Seminars
and Workshops
Plans
History
China Judaic Studies Association
Promoting Judaic Studies in China
President: Xu Xin: xuxin49@jlonline.com
School of Religious Studies, Nanjing University, Nanjing
210093
Executive Director: Beverly
Friend, Ph.D. friend@oakton.edu
Oakton Community College, 7701 N. Lincoln Ave., Skokie, IL
60077-2895
Foreign Office: Kenneth Lubowich ODM
For tour information email: info@china-usa.org
Web Page Editor: Dick Smith of Dick Smith Software: dick@dicksmithsoftware.com
UPDATE ON XU XIN'S HEALTH
board meeting of the Sino Judaic Institute (see http://www.sino-judaic.org).
Following Seattle, Xu headed for Los Angeles to meet with Guilford Glazer,
who has made a second donation of $100, 000 to the
Glazer Institute of Jewish Studies Institute. He visited London
and received another considerable donation from Daim Dangoor
and the Exilarch Foundation to set up an endowed chair for a
Professor
of Monotheism (see following article).
Next, Xu next Kunming in Yunnan Province for five days to teach classes on the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism.
He has resumed work on two books and hopes to re-schedule the proposed trip he was to make to the U.S. last year to engage in research at the Holocaust Museum.
October, 2008:
Endowment for the Study of Monotheism 
The Exilarch Foundation has made a generous initial endowment to the Institute for Jewish Studies to establish the Naim Dangoor Fund for Universal Monotheism Studies. Matched by University funds, the new program will enhance the Institute's research and teaching of the core concepts of three monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Professor Xu Xin and Naim Dangoor
Philanthropist Naim Dangoor, an Iraqi-born Jew
who moved to Britain in 1964 and became a successful property investor
and developer in London, created the Exilarch Foundation in 1978. This
grew into a major
philanthropic institution providing support for education
and other causes in UK and in Israel. He received the Order of the British
Empire in 2006 for his generous contributions and far-reaching vision of
today's world. Income from the endowment will be used to create a better
understanding of
the world by the Chinese people. It will also advance
efforts to recruitand retain a distinguished director, who will be given
the title Naim Dangoor Director of the Institute for Universal Monotheism
in honor of the Exilarch's Foundation's founder.
Reflecting on the commitment of the Exilarch's Foundation to theInstitute of Jewish Studies, Institute founding Director Xu Xin said,"This gift of an endowment from the Exilarch's Foundation will enableus to extend the scope of the Institute of Jewish Studies. It will enhance our ability tocollaborate with other institutes, and with various doctoral programs inco-sponsoring programs and in training and encouraging students to carry out research on Universal Monotheism important to understanding the worldcivilization in general and seek to find a universal project for world peace that recognizes the significance of each human being throughout theworld."
For links to a special edition of China Daily see the following:
Brief history of Institute of Jewish Studies
BREAKING NEWS:
HOT OFF THE PRESS:
Survival In Shanghai: The Journals Of Fred Marcus 1939-49 by Audrey Friedman Marcus and Rena Krasno
is available now! To order, go to http://www.fredmarcusmemorialwebsite.comor send a check for $22.95 plus $3.99 postage to Rena Krasno, 255 S Rengstorff, Apt 106, Mountain View, CA 94040.
EMAIL
NOTES:
Nov,
2008:
Is
the former Jewish presence in Harbin historically overlooked and/or neglected?
Here
is a fascinating email from Dr. Alfonz Lengyel (Sarasota, Florida):
It
is interesting, that in the USA only the early Jewish settlement in Kaifeng
is well known, but NOT the Jewish settlement in Harbin (Heilongjiang)
province of China. The China Daily never wrote about anything about
the contribution of the Immigrant Jews in Harbin's economy and culture
which still have standing buildings from the Jewish past in Harbin. In
the other hand, not many vestige of the Jewish settlement remained in Kaifeng.
