History of Jews in China (Kaifeng Jews)

The Kaifeng Jews are members of a small community of descendants of Chinese Jews in Kaifeng, in the Henan province of China. In the early centuries of their settlement, they may have numbered around 2,500 people. Despite their isolation from the rest of the Jewish diaspora, their ancestors managed to practice Jewish traditions and customs for several centuries. The distinctive customary life of the Kaifeng community slowly eroded, as assimilation and intermarriage with Han Chinese and Hui neighbors advanced, until, by the 19th century, its Jewishness largely became extinct, apart from its retention of memories of its clan’s Jewish past. The place of origin of these Jews and the date when they established their settlement in Kaifeng are sources of intense debate among experts. While the descendants of the Kaifeng Jews are assimilated into mainstream Chinese culture, some of them are trying to revive the beliefs and customs of their ancestors. In the 21st century, efforts have been made to revive Kaifeng’s Jewish heritage and encourage the descendants of its original population to convert back to have undertaken to qualify for aliyah and relocate to Israel.