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- China + Rosh Hashanah
Passport to Peoplehood: China
Explore the rich Jewish heritage of China and the connections between Rosh Hashanah and Chinese New Year.
Slideshows
China Slideshow
Discover the long Jewish history of China, one of the world’s largest and oldest countries.
• China Slideshow Script (PDF)
• China Educator Background (PDF)
Rosh Hashanah & Chinese New Year Slideshow
What do Rosh Hashanah and Chinese New Year have in common?
• Holiday Slideshow Script (PDF)
• Holiday Educator Background (PDF)
Recipe
Chinese Vegetable Dumplings
These tasty dumplings are guaranteed to bring good luck in the new year.
Discussion
Jewish & Chinese New Year Worksheet
Lead a discussion of the similarities and differences between the two holidays. Best used in conjunction with the Rosh Hashanah & Chinese New Year Slideshow.
Articles about Jews & China
A selection of articles from our Jewish Diversity Archive, the world’s largest online archive of material about ethnically and racially diverse Jews. Explore the archive >
Etan Smallman, South China Morning Post, 03/08/2020
The dwindling community, which has only 100 practising members in Henan province, was established in AD600. After learning of their existence online, an 18-year-old schoolboy with no Jewish heritage went on a voyage of discovery.
Rich Tenorio, Jewish Boston, 01/21/2020
Jacqueline Mates-Muchin, the first Chinese American rabbi in the U.S., is looking forward to celebrating the Chinese New Year on Jan. 25.
Gabriel Greschler, The J., 09/12/2019
As a 6-year-old Jewish girl in Berlin in 1939, Helga Silberberg was about to start a tumultuous journey.
Humans of Hillel, Hillel International, 09/03/2019
Humans of Hillel highlights the identities of Jewish college students. Learn from students about why Hillel is meaningful to their Jewish identities.
Diarna Digital Heritage Mapping, Diarna, 08/01/2019
Strategically located south of the majestic Yellow River, Kaifeng, formerly known as Bianlang, was one of the seven ancient capitals of China.
Travel China Guide, Travel China Guide, 04/22/2019
Spring Festival Couplets, Chunlian in Chinese, is also known as Spring Couplets or Chinese New Year Couplets. It is the most common and important custom when celebrating Chinese New Year.
Dara Horn, Tablet, 04/19/2019
A dispatch from frozen Harbin, where Jews once flourished—and melted away
Amy Albertson, Jewish Journal, 04/02/2019
This is the first time in modern history that the Jewish people in Israel find themselves in a position of power. With this power comes great responsibility — the decision on how to treat minorities in our society. From my personal experience, Israel is missing the mark.
Emma Rosman, Shofar, 02/27/2019
The unique combination of these words shape who I am as an individual. I’ve recently thought about which word comes first-- am I an Asian Jew or a Jewish Asian?
Shanghai Jewish Museum, The Jerusalem Post, 10/22/2018
Diving into China's vast Jewish history
Seth Rogovoy, The Forward, 06/05/2018
The new Bruce Lee biography, “Bruce Lee: A Life”, comes with a few surprising revelations.
Judy Maltz, Haaretz, 09/13/2017
Members of groups with a Jewish connection from Africa, Asia and South America may get a chance to stay longer in Israel, even if they fall short of citizenship
Noah Leavitt, Huffington Post, 06/12/2017
n June 1958, Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter, a White man and a Black and Native American woman very much in love with each other, were married in Washington, D.C. where interracial marriage was legal.
Chris Buckley, The New York Times, 09/25/2016
The ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng, in central China, was experiencing a cultural and religious revival until a recent government clampdown, which has brought a ban on collective worship and forced out foreign Jewish groups.
Chris Buckley, The New York Times, 09/24/2016
KAIFENG, China — The rooms where ruddy-faced Chinese men and women once assembled to pray in Hebrew and Mandarin are silent.
Helen Kim and Noah Leavitt, The Jewish Book Council, 07/22/2016
The publication of JewAsian, coming just prior to the 4th of July holiday, provides a unique lens through which to observe the United States and try to learn about the state of our nation in 2016.
Noah Leavitt and Helen Kim, The Jewish Book Council, 07/18/2016
We have always acknowledged that what drew us to the research that would become the foundation of our book, JewAsian: Race, Religion, and Identity for America’s Newest Jews, started from personal questions based on our own experiences and relationship.
Shiryn Ghermezian, The Algemeiner, 07/10/2016
A new study revealed that Asian Americans are eager to raise their kids according to the Jewish faith, Religious News Service reported on Friday.
Noah Leavitt and Helen Kim, Union for Reform Judaism, 07/02/2016
I have to tell you, my daughter married a man who was Asian, and it was really hard for me. Because of the race thing.
Noah Leavitt, UNP Blog, 06/17/2016
We have recently completed a multi-year study of couples in which one partner is racially Asian of any religious background and the other partner is Jewish of any racial background, as well as on adult millennial children born to these kinds of marriages.
