 |
|
Nov. 20, 2009
Nov. 19, 2009
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf
with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith
with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality
with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Nov. 12, 2009
JWisdom.com Does God get tired?
with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven
with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole
in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to
have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How
to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Nov. 5, 2009
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking
Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker
With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater?
With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change
With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
|
| |
Jewish World Review
June 22, 2004
/ 3 Tamuz, 5764
How Wen-Jing Became ‘Shalva’
By
Michael Freund
Chinese Jewish descendant returns to Judaism
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
For the first time, a descendant of the once-vibrant Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, has undergone conversion in Israel and formally returned to Judaism.
This past Sunday, Jin Wen-Jing, an 18-year-old student at the Yemin Orde youth village, went before a Haifa conversion court under the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate.
 | | Jin Wen-Jing holding her official conversion certificate from the Chief Rabbinate, together with Yemin Orde Director Dr. Chaim Peri (left) and educator Rabbi Zev Rubens (right) |
After administering an oral examination aimed at assessing her commitment to Judaism as well as her knowledge of Jewish law and tradition, the three rabbis comprising the Beit Din informed Wen-Jing that they had decided to accept her as a Jew.
Speaking in fluent Hebrew, Wen-Jing was quick to express her joy, and relief, at the court's decision. "I was very nervous, but now I am very happy," she said. "This has always been my family's dream — to return to our roots."
Wen-Jing arrived in Israel four years ago with her parents. Her father, Jin Guang-Yuan, who now goes by the name Shlomo, is a direct descendant of the Jewish community that existed for nearly a thousand years in the city of Kaifeng, which lies north of Beijing, on the south bank of the Yellow River.
At its peak, during the Ming Dynasty, Kaifeng Jewry numbered about 5,000 people. But widespread intermarriage and assimilation, as well as the death of the community's last rabbi, brought about its demise by the middle of the 19th century.
Scholars say there are still hundreds of people in Kaifeng who cling to their identity as descendants of the town's Jewish community.
Wen-Jing's father still carries with him a copy of his internal Chinese identification card, which lists his nationality as "Youtai," or Jew.
He and his wife hope to follow in their daughter's footsteps and undergo conversion soon.
Since her arrival in Israel, Wen-Jing has been studying at Yemin Orde under the guidance of the youth village's director, Dr. Chaim Peri, as well Rabbi Zev Rubens, an educator who oversees the school's conversion program, both of whom accompanied her to the beis din
She has decided to adopt the name Shalva (serenity), which is the Hebrew translation of her Chinese given name. Currently in the midst of her matriculation exams, Wen-Jing will shortly enter the National Service (Sherut Leumi) program for religious girls, and will perform her national service at Shaarei Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
Why did she decide to convert?
"G-d chose the Jewish people to be His nation, and I wanted to be a part of it," said Wen-Jing, smiling.
"G-d has performed many miracles for Israel," she said, adding, "The fact that I have come here from China, and made it all the way here, back to my people — that too is a miracle."
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading."
Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Michael Freund served as Deputy Director of Communications & Policy Planning under former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Comment by clicking here.
© 2004, Michael Freund
|
