writing appears in Tablet, money! They have scammed the help of who does not keep promises reflects the foreign Jews! scamming nature of Li Xiurong’s family. 5. The Chinese government has been 10. A letter from the Kaifeng Jewish very good to us. We love China, love the community. We strongly request that Chinese Communist Party. This time, the you no longer help [the You Family], Open Letter Kaifeng police department is only examin- and do more harm to the Kaifeng Jewish (continued from page 1) ing the situation! From 1949-1995, during community! the planned economy era of China, we Judaism. Kaifeng Jews were given treatment still 11. Beit Hatikvah, which you have spon- higher than Han Chinese; we could eat 2. The reasons behind [the You Family] sored since 2012, has already merged more lamb and grain foods. Using Jewish informing to the Police Department are as with Shavei Israel’s Kaifeng Jewish com- identity in the university entrance exam follows: munity, and Shavei Israel provides for could add more points! In China, we have rental and activity fees. All funds of the The You family, in the long term, has never been oppressed, nor have we ever Kaifeng Jewish community are managed claimed the leadership of the Li family been persecuted. We Kaifeng Jews could by [the You Family]. It is possible that learn Judaism in Kaifeng, and the govern- and Kaifeng Jewry. Under the pretense of your organization and Shavei have, to- ment has never disallowed the learning of requesting help for Kaifeng Jewish chil- gether, given them rent and activity fees. dren attending school and the elderly Judaism. According to our understanding, [receiving care for] being sick, they have the City Government of Kaifeng still wants 12. Updates scammed donations of American and to rebuild the Kaifeng Jewish Synagogue, Israeli Jews, as well as Hong Kong and (perhaps as a tourist site,) and the gov- A. [The You Family] had gathered Chinese Christians. The donations made ernment has always protected our Jewish reports of Barnaby Yeh and the Kaifeng by Barnaby Yeh’s organization [the Si- Synagogue’s ruins. Jews’ activities in Kaifeng, and wrote up no-Judaic Institute] and other foreign Jews a report to Li Xiuqin (Li Xiurong’s third directed towards Beit Hatikvah have all 6. Kaifeng Jews are completely opposed sister) and Si Qingxiang (her husband) been distributed by [members of the You to [the You family’s] method of informing so that they would turn in to the gov- Family], so that Kaifeng Jewish families in on Kaifeng Jews. Anything and everything ernment agency. Li Xiuqing and Si Qin- difficulty have not received a modicum of that You Qing has said in the American gxiang had worked in the government assistance. courts is a lie! In order to get a green card agency for a long period, and they have in the United States, she unfeelingly has connections with the government. [In 3. It was Yeh who discovered that [the hurt everything and betrayed the feelings China many things rely on connections.] You Family] have scammed money. of us Kaifeng Jews! You Qing’s mother is [Through proxies,] Yeh warned them time called Li Xiurong, and not Li Qiaoyun. B. Why Li Xiuqin and Si Qingx- after time, but they have not heeded the You Qing took the identity card of some- iang act in this manner is because they Points East 9 are the lackeys of Li Xiurong’s family, Every year since 1982, when the UNES- Even many Israelis, otherwise knowl- having cooperated with her in order to CO affiliated International Dance Council edgeable about their country’s cultural scam the money of foreign Jews as well (CID) introduced World Dance Day, mil- outreach, have only the vaguest idea as Chinese and Hong Kong Christians. lions of dancers in 170 countries, includ- about the worldwide industry of touring Li Xiuqin is the majority shareholder of ing Israel, have continued to celebrate it. Israeli choreographers, dance camps, Kaifeng’s Zhaomazi mall, receiving a Every dance form, from classical ballet conferences, workshops and videos. to hip-hop, from modern dance to ethnic monthly income of 20K+ CNY, while Si folk, and from tap to jazz, joins the fes- Outside Israel, apart from the aficionados, Qingxiang is a former employee of the tivities. But this is the first time, as far as it’s rare to come across anybody whose national bureaucracy, with retirement my research could establish, that an Israe- awareness of Israeli dance extends much funds of 6K+ CNY. Their oldest daugh- li dance has featured in a World Dance beyond Hava Nagila and maybe Od Lo ter Si Yi owns the three most luxurious Day’s opening ceremony anywhere out- Ahavati Dai at bar mitzvahs and wed- restaurants in Kaifeng: two of A-Wu side Israel. dings. But even in Israel its reach is of- Meishi Jiudian, and one of Yujingyuan ten