Jennifer Miller, The New York Times, 06/09/2016
When Dan Diamond was 12, his mother gave him a book titled “It All Begins With a Date: Jewish Concerns About Intermarriage.” At the time, it seemed a bizarre gift for someone so young, but its aim was clear.
Helen Kim, Huffington Post, 05/31/2016
At the beginning of this month in New York, a long-awaited national gathering called “Jews of Color National Convening” focused on a complex aspect of American Judaism - the misunderstanding and marginalization of Jews from racial and ethnic backgrounds that don’t code as white.
Taly Krupkin, Haaretz, 12/13/2015
Mixed Jewish-Asian couples are increasingly common in the U.S. A survey of children born to these couples presents a message to the Jewish community: More openness is required.
Davi Yael-Cheng, Jewish&, 06/01/2015
I was merely expressing who I am through art, and how the many pieces of me — the Jew, the Chinese, the lesbian — come together and become one.
Cantor Jodi Schechtman, Jewish&, 04/28/2015
This is the final in a short series on adoption in Jewish families.
Deborah Jiang-Stien, Jewish&, 04/29/2014
There’s not a “look” to Jewish, you just are.
World Jewish Congress, World Jewish Congress, 08/01/1936
China is home to about 2,500 Jews. A small ethno-religious minority, the Chinese Jewish community has deep historical roots that go back centuries.
Sheldon Kirshner Kirshner, The Times of Israel, 10/20/2016
The face of intermarriage in the United States has changed significantly since the Supreme Court, in the 1967 landmark Loving v. Virginia case, ruled that race-based legal restrictions on marriage are unconstitutional.
Helen Kim, Inside Higher Ed, 01/01/1970
In today’s Academic Minute, Whitman College’s Helen Kim examines if combining cultures, races or religious backgrounds can make both stronger in the long run. Kim is an associate professor of sociology at Whitman. Click to listen.
National Museum of American Jewish History and Philadelphia, , 07/13/2016
BLOG: Lessons Learned from Multicultural Jewish Asian Families
Books about Jews & China
Wendy Wan-Long Shang and Madelyn Rosenberg, Scholastic Inc, 03/26/2018
David Da-Wei Horowitz has a lot on his plate. Preparing for his upcoming bar mitzvah would be enough work even if it didn't involve trying to please his Jewish and Chinese grandmothers, who argue about everything. But David just wants everyone to be happy.
Pamela Mayer and Deborah Melmon, Kar-Ben Publishing, 08/01/2016
Two grandmas. Two delicious recipes. And one granddaughter caught in the middle!
Helen Kiyong Kim and Noah Samuel Leavitt, University of Nebraska Press, 07/01/2016
JewAsian is a qualitative examination of the intersection of race, religion, and ethnicity in the increasing number of households that are Jewish American and Asian American. Helen Kiyong Kim and Noah Samuel Leavitt’s book explores the larger social dimensions of intermarriages to explain how these particular unions reflect not only the identity of married individuals but also the communities to which they belong.
M. Avrum Ehrlich, Noam Urbach, Carl Hoffman and Jonathan Goldstein, ABC-CLIO, 10/03/2008
See "Jews of Kaifeng, China" (2009) pages (1160-1167). "Jews in China" (2009) pages (1155-1159). "Jews in Shanghai"(2009) pages (1172-1176). "Jews in China"(2009) pages (1182-1185).
Rose A. Lewis and Jane Dyer, ittle, Brown Books for Young Readers, 05/01/2007
In I Love You Like Crazy Cakes, Rose Lewis and Jane Dyer told the heartfelt story of one woman's adoption a baby girl from China. These sentiments are brought to life again in this touching portrait of birthday celebrations and unforgettable moments between a mother and her little girl.
Robin K. Levinson, Gali Girls Inc, 07/30/2006
Part of the Gali Girls series, about a Jewish community living in Old China
Carrie Rosten, Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 09/13/2005
A novel about a Chinese Jewish girl’s obsession with fashion.
Pan Guang, China Intercontinental Press, 08/01/2004
A fascinating photographic record that illustrates four historical migrations of Jews to China: Yuan dynasty Jews in Kaifeng, mid-nineteenth century Baghdadi merchants in Shanghai, early twentieth century migrants from Russia, and mid twentieth century refugees from Nazi Germany. Black and white photographs, Chinese and English commentary throughout.
Ying Ying Fry and Terry Fry, Yeong & Yeong Book Company, 01/01/2001
In this first view of China adoption from a child's perspective, eight-year-old Ying Ying Fry returns to her orphanage to remember what it is like and to write a story so that other adopted children will understand where they came from.
Xu Xin, Beverly Friend and Ting Cheng, Ktav Pub & Distributors Inc, 01/01/1995
A collection of legends and stories from the oral tradition of this group of Jews who migrated to China long ago offers a look at their history and unique identity.
William Charles White, Paragon Book Reprint Corp, 01/01/1966
A compilation of matters relating to the Jews of Kʻai-fêng Fu.