10 — THE BULLETIN — Thursday. December 10,1987
1
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Exotie Jewish comiminities are revisited
STAIMPFER
_ By HELENE DIAMOND
Over 70 people Braved a cold wet evening Novr-15 to hear Rabbi Joshua Stampfer of Portland, Oregon relate at Beth Israel his -experiences with the Jews of China ^and Portugal.
Rabbi Stampfer first became interested in these areas while researching the origins of the first rabbi of his congregation. He discovered how involved his colleague had been with Chinese Jews, and decided to follow in his footsteps. .
The Jews of Kaifeng settled in China during the Sung Dynasty, due to the silk trade conducted at that time, and in 1136 built the first synagogue. After the fall and change of the Dynasty, Kaifeng was closed, isolating some 3,000 Jews. However they . continued to practice Judaism.
The comniunity survived until mid-19th century. When financial and social problems aroseihen, Kaifeng Jews were forced to sell Torahs and even parts of the building in order to survive.
in the early 190bs, David Brown, an American journalist, ventured to Kaifeng. He discovered a Jewish community trying to survive without a shul, a rabbi or even prayer-books. Upon his return to the U.S., he published an appeal to North American Jews to help these people by sending them a scholar. Unfortunately, his appeal drew no response and thereafter the community eventually perished.
When Rabbi Stampfer travelled to China in 1983, he met with some Chinese Jewish descendants. The only thing they knew about Judaism was that some of their relatives were Jewish. "It's truly amazing,'* Stampfer said, "the idea of a community maintaining a Jewish identitylor 700 years, while actually knowing nothing.*'
Wheji he returned to Portland, he was motivated to host a conference on the topic dealing with the concept that ethnic groups can survive in dif-fei'eiitcultures. It was through this conference that he met Robert Reed.
Reed had lived in Belmont,
LA'S Belzberg to chair IB campaign
BEVERLY HILLS — WU-
liam Belzberg, prominent financial services industry leader, has been elected North American Chairman of State of Israel Bonds.
Belzberg and his brothers, Samuel and  Hyman, were founders of one of Canada's Jargest trust companies,,First City Trust. ,
He is now a resident of Beverly Hills, ^California, where he heads First City's U.S. ^ activities in real estate, oil and gas development, and acquisitions. .
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Portugal for two years. He had learned there about the Marranos and tried desperately, but with no avail, to contact them. Reed thought that if a rabbi went to Belmont, he might have better luck. Thus, in 1985, Rabbi Stampfer accompanied him to Portugal.
The City of Belmont is situated in Northern Portugal, 30 miles from the Spanish border. In 1492, 100,000 Jews had fled there from Sp^indur-ing the Spanish Inquisition. Subsequently, the Jews who fled to Portugal were given an ultimatum: either convert or be put to death. Hence, Mar-rano Jews (Converses) came into existence.
In 1920, a. Jewish minter named Samuel Schwartz stopped in Belmont for supplies. While there, he stumbled upon the silent and secret community of the.Marranos. He stayed awhile to educate the people. But unfortunately, at that time, a new wave of anti-Semitism was taking place and Marranos were once again left to fend for themselves.
During Rabbi Stampfer's first visit to Belmont, he met with members of the secret community. His first evening in the city, he met with three young inen in a tavern. The first startling question he was asked was: "Are you allowed to wash your hands with hot water?" Why was such a question asked? "It turns out that the only printed matter on Judaism the community had was a pamphlet on Netilai Tae/a/m (the ritual washing of hands)," said Stampfer.
The rabbi discovered that in Belmont every Jewish family prays separately^ and in hiding. There is a Jewish community centre which consists of a room in which these particular pamphlets were found; but no prayerbooks.
"For the past 500 years -there have been no prayer-books, no Torahs, absolutely nothing on Judaism-. Yet the Jewish prayers and traditions that parents were taught by their parents, are still passed down from generation to. generation."
Recently, Rabbi Stampfer returned to Belmont and was confronted with a completely
different situation. In his honor, a Friday night service _was conducted in the city hall when 70 people, along with the mayor, held the first pub--lic Shabbat service in Belmont in over 500 years. The community also sang a song which had been taught to their parents by Samuel Schwartz over 60 years before.
"What the people of Belmont want is a teacher who will help them learn about Judaism, how to read Hebrew, and how to build a viable community," said Rabbi Stampfer, who has made this request his mission., _
He urges Jews to visit Belmont and enable these Marranos to feel they are part of Judaism. Not unlike the American journalist, David Brown, Stampfer has brought back a plea for help so that the Jews of Belmont will survive, and not disappear like the Jews of Kaifeng.
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