Unlike mainland China, the Jewish presence in Taiwan is relatively young, and was never numerous. The first sizable presence began in the 1950s, when religious services were held in the United States military chapel, to which civilians also had access.
In 1975, Rabbi Ephraim Ferdinand Einhorn (Hebrew: אפרים פרדיננד איינהורן; Chinese: 艾恩宏; Pinyin: Ài Ēnhóng) arrived to serve as the island's sole rabbi. Since then, the Taiwanese Jewish community has been largely made up of foreign business executives and their families, with services also frequently attended by visitors to the island. Under Rabbi Einhorn, holiday services have been held at various hotels in Taipei. Under an agreement between the rabbi and the management of the Sheraton Taipei Hotel, there are weekly services, kosher meals, and a Jewish library owned by the rabbi. Attendance peaks around the High Holy Days, numbering between 60 and 100.
Because the state of Israel has full diplomatic relations with mainland China, it cannot fully recognize the government of Taiwan, which China considers separatist. Nevertheless, Israel maintains the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei (ISECO). In 2006, there was $1.3 billion worth of bilateral trade between Israel and Taiwan.
At this time, Taiwan has some 150 Jews, which is a slightly lower figure than in 1971, when the island had full diplomatic representation at the United Nations.
In 2002 a Holocaust Museum was opened in Bao'an, Rende Township, Tainan County (now part of Tainan City). It was founded by Chou Chou An (Chinese: 卓枝安; Pinyin: Zhuó Zhī'ān), a Taiwanese priest who follows Messianic Judaism, considered by most Christians and Jews to be a form of Christianity. Chou Chou An got his religious education in Japan. The Kyoto Holocaust Museum has donated several artefacts to the Holocaust Museum in Tainan.
In the summer of 2011, upon the coming of the new Chabad emissaries - Rabbi Shlomi and Racheli Tabib, the Chabad Taiwan - also known as the Taipei Jewish Center was founded. According to recent statistics, there are about 300 Jewish residents in Taiwan. 90-95% of them reside in Taipei.
Famous quotes containing the words history of the, history of, history and/or jews:
“It gives me the greatest pleasure to say, as I do from the bottom of my heart, that never in the history of the country, in any crisis and under any conditions, have our Jewish fellow citizens failed to live up to the highest standards of citizenship and patriotism.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
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—Ellen Battelle Dietrick, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 13, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Bible: New Testament, 1 Corinthians 1:22-3.