Ohel Rachel Synagogue

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Ohel Rachel Synagogue
拉 結 會堂
(Seymour Synagogue)
Photo of the synagogue from before the Second World War

Photo of the synagogue from before the Second World War
Construction year: before 1920
Inauguration: January 23, 1921
Architect : Moorhead & Jibe
Client: Sassoon family
Space: 700
Location: 31 ° 13 '53.5 "  N , 121 ° 27' 9.7"  E Coordinates: 31 ° 13 '53.5 "  N , 121 ° 27' 9.7"  E
Address: 500 North Shaanxi Street
Jing'an
Shanghai , People's Republic of China
Purpose: synagogue

The Ohel Rachel Synagogue ( Hebrew בית הכנסת "אהל רחל"; German  Synagogue "Rachel's Tent" ) is a Sephardic synagogue in Shanghai in the People's Republic of China . It was built by Sir  Jacob Elias Sassoon in memory of his wife Rachel. Construction was completed in March 1920 and the synagogue was consecrated in 1921. It is the largest synagogue in the Far East and one of the two from that period that still exist in Shanghai. For the first time during the Japanese occupation during the Second World War and then again after the communist conquest of Shanghai in 1949, the synagogue has been a protected architectural monument of the city since 1999 . The synagogue was opened for several Jewish holidays in 1999 and regular Sabbath services were held during Expo 2010 .

history

construction

Jacob Elias and Edward Elias Sassoon had the synagogue built. The builders belonged to the wealthy Sassoon family , who descended from Baghdad Jews and were responsible for the construction of numerous historic buildings in Shanghai. The synagogue replaced a previous building, the Beth El Synagogue founded in 1887, and was designed by the Shanghai architectural office of Robert Bradshaw Moorhead and Sidney Joseph Halse. The synagogue was built on Seymour Road (now North Shaanxi Road), in the western section of the Shanghai International Concession .

The synagogue was opened in March 1920 and consecrated on January 23, 1921 by Rabbi W. Hirsch, who had just arrived, the first rabbi of the Sephardic community of Shanghai Jews. It bears the name of Jacob Sassoon's late wife Rachel, but was dedicated to the couple since he had also died before the inauguration. It was generally known as the Seymour Synagogue because of its earlier address .

The Ohel Rachel Synagogue was the first purpose-built synagogue in Shanghai. The neo-baroque pavilion is entered through an Ionic portico , which is inserted between massive ante pillars made of raised work . Its interior arrangement and the use of arched windows on its sides are based on the London synagogues Bevis Marks and Lauderdale Road . Ohel Rachel's cave-like sanctuary, overlooked by a second tier with wide balconies, has a capacity of 700 people. The walk-in Torah shrine , which housed 30 Torah scrolls , was flanked by marble columns. The facility also included a library, a ritual bath ( mikveh ) and a playground. Ohel Rachel is the largest synagogue in the Far East and has been described as "superior to all" in the Far East.

Republic of China

The Ahduth Jewish Club was opened in 1921 in the building of the Ohel Rachel Synagogue. He held social events that were attended by both Sephardim and Ashkenazim , although the latter were in the minority. The January 28, 1932 incident between Chinese and Japanese armed forces caused severe damage in the Hongkou district , where the Ashkenazim residential area was concentrated, and the Ohel Mosche community opened a new branch of their synagogue in the neighboring building of the Ohel Rachel synagogue. The Jewish school was also moved from Dixwell Road to another neighboring building in 1932. This school was attended by both Ashkenazi and Sephardic students.

During the Second World War , the foreign concessions - including the area around the Ohel Rachel Synagogue - remained under international control, even after the Japanese captured the city after the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 . Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japan occupied the previously unoccupied settlements in Shanghai. This cut off the flow of American funding to the city's Jewish community, which had grown in size with the thousands of refugees arriving from Europe. The Japanese imposed restrictions on Shanghai Jews and in 1943 ordered most of them to be relocated to the designated sector for stateless refugees , the Shanghai Ghetto . This was in the Hongkou district, a long way from the Ohel Rachel Synagogue, which was converted into a stable.

