Russian Jews Connect in Shanghai

Sporting kippahs and tzitzit, 800 Jews from Russia who completed a course of Judaic study, walked the streets of China’s biggest city celebrating their identity. 

“I can’t fully explain it, but I believe it was a sudden awakening of Jewish pride within me.”

That’s how Zev Sharapov, a young Jew from Russia, described his experience on a tour of Shanghai, China with hundreds of his Jewish Russian compatriots. 

Shaparov completed a series of weekly Judaic classes over the course of a year making him eligible for the all-expense paid trip. Sponsored by Yahad, a Chabad educational initiative by the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, the tour features a different destination every year for Jews 18-28  who have completed the course. 

In all, 800 participants from Yahad’s 60 branches spanning countries of the Former Soviet Union—from Eastern Europe to Siberia—joined this year’s trip to Shanghai.

“This is my second time joining Yahad’s trip, and I’d been looking forward to it all year,” said Chana Kusnetsova, a Jewish student from Novosibirsk, a city in Siberia. “The attractions and fun are amazing—but what matters most is that I found myself, my inner self.”

“Thanks to the devoted staff and to my Chabad leader from back home who joined the trip, I now feel ready to build a Jewish home—something I never imagined possible, or even wanted,” Kusnetsova said. “Today, I dream of raising children who will receive a genuine Jewish education and grow up as proud members of our incredible nation.”

The tour presents participants—many who could not otherwise afford it—a rare opportunity to travel abroad and see the world. More importantly, it is a profoundly enriching Jewish experience.

“This is the one week a year they can be who they are—proud Jews,” said Rabbi Mendy Wilansky, who directs Yahad. “They may not feel comfortable being the only one wearing a kippah in their hometowns. During the trip, they join hundreds of other Jews in seeing that you can walk around as proud Jews anywhere in the world.”

Shaparov concurs.“The atmosphere throughout the entire trip was so uplifting that I naturally found myself committing to put on Tefillin every day—as if it were the easiest, most natural thing in the world,” said. 

The group met with Rabbi Shalom Greeberg, the Chabad representative in Shanghai, and learned about the city’s Jewish community and its storied history. They visited the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum, learning about Jewish life during the Holocaust. Of particular interest to them was the historical account about the students of Chabad’s flagship yeshiva in Poland who fled the Nazi invasion on the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok, ultimately finding refuge in Shanghai for the duration of the war. 

Sporting kippahs and tzitzit, the travelers walked the streets of China’s biggest city and visited Shanghai’s Disneyland, where two Jewish couples resolved to marry and start a Jewish home together. During an inspirational  Shabbat, many were moved to embrace Jewish practices. Yahad counts eight thousand students across all its branches who engage in its study programs, supporting Jewish literacy, identity and practice. 

“I’ve met many new Jewish friends from all over Russia during this trip,” said Beyla, a Jewish girl from Nizhny Novgorod, a city in Western Russia. “The trip was life-changing, giving me a sense of unity and pride in being Jewish.”