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Jews of the Far East
H) David C. Gross
This New ^ ear fimost of the
world's Jews participating in a fierce
struggle against darkness and to
talitarianism which threatens to en
gulf them. And this y ear the Jews of
the Orient, hitherto somewhat remote
from the struggle, have been plunged
directly into the maelstrom of war.
It is interesting, therefore, to take a
look at these far Eastern Jewish
communities, about which \er\ little
lias been heard.
Jews first started to settle in Japan
after the Russian-Japanese War in
the earlv part of the century, hut the\
made up an insignificant minority.
Only in the past few years has there
been a comparatively large influx of
Jews to the shores of Japan: from
Idacked-out Poland came the bearded
rabbit and the ycshiva students; from
other Nazi-occupied territories came
other Jews. However, these twentieth
century wanderers did not oversta\
their “welcome” in the Nipponese
Kinpire, and almost all of them
moved on either to Palestine or
America.
There are small communities of
Jews in “independent” Manchukuo
and Korea, and these unfortunate
souls, it goes without sa\ ing. are in
imminent danger almost always.
The largest Jewish community of
the Far Fast is Harbin, which de-
spite its youngness in \ears lit was
established in UW8. and augmented
after the first World War I, has a well-
organized cultural, religious, and
Zionist foundation. Japanese penetra-
tion notwithstanding, the Harbin Jew
ish communiU has maintained its in
tellectual solidarih and material well
being unusually well. As far back
as 1027. Harbin counted close to
thirteen thousand Jews. Nevertheless.
Japanese Imperial designs on Harbin
and the surrounding districts made
jtarnassah channels slightly clogged
for the Jews, and many decided to
make their wa\ to Shanghai.
Ten or so years ago it was easy
for a Jewish immigrant to iron out
his financial difficulties in interna
tional. teeming Shanghai. I he rich
Sephardic-Jewish kehillah went out
of its wav to extend helping hands to
those brethren in need. This com
munity was established in the fifties
of the last century. The first Jew to
settle in Shanghai was Klijah David
Sassoon, of the fabulously w ealthy Sas
soons of India (the so-called “Roths
childs of the Fast** •. He opened up
a branch of the family’s business
house, attracting thereby Jews from
Baghdad and India to come and pitch
their tents in Shanghai. In the years
following, Shanghai saw the advent
of Jewish immigrants from Austria.
Germany, Russia and Poland.
The Shanghai Sephardic congrega
tion really got under way in the late
1870*s. As a primary step towards
organization, the community hired a
hall in which to hold services. Later
lhe\ were enabled to build two syna
gogues, and a third was added re
centh when a wealthy Jewish philan
thropist. I). J. Abrahams, erected one.
I p until a few years ago. the Ash
kenazic Jews held services in a hall
hired only for the High Holy Days.
Names like Sassoon, Ezra, and La
duri give testimony to the fact that
the Sephardic-Jewish community i*
far from being pauperish. The gen
erous inheritance that Caduri left to
the schools of Fret/ Israel also proves
that Shanghai's Jews have their
hearts, as a wa\ of saying, in the
right place. Opium and banking are
the kehillah's two chief sources of
wealth. On the other hund. German
refugee Jews have practically mo
nopolized the fur-treating industry.
Skins from the 1 nited States are
brought to the International Lity of
the Fast, are treated by the refugee
Jews, and are then reshipped Fast-
ward.
In addition to the already men
tioned Jewish groups in Shanghai,
there are also a number of original
Chinese Jews in the city, who left
their native kai-feng-fu in the late
seventies to seek better conditions in
the big city. Shanghai's Jews took
them in with open arms, caring for
them as for brothers, and not onl
feeding and clothing them but even
teaching them Hebrew and religious
laws.
These Chinese Jews have always
aroused the interest of travelers and
explorers. Not one but a great many
have theorized that these backward
hapless Hebrews are descendants of
the lost Ten Tribes. However, scien
tific proof to bolster that conjecture
has ever been lacking, leading the
majority of Jews to believe that the
K’ai-feng-fu Jews are simply de
scended from Persian Jews, and due
to their centuries-long isolation, they
have degenerated culturally as well
as materially. Despite all this, it is a
fascinating exj>erience to meet these
Chinese Jews with their unmistakably
Chinese features.
Before the present outbreak of
hostilities in the Far Fast. Shanghai
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