A
s global health officials struggle to
contain the effects of the coronavirus,
a Detroit-area Chabad rabbi adds his
own layers of concern — and personal pride.
Rabbi Schneor Greenberg, who, with his
wife, Estie, directs the Chabad Jewish Center
of Commerce, Michigan, has two siblings
running Chabad centers in the Shanghai
region of China — about 500 miles from
Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak in
late December.
As of Feb. 10, there have been 40,574
confirmed coronavirus cases and 910 deaths
worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins
University Center for Systems Science
Engineering, which maintains a dashboard
using combined figures from various sources,
including the World Health Organization
(WHO). Mainland China alone has 40,175 of
the cases and 908 deaths.
Greenberg understands the risks for
those, like his brothers, who live and work
in Shanghai, where 292 cases have been con-
firmed as of Feb. 9, according to the WHO.
One brother, Rabbi Avraham Greenberg,
and his wife, Nechamie, run the Chabad
Jewish Center of Pudong, a district in
Shanghai. They left with their family last
month and now are aiding relief efforts from
the Detroit area, where two of their children
attend school.
Another sibling, Rabbi Shalom Greenberg,
co-directs the Shanghai Jewish Center with
his wife, Dinie. Shalom has remained in
Shanghai to look after the center and provide
local aid. Dinie left the country with their
childrens on Feb. 5.
Shanghai has been home for Shalom
and Dinie since 1998, when the two first
established their Chabad center and Shalom
became the first rabbi in mainland China.
Today, together with Avraham’
s Pudong cen-
ter and a third Chabad outpost in Shanghai,
they serve the 2,000 Jews who live scattered
throughout the metropolis of nearly 28 mil-
lion people.
The Chabad outreach centers serve Jewish
students and travelers, as well as individuals
relocated for work who often come with
their families. The centers provide services,
including classes, kosher meals and holiday
programming.
In recent weeks, the rabbis helped their
community members obtain subsidies for
plane tickets home, and now 95% of the Jews
in Shanghai have left.
“Only about 35 or 40 of them remain, so
when Shabbat comes and 10 Jewish people
come to Shalom’
s for dinner, these people find
other Jews,
” Avraham told the JN. “For them
to know Chabad is still here and they can
come have a meal together is very special.
”
Along with emissaries at the 12 other
Chabad Jewish Centers in China (including
Hong Kong), the two Greenberg families
helped establish a relief fund to aid the coun-
try’
s Jewish communities. Four rabbis remain
in China; the others continue fundraising
efforts from other countries.
12 | FEBRUARY 13 • 2020
Jews in the D
Local Chabad rabbi’
s relatives help reduce coronavirus risk in Shanghai.
China Mitzvah
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Shanghai Jewish
Museum Curator Chen
Jian and Rabbi Shalom
Greenberg of the
Shanghai Jewish Center
examine donated masks.
CHABAD SHANGHAI
continued on page 14