THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

rietfit

VEROSOL

Hong Kong's Historic Jewish Community

By WARREN FREEDMAN

by

Verosol is unique . . . these crispy pleated blinds
are custom crafted from a semi-transparent fabric
with a bonded layer of aluminum that reflects solar
light and heat. Verosol is versatile . . . practical .. .
energy efficient . . . easy to maintain and available
in many beautiful colors.

INTRODUCTORY OFFER

20% OFF

LEVOLOR

Horizontal Blinds

25%OFF

Only Levolor lets you choose from more than 150
colors. Yes 150. And now, every Levolor comes
with a decorator valance that lets the top part of the
blind match the rest perfectly. Levolor Riviera
Blinds will be custom made to fit your windows,
what ever the size or shape, the style, color, tex-
ture, pattern you like best. They even come in
stripes. Come in to see the full line!

WE HAVE IT ALL

"Large shades our speciality" . . . shades and blinds
cleaned and repaired. All types of window treatments
vertical blinds . . . 1" decorator Blinds . . . woven
woods. Wallpaper, shutters, wallpaper shades, lami-
nated shades, custom spreads,. Weavers Domain mac-
rame blinds, custom decorative shades. Call for home
service. Measurements and installation at extra cast.
Above discounts good thru June 30th

"Our product
is a SHADE better. Tradi-
tionally the best quality and
price"

Since 1895

/

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Window Shade Co.

Old Orchard Shopping Center
Maple Road at Orchard Lake Rd.

626-2400

Open Mon. thru Fri. 10 to 5: Sat. 10 to 4

Friday, June 29, 1919 15

15150 W. 7 Mile Rd.

342-8822

Open Mon. Ihru Fri. 8:30 to 5: Sat. 9 to 3

It has been said that the
quest for righteousness is
Oriental and the quest for
knowledge is Occidental. Is-
rael Zangwill in his
"Dreamers of The Ghetto"
(1898)wrote, "His soul was
of the Orient, but his brain
was of the Occident. His in-
tellect had been nourished
at the breast of Science, that
classified everything and
explained nothing. . . . Oh,
it was a cruel tragedy."
Jewish migration to the
Far East never reached the
proportions of Jewish entry
into the Western or Occi-
dental world for geograph-
ical reasons, but the Jewish
mentality has always been
based upon righteousness
combined with the intellec-
tual quest for knowledge.
The Jew is at home in the
West and in the Orient.
* * *
Today, approximately
150 Jews reside on Hong
Kong Island, Kowloon, and
in the New Territories. This
oriental Plymouth Rock has
served as a city of refuge for
East European Jews since
the beginning of the 12th
Century, and especially
during World War II for es-
capees from Nazi tyranny.
The several Jewish
families still residing in
Hong Kong are extremely
wealthy (the Kadoorie
and Sassoon families, for
example) The community
is nominally Sephardic
but Ashkenazi in prac-
tice, and consists mostly
of transient Jews in busi-
ness, education and the
consular corps.
The Jewish population of
Hong Kong in 1882 was 60,
and by 1954, more than 250,
of whom about one-half
were Ashkenazim. Today's
150 Jews live amid 4 1/2 mil-
lion Hong Kong residents.
Although the Jewish com-
munity was established in
1857, (Jews first arrived in
1842 when the British took
over) it did not build its
synagogue until 1901.
Leah
Ohel
The
Synagogue is situated on
prime commercial land and
includes an adjacent Jewish
Recreation Club building
with lovely tropical gardens
from which one can view the
magnificent harbor of Hong

AJCongress in
Stevens Boycott

NEW YORK — The
American Jewish Congress
says it will join the national
boycott of J.P. Stevens and
Co., the country's second
largest textile manufactur-
ing firm, which has fought
union-organizing efforts by
its employees for 16 years.
hi a resolution adopted by
its national executive com-
mittee, the AJCongress de-
clared:
"The thousands of em-
ployees of J.P. Stevens and
Co. have long struggled
against unsafe and un-
healthy working conditions,
discrimination in hiring,
and promotion, and the
basic right to choose
whether or not to be repre-
sented by a labor union."

prospered. These Torahs
were housed in wooden
chests marked "Shan-
ghai," inside of the hous-
ing were found a German
prayer book dated 1907,
and two photo albums of
a Chinese Jewish family!
The Ohel Leah
Synagogue is the
storehouse for these
Chinese Torah scrolls.

Kong. The synagogue is
Sephardic and resplendent
with wooden pillars painted
golden.

The bima is raised and
centered, and women wor-
shippers are relegated to
the balcony overlooking the
main floor. The synagogue
is a cool oasis in this bustl-
ing city of the Far East. It
was given to the community
by the family of Sir Jacob
Sassoon; the adjoining
Jewish Recreation Club was
presented by Sir Elly
Kadoorie in 1909.
Rabbi David Truzman
greets the Jewish visitor,
along with the Chinese
"shammas" for the past
25 years, Chan Loin.
Rabbi Truzman is only
26-years of age, a native
of Spanish Morocco; he
had a pulpit in Manches-
ter, England, before ac-
cepting his present as-
signment in January
1974.
Hong Kong also has a
Jewish Benevolent Society,
Jewish cemetery and a He-
brew Sunday school.
In early March 1974, in
the "thieves' -market" on
Cat St. in Hong Kong, four
ancient and invaluable sac-
red Hebrew scrolls were dis-
covered by Father Herbert
Vogt, a German Salesian
friar living in Hong Kong.
Father Vogt immediately
contacted Sir Lawrence
Kadoorie because it sad-
dened him to see these
scrolls among Mongolian
machinery, good luck
amulets and 100-year-old
Chinese eggs! Sir Lawrence
purchased the Torahs for
about $5,000.

A Mr. E. Abraham of
Hong Kong identified the
Torahs (from which all
the silver had been re-
moved) as belonging to
the Hankow, China,
Jewish community
which 50 years ago had

11

The future of Hong Kong
Jewry is dim because today
there are better oppor-
tunities elsewhere in the
free world to earn a living.
Also it is easier today to re-
side in relative freedom in
other parts of ,the world.
(The nearness of Com-
munist China is like a
Sword of Damocles, which
can cut off Hong Kong from
the free world in a matter of
hours.)
The Talmud (Gittin, 70a)
says that three things sap
one's strength: worry,
travel and sin. Curiously,

within the bounds of travel,
Hong Kong can transform
these debilitating signs of
worry and sin into a satisfy-
ing experience. Hopefully
the Jewish community of
Hong Kong may find a new
life in the years to come.

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