We had a banter about whether Bro should convert to Judaism. He thinks not, but it was strictly a foreskin conclusion.
The idea of a Chinese Jew is not so outlandish. Currently, there are a few hundred Chinese Jews in China. They are descendants of the Jews who went to China from Persia in the 8th Century. In 2000, China recognized them as an official ethnic group. There are now synagogues in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
As a young girl, I remember going into shops with my grandmother and buying a sweet, spongy candy. A few years ago, The Boy brought home some candy and told me it was halvah, a jewish candy. It was the same spongy candy I had as a girl. That's like the spongy candy inside a Crunchie bar.
My grandmother also took me to a bakery where we bought egg bread. The Chinese are not big bread eaters, but grandma for whatever reason, fed me egg bread. I found the egg bread in Loblaws a few years ago. It was challah.
Grandma also steamed whole chickens till they were tender and salted them. A Jewish friend told me once they also prepared chicken that way.
It's true that many cultures share common practices and food. So somehow, somewhere, grandma was introduced to halvah and challah, and someone taught her how to cook chicken. I can buy that.
But today, when I googled Chinese Jews, I see that a Ming Emperor had assigned seven surnames to the Chinese Jews - Ai, Lao, Jin, Li, Shi, Zhang and Zhao. To this day, Chinese Jews will only have one of these seven names. Wouldn't you know, two of these names belong in my family - one is my mother's maiden name, another is my father's name.
It may not be up to Bro whether he converts. Maybe we already carry Jewish blood in our vein.
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3 comments:
That would explain why our epicanthic eyefolds are so small and why our children look more like 80/20 caucasian/asian mixes than 50/50. I have often wondered if there was some mixed blood in our genes.
I spent a year working at Baycrest hospital and for some reason, ALOT of psychiatrists are Jewish, so I work closely with Jewish people all the time. I have often noticed the cultural similarities between Jews and Chinese. I have had the thought I would have been better off marrying a Jew than a Brit.
Same thing with me. I've worked with a Jew for the past 19 years. My only friend these days in a Jew. The Chinese and Jews have a lot in common. If nothing else, I should become Jewish for the jokes.
Did you know that Unc has a brown streak of hair on his head and I have a brown streak in my pubic area? Do you think they are remnants of Jewis haircolour?
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