A Crackdown on Chinese Jews SUPPRESSION of ANCIENT JEWISH CULTURE

JEWISHNEWS BY DAVE GORDON A Crackdown on Chinese Jews SUPPRESSION OF ANCIENT JEWISH CULTURE he roughly 1,000 people living in Her information about the community it is now closed. The Song Dynasty Park, Kaifeng, China, who identify as is dependent on parsing conversational which has an exhibit donated by the Sino- Jews are facing increasing restric- clues and rumors, however. Laytner Judaic Institute on the Kaifeng Jews, is also T tions on their religious life by describes communication with the com- now closed to visitors. government officials. munity there as “sporadic” via phone and The Kaifeng Merchant Guildhall, which The city’s sole learning center has Skype. “When they speak to me, they’re had an exhibit in Chinese on the Kaifeng been shuttered; the community’s historic very circumspect, due to their discussions Jews, has had the exhibit expunged. mikvah apparently filled and closed, and likely being monitored.” Two separate groups—Israel-based Jewish tour groups from abroad have been Other rumors indicate the heightened Shavei Israel and the aforementioned banned, among other difficulties of late. scrutiny of Kaifeng Jews’ coming and Sino-Judaic Institute—that are in contact Anson Laytner, former president of the goings by authorities, he says. with Kaifeng’s Jews are expressing their Sino-Judaic Institute and retired Judaic Several landmarks have been the focus deep unease about the situation. studies professor at Seattle University, of government suppression, adds Laytner, Shavei Israel, with representatives per- refers to the circumstances as “suppres- including the Kaifeng Municipal Museum, sonally interacting with the Kaifeng Jews sion” of Jewish culture and claims these which houses the ancient stone stele from for more than 15 years, is taking a quiet- are human rights violations. the synagogue. Previously open to visitors, but-safe approach to the recent issues. 74 A M I M A G A Z I N E / / M AY 1 1 , 2 0 1 6 / / 3 I YA R 5 7 7 6 JEWISHNEWS BY DAVE GORDON “Close to a year viously was impossible to obtain. now has passed, and The community aims for a middle- people said to keep ground “Conservadox” approach to ritual quiet so things will observance, according to Laytner, though pass. Now, it is time typically they are still learning about their to shine a light,” he Judaism from the ground up. says. Whether it was teh Kaifeng Jews or for- If these issues are eign Jews, Jewish relationship with China’s left to fester, “they bureaucracy has historically been mixed: (Kaifeng’s Jews) could at times unpredictable, at times risky, and melt away into the at times based on misunderstandings. larger fabric of Chi- Kaifeng’s Jews believe they are descended nese society.” from twelfth century Jewish merchants When asked why, traveling the Silk Road trade route. out of a billion and According to Laytner, two Kaifeng Jews a half Chinese, with represented the community in the 1952 Michael Freund with Bnei Menashe olim presumably so many National Day celebrations in Beijing, other prob- where prime minister Zhou Enlai called Director Michael Freund said that their lems for the country, a thousand Jews are the Kaifeng Jews one of 46 ethnic groups interest is to avoid both speculation and being given a hard time, even Laytner is attending the banquet. forceful discussion on the topic, for the stumped. In the census of that year, with the time being, lest there develop more con- “Why? That is the big question.” municipal government’s sanction, Jews sternation within the Chinese government Historically, Jews have been tolerated in received residence cards and identification towards the Jews of Kaifeng. China, he says. But it was only in the past cards that indicated they were Jews. “On the one hand we are concerned few decades that Jewish life became more Despite this, China’s United Front took about the reports of certain restrictions and more vibrant in Kaifeng. That didn’t a U-turn in 1953. being imposed on the Jewish descendents sit well with authority figures. That government position, from munic- of Kaifeng,” he said. “Even though their knowledge of Juda- ipal all the way to federal levels, has “However, we remain optimistic, ism was very low, they still retained great maintained since that time that Chinese because of the long and close relation- pride that their ancestors were Jews; it Jews belong to the Han nationality. ship between the Jewish people and the was something they nourished and passed It thus robs the community of any offi- Chinese people over the centuries, as well down to later generations,” Freund says. cial minority status as Jews. as the fact that the bilateral relationship Upon until the latter half of the twenti- “As long as activity is garbed in cultural