under-rated. Although folkdance has Jiudian. Si Yin’s daughter called Bian Let me declare a “personal” and family in- a Zionist history that predates 1948, and Siyu is about to take the exam to go to terest. My wife Aura, a professional singer although the annual Karmiel Dance Fes- university. The second daughter Si Ji and and songwriter, wrote the words and music tival, with its 80 performances and 5,000 her husband are bureaucrats, the two of for Nirkod Lashalom some 18 years ago, dancers, attracts more than 300,000 visi- them together receiving an annual salary together with her late mother Vera Levin. tors, no Israeli has ever come close when of $20K+ USD (considered the highest I ask how many dances they think there My mother-in-law was born in Harbin, and are. salary in Kaifeng), and their son is Zhu grew up in the Shanghai Jewish communi- Dongpo. A family of such opulence in ty. In 1949, as Mao Zedong led the Com- For the record, www.israelidances.com Kaifeng still requests scholarships from munist revolution, she moved to Israel, lists the class schedules for 35 coun- American Jews, but they have not con- where she developed her passion for He- tries and detailed information for 8,724 tributed a penny of their money in the brew song and dance, and then to Austra- different dances. No joke: 8,724. And Kaifeng Jewish community. Please be- lia. She returned to Israel in the 1960s, and that’s not even all of them. All the more ware of these people who want to scam; then resettled in Australia. But her love of reason for noting that Nirkod Lashalom we believe we must assist the poor and both Chinese and Israeli culture was life- has made a name for itself. In Hebrew, help those who need help! long. So she would have loved seeing how 33 other languages, and now certainly in Nirkod Lashalom has taken on new mean- Chinese. Signed by 12 Representatives of the Kai- ing in Chinese. feng Jewish Community Israeli dance, however, is not new to The Hong Kong connection is also “per- Hong Kong. The legendary choreogra- sonal”. It began last August after Aura was pher, Moshe “Moshiko” Yitzhak-Halevy, a guest at the International Symposium a veteran of the Yemenite Dance Theatre for the Preservation and Development of Inbal and thousands of teaching sessions, Folk Dance. When she’d returned to Mel- visited Hong Kong in 1968. And ever Let’s dance for peace – bourne, Aura’s Hong Kong dance-teacher since, the local folk dance groups have in Chinese hosts, Hang-Mai Fung and husband Lau included Israeli circle dances, debkas, Ting-Kwok, who’ve been to Israel and at- line dances and partner dances in their by Sam Lipski tended the Karmiel Dance festival, heard weekly sessions… Excerpted from The Times of Israel, 15 her recording of Nirkod Lashalom. As Mai So it really is special that Mai chose May 2016 later told me: “We just loved the music”. And as the song’s message of peace reso- Nirkod Lashalom as the song to open Nirkod Lashalom, Nashir Lashalom nated in Chinese as much as in Hebrew, World Dance Day. Granted, my person- Harokdim ba’olam mishpachah the rest really is history. al bias may be showing again. But then Let’s dance for peace, and sing for peace Nirkod Lashalom itself began as some- All the world’s dancers are a family But there’s a back story. Aura had received thing very personal — at a dance camp the Hong Kong invitation because www. in New Zealand in 1998. Aura, Vera, and On the second day of Passover this year, israelidances.com, the website she created veteran Israeli choreographer, Shmulik a Hebrew song and its accompanying and has developed over the past 12 years, Govari, were almost the only Jews there Israeli dance, composed and choreo- has become the “go-to” online home for among more than 100 Israeli dance afi- graphed in Melbourne, Australia, made thousands of dancers in 35 countries. cionados. The New Zealanders’ affection international cultural history. Many of them, such as those in Hong Kong for Israel so moved Vera that she told and Singapore, aren’t Jewish, and keep up Aura: “We have to write a song.” Which In Hong Kong. with the ever-expanding Israeli folk-danc- is what they began as they drove around ing repertoire via the website by following New Zealand, and completed back in Which is where a 27-person Chinese the dances’ Hebrew song-titles in translat- Melbourne. choir sang the Mandarin version of ed and transliterated Mandarin Chinese, of Nirkod Lashalom — Let’s Dance for which the website lists over a thousand. After music producer Martin Splitter ar- Peace, and some 200 performers who But that’s still only a small percentage of ranged the song, Aura recorded it, added danced it came from Hong Kong, Tai- the total Israeli dance repertoire. it to her website XXX, and with Yehuda wan, Singapore, Malaysia, Macau, and