Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum
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Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum
The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is a museum commemorating the Jewish refugees who lived in Shanghai during World War II after fleeing Europe to escape the Holocaust. It is located at the former Ohel Moshe or Moishe Synagogue, in the Tilanqiao Historic Area of Hongkou district, Shanghai, China. The museum features documents, photographs, films, and personal items documenting the lives of some of the more than 20,000 Jewish residents of the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, better known as the Shanghai Ghetto, during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai. Background The museum is situated in what was once the Jewish Quarter of Shanghai, which had had a Jewish community since the late 19th century, in Hongkou District (formerly rendered as "Hongkew"). After the 1937 Battle of Shanghai, Japan occupied the Chinese sections of Shanghai, but the foreign concessions—the Shanghai International Settlement and the Shanghai French Concession—were still under the control of the ...
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Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowing through it. With a population of 24.89 million as of 2021, Shanghai is the most populous urban area in China with 39,300,000 inhabitants living in the Shanghai metropolitan area, the second most populous city proper in the world (after Chongqing) and the only city in East Asia with a GDP greater than its corresponding capital. Shanghai ranks second among the administrative divisions of Mainland China in human development index (after Beijing). As of 2018, the Greater Shanghai metropolitan area was estimated to produce a gross metropolitan product (nominal) of nearly 9.1 trillion RMB ($1.33 trillion), exceeding that of Mexico with GDP of $1.22 trillion, the 15th largest in the world. Shanghai is one of the world's major centers for ...
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Meir Ashkenazi (rabbi)
Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi ( he, מאיר אשכנזי) was a Chabad rabbi who served as chief Rabbi of Shanghai from 1926 to 1949. Early life Ashkenazi was born to Shneur Zalman and Kayla (Zislin), Chabad, Chabad Chasidim in Chernihiv. He was taught by his brothers and teachers in his hometown before leaving to study in Lyubavichi, Rudnyansky District, Smolensk Oblast, Lubavitch at the Tomchei Tmimim yeshiva where he studied for a year despite contracting typhoid fever. He received semicha from Rabbi Tzvi Tumarkin and from Rabbi Chaim Eliezer Soloveitchik, the rabbi of the city and his future father in law. In 1914 he became engaged to Toiba Liba Soloveitchik but the wedding was postponed due to his enlistment in the Russian army during World War I. Rabbinic positions Vladivostok He was appointed as rabbi of Vladivostok. In 1919 his future father in law fled to Harbin in Manchuria due to the spread of communism. He then married his wife in Harbin before returning to Vladivostok where ...
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Siddur
A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tefillah'' among German Jews, and ''tiklāl'' () among Yemenite Jews. History The earliest parts of Jewish prayer books are the ''Shema Yisrael'' ("Hear O Israel") ( Deuteronomy 6:4 ''et seq'') and the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), which are in the Torah. A set of eighteen (currently nineteen) blessings called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' or the '' Amidah'' (Hebrew, "standing rayer), is traditionally ascribed to the Great Assembly in the time of Ezra, at the end of the biblical period. The name ''Shemoneh Esreh'', literally "eighteen", is a historical anachronism, since it now contains nineteen blessings. It was only near the end of the Second Temple period that the eighteen prayers of the weekday Amidah became standardized. Even at t ...
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Sefer Torah
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish prayers. At other times, it is stored in the holiest spot within a synagogue, the Torah ark, which is usually an ornate curtained-off cabinet or section of the synagogue built along the wall that most closely faces Jerusalem, the Mizrah, direction Jews face when Jewish prayer, praying. The text of the Torah is also commonly printed and bookbinding, bound in codex, book form for non-ritual functions, called a (plural ) ("five-part", for the five books of Moses), and is often accompanied by commentaries or translations. History The En-Gedi Scroll is an ancient Hebrew parchment found in 1970 at Ein Gedi, Israel. Radiocarbon testing dates the scroll to the third or fourth century CE (210–390 CE), although paleograp ...
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Bema
A bema was an elevated platform used as an orator's podium in ancient Athens. The term can refer to the raised area in a sanctuary. In Jewish synagogues, where it is used for Torah reading during services, the term used is bima or bimah. Ancient Greece The Ancient Greek ''bēma'' () means both 'platform' and 'step', being derived from '' bainein'' (, 'to go'). The original use of the bema in Athens was as a tribunal from which orators addressed the citizens as well as the courts of law, for instance, in the Pnyx. In Greek law courts the two parties to a dispute presented their arguments each from separate bemas. By metonymy, bema was also a place of judgement, being the extension of the raised seat of the judge, as described in the New Testament, in and , and further, as the seat of the Roman emperor, in , and of God, in , when speaking in judgment. Judaism Etymology The post-Biblical Hebrew ''bima'' (), 'platform' or 'pulpit', is almost certainly derived from the Anc ...
