VIDEO: The Last Jews of Shan-Chai, China
Their family has been there for 1000 years, eating Chinese food on Christmas and all year \’round — the Last Jews of Shan-Chai
Their family has been there for 1000 years, eating Chinese food on Christmas and all year \’round — the Last Jews of Shan-Chai
The Jews of Shanghai, fleeing Nazi persecution, thousands of Jews journeyed halfway around the world to the sanctuary offered by Shanghai\’s unique status as a free trade city.
At a time when the world shunned them, an estimated 20,000 Jewish refugees from Russia, Germany, Austria and elsewhere made their way to Shanghai before World War II.
The cosmopolitan Chinese city of Shanghai has witnessed what is believed to be its first Jewish marriage ceremony in more than 50 years.
Shanghai resident Seth Kaplan got tired of celebrating the High Holy days in rented hotel spaces while the city\’s oldest intact synagogue sat empty, deteriorating just a few miles away.
It was Friday night in Shanghai, a major linchpin of the Jewish Diaspora, and folks from all over the world were dropping in to wish Rabbi Greenberg "Shabbat shalom."
The seder was a huge success, setting an all-time record for a Jewish holiday observance in Beijing.