Harbin's Jews

2. The Harbin Huang
Shan Jewish
Cemetery, located
in the city's
suburbs, is the
largest and
the best-preserved
cemetery in
the Far East.

4. The cemetery, with
about 600
tombstones engraved
in Russian and
Yiddish, was built in
1903 in the city
center and was
transferred outside
the city in 1958. In
1992, after the
establishment of
relations between
Israel and China, it
was renovated.

6. Ehud Olmert,
Israel's prime
minister, paid
respects to his
grandfather who is
buried in the
cemetery.
He left a stone
on the tomb of his
grandfather Joseph
Olmert, who died in
Harbin in 1941.

9. The group members are saying "KaddishThe group members are saying "Kaddish""

10. Jewish Hospital

11. The Harbin Jewish hospital was
once a first-class hospital in Harbin,
it received not only Jewish patients,
but also patients of other nationalities.

12. Modern Hotel and Kaspe Jewellery
were founded
by a French Jew Y·A·Kaspe.

17. Minha in the hotel in Harbin

18. Archeological evidence points to a Jewish
presence in China as early as the 8th
century, when Jewish merchants traveled
the Silk Road from Persia and India. Many
travelers, including Marco Polo in the
13th century, reported meeting Jews.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a
Ming emperor conferred seven surnames
on the Jews, which still identify them
today: Ai, Lao, Jin, Li, Shi, Zhang and
Zhao. Shi and Jin are the equivalent of
common Jewish names in the west: Stone
and Gold.
http://www.jewish-holiday.com/kaifeng.html

19. Wikipedia
The Kaifeng Jews are members of a small
Jewish community that has existed in
Kaifeng, in the Henan province of China,
for hundreds of years.
According to historical records, a Jewish
community with a synagogue built in 1163
lived in Kaifeng from at least the
Southern Song Dynasty until the late
nineteenth century.

20. The head
Jew of
Kaifeng
gives the
Rabbi a
gift

22. The Head Jew of Kaifeng,giving
Marion a b-day gift. Mazal Tov!

24. It is believed that the ancestors of the
Kaifeng Jews came from Central Asia.
The uninterrupted existence of this
religious and ethnic group, living for over
700 years in socio-cultural surroundings
strongly dominated by Confucian moral
and ethical principles, is a unique
phenomenon in Chinese and Jewish
history.
Wikipedia

25. Moshe, the head Jew and his ChineseMoshe, the head Jew and his Chinese
wifewife

26. Encyclopedia of Diaspora
The leader of this
group is called
Moshe, name given
to him by an uncle
who told him to
remember that he
was Jewish.
Moshe said :” The
Jewish history and
culture of Kaifeng is
part of the history
of the world ‘s
Jewish people”.

27. Kaifeng Jewish
descendant

28. Kaifeng Jewish descendant’s kitchen

29. Kaifeng descendant’s
mezuzah
In spite of a lack of formal religious practice,
Kaifeng Jews have a sense of ethnic identity.
Some list their children as "Youtai" (Jewish(
on government documents next to a spot
where they might have written "Han"
)Ethnic Chinese), and are happy to
meet foreign visiting Jews.

30. Kaifeng
Jewish
descendant

31. In his 1992 documentary series Legacy, historian
Michael Wood walked down a small lane in
Kaifeng that he said is known as the "alley of the
sect who teach the Scriptures", that is, of the
Jews. He mentioned that there are still Jews in
Kaifeng today, but that they are reluctant to
reveal themselves "in the current political
climate." The documentary's companion book
further states that one can still see a "mezuzah on
the door frame, and the candelabrum in the living
room."
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Kaifeng
_Jews

33. THE RABBI
SUPERVISING THE
LOADING OF THE
TORAH HE BROUGHT
ALL THE WAY FROM
THE STATES
We actually did make a little history,
because as far as we are aware,
a torah which was carried from the States
by Rabbi Franklin,
was read on the Shabbat Service on
Saturday morning.
He believed that this was the first time a
torah was read on Shabbat in Harbin
in 50 or so years.
To me that Saturday morning service
was the highlight of our tour( Charles).

34. Modern Kaifeng

35. Bar in Kaifeng

36. Modern hotel

39. Dec-08
Photos:
Charles
Berelowitz
Music:
Mirel Reznik