most of his family members immi-
grated to Israel, Mr. Jin chose to stay in
Kaifeng, dedicating all his life savings
and indeed most of his life to build-
ing this monument. "In our tradition"
he says, "older generation has to pass
family history to the young ones. So,
my siblings and I always knew that we
were Jewish"
The Story Of Esther,
A Kaifeng Jew
This is exactly what Guo Yan Zhao
prints on her business card: Kaifeng
Jew. In large bold letters, she announc-
es to the world both her identity and
her occupation. Above this brave
proclamation, is a required qualifier in
small letters and almost unnoticeable:
"a descendant of"
Guo Yan chose Esther as her Jewish
name because Chinese Jews think of
her as a prophetic, matriarchal figure
from the Bible. Esther's card also has
her photo wearing Mogen David-
shaped earrings and dressed in a tradi-
tional Chinese gown made of blue and
white (Israeli colors) silk and deco-
rated with Jewish stars. Two ancient
cultures seamlessly blend together
and become both Esther's personality
and her life's work. For every Jewish
pilgrim coming to Kaifeng, this petite
vivacious young woman is an institu-
tion by herself.
Esther meets us in the heart of
medieval Kaifeng on a narrow street
called "Teaching the Torah Lane
This was a neighborhood where Jews
of Kaifeng used to live and pray for
almost 800 years. Now the hospital
and the nursing facility stand where
the ancient synagogue, first built in
1163, used to be. But this is not the
end of the Kaifeng Jewish story. The
copper plaque next to the street's name
proclaims "Here live Kaifeng Jews (the
Zhao residence)" Zhao is Esther's fam-
ily name.
"I love both of my cultures" says
Esther as she leads us along the old
street to her family house. "You know
why? Because we are the two oldest
civilizations in the world and we share
a lot in common:'
As Esther puts it, both Jews and
Chinese have large diasporas out-
side of their homeland; both peoples
emphasize the high importance of
family ties and education (a "sacred
pursuit" says Esther), and both are
marked by an entrepreneurial spirit.
And a talent to survive and persevere,
she adds.
"The Chinese government does
not recognize us as Jews" continues
Esther, "and the rabbis don't con-
sider us Jewish either" She looks at us
almost defiantly. "But we are THEY,
the Chinese Jews, the Kaifeng Jews"
Out of her handbag, she takes out
a worn photocopy of DNA test results
done in the late 1980s when about
90 Kaifeng Jewish descendents were
tested. "See here she says. "We are as
Jewish as you are
Learning that my husband and I are
both former Soviet emigres, she can-
not resist: "More so than the Soviet
Jews who intermarry both ways. Not
just along the male line like us."
Like her Biblical namesake, Esther is
on a mission. "It is my job" she proud-
ly states, "to bring back a strong sense
of Kaifeng Jewish tradition and not let
it get lost in history as it did before"
And Esther has a plan. Long-term,
she promotes to the government her
ambitious proposal of re-building a
synagogue and creating an Israeli-
Chinese Cultural park and short-term,
she educates visitors, one person at a
time.
A small house where Esther was
born and raised, and where her fam-
ily lived for generations, used to be a
part of the ancient synagogue struc-
ture. Throughout the entire history of
Jewish Kaifeng, Esther says, her family
was charged with maintaining the
synagogue, and when it was ruined by
recurring floods, with supervising its
reconstruction.
Now her house bears a proud name:
The Kaifeng Jewish History Memorial
Center. The centuries-old door frame
has a mezuzah and on the door a
small Israeli flag. The first thing one
sees when entering the house is a large
banner with the Shema prayer, a cen-
tral statement of Jewish theology, writ-
ten in golden letters.
Esther explains that during the
Ming Dynasty, around the 14th or the
15th century, the Chinese Emperor
demanded that his portrait be placed
in every house of worship. So the
Kaifeng Jews had no choice but to
obey and they placed the portrait
in the entryway to the synagogue,
but above it, they hung a Shema. In
Kaifeng, the God of the Jews was
above even the all-powerful Emperor
of China!
The Jewish history center we enter
is a one-room display of numerous
family pictures and documents, and
booklets and articles on Chinese
Jewish history in Hebrew, Chinese and
English — all surrounded by meno-
rahs, Shabbat candlesticks and Israeli
flags.
Aaron Posner
Chaim Potok
adapted from the novel by
Directed by David Magidson
By
Co-produced with the Performance Network Theatre
JET performs in the Aaron DeRoy Theatre
Corner of Maple & Drake Roads in West Bloomfield
Ebel StugA @Cog* see (ger
13i1ErM
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A Confucian-Like
Synagogue
It is not known how the first Kaifeng
Synagogue, built in the 12th century,
looked. What we know is based on
much later descriptions and drawings
made by the Jesuits in the 17th centu-
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Being Jewish on page 36
May 23 • 2013
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