The Quito Jewish Community has two major elements:

1. The large indigenous community that has a beautiful community center and a synagogue and lovely grounds. People in the community are of European origin, most of their families arriving before or during the Second World War. They number around 500 and have a community school of high academic quality that has a non-Jewish majority and afternoon religious school for other children in the Jewish community. The community is a Conservative community and so people who live throughout the Quito area can belong and attend services there. We were lucky enough to visit their complex and to see their synagogue.

After entering the complex, one sees two buildings with a patio area between them. To the left is the huge auditorium/banquet hall, said to the be second largest banquet hall in Quito. On the lower floor is a room that we used for lunch. It was also large and because the building was built on the side of a hill, it had large windows and an outdoor area as well. Further to the left outside is the swimming pool.

On the right is the synagogue building itself. Although the congregation president did speak with us about the community, we were not able to take a full tour of the facilities since we still had a lot to do and wanted to get back to the hotel well before shabbat so that people would have time to prepare.

The synagogue grounds

The doors and entrance hall

The synagogue interior

Synagogue under attack by camera-wielding tourists

The inside of the domed roof

I live in Modi’in, a new city, only 13 years old, with a population of over 70,000. We are located about 1/2 way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. A drive to either city is about 30 minutes long during non-rush hour times.

In June, we celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of one of our grandsons. On the way to the Western Wall, where the service took place, we passed some children on their way to school.

Morning in the Old City of Jerusalem

We walked a little further through the lovely stone streets in the peaceful light of early morning and saw beautiful scenes such as this

A street in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem

We then got to the area where the Hurva Synagogue had been. The Hurva Synagogue had stood on land that had been used for Jewish prayer since the 14th century. It was constructed beginning in 1836 and was completed in 1856. It was a big, beautiful landmark in the center of Jerusalem. In 1948, when the UN voted to finally recognize the Jews’ claim to the land of Israel, the Arabs were not willing to have a Jewish presence in the Middle East and attacked the fledgling state seeking to completely destroy it. Israel’s victory was nothing short of miraculous for the Jews were out-armed and out-manned.

However, despite the overall victory, the Jordanians had captured the Old City of Jerusalem and among their first acts was destruction of all of the synagogues. The Hurva was no more.

In 1967, when Jerusalem was reunited, an arch was constructed atop the ruined building to mark the site of where the synagogue had been. After that there was a great deal of debate as to what to do with the area. Finally, in the last year or two, construction began to restore the synagogue and this is a picture of it in June as construction was continuing.

The Hurva Synagogue, under construction

And this is the reason for this lovely outing, my fabulous grandson, Matan, who celebrated his Bar Mitzvah that day! How proud we were of him then and how proud we are of him always!

Matan at the Western Wall

We went to a number of synagogues while in Moscow and one of them was a Chabad Lubavitch synagogue. We passed this fence while walking toward the synagogue.

For those coming from Shadow Shot Sunday, please consider taking my challenge Round the World with Rona

So what do people do with an old synagogue which was probably not used for more than 70 years until after the fall of the Soviet Union? Well, it could be refurbished, which this one was, both inside and outside, but suppose one wanted to update it, expand it, and yet preserve the facade? Well, here is the result:

Chabad Synagogue, Moscow

As one walks toward the synagogue, this is what one views, a modern looking, concrete and glass structure. As one nears the entrance, this is what one sees.

Yes, it is a glass wall that is in front of the old facade of the building. It provides additional space and insulation as well as an updated look.

And here is the original facade

Fortunately the synagogue is not only beautiful to visit, but it is thriving. While we visited there were groups of people praying in the main synagogue and the large, beautifully decorated chapel, and upstairs there is a snack bar and a roof garden and other recreational facilities. After years of suppression of religious worship, it is amazing to see what has happened. This is not the Russia I thought I would be seeing. It was a pleasant surprise!

But today, I want to talk about the mosque. You see, in China, beginning with the spice and silk traders, there arose a community of Jews. This community was documented to exist in the 12th century, but probably was much older. It consisted of Jewish traders and often the local Chinese women they married. As did every other Jewish community, they built a synagogue. The synagogue was built in the style of important Chinese buildings, incorporating the elements of feng shui. It was largely a rectangular garden whose sides were longer and whose front and back were shorter– with a series of gates beginning at the front that led through three courtyards, all beautifully planted, toward the back with small structures in the center that one could walk through. Along both long sides, there were buildings in which there were places for caretakers of the synagogue to live, places to wash ones hands (and probably mikvaot), and places for receptions. At the back, there was a large building which was the place where the services were held. Unfortunately, the synagogue was located not far from a river that would overflow from time to time and several times during its history, the synagogue was destroyed.

There were, however, sketches of the synagogue done by a Jesuit Priest, Father Matteo Ricci who met the head of the community when he, Ai Tian, went to Beijing, hearing that there were other people who read the Bible and worshiped one G-d. There was some misunderstanding as Ai Tian believed that Father Ricci was Jewish and he even went so far as to ask Father Ricci to become their Rabbi! Father Ricci traveled to Kaifeng to visit the synagogue and ultimately made the world aware of the community.

By the mid 19th century, the synagogue fell into disrepair and by then there was no rabbi serving the community. No one but the rabbi knew how to read the torah. The community sold their sifrei torah which can now be found in many places throughout the world.

So what does this have to do with a mosque in Xian? The mosque was built as a near replica of the Kaifeng synagogue.

For this reason, a visit to the mosque is a “must” if one wants to understand the experience of the Jews who once lived in China. Here are some pictures of the mosque in Xian that was built in a similar manner to the synagogue in Kaifeng.

The first picture is of the entrance gate to the mosque/synagogue. The second picture is of one of the gates to an internal courtyard. The third picture is of the plaza outside of the main building where wedding ceremonies were held, where sukkot were built, and which was decorated with flowers on Shavuot!

There is much more to learn about this community and about Jews in China through the ages. One place to get a taste of it is here.