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November 29, 2021 11:59 am
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Chinese Dreidels With Mandarin Lettering Designed for Kaifeng Jewish Community

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avatar by Shiryn Ghermezian

Dreidels designed and produced by Shavei Israel. Photo: Shavei Israel

Hundreds of dreidels with lettering in Mandarin Chinese were designed and produced for Jews residing in Kaifeng, China, as well as the 20 members of the community who have made aliyah to Israel.

Made by the Jerusalem-based non-profit Shavei Israel, which also assisted in the aliyah process for the group of Jews from Kaifeng, the dreidels say in Mandarin, “Big Miracle Happened Here.” Traditionally, the four-sided tops played during Hanukkah are marked with Hebrew letters standing for that phrase or a variation, referring to the events marked by the holiday.

The new dreidels are thought to be the first-ever bearing Chinese, according to Shavei Israel.

Kaifeng, one of the ancient imperial capitals of China, is located in the central Chinese province of Henan, southwest of Beijing. Roughly 1,000 descendants of Kaifeng’s once-flourishing Jewish community still live in the city, said Michael Freund, the organization’s founder.

“The Chinese Jews of Kaifeng are a living link between China and the Jewish people,” he added. “Despite the severe restrictions imposed on them by the Chinese government in recent years, the Chinese-Jewish descendants are anxious to learn more about the heritage of their forefathers and we hope these Chinese-language dreidels that we’ve prepared for them will give them a dose of happiness and light during Hanukkah.”

The first Jews to have settled in Kaifeng were Iraqi or Persian Jewish merchants who traveled along the Silk Road in the 7th or 8th century, according to Freund. The Jewish community continued to expand afterwards and in 1163 built a large synagogue, which was renovated repeatedly throughout the centuries.

“At its peak, during the Ming Dynasty, Kaifeng had as many as 5,000 Jews,” Freund said.

He further explained that due to widespread intermarriage and assimilation, as well as the death of the community’s last rabbi in the early 19th century, the Jewish community dwindled in numbers in the years that followed. The synagogue, which stood for 700 years, was also destroyed by a series of floods in Kaifeng in the mid-19th century.

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