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Made in China, Blessed in Israel
(Ha'aretz) Judy Maltz - Descendants of Kaifeng Jews, an ancient community from China's Henan Province, have come to Israel to reclaim their Judaism. Yage Wong, today Yaakov, and five of his peers, all in their 20s, recently participated in the conversion rituals in Israel, becoming the first group of men from this remote Jewish community to be accepted back into the fold after hundreds of years. They were preceded in 2007 by a group of four Kaifeng women who completed the conversion process in Israel. The Jewish community of Kaifeng was formed roughly 1,000 years ago, when a group of Jewish merchants, presumably from Persia, settled in the region. The Jews lived in a segregated community for hundreds of years before they began assimilating and intermarrying with local Chinese. At its height, the community numbered as many as 5,000. Today, about 1,000 Chinese can trace their roots to them.