City on the Sea: Timeless novels about 1930s Shanghai by Susan Blumberg-Kason Writing saved Vicki Baum’s life. A mother of three, Baum started writing in her native Vienna at night after her children went to bed. She rose to fame in German-speaking Europe in the late 1920s as a popular novelist and romance writer. But it was her 1931 novel Grand Hotel that catapulted Baum to international fame and thus changed the course of her life and that of her family. After Grand Hotel was adapted to the stage in London and New York, Baum traveled to the United States on a two-week trip in 1931 and fell so in love with the country, she brought her family over to settle in California. It was from her new home in Los Angeles and her successful Hollywood writing career that allowed her to sail across the … Continue Reading
A History of the Parur Synagogue
A History of the Parur Synagogue: Trial by fire, inquisition and neglect by Jay Waronker and Shalva Weil Many people have heard of the Jews of Cochin (today Kochi) in southwestern India, but far fewer know that there were in fact other small Jewish communities over the centuries in this same region of the country, each revolving around a synagogue. Eight such buildings, all located in the central part of the State of Kerala, survive in some form today. The most famous of these synagogues is the Paradesi synagogue in Jew Town, Cochin, with its beautiful blue tiles imported from China. In 1968, Indira Gandhi attended its quarter-centenary celebrations and the Indian government issued a special commemorative stamp on the occasion. Today, there are only nine Paradesi Jews left in Jew Town, and a … Continue Reading
Portrait of a Heroine in Shanghai
by Erica Lyons The story of Laura Margolis reads like an epic novel. She embodies what larger-than-life literary heroines are made of, though without embellishment, exaggeration, panache or hubris. She was the real thing. Yet despite this, to most, this remarkable and dignified woman remains unknown. Imagine the scene: Japanese-occupied Shanghai. The city has been ravaged by war. Hardships and serious deprivations abound. Then add in the arrival of over 20,000 Jewish refugees desperate to escape the fate of their brethren in German Nazi occupied Europe. They arrive in the last free port in the world, seeking refuge. A lone American woman travels by boat determined to help as many of these refugees as possible to emigrate to America, as well as to assist in meeting the daily needs of all the … Continue Reading
Life, Vision and Persistence in Jew Town
by Allison Heiliczer We went to Cochin without a plan, as this is often how the best trips unfold. There were so many unanswered questions: What does Jewish life look like in Cochin in India and its “Jew Town”? Is there any contemporary Jewish life there? How did the Jews there celebrate sukkot (which is when we were there)? How would we celebrate sukkot? Were we permitted to visit the Paradesi Synagogue? Would we be able to attend services? My internet searched yielded more questions than answers. “Surrender” I kept telling myself as these questions elicited ambiguous responses from numerous sources. For my husband, Josh, though attending services was a priority for him - his consistent, steadfast belief was unshaken. He simply stated, “G-d will provide.” We turned the corner in … Continue Reading
A Strange Foreign Import: Jewish Studies in China
by Steve Hochstadt All over China, the Torah is studied and the Holocaust is taught. Never before has interest in Jews, Jewish culture and Jewish history been so widespread in the world’s most populous nation. Jews have lived in China for nearly 1000 years. Well before European Christians discovered the Middle Kingdom, Jewish traders from western Asia had settled in Kaifeng, the capital of the Northern Song dynasty, and perhaps the largest city in the world in the 12th century. The small Kaifeng Jewish community survived floods and wars, but was gradually absorbed into Chinese culture. By the 19th century, there was no longer a synagogue and the descendants had lost their Jewish identity, although they still practiced some customs unusual in China, such as avoiding pork. Only a few recalled … Continue Reading
For IsraAid Japan’s Trauma isn’t Forgotten
by Jana Daniels In a series of short interrupted conversations with IsraAid Relief Program Japan Project Coordinator Yotam Polizer, come responses to interview questions as he rushes off again busy with work in the field. Each time, he again picks up where he left off. “Demand is high,” Polizer explains. This is the reality in the field during a humanitarian aid mission. For Polizer, though, it is clear, that the reward is great. He explains that he is a true believer in the mission of IsraAid which first and foremost is to provide humanitarian assistance, focused on both development and relief, to people irrespective of religion, race or nationality. IsraAid is fueled by the desire to engage in Tikkun Olam, which is one of the core Jewish values, and which is the responsibility to fix what … Continue Reading
Playing Jewish Geography in Phnom Penh
Playing Jewish Geography in Phnom Penh The redevelopment of a community by Craig Gerard Phnom Penh is a small town, especially when you are an expat. It's common to run into people you know at the coffee shop, the grocery store, the local pub… it seems once you are around long enough, you get to know most of the people worth knowing, despite the transient nature of the population. This is even truer of the Jewish community in Cambodia; it's like an easy game of Jewish Geography. "Oh, do you know Sol who works at Save the Children?" "Yes, of course I know Sol, his children go to preschool with mine." The game is almost impossible to lose. It's fast paced and only concludes when everyone in the community is named. Yet as connected as we are, there are two very distinct ways that Phnom Penh … Continue Reading
From Kaifeng to the Kotel: a Chinese Rabbi in the Making
by Michael Freund It is a warm summer day in Israel and despite the agreeable weather outside, Yaakov Wang is glued to his seat in the study hall. Arrayed on the desk in front of him is a small mountain of Jewish texts, ranging from the Bible to the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (Concise Code of Jewish Law) to books on Jewish philosophy and thought. Yaakov listens intently as his teacher at a Jerusalem-area yeshiva explains the intricacies of Jewish practice and belief. Puzzled by a particular explanation, he doesn't hesitate to ask for clarification when the need arises. Satisfied with the answer he receives, he dutifully enters the information into a spiral notebook for further study and reflection. It is a typical scene, one that is repeated throughout schools of Jewish learning across the … Continue Reading
When Past and Present Collide: Reshaping the Future of the Historic Shanghai Ghetto
by Erica Lyons Seemingly there is a real tension in Shanghai's Tilanqiao district. The tension is between competing interests: historic significance versus a rapidly growing urban population (in need of housing and basic communal amenities) versus businesses looking to expand and cash in on the plethora of potential opportunities. At the center of the debate over land use and redevelopment lies the fate of what was once the Shanghai Jewish Ghetto. But Shanghai is a city where the tension between sharp contrasts defines its beauty, where old and new clash to create something entirely one-of-a-kind, something wholly Shanghai. Urban growth is often dramatic and the only certainty often is rapid change. While much of Tilanqiao is rundown and ramshackle, its notable features include Ohel Moishe … Continue Reading
Holy People in the Taxi
by Erica Lyons The streets of Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district are bustling with traffic. Yet people seem to be entirely oblivious to the cars and wander across streets pushing rickety carts piled with colored plastic house-wares, flattened old cardboard boxes and the occasional pile of dead pigs with wobbly flesh. Shirtless men run across the street carrying plastic buckets filled with water and eels attempting escape. They splash murky water as they run. Old ladies over-laden with dozens of colored plastic bags with recent wet-market purchases shuffle around the people crowded in open air shops haggling over the price of animal parts I care not to try to identify. The shouts of street vendors fill even the quiet space inside the taxi. The taxi cab jerks as it continuously stops for the … Continue Reading
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