Kaplan, then a broadcaster at Australia’s mainland China. Nirkod Lashalom was That’s not a misprint. Israeli folk dance Special Broadcasting Service’s Hebrew the opening ceremony’s centrepiece in happens to be one of Israel’s least known, program, had it translated and transliter- the 2016 World Dance Day festival. but more successful “soft power” exports. ated into 35 languages, including Chi- 10 Points East nese. Then nothing much happened for the The women, Gao Yichen, Yue Ting, Li next 10 years. Jing, Li Yuan, and Li Chengjin, who BOOK NOOK have been studying Hebrew and Juda- Jewish Identities in East and Since 2008, however, Nirkod Lashalom ism in their native Kaifeng, arrived on has become “The Little Hebrew Song That Monday and traveled directly to the Southeast Asia Could”. It had its “world premiere” in June Western Wall. By Jonathan Goldstein 2008 at Hava Netzeh B’Machol, the 38th Berlin: deGruyter Oldenbourg, 2015 Israeli Dance Festival in Rio de Janeiro, They must still undergo a formal con- 242 pp. $140 USD Brazil, when it was choreographed as a per- version by the country’s chief rabbin- formance piece for the “Nirkod Lashalom ate. Reviewed by Steven I. Levine Show.” The women will continue their Jew- To the relatively uninitiated, including At about the same time in Melbourne, avid ish studies at Jerusalem’s Midreshet this reviewer, a long time student of local dancer Peter Leipnik began develop- Nishmat — the Jeanie Schottenstein modern Chinese history and politics, it ing a folk-dance version. On a visit to Aus- is something of a revelation that vibrant tralia, leading Israeli choreographer Shlomo Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women, with the support of the Jewish communities have been scattered Maman joined Peter to work on the dance. throughout East and Southeast Asia for By August 2008, it was a short-listed finalist Shavei Israel organization, which will also cover their living expenses and several centuries. In a dazzling work in the Karmiel Dance Festival, the first time of scholarship, Jonathan Goldstein, a support them as they prepare for their the Festival had ever accepted a dance com- leading scholar of Euro-Chinese Jewry, posed and choreographed outside Israel. conversions. Upon completion of the presents compact histories of seven Jew- This led, via the Internet, to dance groups conversion process, they will receive ish communities in Singapore, Manila, performing Nirkod Lashalom from Montevi- Israeli citizenship. Taipei, Harbin, Shanghai, Rangoon, and deo to Riga, from Singapore to Vilnius, and Surabaya. He gracefully accomplishes from New York to Warsaw. Being part of the Jewish people is an the difficult feat of combining macro-his- honor, because of the heritage and torical analysis, setting these outposts of And now, on World Dance Day 2016, from wisdom,” Li Jing said and explained Judaism into their historical and cultural Israel to Hong Kong, via Melbourne. that on a previous visit to Israel she contexts, with intimate portraits of each placed a prayer note in a crevice of community, its leading families, and its Sam Lipski is the CEO of The Pratt Foun- the Western Wall asking to return and charismatic leaders. Given the links be- dation, a former Editor-in-Chief of the Aus- live in Israel… tween these communities and their Jew- tralian Jewish News, and the founding pub- ish brethren in Israel, the United States, lisher of the Jerusalem Report. According to Shavei Israel, it was the Europe, and elsewhere, his study is a first time in seven years that members valuable contribution to world history as of the Kaifeng community were able well as to Jewish history. The book is to immigrate to Israel… well-illustrated with photographs of per- sons, places, and historical documents. Five Kaifeng Women Notwithstanding its modest length, this Make Aliyah In October 2009, seven men from the community came to live in Israel. is a book of prodigious scholarship by an Excerpted from the Shavei Israel website In total, Shavei Israel has brought 19 author intimately familiar with his sub- ject. The footnotes are well-worth read- Five women in their 20s from the Chinese members of the Kaifeng Jewish com- ing. They include references to a very Jewish community of Kaifeng arrived in Is- munity to Israel, the organization said large number of primary and secondary rael to begin a new life as immigrants. in a statement. sources in multiple languages including English, Hebrew, Russian, and German, published and unpublished memoirs, private letters and personal communica- tions, interviews, and the author’s per- sonal observations.

