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, history and/or jews:
“We know only a single science, the science of history. One can look at history from two sides and divide it into the history of nature and the history of men. However, the two sides are not to be divided off; as long as men exist the history of nature and the history of men are mutually conditioned.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“The basic idea which runs right through modern history and modern liberalism is that the public has got to be marginalized. The general public are viewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewildered herd.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“... the histories of Blacks and Jews in bondage and out of bondage, have been blood histories pursued through our kindred searchings for self-determination. Let this blood be a stain of honor that we share. Let us not now become enemies to ourselves and to each other.”
—June Jordan (b. 1936)