Shanghai Synagogue

Article excerpted from The New York Times International, Thursday, July 2, 1998

There was a time, earlier this century, when Jews flocked to this city. Though traces of their lives are mostly buried or lost, one prominent relic was revived today.

In a modest ceremony timed to coincide with a visit by the First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, an American rabbi sanctified Ohel Rachel Synagogue with a Torah carried all the way from New York, restoring a symbol of Jewish faith that had been neglected for decades.

The rabbi, Arthur Schneier, said it was like bringing a synagogue back to life. Graciously thanking the people of Shanghai for taking in so many persecuted Jews when about 20,000 of them fled here from Europe during World War II, Rabbi Schneier said he also hoped that the synagogue would now be protected from a wrecker's ball. Four other former synagogues have disappeared in recent years.

"This is a beginning of Jewish life," Rabbi Schneier said.

In truth, it is a modest beginning. The authorities in Shanghai have not yet agreed to let the synagogue be used again as a place of worship by the 200-plus members of Shanghai's expatriate Jewish community.

Doing so anytime soon may be difficult, because China's Government, which supervises religious worship, does not include Judaism among the five officially recognized religions. The five are Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism.

Mrs. Clinton called the restoration of the synagogue "a very good example of respect for religious differences and appreciation for the importance of faith in one's life." . . .

Until a few months ago, Ohel Rachel was a warehouse, dusty and unkempt from years of disuse. Efforts to restore it began only this year, after Rabbi Schneier persuaded Shanghai's Mayor that it was worth saving.

Today the synagogue's walls were a freshly painted white, marble columns gleamed and crystal chandeliers hung from an arched roof. Rabbi Schneier brought the Torah from Park East Synagogue on East 67th Street in Manhattan. He is that congregation's senior rabbi. "We had 26 Torahs, so now we have 25," he said.

Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, whose family was originally Jewish, also visited the old synagogue today with Mrs. Clinton . . .