!maw
World Wit
Hate.
Teddy Park, honoring the late Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, will open this summer.
Teddy Park
Just outside the Old City,
Jerusalem's new park will honor Teddy Kollek.
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What was the
earliest message
you received about
people who are or
perceived to be gay?
amed after former Jerusalem
Mayor Teddy Kollek, the new
"Teddy Park" will open this
summer in Mitchell Park beneath the
Old City walls near Jerusalem's Jaffa
Gate.
Teddy Park commemorates the life
and vision of Jerusalem's legendary
mayor, who, during his tenure from
1965 to 1993, spearheaded dozens of
development projects in Jerusalem,
including the creation of outdoor public
spaces, the installation of outdoor sculp-
tures and the smooth reunification of
the city in 1967. Kollek died in 2007.
The focal point of Teddy Park is the
Where did you get this
message?
When we talk about bias,
it is important to reflect
on our own biases and
understand where they
come from.
248.
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May 23 • 2013
made of Jerusalem stone; and environ-
mental sculptures.
"We are thrilled to unveil this inno-
vative new park in my hometown of
Jerusalem," said Haim Gutin, Israel
Commissioner for Tourism, North and
South America. "Teddy Park will serve
as an exciting new attraction for both
residents and visitors to Jerusalem:'
Teddy Park is an initiative of the Israel
Ministry of Tourism in conjunction
with the Jerusalem Municipality and the
Jerusalem Foundation's private donors
from around the world.
For more information about tourism
to Israel, visit www.goisrael.com .
burner and candlesticks with a Chair of
Moses behind the table. The Torah raised
up high was read from that place. The
name for Torah in Chinese, says Esther,
is "Daojing" with Dao meaning "the
Way" and the "jing" the scriptures: The
Scriptures of the Way.
Ricci recorded, the rabbi offered him a
job as his successor; if the Jesuit joined
the Jewish faith and stopped eating
pork, of course.
"Yes:' says Esther, while we smile at
a rabbi-and-a-Jesuit story, "We lost our
ancestral language, traditions, even
blood line. But we kept our memories
and pride in being Jewish. We told sto-
ries. We survived:'
There are probably a few hundred
people in Kaifeng now who consider
themselves Jewish either through a
family line or marriage. A growing
number of young people discover their
Jewish roots and make aliyah to Israel;
Hebrew classes are highly popular in
Kaifeng, and Esther tells us of frequent
Shabbat gatherings with a communal
service, song singing and a potluck
kosher (Halal) meal. At the conclusion
of Shabbat, they sing Hatikva in Hebrew.
Often — by memory.
"I don't like the word assimilation:'
Esther says. "Are you a Jew only if you
go to the synagogue and read Torah
there? Do you think there is only one
Dao of being Jewish?"
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Hassenfeld Family Fountain, a colorful
display featuring computerized floodlit
water performances accompanied by
specially composed music created by the
New Jerusalem Orchestra. The multime-
dia fountain will feature nightly sound,
light and water performances, free of
charge.
Teddy Park also will include a visi-
tor's center with a 3-D film depicting
the development of Jerusalem during
Kollek's nearly three-decade tenure as
mayor; a sun dial designed by Israeli
artist Maty Grunberg; an 8-foot globe
sculpture designed by British artist
David Breur-Weil; a family wishing-well
ry. For anyone who visited the Forbidden
City in Beijing and at least a temple or
two elsewhere in China, the synagogue
rendering reminds of the country's typi-
cal residential or religious compounds.
The synagogue was built according to
the Confucian principles of architecture,
explains Esther, and that legitimized both
Jews and their faith for the country that
had never known organized religion.
Just like many buildings in China,
stone lions flanked the entrance to
the synagogue complex consisting of
enclosed courtyards and halls. The path-
way to the Front Hall was also guarded
by two large marble lions on pedestals.
A giant iron incense tripod, like in Taoist
or Buddhist temples, stood between the
lions. The entire compound is described
as being 400 feet in depth. Unlike
Chinese temples that face south, the
synagogue gate looked eastward while
the worshippers faced westward toward
Jerusalem. The synagogue was designed
to offer full-service life style: kitchen,
ritual bath, mikvah, study halls, meeting
rooms, lecture halls. In the middle of the
main hall was a large table for an incense
What Happened To The
Kaifeng Jews?
The existence of the Jews in China was
unknown to the Western world until
1605, when Jesuit Matteo Ricci met
a Kaifeng Jew in Beijing who arrived
there to take Confucian examinations
for a prestigious government post. As
described by Ricci, that young man
was dressed and looked Chinese but
considered himself Jewish, a believer in
one God. Perhaps by that time, an over-
whelming number of young ambitious
Jewish men — instead of dedicating
their lives to Torah — preferred to study
Confucius, a requirement for any prom-
ising government position. By the early
1600s, the Kaifeng Rabbi was already
struggling with the lack of young men
knowledgeable in Jewish law because, as
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