People's Republic of China

Wedding ceremony in the synagogue, photo from January 1951

As the Chinese Civil War drew to a close, the Chinese Communist Party captured the city ​​of Shanghai just months before the founding of the People's Republic of China in October 1949. The new rulers allowed Shanghai's Jewish community to use the synagogue until 1952, when it became Property confiscated and furniture removed. The structure was then attached to the grounds of the Shanghai Education Commission. In the years up to 1956, almost all Jews still living in the city emigrated. During the Cultural Revolution at the end of the 1960s, the building was used as a warehouse and was partially damaged, windows and chandeliers were broken.

As part of the improvement in US-China relations in the late 1990s, Chinese President Jiang Zemin invited three clergymen chosen by US President Bill Clinton to visit the People's Republic of China in February 1998 . One of them was Rabbi Arthur Schneier , who succeeded in removing the promise from Shanghai Mayor Xu Kuangdi to put Ohel Rachel under protection, to restore it and to make it accessible to the public. Shanghai City Council donated US $  60,000 to renovate the synagogue, which was used for cleaning and painting; Damage to the building was not removed.

A few months later, during a state visit by US President Bill Clinton, his wife Hillary and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited the synagogue. Rabbi Schneier, who was traveling with him, renewed the sanctification of the synagogue using a Torah scroll brought from New York City , which he then gave to the local Jewish community. In September 1999, the synagogue held a service on Rosh Hashanah for the first time since 1952 . In the same year the synagogue was also visited by the Israeli President Ezer Weizmann and by the German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder . The areas of the building visited were renovated for the occasion and then used as lecture rooms, although Jews were allowed to practice their customs here on Jewish holidays such as Purim , Passover , Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah .

Ohel Rachel Synagogue, 2013

As part of Expo 2010, the Ohel Rachel Synagogue was reopened to hold regular Sabbath services , even though Judaism is not a recognized religion in the People's Republic of China . The synagogue, which is owned by the Shanghai Ministry of Education, was reopened for services on Friday evening and Saturday morning, and weekly services were held elsewhere. In 2013, the synagogue was again only accessible on high public holidays, which led to a protest during a visit to China by the majority leader of the US House of Representatives, Eric Cantor ( R - VA ), at the time the highest-ranking elected Jewish politician in the history of the United States.

Preservation

The Ohel Rachel Synagogue and the Ohel Moshe Synagogue are the only two of the original six synagogues in old Shanghai that are still standing. On March 18, 1994, the Shanghai city government declared the Ohel Rachel Synagogue a protected architectural monument, although it continued to be used as an office and warehouse until 1998. The synagogue was added to the World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Monuments in 2002 to support efforts by the small local Jewish community to address issues with the condition of the structure, including vegetation and invasion a leaking roof and the restoration of the structure according to its appearance in the 1920s. The foundation's Jewish Heritage Program provided a grant to document the site and establish a long-term management plan. The synagogue was also on the 2004 list , but mainly to get attention for the project.

