CHINA 2010: Building Bridges

Six times, over the past 25 years, I have stood on the Great Wall of China, each time filled with awe. But the Wall – magnificent as it is – is not what brings me back to China. I return each time not primarily to see what was intended to divide people – a wall – but to work on breaking down walls by participating in what unites them – a bridge. My particular bridge is the unique one provided by the China/Judaic Studies Association, furthering the study of Judaism in China.

This most recent visit fell into three neat divisions. We began with what might be termed the appetizers – sightseeing in Beijing with the Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Olympic Park, and the Temple of Heaven, and then moving on to the scenic wonders of Guilin and a Li River Cruise. We ended with what I consider the dessert -- bustling, thriving Shanghai, where we culminated our two weeks with an exhausting but exhilarating visit to the 2010 World Expo.

But to me, the best part was the main course – Nanjing, the city which had been my initial goal in 1985 when I visited my late husband, Jim Friend, who was teaching English at Nanjing University. There, I met the man who was to change all of our lives – Professor Xu Xin – then deputy chair of the English Department, now the leading Judaic Scholar in China. His meeting with Jim, the first Jew he had ever known, was the catalyst for all that followed, even though Jim did not live long enough to see the aftermath.

On trip number five, in 2006, my oldest daughter Tracy, her partner Lynn, and I stepped onto an official academic bridge between the Chinese and Jewish peoples when we attended the dedication of the Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies at Nanjing University – the realization of Xu''s dream. For Xu Xin, "not to understand the contribution of the Jews to world history is not to understand the world." For me, "not to understand another people is a failed opportunity to counteract hatred and bigotry."

Now I was returning with my younger daughter Marla, her husband Steve, their children, and my dear friend Irv Kaplan, to see what the Institute is achieving.

Nothing can compare with the thrill of sitting down with 15 graduate students to learn about their current studies. Several have spent a year in Israel, at Tel Aviv University, and for others this lies ahead. The depth of their dedication was evident as we proceeded around the conference table, each of them proudly announcing current projects. The varied studies are impressive and range from historical to religious topics.

 On the MA level, students are working on topics that include an "Analysis on Medieval Anti-Semitic Cartoons," "The Rennes Court Martial and the Reaction of British Society," "A Survey on the Functions of Synagogues," "The Separation of Christianity from Judaism," and "A Study on Educational Ideology of Samson Raphael Hirsch: the Jewish Religious Education Facing Modernity."

 Doctoral dissertations deal with "The Status of Jewish Women in Medieval Europe," "The Creation and the Influence of the Promulgation of the Jewish Declaration of Vatican II of the Roman Catholic Church,"  "A Study of the Berlin Haskalah Movement," "A Study of Ahad Ha-am’s Cultural Zionism," "Sources of Ideology of the Reform Movement in Germany" and "The Battle Against the Opposition -- A Study of the Jewish Peoples’ Fight Against Holocaust Denial"

It was equally exciting finally to meet Professor Lihong Song – who will succeed Xu as Director of the Institute four years from now when Xu retires at age 65. I had not had the opportunity to meet him during Song''s studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia, last year, but had read several of his fine articles and knew he was preparing himself for the post. We also met Israeli Enav Sinshi, who has been teaching Hebrew at the Institute for the past three years while completing his MA at the University. Unfortunately, we were not able to meet Professor Zhenhua Meng who was currently attending a Hebrew Bible Conference at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

 Looking at the students and faculty of the Institute, I could see what they had accomplished and – even more important -- were planning to accomplish in the time ahead.  And I also saw the pride with which the University regards the Judaic Studies Program when university dignitaries Vice President Ren Lijian, Director Zuo Chengci, and Deputy Director Dai Zhehua, met with us formally and then informally at a banquet, to discuss these future plans.

It is so amazing to have watched the growth of the Judaic Institute from its seedling days, planted when Xu met Jim – and growing through such wonderful projects as the translation of the Encyclopedia Judaica into Chinese, and Nanjing''s summer institutes held for professors of history and world civilizations from other Chinese colleges and universities in order for them to incorporate this information into their own classes. To continue the metaphor: the harvest is in this thriving Institute!

Or with another metaphor, it can all be can be likened to a pebble falling into a pond and generating concentric circles. Just as an example, when Xu taught his first classes in Judaic Studies to 15 students, they asked questions that dealt with Jewish identity, family values, anti-Semitism, the connection to Israel, and keys to Jewish success and contributions to science, medicine business and the arts. At that time, over 20 years ago, I solicited answers from clergy and laymen alike and sent them all off to Xu. Later, I listed the questions on the Association web site at www.oakton.edu/~friend/chinajews.html. Reading these questions online so many years later, American Jewish Physician Eric J. Friedman was inspired to answer. The result is the book "Seven Chinese Questions, Seven Jewish Answers," written in English and translated into Chinese by Xu Xin, and published in a provocative dual-language edition and one of the most recent of Xu''s many projects. (I brought back several copies and can be contacted at friend@oakton.edu for further information).

Xu has also just completed a translation of "The Years of Extermination" by Saul Friedlander and he is currently writing about the history and current state of Anti-Semitism, a book which he hopes to finish this summer.

As time passes, however, both Xu and I are feeling our mortality: he, because of his recent death-threatening cerebral aneurism, and me simply because of advancing years. As he recovered, Xu decided to donate a considerable amount of his own earnings -- including all the royalties from his books – to the Institute. In addition, I have decided to establish a James Friend Memorial Endowment to provide the much-needed scholarships for worthy students. As the school has just created a Nanjing University (NUJUEF) Educational Foundation, tax deductable donations can be made and sent to a U.S. address:

NJUEF

2207 Concord Pike Suite 106

Wilmington, DE 19803

USA

 

Please note Judaic Studies on your check

 

 Leaving Nanjing, we travelled through Jiangdu, Xu''s hometown and Suzhou, home of his wife Kong Defang, and in each place experienced heart-warming moments with Xu''s mother and many other family members. What a trip down memory lane – we are all one family!

During our final morning in China, we returned to our cultural bridge, visiting an important site where Xu takes all of his graduate students: the Jewish Refugees Museum in Shanghai. Located in the former Ohel Moishe Synagogue, the museum offers a well-conceived 8-minute video followed by exhibits about the history of and artifacts from refugees who were sheltered in the city during World War II. The synagogue is situated in the Hongkou ghetto district – which is now much smaller in area than in former years. Much has been torn down to make way for new buildings. According to Xu, 10,000 new apartments go up in Shanghai each month and a vast complex is currently being built to accommodate docking and shopping malls for those planning to enjoy future cruises into the city. What remains of the ghetto itself has been renovated and, while it gives some idea of what life must have been like for those fleeing Europe, it has been sanitized some and is not nearly as daunting as I recall it from earlier trips.

What lies next? I told Xu it was his turn now and he should plan to visit the U.S. I believe he may do so, possibly next October. And as for me? Will there be a seventh trip, or an eighth? Who knows what the future holds? But what I do know and hope for is the future success of the Institute. May it outlive all of us and thrive in future years to be a bridge between our two peoples.