Tell Me Why

Chinese, If You Please

Whatever happened to the Jews of Kaifens?

Elizabeth and Phillip Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News

0: Has there been any docu-
mentation of Kaifeng Jews
limmigrating to Israel?
— From reader KR of Oak Park
A: The Jews you are referring to are
:the descendants of the Jewish commu-
nity of Kaifeng, China. Kaifeng, one
of the oldest cities in China, was for-
merly capital of Honan province. It
sits on the south bank of the Yellow
I River in east-central China. The Yel-
1 low River serves as a corridor lead-
ing to the Wei Ho Valley, China's
early heartland, and beyond that, to
Central Asia.
Historically, Kaifeng was a gate
!city to western influences. It is not
surprising that it also should be
home to China's oldest native Jewish
community (the city also had a large
I Muslim population).
It is not known precisely when Jews
arrived in China, but historical
records show that in the eighth centu-
ry C.E., the Rhadinites, a Persian
Jewish family of traders, established a
•I silk business in the Kaifeng area.
There likely were migrations of other
Jews from Persia and India who
brought with them skills in cotton
weaving and dying. They, with the
earlier inhabitants, formed the Jewish
community of Kaifeng. From 907 to
I 1126 C.E., Kaifeng (then known as
Pien-liang) served as the capital city
I of China, during which time the Jews'
I businesses and community status no
doubt benefited.
By 1163, the Kaifeng Jews built
their first synagogue. Lacking relations
with other Jewish communities, the
Jews began to intermarry with gentile
Chinese (including Muslims). Over the
generations, the Kaifeng Jews increas-
ingly incorporated Chinese culture into
their own and continued to intermarry
until they were physically indistinguish-
able from their gentile neighbors.

Nonetheless, these Jews maintained a
I distinct identity for many years. By the
mid-1800s, however, the community's
isolation from the rest of world Jewry
led to its deterioration. Their syna-
gogue was in ruins, their religious and
cultural practices decayed, leaving
them only with the basic knowledge
that they were Jewish.
They became vulnerable to the
approaches of Catholic missionaries
(some of the Kaifeng Jews were not
sure if Christianity was a sect of
Judaism or a separate religion), who
acquired many of the disintegrating
community's cultural treasures.
The Kaifeng Jews sold many (per-
haps all) of their Torah scrolls. In
1851, two Chinese agents of the Lon-
; don Society for the Promotion of
Christianity Among the Jews acquired
six of the Kaifeng sifrei Torah. The
society donated them to the British
Museum, Oxford University, Cam-
bridge University and the Bishop of
Victoria in Hong Kong. The sixth
Torah eventually came into the posses-
: sion of Southern Methodist University
in Dallas, Texas. Jewish Theological
Seminary in New York and Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of Reli-
gion in Cincinnati hold other Kaifeng
Torahs. HUC-JIR also has a Kaifeng
Megilat Esther (scroll of Esther) and
prayer books, including one for Shab-
bat that contains a membership list of
the Kaifeng community from the time
of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
For several reasons, Kaifeng Jews
have not immigrated to Israel. It was
only recently that China established
diplomatic relations with Israel, but it
is extremely difficult for any Chinese
citizen to emigrate. Even if this were
possible, it would not be easy to find
Kaifeng Jews. Many, perhaps most,
gave up their identity and blended
into the surrounding population.
Nonetheless, in the two govern-
ment censuses of minorities from the

11970s, about 200-300 Chinese
I identified themselves as Jews. These
people have no knowledge of
Judaism, although recently some
have professed an interest in learn-
; ing. There also is the halachic (Jew-
1 ish law) problem of who among
1 them is truly Jewish. Given the
group's extensive intermarriage, it
would take intensive genealogical
research to determine which of the
people is Jewish by birth and which
would be required to convert.
The Kaifeng Municipal Museum has
a new wing devoted to the history
and culture of the city's Jewish commu-
: nity. One of the leading experts on
Kaifeng Jewry is Professor Xu Xin, who
carries out extensive archeological
1 and historical research. In 1995,
KTAV published his book on legends
of the Kaifeng Jews.

Q: Everybody says that Sen.
Joseph Lieberman is the first
Jew to run for vice president.
As I recall, back in the 1964
election, Sen. Barry Goldwa-
ter ran for president as
Republican. Wasn't he the
first Jew to run for national
office?
A: Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater
(1909-98) was not Jewish. His father,
Baron Goldwater, was Jewish, as
were his grandparents, Sarah Nathan
and Mike Goldwater. Barry's grandfa-
ther was a native of Konin, Poland
(northwest of Lodz), who immigrated
to England. There he anglicized the
family name Goldwasser to Goldwa-
ter prior to his marriage.
The Goldwaters came to America in
1852. Eventually moving to Arizona,
they remained active in synagogues
and Jewish fraternal organizations.
Baron Goldwater married Josephine
Williams, a gentile and an Episco-
palian. Their son, Barry, was brought
up in his mother's faith. ❑

