5 Nov, 2006 in
Israel . Tags:
Israel;
Fili's world
Culture & Travel – China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
Latest
Chinese Tourism in Israel–Interview The importance of studying Chinese – Israeli Prime Minister Growing Chinese studies trend – Israel I came to Israel for Love : China & Thailand Miss Universe 2010 Asia Qi Bao–Shanghai’s local ancient water townTaiwan
Fulong Sand Sculpture Festival 2010 Fulong Beach–Northern Taiwan Maokong Tea Houses – Muzha Taipei’s Maokong Gondola : Traveling through clouds 228 Peace Memorial Park-Museum & Formosa Betrayed Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall More on Taiwan »China
Qi Bao–Shanghai’s local ancient water town Chinese Red Army Orchestra Vintage Lipsynced Parodies Fairy Lake Botanical Gardens Shenzhen Hongfa Temple–Shenzhen CCTV China Documentary : Walk into Israel-The Land of Milk and Honey Dashanghai’s Old Shanghai & Vintage Posters @Duolun Rd More on China »
The front door at my parents’ house has a sign in 3 languages – Hebrew, English and Chinese and most people who came in and noticed it wondered who it was for. Apart from one excited Japanese girl who went door-to-door asking donations for her world peace organization, no body was ever able to read that. Till this week…
The Friday night family dinner at my parents house had two special guests this week as my two Chinese friends from the Hebrew University have been kind enough to accept my invitation to join my family for a somewhat traditional Jewish meal. They are both here to study Hebrew in the international school at the Hebrew University and ever since they arrived here two weeks ago it’s been my pleasure to meet with them and show them around a bit. After talking to them this week and learning of their curiosity towards Israeli and Jewish life I figured that they’d also be interested in experiencing some of the Jewish customs of the pre-Saturday night so we set off to go to the Jewish temple (synagogue), a place which I haven’t visited for years now, and then go to my parents’ house for our family dinner.
My family was quite excited. They’ve been enduring my Asian obsession for a while, so for them the prospect of meeting people from Asia for the first time and being able to share their family atmosphere was a big thing. I was asked what special food to buy and what dishes to make, yet all-in-all we had our pretty average “Vegetarian” dinner which consisted of things you can’t really go very wrong with – 2 kinds of soup, 2 kinds of fish, with some classic side dishes like rice, salads, Kish, and stir-fried vegetables-Tofo.
I could tell that my family was thrilled and I imagine that my Chinese friends had a good time. There was singing in both Hebrew and Chinese, lots of cross-cultural curiosity and also some plain discussions and fooling around. Since I’ve been sitting in those family dinners for years, not always enjoying myself, this was a very special and meaningful occasion for me as I got to re-live what I feel is special about both the Chinese and Jewish cultures. It was a truly wonderful experience.
Christy | November 6th, 2006 at 8:57 am #
Hi FiLi,
That sounds like a lovely evening!
I have been so interested to read about your fondness for Asian culture–I’m an American, of combined Japanese and Chinese heritage, who converted to Judaism almost 25 years ago before marrying my husband (who is also American, of Eastern European Jewish heritage). Our kids definitely look Asian, and they also strongly identify with being Jewish.
Although my profession is the practice of Chinese medicine , I don’t speak or write much Chinese–in fact, I have studied more Hebrew than Chinese! But reading your blog is inspiring me…
warm regards,
Christy Lee-Engel
Seattle
fiLi | November 7th, 2006 at 10:30 am #
That’s a wonderful personal story, and naturally – I’m very curious.
There aren’t that many “mixed” Asian-Jewish couples that I know of, but hearing about those warms my heart every time (I bet you got gorgeous kids, eh? :D).
A Chinese dinner in Jerusalem | fiLi’s world | March 4th, 2007 at 4:36 pm #
[...] At the beginning of the previous semester, through people I know in China, I got to meet the two Chinese students who received the Israeli scholarship for Chinese students to study Hebrew in Jerusalem. Last week, after they recovered the disappointment from the Egyptian government which didn’t allow them entry into Egypt, we threw a little dinner get-together with a few Israeli friends who study with the East-Asia department and the two Chinese girls for a late Chinese New Years celebration. The choice for the restaurant was "Mandarin", up on the corner of Jaffa and Shlomtzion st., a restaurant that’s considered the only decent non-Kosher Chinese cuisine in Jerusalem. [...]
Chao | December 17th, 2008 at 9:08 pm #
hello from Ohio, USA !
I am from Taiwan, married to an American who converted to Judaism and our children (6 and 3) are converted to Judaism as well ! At Shabbat dinner, our favorite conversation is
“who is not Jewish” and the kids all point at me “Mama is not Jewish!”.
I goggled for Israeli friends and found your site. how interesting !!!
Chao | December 17th, 2008 at 9:50 pm #
by the way, my husband’s dream is to move us all to Israel. I am not too crazy about the idea.
I have agreed to the rabbi to raise our children Jewish BUT I am also raising them as Taiwanese as possible. I have my own language teaching philosophy. I speak ONLY Chinese to my son and ONLY Taiwanese to my daughter. most people think it is crazy but it works. By immersion, they both can understand Taiwanese and both speak Chinese..
nice to meet you.
Fili | December 27th, 2008 at 7:29 am #
Chao – I think it’s important that the kids experience both cultures and I believe your kids will be grateful for that when they grow up. Mixed blood marriages aren’t easy for the kids, so I believe having a warm supporting culturally open environment is key.
Fili | December 27th, 2008 at 7:30 am #
Chao – I’m glad you find it interesting. Welcome. That’s quite an interesting life story you have there. My definition of Jewish is probably much broader than most religious people, and I know Jewish people tend to make it difficult to join in. :)
Chao | January 4th, 2009 at 11:36 am #
Have you been to Taiwan? there is Israeli Council in Taipei, Taiwan.
Last time when we visited my hometown Tainan, we happened to find a local Christian church exhibiting the holocaust. The son of the priest was studying Christian religion in Jerusalem. It was a good exhibition but it was from the Christian perspectives.
we used to be involved with the Hillel Student organization and I learned that Israel is a very multicultural society.
why do you use Taiwan flag in your user ID? The Chinese from China will not like it..
Fili | January 4th, 2009 at 2:33 pm #
Chao – ?
If you look around the blog you’ll find that I’m based in Tainan and have visited the holocaust museum quite a few times. The national flag next to the name isn’t related to the user ID but rather shows where the user is commenting from. Since I’m currently in Taiwan, it shows the Taiwan flag.
The display of location-sensitive flags next to comments on my blog shouldn’t bother anyone, not even China or Chinese. Even if they did care, I’m not sure that should influence anybody’s decision on what to do and how.
Chao | January 5th, 2009 at 1:16 am #
the flag about “The Chinese from China will not like it..” is really just to be sacristy. if it is up to me, Taiwan is an independent country and that’s how I will teach my children too.
glad to know you live in Tainan ! I plan to take my young kids to visit Tainan this coming summer. we will stay there for the whole summer.
are you married? do you have kids?
here is my blog
http://chao72704.pixnet.net/blog