Being a Jew in China

Practicing Judaism here is easier than practicing many other religions because the state considers Judaism to be a non-aggressive religion since we don't actively recruit. This means that it is okay to gather and worship. For some religions, there are guards at the doors and you must show your foreign passport to be allowed in. Our congregation meets at a hotel and we just walk in and go the appropriate room.

I kind of see the government's point with Judaism though. I mean, how appealing can this sound?
"Hi there. Why don't you join our religion? Today we are having nothing to eat and drink for 25 hours. Its loads of fun!"

Our congregation, Kehillat Beijing has a core of about 10 people who seem to organize everything. There is no regular Rabbi and as luck would have it, we volunteered to help out with the Yom Kippur services.

While there are old synagogues in Beijing, they are not active. That is why we use a meeting room in a hotel and Chabad (a more traditional Jewish group) meets in a house. It takes about an hour to walk to the hotel from our apartment .

Click on the map for a larger image. We have marked where we live, the US Embassy, and our 'synagogue'. Thanks to Frommer's for supplying the map.