JUF’s first ever mission to China provided 18 Chicago Jewish community members the opportunity to not only to see the country and learn about it, but also to dig deeper and explore its Jewish history, its ever-expanding ties with Israel, and connect with some of the thousands of Jews (Israelis, Canadians and Chicagoans) currently living and working in China, many of whom are successfully creating new Jewish communities there.

Led by Todd Lustbader, Lee Miller and David Sternberg, the group visited Shanghai, Xian, Beijing and Hong Kong.

The Jewish Hongkou Ghetto District in Shanghai, administered by the occupying Japanese, was where over 20,000 Jewish refugees from the Shoah found safety. Some 6,000 of them got there thanks to travel papers issued by Japan’s vice-consul in Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara , who risked his career and his family’s lives. In 1985, Israel named him to the Righteous Among the Nations for his actions, the only Japanese national to be so honored.

The group was guided by renowned Dvir Bar Gal , an expert on China’s Jewish past who is leading an effort to locate and refurbish thousands of Jewish cemetery headstones that were cast away during the country’s Cultural Revolution. (CNN labeled him “Shanghai’s Jewish Tomb Saver.”) The group also visited Shanghai’s historic Ohel Rachel synagogue and the city’s Jewish Refugees Museum . Shabbat dinner guests included the head of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s Shanghai operations and three residents of the city’s Moishe House, who come from Toronto, New Jersey and Paris.

In Beijing the group dined and toured the Chabad House and met with Israel’s Ambassador to China, former IDF General, Member of Knesset and Government Minister Matan Vilnai . The group enjoyed a breathtaking view of the Great Wall of China during a private lunch at the weekend home of one of the country’s leading Jewish figures, Roberta Lipson . Dinner was hosted at the residence of the Acting U.S. Ambassador to China, David Rank , who, like his wife Mary, is an alumnus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mission Co-Chair and JUF Board Member Lee Miller commented that “these special, boutique missions with JUF allow community members to learn more about our Jewish world, how their JUF contributions are positively impacting lives in 58 countries and to connect with Jews and Israelis leading fascinating lives in exotic locations.

“Moreover, China’s role in the world is a huge issue for our country, and its blossoming business relationship with Israel is a major development, one that perhaps one day will also lead to greater Chinese support for Israel in various international forums, especially the United Nations. This group returned home having enjoyed China and having learned much of Jewish and Israeli interest in that most wondrous of countries.”