From Kaifeng to Kibbutz: Chinese Descendants of Jews Come Home
From: Israel National News, Oct 21, 2009, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133970, by Hana Levi Julian
(IsraelNN.com) For the first time, a group of seven descendants of the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China has moved to Israel.The new arrivals, who were brought here by the Shavei Israel organization, arrived at Ben-Gurion airport late Tuesday night. The city of their birth, Kaifeng, sits on the banks of the Yellow River and was home to a flourishing Jewish community for more than a millennium.
“I am very excited to be here in the Holy Land,” said Yaakov Wang, one of the new immigrants. “This is something that my ancestors dreamed about for generations, and now thank G-d I have finally made it.”
Wang said that he eventually hopes to become a rabbi, so that one day he can help other Kaifeng Jewish descendants to learn more about their heritage.