 
From Kaifeng To Kibbutz
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Published on Thursday, October 29, 2009 -
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| The group of Kaifeng Jews arriving in Israel. |
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For the first time, a group of seven young adults, all of whom are descendants of the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, has moved to Israel.
The group, which arrived in Israel last week, was brought by the Shavei Israel organization, which recently received special permission from Israel’s Interior Ministry for this group of immigrants after negotiating with the government for the past two years.
The Interior Ministry agreed to issue one-year entry permits to the seven young adults, during which time they will study Hebrew at a kibbutz ulpan and then undergo formal conversion to Judaism.
“I am very excited to be here in the Holy Land,” said Yaakov Wang, 23, one of the new immigrants. “This is something that my ancestors dreamed about for generations, and now thank G-d I have finally made it.” Wang added that he eventually hopes to become a rabbi, so that one day he can help other Kaifeng Jewish descendants to learn more about their heritage.
“This is a historic event,” said Shavei Israel chairman Michael Freund, who organized the immigration campaign and greeted the seven immigrants from Kaifeng at Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv. “Kaifeng’s Jewish descendants are a living link between China and the Jewish people, and it is very moving to see the remnants of this community returning to their roots.”
Scholars believe the first Jews settled in Kaifeng, which was one of China’s imperial capitals, during the 8th or 9th century. They are said to have been merchants from Persia or Iraq who made their way eastward along the Silk Route and established themselves in the city, with the blessing of the Chinese emperor.
In 1163, Kaifeng’s Jews built a large and beautiful synagogue, which was subsequently renovated and rebuilt on numerous occasions throughout the centuries. At its peak, during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), the Kaifeng Jewish community may have numbered as many as 5,000 people.
But widespread intermarriage and assimilation, as well as the death of the community’s last rabbi, brought about its demise by the middle of the 19th century. Nevertheless, many of the families sought to preserve their Jewish identity and pass it down to their descendants, who continued to observe various Jewish customs.
Currently, there are estimated to be approximately 1,000 Jewish descendants in Kaifeng. “In recent years, many members of the community have begun to explore their heritage—mainly thanks to the Internet, which opened up new worlds for them and provided access to information about Judaism and Israel that was previously inaccessible to them,” Freund noted.
Shavei Israel is a non-profit organization founded by Michael Freund, who immigrated to Israel from the United States, with the aim of strengthening ties between the State of Israel and the descendants of Jews around the world.
The organization is currently active in nine countries and provides assistance to a variety of different communities such as the Bnei Menashe of India, the Bnai Anousim in Spain, Portugal, and South America, the Subbotnik Jews of Russia, the Jewish community of Kaifeng in China, the “Hidden Jews” of Poland from the Holocaust era, and others. For more information visit www.shavei.org. ♦
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