Flumesday.com - Shanghai Begins to Renovate Synagogue

Shanghai Begins to Renovate Synagogue
"A synagogue in Shanghai?" Yep. Actually 2 synagogues in Shanghai. At one point there were seven. Today, however, there is not even one active house of worship for China's largest Jewish expat community. But that is about to change. Shanghai has begun a five-month restoration project on Ohel Moishe Synagogue in Hongkou district, built in 1928 by Russian Jews living in the neighborhood. The synagogue used to be the focal point of a thriving Jewish area in the early to mid-20th century known as the Shanghai Ghetto during World War II. During Mao's Cultural Revolution the temple was shut down, modified and turned into a mental hospital. Then in the 90s it reopened as a bookstore. Today, it serves a dilapidated Jewish museum with a bunch of dusty exhibits and photographs that do not warrant the absurd $6 price of admission.
    The budget for the renovation project has not been revealed, however, according to an AP story Friday, the refurbishment of the Jewish area surrounding the temple has cost the city about $1.3 million. And while the Ohel Moishe restoration project will surely bring some naches (look it up) to the city's 2,000 Jews, the renovated synagogue will remain a museum, and not become a new house of worship. The Jewish community in Shanghai has its eye on the city's other remaining synagogue, Ohel Rachel, for regular worship services and study. Ohel Rachel, built in 1920 by real estate tycoon Jacob Elias Sassoon and the grander of the two temples, was taken over by the Mao government and today serves as the city's Ministry of Education building. On Ohel Rachel, Shanghai's lone rabbi, Shalom Greenberg told the AP, "The government understands and I'm sure, hopefully sooner than later, that it will allow it to be used for its original purpose."
    For years, prominent members of the Jewish community of Shanghai, including Rabbi Greenberg, have sought to bring attention and funding to this run-down synagogue. Israeli journalist Dvir Bar-Gal describes on his Jewish Tour of Shanghai that in preparation for last summer's welcoming back of over 100 former residents of the Shanghai ghetto, local officials were wholly unresponsive when it came to fixing up the temple. All these Shanghai Jews got was a measly banner in the park a block from Ohel Moishe that was promptly removed when the Jews left town. While I'm guessing the old Shanghai Jews weren't counting on seeing the pickle shops, delicatessens and bakeries that punctuated what was once called "Little Vienna," I'm certain they did not expect the extent to which the Jewishness of the area was rubbed out during the Cultural Revolution.
    As China, and Shanghai in particular, has become a major destination for Westerners, for the first time in a long time, the Chinese government now has to address the concerns of a growing Jewish community. The Jews are a group that have been dormant in Shanghai for nearly 60 years. Though with a surge of foreign business and educational opportunities in Shanghai, Jews from all over the world are flocking to China's largest city. And it is only a matter of time until the Jews of Shanghai, rather, the "new" Jews of Shanghai, have a synagogue to call home.

•AP: Shanghai Restores Historic Synagogue
•CS Monitor: Shanghai's Jewish Ghetto Looks to Reinvent Itself (11/1/06)