Tag: Kaifeng

Chinese Studying Jews

Jewish studies flourish in China
David N. Myers
The Jewish Journal
August 15, 2012

A fascinating look at the growing field of Jewish studies in China, and the author’s experience lecturing at the Glazer Institute of Jewish Studies in the ancient capital city of Kaifeng.

My favorite quote:

The Confucian ideal, parallel to the Jewish precept of “kevod ha-moreh,” is alive and well today. Unlike the consumerist approach to education in the United States, where students demand attractively presented products from their teachers, students in China feel happy to receive the pearls of wisdom that issue from their teachers’ mouths. At times, this leads to a certain passivity in the classroom on the students’ part. But the overall effect, especially for a short-term visitor from America, is wondrous.

Of course, the degree of open Talmudic discourse between teacher and students is missing in China, and that needs to change. Nonetheless, the point about the American “consumerist” approach to education is spot-on.

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Another Tribe Returns Home

Chinese Jews feel more at home in Israel – latimes.com.

Fantastic story in the L.A. Times describing the physical and spiritual journey of a small group Jews from Kaifeng to Israel.

I totally get their initial indignation to “convert” to Judaism after having been raised Jewish. In the face of that initial frustration, their persistence is admirable. And they won’t be the last, please G-d.

I wonder what the Rebbe would have thought.

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