There were three Jewish descendants that were brought before the American Jewish Congress groups in 1983. Shi Zhongyu, Shi Yulian and Zhao Pingyu are the only Chinese Jews often chosen to speak before groups of Jewish tourists. They are all eloquent spokesmen but they nevertheless leave visitors disappointed, as the Westerners try to understand the strong ties which somehow bound them, as well as the differences which seemed at times insurmountable. Indeed, many go away feeling that these people are insincere since they neither observed Jewish holidays and traditions anymore, nor do they speak or read Hebrew. They also echo the standard response of the Chinese Government about Israeli aggression.

How close do these Chinese Jews feel to Jews around the world? Many feel a special bond for the common ancestry and heritage, but the political world in which they live precludes a deeper understanding of Jewish ties to the Land of Israel. Nevertheless, pride in their past is very real, as can be seen by their listing their children as "Youtai" (Jewish) on all certificates of registry, next to the space allotted for nationality, where they once might have written "Han" (ethnic Chinese).

Zhao Pingyu, a retired tax collector in his mid-60's and a member of the Planning Committee of the Tourist Bureau of Kaifeng, displayed one of these certificates. Perhaps the most enterprising of all the Chinese Jews, Zhao is preparing a mini-museum or, as he calls it, a "commemorative hall, " which will recount the many contributions and scholarly successes attained over the centuries by his ancestors. To this end, he has built a model of the old synagogue as his father and grandfather told him it looked. It is along the lines of the model of the Kaifeng synagogue found in Be in Hatefutzot (the Diaspora Museum) in Tel Aviv, only Zhao has added two stone lions in the front, which were thought to have stood there throughout the centuries.

"In the course of researching the history of the Zhao clan, one must also understand things which pertain to the original synagogue, " says Zhao. "At least this will enable me to pass this knowledge on to my own descendants so that they will understand their history. During my research of the synagogue, I discovered that the last restoration was undertaken by my family ancestors. "

Given that Judaism has been traced patrilineal in Kaifeng for centuries, Zhao finds himself in a peculiar position: He is one of the few Chinese Jewish descendants with an extensive knowledge of his people's history and only has five daughters-to pass it on to. Like Tevye, Zhao has had to accommodate to changing times. He has, therefore, decreed that any children which his daughters have should be registered as "Youtai, " even if their fathers are not of Jewish descent and they have all agreed. In fact, one daughter has joined her father in a small-scale enterprise of making Chinese Jewish yarmulkas to be sold to Jewish tourists-which will, they hope, bring in much needed funds for the museum project.

Although he has amassed a formidable Judaism collection from Jewish tourists over the years, Zhao can neither read the books nor make use of them, as they are all in English or Hebrew. However, he does appreciate having them and hopes that one of his daughters, whom he would like to send to the United States to study Judaism, will someday return to Kaifeng and explain them to her father.

The Zhaos still live on South Teaching Scripture Lane, named after the religion of the Jews who resided there because of its close proximity to the synagogue. "The synagogue was destroyed in the flood of the Yellow River, " says Zhao. "After the flood in the mid nineteenth century, many Jews fled to other parts of the country. They went north, south, east and west, scattered in all directions. After they left, they managed to make a living where they were and never bothered to return. So some of them now don't even realize they have Jewish ancestry. At that time we also left, without any choice. But we couldn't make a living, so we came back. After this, we had no house, no way to make a living, so we just set up a house next to the original synagogue temporarily and slowly made our lives again. That's how we came to remain on this street. "

Few Kaifeng Jewish descendants display the knowledge of their ancestry that Zhao Pingyu possesses. When shown a Star of David, for example, Ai Dianyuan did not recognize it as a Jewish symbol. Nevertheless, Ai displayed an attitude typical of most Jewish descendants in Kaifeng today, as distinct from those brought before tourist groups to recount their family's histories; that is, they know they are of Jewish descent only because they were told so by their fathers, and they have a strong desire to pass this one bit of information on to their children. For some reason, it is still important to them to do so.
Ai Fengmian, a former construction worker now in his 70's, had one of the most interesting stories. In 1952 Ai was picked by his neighborhood committee to go to Beijing to represent Chinese Jews as one of the national minorities in a ceremony held by the then three-year-old government of the People's Republic of China. Ai met and shook hands with Mao Tse-tung, Chou En-Lai and Deng Xiaoping. One might conclude from this episode that shortly after the establishment of the PRC, Jews were close to being declared a national minority.