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Parochet
A ''parochet'' (Hebrew: פרוכת; Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''paroches'') meaning "curtain" or "screen",Sonne Isaiah (1962) 'Synagogue' in The Interpreter's dictionary of the Bible vol 4, New York: Abingdon Press pp 476-491 is the curtain that covers the Torah ark (''Aron Kodesh'') containing the Torah scrolls (''Sifrei Torah'') in a synagogue. The ''parochet'' symbolizes the curtain that covered the Ark of the Covenant, based on : :"He brought the ark into the Tabernacle and placed the screening dividing curtain so that it formed a protective covering before the Ark...". In most synagogues, the ''parochet'' which is used all year round is replaced during the High Holy Days with a white one. The term ''parochet'' is used in the Hebrew Bible to describe the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies (''Kodesh Hakodashim'') from the main hall (''hekhal'' in Hebrew)Stinespring W. F. (1962) 'Temple, Jerusalem' in 'The interpreters Dictionary of the Bible' vol 4 p 536 of the Temple ...
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Torah Ark
A Torah ark (also known as the ''Heikhal'', or the ''Aron Kodesh'') refers to an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark, also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' or ''aron ha-Kodesh'' ("holy ark") by Ashkenazi communities and as the ''Heikhal'' ("sanctuary") among Sefardi communities. ''Aron Kodesh'' comes from Hebrew אָרוֹן קׄדֶש ''ʼārōn qōdeš'' (i.e. A''ron Kodesh''), ''Holy Ark''. This name is a reference to the ''’ārōn haqqōdeš'', the Hebrew name for the Ark of the Covenant which was stored in the Holy of Holies in the inner sanctuary of both the ancient Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. Similarly, ''Hekhál'', also written ''hechal'', ''echal'' or ''heichal'' — and sometimes also ''Echal Kodesh'' (mainly among Balkan Sephardim) comes from Hebrew הֵיכָל ''hēkhāl'' (palace), was used in the same time period to refer to the inner sanctuary. The ''hekhal'' contained the M ...
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JewishGen
JewishGen is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 as an international electronic resource for Jewish genealogy. In 2003, JewishGen became an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City. It provides amateur and professional genealogists with the tools to research their Jewish family history and heritage. History JewishGen was founded in 1987 by Susan E. King in Houston, Texas, as a Fidonet bulletin board with approximately 150 users interested in Jewish genealogy. To access the bulletin board, users dialed into the connection via telephones. Annual donations of $25 were requested to fund the service. Around 1989 to 1990, JewishGen moved to the internet as a mailing list and online forum, and was called the Jewish Genealogy Conference. It was loosely managed by founding members and volunteers that included Warren Blatt, Susan E. King, Bernie Kouchel, Gary Mokotoff, Michael Tobias, and others active in the communi ...
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Girls Of The Shanghai Ghetto
A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. and is sometimes used as a synonym for ''daughter'', or ''girlfriend''. In certain contexts, the usage of ''girl'' for a woman may be derogatory. ''Girl'' may also be a term of endearment used by an adult, usually a woman, to designate adult female friends. ''Girl'' also appears in portmanteaus (compound words) like ''showgirl'', ''cowgirl'', and '' schoolgirl''. The treatment and status of girls in any society is usually closely related to the status of women in that culture. In cultures where women have a low societal position, girls may be unwanted by their parents, and the state may invest less in services for girls. Girls' upbringing ranges from being relatively the same as that of boys to comp ...
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Monument At The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical, political, technical or architectural importance. Some of the first monuments were dolmens or menhirs, megalithic constructions built for religious or funerary purposes. Examples of monuments include statues, (war) memorials, historical buildings, archaeological sites, and cultural assets. If there is a public interest in its preservation, a monument can for example be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Etymology It is believed that the origin of the word "monument" comes from the Greek ''mnemosynon'' and the Latin ''moneo'', ''monere'', which means 'to remind', 'to advise' or 'to warn', however, it is also believed that the word monument originates from an Albanian word 'mani men' which in Albanian language means 'remember ...
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New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid digital media, digital subscribers. It also is a producer of popular podcasts such as ''The Daily (podcast), The Daily''. Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones (publisher), George Jones, it was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. The ''Times'' has won List of Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times, 132 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any newspaper, and has long been regarded as a national "newspaper of record". For print it is ranked List of newspapers by circulation, 18th in the world by circulation and List of newspapers in the United States, 3rd in the U.S. The paper is owned by the New York Times Company, which is Public company, publicly traded. It has been governed by the Sulzberger family since 189 ...
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Ohel Rachel Synagogue
The Ohel Rachel Synagogue (Hebrew for "Tent of Rachel") is a Sephardi synagogue in Shanghai, China. Built by Sir  Jacob Elias Sassoon in memory of his wife Rachel, it was completed in 1920 and consecrated in 1921. Ohel Rachel is the largest synagogue in the Far East, and one of the only two still standing in Shanghai. Repurposed first under the Japanese occupation during World War II and again following the Communist conquest of Shanghai in 1949, the synagogue has been a protected architectural landmark of the city since 1994. It was reopened for some Jewish holidays from 1999 and briefly held more regular Shabbat services as part of the Expo 2010, 2010 Shanghai Expo. History Construction The Ohel Rachel Synagogue was constructed by Sirs  Jacob Elias Sassoon, Jacob Elias and Edward Elias Sassoon of the wealthy Sassoon family of Baghdadi-Jewish origin, who built many of Shanghai's historic structures. It replaced its predecessor, the Beth El Synagogue, which was est ...
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