See also

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Ember, Ember, Skoggard: Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. 2005, p. 156.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Shanghai Jewish History ( English ) Shanghai Jewish Center. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  3. ^ Wright, Cartwright: Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and Other Treaty Ports of China. 1908, p. 634. The chapter Moorhead & Halse contains a brief history of the company up to this point in time.
  4. ↑ a b Ristaino: Port of Last Resort: The Diaspora Communities of Shanghai. 2003, p. 25.
  5. ↑ Rabbi and Mrs. Hirsch in Shanghai (English) . In: The Singapore Free Press & Mercantile Advertiser , January 26, 1921. Retrieved May 8, 2015. 
  6. ↑ a b c d e f History ( English ) Shanghai Jewish Center. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 14, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chinajewish.org
  7. ↑ a b c 第二节 场所 ( Chinese ) In: Shanghai Chronicle . Shanghai Municipal Government. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
  8. ↑ Bracken describes this as the Greek Revival , see Bracken: A Walking Tour of Shanghai: Sketches of the City's Architectural Treasures. 2010, pp. 139-140.
  9. ↑ Ristaino: Port of Last Resort: The Diaspora communities of Shanghai. 2003, p. 26.
  10. ↑ a b Ristaino: Port of Last Resort: The Diaspora Communities of Shanghai. 2003, p. 67.
  11. ^ The Chronology of the Jews of Shanghai from 1832 to the Present Day ( English ) Jewish Communities of China. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  12. ↑ a b c d Bracken: A Walking Tour of Shanghai: Sketches of the City's Architectural Treasures. 2010, pp. 139-140.
  13. ↑ a b c James Griffiths: Shanghai's Forgotten Jewish Past ( English ) In: The Atlantic . November 21, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ Avraham Altman, & al .: Flight to Shanghai, 1938–1940: The Larger Setting ( English , PDF, 227 kB) Yad Vashem : Shoah Resource Center . Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  15. ↑ a b c d e f 2004 World Monuments Watch 100 Most Endangered Sites ( English ) World Monuments Fund . Archived from the original on March 20, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 8, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.wmf.org
  16. ↑ a b c d Shanghai’s Jews celebrate historic synagogue reopening (English) , CNN . July 30, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2015. 
  17. ↑ Meyer: Baghdadi Jews, Chinese 'Jews', and Chinese. 2008, p. 182.
  18. ↑ a b Seth Faison: CLINTON IN CHINA: RELIC; Revival of a Synagogue Wins First Lady's Praise . In: The New York Times , July 2, 1998. 
  19. ↑ Ember, Ember, Skoggard: Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. 2005, p. 162.
  20. ^ Pan: Jews in China: Legends, History, and New Perspectives. 2008, pp. 63-64.
  21. ↑ Tina Kanagaratnam: Ohel Rachel Synagogue ( English ) Haruth. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  22. ^ Services at Ohel Rachel Synagogue ( English ) Shanghai Jewish Center. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 8, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chinajewish.org
  23. ^ Ohel Rachel Synagogue ( English ) Shanghai Jewish Center. Archived from the original on January 28, 2015. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 8, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chinajewish.org
  24. ^ Ian Swanson: Cantor Pushes China to Open Historic Synagogue (English) . In: The Hill , May 8, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2015. 

bibliography

  • Gregory Byrne Bracken: A Walking Tour of Shanghai: Sketches of the City's Architectural Treasures . Marshall Cavendish International, Singapore 2010, ISBN 978-981-4312-96-7 , pp. 139 ( books.google.co.uk - not visible in the excerpt).
  • Carol R. Ember, Melvin Ember, Ian A. Skoggard: Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World . Volume I: Overviews and Topics; Volume II: Diaspora Communities. Springer Science & Business Media, 2005, ISBN 0-306-48321-1 , p. 156 ( books.google.com ).
  • Peter Kupfer, Maisie J. Meyer: Youtai - Presence and Perception of Jews and Judaism in China . Peter Lang, Frankfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-631-57533-8 , Baghdadi Jews, Chinese 'Jews', and Chinese, pp. 182 ( books.google.com ).
  • Peter Kupfer, Guang Pan: Youtai - Presence and Perception of Jews and Judaism in China . Peter Lang, Frankfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-631-57533-8 , Jews in China: Legends, History, and New Perspectives, pp. 63 ( books.google.com ).
  • Marcia Reynders Ristaino: Port of Last Resort: The Diaspora Communities of Shanghai . Stanford University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-8047-5023-3 , pp. 25 ( books.google.com ).
  • Arnold Wright, HA Cartwright: Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and Other Treaty Ports of China . tape 1 . Lloyds Greater Britain Publishing Company, London 1908.

Web links

Commons : Ohel Rachel Synagogue  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files