Parshas Bamidbar - (Trip to China)

Good Shabbos! The portion begins by telling us that G-d counted each Jew in the desert and I thought of that this week as I looked for Jews living in the far away desert called China.

I must begin by reminding you of the story of the Jewish astronaut who was one of three lucky astronauts chosen for a mission in which they would orbit the earth every 48 minutes for three days. When they returned, the first astronaut was asked how he enjoyed his trip and he exclaimed how beautiful it was to see the oceans of the world seem to blend into one another. The second astronaut answered that he was amazed as the lush green forests of the earth all seemed to blend into one. The Jewish astronaut was asked for his impression but he said “Impression, who had time to get an impression. Tefillin on, tefillin off. Tefillin on, tefillin off. That was all I could do on the entire mission”.

I left last Sunday for a short trip to China. Before I left, my son, Chaim asked me a question. He had flown back and forth to Australia a number of times, and reminded me that when flying west towards California and Alaska etc. the plane is obviously heading west towards the sun. Then it crosses the International Dateline and it is the next day. So he asked me, “Since it is day the whole trip, Sunday daytime when I left Louisville and then Monday daytime when I arrived in China, all without having a night, what would I do about saying evening services for Sunday night and about coming the Omer”? Truthfully, it is a really important question, because Shavous is based on counting 49 days from Pesach and so if the count is off, many sages would say one must celebrate Shavous on the day after everyone else. What a nightmare that would be?

I asked a few friends and they all told me that there would in fact be a night, but it would be very short. So as soon as i got on the plane, I asked the stewardess what time would we be traveling during darkness. To my surprise and shock, she answered that there was not any darkness on this flight at all. I immediately got quite concerned that my Shavous holiday would be ruined. She must of sensed my concern for then she smiled and said, “Although it may not be dark outside, all the shades would all be drawn in the plane so I would be able to sleep if that was my concern”. I just smiled. More about that later.

Since 1949 when the People’s Republic of China came to power, there are only 5 recognized religious in all of China - Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, and Hinduism. However Judaism did not make the cut. Jews first came to China in the mid 1800’s when China opened its borders to foreign traders after the Opium War. The first wave of traders was Sephardic Jews who did quite well. One of the most successful of these traders was named Sir Edward Jacob Sasoon.

He built many large buildings in Shanghai as well as the Ohel Rachel Synagogue which was dedicated in 1920 in memory of his wife. At that time, there were just over 500 Jews living in Shanghai but the Synagogue was built in grand style to accommodate no less then 700 people in its Sanctuary and room for hundreds more in its large social hall.

In the 1930’s when many other countries closed their doors to Jews running for their lives from the Nazis, over 20,000 Jews took refuge in Shanghai with not even a visa required for them to locate there. Over 400 students arrived in Shanghai from the Mir Yeshiva and continued their studies there.

After the war, when the Communist Government took power in 1949, most Jews left Shanghai and the number of Jews living there dwindled to about 250 people. In recent years, since opening its doors to international trade, the number of Jews living in Shanghai has swelled to about 2500.

They come to Shanghai from around the world, yet there are no Chinese Jews. The two synagogues that remain are closed for services by order of the government. The smaller one is used as a museum, and the large, Ohel Rachel Synagogue, is open just twice a year to mark Chanukah and Purim as a symbol of friendship and goodwill between the People’s Republic of China and the Jewish people of the world.

Chabad has been active in Shanghai for about 10 years but are only allowed to provide services for foreigners. The Chabad center includes a shul, a beautiful mikva, a preschool of 40 children, a Sunday school of 60 children and an upscale restaurant. On average, 120 people daven there each Friday evening, 50 for minyon on Shabbos morning, and 200 come through the restaurant each week. About 400 people for High Holidays and 500 for the first Seder on Pesach.

As far as my counting the Omer I asked the Rabbi there about the long day and missing the night and he smiled and said that it was most odd for Americans to get used to but that was exactly right. I asked what I should do and he said, not to worry, it would correct itself on the way back. Indeed, on the way back, I left on Thursday afternoon, soon it was Thursday night, a few hours later it was day again but still Thursday. So by Thursday night, I was back on track with counting the same days as everyone else.

I admired the Chinese as I found them to be hard working and very pleasant, but I felt sad that they did not have the most basic concept of monotheism as we do in this country. The trip made me remember how lucky we are as Jews, to be so loved by G-d that he counts us and protects us and allows us to feel him and to know him in our hearts and in our minds, and let us say, Amain.