between Israel and China continues to eth century, the Kaifeng community was clothing, there is less chance of there being improve.” bereft of a proper house of worship, a a problem; whenever activity crosses the Shavei Israel’s mandate has been to seek Torah, or even a spiritual leader. But that line and is perceived as proselytizing, it out isolated Jewish communities, assisting ignorance began to swiftly change when has tended to provoke a critical reaction,” with education and with aliyah. Thus far, China opened up more to visitors, who Laytner wrote recently. the organization says it has helped nearly became aware of this isolated population, Still, in the 1950s, there were some two dozen members of Kaifeng’s com- and offered assistance. religious accommodations made for the munity immigrate to Israel, and convert For its part, the Sino-Judaic Institute community; the non-pork-eating Jews through Orthodoxy. touts itself as an international non-profit were provided extra rations of mutton— “They are a part of the extended Jewish organization “devoted to the study and similar to the Hui Muslims. family, and I believe we have a responsi- development of cultural connections Their identification papers at that time bility to reach out to them, while of course between the Chinese and Jewish peoples.” still identified them as Jews. respecting China’s laws and sovereignty,” As Laytner describes it: “We went in to Three decades later, Western Jews began explains Freund. help them reconnect to their heritage.” connecting with Kaifeng Jews, beginning While Laytner agrees the added atten- Today, the penetration of the Inter- net with the first American tour in 1983 led tion may raise the ire of authorities, as it has made it possible for information by Dr. Wendy Abraham, as the American has in the past, he says it is no longer about Judaism and Israel to be accessible Jewish Congress decided to place Kaifeng useful anymore to sit on the sidelines. to Jewish descendents of Kaifeng that pre- on its China tour itinerary. 75 A M I M A G A Z I N E / / M AY 1 1 , 2 0 1 6 / / 3 I YA R 5 7 7 6 JEWISHNEWS BY DAVE GORDON Scores of tourists, journalists and orga- storm over the definition of “Jewish.” their Judaism, he says. nizations have introduced themselves to Despite it all, these new diplomatic rela- “Jews in places like Beijing, Shanghai, Kaifeng’s Jews since then. tions were the springboard for the Kaifeng and Hong Kong are all Western non-Chi- These connections have helped Jewish municipal government’s move to green- nese citizens. Only in Kaifeng are there education there thrive, and extra tourist light the creation of its Society for the ethnic-Chinese of Jewish descent. It would dollars were a treat for the city’s economy. Research of Jewish History and Culture, be hard for them to move to another city, But Chinese authorities weren’t wild headed by both the Prof. Zhao Xiangru, due to many obstacles. It wouldn’t be their about Western media calling attention to and scholar of the community and cura- fault, either. They couldn’t approach a the local Jewish population’s hopes for tor of the Municipal Museum, Wang Yisha. synagogue without a Chinese guard ques- growth, in an environment generally sus- Zhao soon afterward proudly boasted in tioning them, and they would be refused picious of religious practice. a Jerusalem Post article that his home- entry for not belonging there.” A February 1985 feature in Time maga- land was Israel, and he hoped to restore Security on every street corner is the zine entitled “New Hope for the Jews of Kaifeng’s Jewish cemetery, among other norm, he says, extending to hospitals, China” expanded on the notion that the growth plans for his community. schools, businesses—any place people Kaifeng Jews desired to rebuild their syna- Again, the spotlight backfired, when congregate. gogue and thrive in their practice. the United Front condemned his behav- Notwithstanding these issues, Laytner In what appears to be a bitter response ior, thus removing him from the Chinese believes there is still a ray of hope. “China to the article, in July of that year, a decree Academy of Social Sciences, forced him has a good history with the Jews. I see released by the Religious Affairs Bureau of into early retirement, and placed him these problems as an aberration.” the State Council of China stated that the under house arrest. Freund emphatically agrees. country refused to recognize the Jewish In another event from the mid-1990s, “China is a country that historically did population, and thus would not necessi- two Kaifeng Jews visited the Israeli not have anti-Semitism and certainly not tate any synagogue to be built. Embassy in Beijing to find out if their com- in the classical Western sense.

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