Jewish Lives in China @ Museum at Eldridge Street

By The Museum at Eldridge Street

Sep 12  |  Culture

Jewish Lives in China at Eldridge Museum

Jewish immigration to New York is a well-researched phenomenon, but tens of thousands of Jewish immigrants also traveled east from their homes looking for new freedom and opportunity. In this talk, panelists will explore the oft-forgotten history of Jewish communities in Harbin and Shanghai—refugees and fortune seekers from Odessa and Bukhara to Baghdad—that have now all but disappeared. This event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition, Harbin, China | Past/Present and in partnership with China Institute.

Jim Ross is associate professor of journalism at Northeastern University. He received his BA from Yale University and his MA in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University. He is the author of three books including Escape to Shanghai: A Jewish Community in China (Free Press, 1994), and an editor of The Image of Jews in Contemporary (China Academic Studies Press, 2016).

Irene Clurman has been a journalist, arts writer, yoga teacher and synagogue education director. She lives in Evergreen, Colorado, where she leads dream workshops and maintains a website on the history of the Harbin Jewish Community.

China Institute advances a deeper understanding of China through programs in education, culture, art, and business.  Founded in 1926 by Chinese reformers Hu Shi and K.P. Wen and American educators John Dewey and Paul Monroe, China Institute is the oldest bicultural, non-profit organization in America to focus exclusively on China.

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