This was my topic of my paper at the International Economic Conference
in Harbin in late June, 2008. In Kaifeng almost nothing left from the
Jewish past but in Harbin in addition of the restored two synagogues and
great number of commercial and non commercial buildings, schools, hotels,
etc. are still are intact. In the Jewish Encyclopedia only Kaifeng
is mentioned but Harbin was not included. Under Mao Zedong, during
the Cultural Revolution both Old and New Synagogues were ruined. Under
the present Market Socialist system both Synagogues were in 2004 restored.
The synagogues are under the protection of the Harbin Jewish Research Center
of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Harbin's Branch. ( Head
of the Center: Director (Mrs. Fu Mingjing)
The Jewish Research Center authorized me to organize for them a 10-day
summer exchange of talented mixed Jewish and not Jewish group, to perform
in Harbin.
I have a 40-minute Power Point presentation about the Rise and Fall of
Jewish Settlement in Harbin. I organized in Sarasota (Fl.) few years ago
a photo exhibition about the history of the Jewish settlement in
Harbin. (1890's to 1950). My Chinese wife Dr. Hongying Liu, professor of
Nanjing University of Economy and Finances, helped me more then 20 years
on my research on Jews in China, including Kaifeng, Tianjin, and Shanghai.
KAIFENG DOLL
In an alternative to American Girl books and Dolls, Reyna and the Jade Star, by Robin Levinson, tells the story of 12-year-old Reyna Li who lives in Old China's Jewish community of Kaifeng, in the year 1175. See http://www.galigirls.com
INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE WWII, SHANGHAI JEWS CELEBRATE WEDDING INSIDE SYNAGOGUE (about Ohel Rachel)
"A
glass was smashed, and a cheer went up. After months of careful negotiations
with the Chinese government, Shanghai's Jewish community celebrated a revival
last month as a historic synagogue opened for its first wedding in about
60 years."
For
the full article, see http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/976404.html
BEIJING'S ONLY KOSHER RESTAURANT MULLS SECOND BRANCH AHEAD OF OLYMPICS
"The
capital's only Kosher restaurant opened 10 months ago, drawing the small
Jewish expatriate community, tourists, curious Chinese and even a few Muslims.
Business has been so good at Dini's Kosher Restaurant, that part-owner
Lewis Sperber is talking about setting up a second branch closer to the
Olympic venues in northern Beijing."
For
full article, see http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/950010.html
CHINA 'REGRETS' SPIELBERG'S BOYCOTT OF OLYMPICS OVER DARFUR
"China expressed regret on Thursday over the decision by movie director Steven Spielberg to quit as an artistic adviser to the Beijing Olympics because of its policies in war-torn Sunday." For full article see http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/954290.html
AMID ISRAELI SIEGE, PALESTINIAN BUSINESSES LOOK EAST TO CHINA
"Faced
with Israeli trade and travel restrictions, a stagnant economy and a flood
of cheap imports from Asia, Palestinian businessmen are increasingly seeking
their fortunes in China." For full article, see http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971006.html
.
COMPLETED:
No
Girls in the Marching Band, A Memoir, gives a detailed description
of the initial friendship between Jim Friend, and Professor Xu Xin,
in 1985 and tells the story of the organization up to the ultimate moment:
the dedication of the Glazer Institute for Judaic Studies at Nanjing University
in 2006. Further information on the book can be found at Cafe
Press.
China Journal: A World of Difference, the posthumous publication of James Friend's joyous diary about teaching at Nanjing University, 1985-86, can be found at Cafe Press
Membership in the Association
promotes Judaic Study in China
- University Courses
- Seminars and Public Lectures on Judaic Topics here and in China
- Judaic Conferences
- Tours to Jewish Historical Sites
- Awards to Chinese scholars who have made outstanding contributions in the field
- Publications which include the following:
- A Chinese Version of the Enclyclopedia Judaica (in 2nd printing)
- Anti-Semitism: How and Why (in Chinese), by Xu Xin
- Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng (in English), by Xu Xin with Beverly Friend
- This website, which evolved from the bi-annual newsletter The China/Judaic Connection
- Books, monographs and articles
- Electronic mailings to people who have expressed an interest in the subject
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