Eschewing the kind of heavy theoretical superstructure which too often makes academic history stultifying and unread- able, Goldstein emphasizes three dimen- sions of the very different identities of the communities he studies, namely, their “multicultural, and particularly religious identity; multi-ethnicity with an empha- sis on language, and multi- or transna- tionalism, with a special consideration of politics and territory” (p. 4). He points to five factors influencing identity forma- tion – colonialism/imperialism, memory, regional nationalism, socialism, and Zi- onism. These factors provide sufficient structure to integrate the community por- Points East 11 traits into a cohesive narrative. Without State of Israel. A radical fringe joined the the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, a the structure, the chapters might have Chinese Communist Party and devoted refugee population, principally composed appeared as unconnected islands in a their lives to its cause. Apart from these, of Russian Jews, flourished economically widespread archipelago. only a small number intermarried with and culturally, led by yet another extraor- Chinese and assimilated. dinary individual, Dr. Abram Kaufman. Goldstein devotes his longest chapters In the Harbin chapter, Goldstein focuses to the very different Jewish communities One of Goldstein’s main themes is the on the Olmert family, one of whose sons, in Singapore and Shanghai. Orthodox multiplicity of Judaisms one encounters Ehud, rose to the prime ministership of Baghdadi Jews first settled in numbers in among the communities he examines. Israel following the emigration of almost Singapore in the mid-nineteenth century The enormous elasticity of cultural forms all Harbin Jews between 1948 and 1951. as “entrepreneurial immigrants” whose of Judaism allows for very different iden- multi-stranded cultural and commercial tities. Yet wherever they were, and in There is no simple equation to explain ties with their brethren from the Persian many different ways, Jews retained and how Jewish communities in East and Gulf across to India and beyond facili- affirmed their Jewish identity, ranging Southeast Asia responded to the condi- tated their development into a highly from completely secular to ultra-Ortho- tions under which they lived. In some prosperous community. The Baghdadi dox, but always with a sense of who they cases – Rangoon and Manila – tolerance Jews cleaved to their traditional religious were, whether defined by faith, cultural and cultural space led many Jews toward practices while many played important practices including foodways, language, intermarriage and assimilation. Yet in roles in the political and cultural life of and, above all according to Goldstein, culturally, ethnically, religiously, and lin- the British colony. Goldstein notes that memory. Memories of the scattered guistically pluralistic Singapore, the Jew- Manasseh Meyer (1843-1930) became lands from which they came, and deeper ish community flourished and identities the largest real estate owner in Singa- memories which bound many of them to were not only retained but strengthened. pore by 1900. During World War II an historical homeland in Israel which Elsewhere, under difficult conditions of when Singapore was occupied by the promised more than a sojourner’s tem- war, civil conflict, and local nationalism, Japanese, most Jews evacuated to India, porary refuge even for those, like mem- most Jews expressed solidarity across po- but returned after the war. They contin- bers of the small Jewish community in litical divides and differences in religious ue to thrive in contemporary Singapore the Philippines, who were quite content practice. under both secular and religious leaders, to remain where they were. Incidentally, enjoying full equality with others in this Goldstein’s first-hand description of the In his conclusion, Goldstein poses once multiethnic state, while providing sig- Bat Mitzvah in Manila of the daughter of more the central question of his inquiry, nificant philanthropic contributions to an American Jew and his Filipina (sec- “what caused some vestigial Jewish iden- Israel. ond) wife is priceless. Referring to them- tity to endure in seven East and Southeast selves as “the Bagel Boys,” these Jewish Asian cities.” (p. 194) Pointing to the role A significant scholarly literature exists of charismatic leaders and anti-Semitism on the Jews of Shanghai, a literature to men, most of whom have married Filipi- nas, live very comfortably in gated com- as binding forces, he re-emphasizes the which Goldstein himself has contribut- five factors that provided the structural ed a lot. As in Singapore, Baghdadi Jews munities like those one finds in suburban America. beams of the edifice of his study – mem- were the pioneers of Jewish settlement ory, colonialism/imperialism, regional na- in nineteenth century Shanghai, actively tionalism, socialism, and Zionism. In