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Wednesday, May 13, 2026 | 7:00 PM
Lawrence Family JCC

Professor Xu Xin presents a lecture on Jewish history in China. For more than one thousand years, Jewish communities found refuge, opportunity, and renewal in China. In this fascinating lecture, Professor Xu Xin—founder of Jewish studies in China and one of China’s leading scholars in the field—explores the remarkable history of Jews in China, from the Kaifeng Jewish community of the Song Dynasty to the flourishing communities of Harbin and Shanghai. The program highlights Harbin, where Russian Jewish families fleeing persecution and built a vibrant community with synagogues, schools, businesses, and civic institutions in the early twentieth century. It also examines Shanghai’s role as a rare safe haven during World War II, when thousands of Jewish refugees escaping Nazi persecution rebuilt their lives there. Among those who found refuge in Shanghai was Michael Blumenthal, who later became U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Through history, scholarship, and personal stories, this program offers a unique look at one of the most extraordinary and lesser-known chapters of Jewish diaspora history.

Price: Complimentary