China has 55 national minorities, who are declared such on the basis of common language, traditions, customs and geographic area. The Muslims now constitute the second largest minority in China, after the Zhuang, and they are able to retain their study of Arabic and religious observance in mosques. The Jews, however, long ago lost their knowledge of Hebrew and, with the destruction of the synagogue, a communal meeting place for worship) Jews were, in fact, swallowed up by Islam over the years, since it was the religion whose customs and practices were most like those of Judaism.

One such person is Jin Xiaojing, a sociologist at the National Minorities Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing. Jin, whose surname means "Gold, " only discovered her Jewish roots in 1980. Jin Xiaojing's daughter, Qu Yinan, a Beijing journalist, is now studying at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles.

A deep desire to recover his heritage was best exhibited by Shi Zhongyu, whose childhood memories of celebrating Passover and seeing brass Stars of David wrapped in red silk hidden in a medicine chest are still vivid. "The yarmulkas I saw in my family were not made up of four sections like this [given him by a tourist], but rather were composed of six pieces, " he recalls. "They were dark blue with black trim, and there was Hebrew writing embroidered on it. They used yellow thread to embroider it with. I never understood any of the Hebrew writing.... These belonged to the previous generation. It was always kept in the closet.... As I remember now, the number of the edges probably has something to do with the Sabbath. The story goes that on the first day God created such and such, the second day God created such and such, and so on, finishing creation on the sixth day. So because of this, the yarmulka has six or seven parts. I heard this from my mother. It's really regrettable we no longer have these things. "
Shi is working with Wang Yisha, former curator of the Kaifeng Municipal Museum, who probably knows more contemporary Chinese Jewish descendants than anyone else, to reconstruct the genealogies of the Kaifeng Jews, in particular of the Shi clan. To this end, they are eager to get hold of the Chinese-Hebrew Memorial Book of the Dead, on which Sino-Judaic scholar Donald Daniel Leslie has done considerable research. The Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati has agreed to donate two microfiches of this work to Kaifeng-one to the Municipal Museum, which is planning a Judaism wing that will house the steles, and another directly to Wang Yisha. However, efforts to expedite the sending of the microfiches have run into some bureaucratic snags, which have temporarily set back those who would delve into their past in Kaifeng.

China International Travel Service has been attempting to establish greater tourist contact between Western Jews and Kaifeng. However, tourists have been discouraged by the many inconveniences of traveling to Kaifeng (still a long way from the amenities afforded by the more glamorous cities of Shanghai and Beijing) and the shortage of actual "things to see" relating to the history of the Chinese Jews: The site of the synagogue is now occupied by a hospital and local make it difficult to view the two steles that hold great historical significance. This was the reason even the American Jewish Congress were forced to abandon historical Kaifeng from their itinerary of its China tour in 1986.

Many tourists brought to Kaifeng in official groups have come away wondering whether the whole thing wasn't a hoax to get visitors and their money into the city. This assessment was decided after having spoken to many of the Jewish descendants in the privacy of their homes, listening to their stories and even discussing Middle East politics. There are precious memories of Jewish life in Kaifeng which are worth recording for future generations of Chinese Jews and for Jews around the world.

To this end, the Sino-Judaic Institute was created in 1985 in Palo Alto, California, to encourage research and scholarship about the Jewish experience in China and to aid the establishment of a Judaism wing in the Kaifeng Municipal Museum.

One realizes the Chinese Jews are a mixture of two of the greatest civilizations-certainly the oldest-the world has known. It is not surprising that Judaism and Jews as a community no longer live on in Kaifeng, but rather, how they could have survived in that far corner of the earth with a Jewish identity for so long.

Shanghai Jews
From the middle of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century, the Jews in Shanghai became the largest Jewish community in the Far East. From the Sephardic Jewish merchants to the refugees of war-torn Europe, the total number of Jews in the city amounted to thirty-one thousand. They had their own religious association, synagogues, schools, hospital, club, cemeteries, chamber of commerce, publishing establishment and political groups, etc. The heritage of the Jews from various countries that settled here is quite evident in many places throughout Shanghai, especially the Hongkou District. "Shanghai Jews" around the world still call themselves "Shanghailander" and regard Shanghai as their "hometown."