dis- engaging in building community institu- As a graduate student studying Chinese in Taiwan in 1967-68, I was invited to cussing the nineteenth-century Baghdadi tions, including synagogues, schools, a Jewish communities in East and Southeast burial society, cemetery, and kosher pro- a Passover seder at the American army base in Taipei, presided over by a rabbi Asia, Goldstein discerns what he calls a visioning. They were also active in the proto-Zionism that both antedated and municipal life of the international settle- who was a chaplain in the U.S. armed forces. (As in other fields, Jews of my anticipated the full-fledged Zionism that ments in Shanghai which were governed was formally articulated only toward the by foreigners until the end of World War generation are overrepresented in the end of that century. In Zionism, as in oth- II. Revolutionary turmoil and the lead up community of American China scholars. er expressions of nationalism, historical to war and the Holocaust brought sever- My mentor at Harvard University was memories, both real and constructed, al waves of Russian, Central European, the distinguished Sinologist Benjamin play a vital role in inspiring, aggregating and East European Jewish refugees to I. Schwartz [1917-1999]. This was be- and solidifying nationalist consciousness. Shanghai where there were no barriers fore Chinese scholars from both China In East and Southeast Asia, even while to settlement or even visa requirements. and Taiwan entered the ranks.) Not un- Destitute European refugees were sup- til 1975, however, did a formal Jewish engaging in the business of living, wheth- ported by the smaller but well-estab- community come into being in Taiwan, er in comfortable or difficult conditions, lished Baghdadi Jewish community un- but it numbered only several dozen fam- historical memories, a consciousness of der the indifferent eyes of the Japanese ilies at its peak. The minuscule size of being members of a transnational com- wartime authorities. Shanghai’s Jewish the Taipei Jewish community, as well munity although one not yet embedded population peaked at over 20,000 be- as those in Rangoon and Surbasya (in in the form of a modern nation state, but tween 1942 and 1945. Among them Indonesia) enable Goldstein to provide looking toward its creation, and then sup- were secular Jews representing every a very intimate view, including portraits porting the State of Israel, was a key factor stripe of radical politics and religious of persons such as Ephraim Einhorn, the in the endurance of the Jewish commu- proponents of both mainstream Zionism “Maggid of Taipei” who helped knit the nities which Goldstein’s masterful study and all of its side currents. Intellectual community together. delineates for us. and cultural life flourished. After the war the Jewish sojourners in Shanghai On a larger stage, that of Harbin, a ma- Steven I. Levine is a Research Faculty either returned to their pre-war homes jor city in Northeast China (Manchuria), Associate in the Department of History or emigrated to the newly established from the late nineteenth century through at the University of Montana. He was 12 Points East born in New York City in 1941, educat- of the SJI International Advisory Board Economics, Science and Technology in ed at the Bronx High School of Science, -Yitzhak Shichor and Jonathan Goldstein- the Israel-China Relations. Brandeis University (B.A. 1962) and Har- who also contribute to this anthology vard University (Ph.D. 1972). He taught with illuminating articles on security ori- Economic aspects are just one of many Chinese history, politics, and related sub- ented issues. areas covered by From Discord to Con- jects at the university level for forty years cord. Other essays, such as 1991: A and published extensively in these fields. Other contributors include Israeli diplo- Decisive Year, written by Zev Suffott He is fluent in Chinese and Russian. His mats who were pivotal in the knitting of (who passed away in 2014), describe recent works include: America’s Wars in the China-Israel bond. Among them are the development of diplomatic rela- Asia: From the Philippines to Vietnam Isai Magid (consul in Shanghai 1949- tions between the two countries. Suf- (2012), co-authored with Michael H. 1951), Reuven Merhav (consul in Hong fott details the titanic efforts that took Hunt. He collaborated with primary au- Kong 1985-1988, subsequently direc- place throughout 1991, culminating in thor Alexander V. Pantsov on Mao: The tor-general of the Foreign Ministry), Zev the establishment of relations between Real Story (2012), and Deng Xiaoping: A Suffott (first ambassador to China) and Israel and both China and India during Revolutionary Life (2015). He has pub- Moshe Yegar (head of the Ministry’s one momentous week in 1992. The two lished half a dozen book-length trans- Asia-Africa Department.) The rest of these Asian giants together comprise more lations from Russian and Chinese. He thirteen essays were penned by scholars than one third of the world’s popula- lives in Stevensville, Montana and Hill- from Israel, the USA, China and India. tion and their relations with Israel are sborough, North Carolina with his wife, Jonathan Goldstein, a historian at the currently excellent in both cases. Madeline G. Levine, a retired professor University of West Georgia, wrote both of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the introduction and the epilogue. Previously, China and India had both distinguished literary translator from Pol- adopted an anti-Israel position as part of ish. He may be contacted at chinabox@ their strategy to befriend Muslim coun- The book encompasses several aspects bellsouth.net. tries, the Third World and the Non- of the evolving relations between Israel Aligned. As described by Goldstein, and China. In their essay, Shichor and Shai, Suffott and others, the Conference Merhav divide these relations into four of Bandung, which took place in Indo- stages: Drought (1949-1978), Tillage nesia in April 1955, was the first inter- (1979-1984), Seedtime (1985-1991) and national expression of world discrimi- Harvest (1992.) nation against Israel – a forerunner of China and Israel: today’s BDS. From Discord to Concord In actual fact, the optimistic picture de- by Jonathan Goldstein and Yitzhak scribed in the book has been surpassed In those days, China lumped Israel Shichor (eds.) by reality, with many economists fore- and Taiwan together as the two Asian casting that China will soon outdo the US countries to be systematically boycot- as Israel’s largest trading partner. Thus re- The Hebrew University Magnes Press Je- ted. Although its rationale purported to rusalem, 2016, 306 pages cent years are a fifth phase that might be be “anti-colonialism,” China was very called “The Boom”. selective in the type of “colonialism” Language: Hebrew it opposed, never criticizing intrusive Suffice to say that during the first half of actions in Kashmir, Tibet, East Timor Paperback US$29.70; eBook US$24.75 last year, China invested more than $2 or Afghanistan. Indeed, as Sufott well billion in Israel, compared to just $300 explains, China stood out as “the only million throughout the previous year. In non-Muslim and non-Arab country that Reviewed by Gustavo D. Perednik parallel, in March 2015, Israel became avoided all official contact with Israel” a founding member of China’s AIIB since the 1950s. Not only is the title of this book reminis- (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,) cent of Agnon’s story From Foe to Friend reflecting the role of the Jewish state as Lilian Craig Harris’s article China and (1941), its topic also seems to be similar: a major economic partner. Examples the Arab Middle East 1948-1996: Arab the attempts of the Jewish state to befriend abound. The Horizons Ventures capital Viewpoints ably describes the Chinese a huge and powerful enemy. The struggle fund, founded by Hong Kong magnate position vis-à-vis the Arab world: Even bears fruit only towards the end of the sto- Li Ka-shing, is leading a US$10 million though the People’s Republic of China ry, as the permanence of the protagonist’s strategic investment in Windward, an sided with the Arab world against Isra- presence is acknowledged. Israeli maritime data and analytics com- el for forty years, the Arab regimes dis- pany. The Israeli Trade Authority signed trusted the PRC for its supply of weap- Relations between China and Israel have an Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) ons to local revolutionaries in Yemen, improved greatly over the last two de- agreement, which simplifies customs and Sudan and Oman. Later on the PRC cades, to such an extent that even this approval procedures for Chinese export- sold weapons to both sides in the Iran- recent and updated collection of essays ers to Israel. The privately-held Chinese Iraq war (1980-1988), as part of a prag- inevitably fails to cover some cardinal conglomerate Fosun International bought matic foreign policy called “friendly to events. the majority of shares of Israel’s Delek everyone.” Group, and has agreed to purchase the China and Israel: From Discord to Con- Ahava cosmetics firm. For the history of On this topic, of special interest is the cord was edited by two fellow members this partnership, see Yoram Evron’s essay article by Anthony Alexander Loh, Points East 13 which apologetically describes the an- Babylonia, the Greeks and the Persians, new marriages in the United States were ti-hegemonic motif in Chinese policy the Romans and Asia. between spouses of different racial, eth- since the days of Confucius. (Loh is a nic, or religious backgrounds, raising in- Chinese scholar who completed his From Discord to Concord was published creasingly relevant questions regarding PhD in Political Science at the Hebrew in a previous version in English (1999); the multicultural identities of new spouses University of Jerusalem.) this Hebrew version includes some new and their offspring. But while new census articles and updated versions of the oth- categories and a growing body of statistics Other articles deal with the network of ers. provide data, they tell us little about the small organizations set up in China to inner workings of day-to-day life for such assist Jews. Thus, Magid describes how Gustavo Perednik, an Israeli educator couples and their children. two institutions were set up in Shanghai and author, has been a member of the to help the migration to Israel of several SJI International Advisory Board for a JewAsian is a qualitative examination of hundred Jews, including personalities decade. He has lectured on Sino-Judaic the intersection of race, religion, and eth- such as Sinologue Ellis Joffe (1942-2010). topics in several Chinese universities, as nicity in the increasing number of house- well as in the US and Israel. His twenti- holds that are Jewish American and Asian Aharon Shai, a historian of South-East eth book, Chinese and Jews, will be re- American. Helen Kiyong Kim and Noah Asia and former rector of Tel Aviv leased in Spanish by the end of this year. Samuel Leavitt’s book explores the larger University, writes about a relatively He may be contacted at perednik@netvi- social dimensions of intermarriages to ex- marginal issue - the policy of the Israel sion.net.il. plain how these particular unions reflect Communist Party towards China during not only the identity of married individuals the second half of the last century. but also the communities to which they be- Having interviewed a number of Israe- long. Using in-depth interviews with cou- li Communist leaders, including Meir ples and the children of Jewish American Vilner and David “Sasha” Hanin, Shai and Asian American marriages, Kim and describes how Israeli Communists dis- Leavitt’s research sheds much-needed light tanced themselves from China in 1969 – indeed, the chaos brought about by on the everyday lives of these partnerships Mao’s Leap Forward was despised even and how their children negotiate their own by their mentors in the Kremlin. Less identities in the twenty-first century. convincing is the supposition that the rapprochement between Israeli and Keren R. McGinity, author of Marrying Chinese Communist parties in 1987 Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage, and Fa- strengthened mutual understanding be- therhood, describes the book as “Essential tween the two nations, considering the reading for scholars of intermarriage, in- anti-Zionist rhetoric that Israeli Commu- ter-partnered couples and families, Jewish nists voiced in Beijing. outreach professionals, and all students of race, ethnicity, and religion…The alternate One remarkable point is that, during narrative Kim and Leavitt offer blasts open Deng Xiaoping’s reforms, interest in Is- the door to new ways of understanding rael was prompted by Israel’s success in Jewish American, Asian American, and defeating Soviet weaponry. JewAsian identities, challenging dominant racial, ethnic, and interfaith marriage dis- Reuven Merhav and Yitzhak Shichor courses in the process.” deal with the place of Hong Kong in China-Israel relations, noting that the About the Authors: Helen Kiyong Kim is path to the establishment of relations an associate professor in the Department was paved in Hong Kong, which hosted Briefly Noted of Sociology at Whitman College. Noah meetings between the two countries on Jew Asian Samuel Leavitt is an associate dean of stu- science, agriculture and security issues. dents at Whitman College and has served Moshe Yegar and P. R. Kumaraswamy By Helen Kiyong Kim as the advocacy director for the Jewish (a research fellow at the Harry S. Tru- and Noah Samuel Leavitt Council on Urban Affairs. man Institute of the Hebrew University) discuss the implications of China-Israel ISBN 0803285655 relations for South and South-east Asia. Publisher: University of Nebraska Press, The anthology is focused more on his- July 2016 tory than on the future. Thus, an inter- esting topic not included is the possi- bility that Israel will become a bridge https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/ between the US and China, equidistant product/JewAsian,677187.aspx as it is between them as it was between previous world empires -- Egypt and In 2010 approximately 15 percent of all 1214 PointsPoints East

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