2008 Woodie Awards
Chinese Scholar-in-Residence Addresses YU Students
Political and Cultural Israel through Chinese Eyes
Mathew Cherny
Issue date: 2/15/05 Section: News
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On Monday night, January 31, in the Rubin Shul, however, Yeshiva University hosted a lecture from Professor Xu Xin, appropriately titled "Israel through Chinese Eyes," about the growing relationship between Israel and China, and the rising interest in Jewish culture emerging throughout his country.
The event was held by the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Center for International Affairs, and directed by Dr. Ruth Bevan, chair of Yeshiva's political science department. Professor Xu Xin is the Schneier Center's new scholar-in-residence and will likely teach a course at Yeshiva in the coming year. Dean Adler opened the event by speaking of the importance "to expose Torah youth to the habits of the world," mentioning a student trip to China sometime in upcoming years.
Professor Xu Xin of Nanjing University and president of the China Judaic Studies Association was originally involved in Nanjing's English department but became interested in Judaism, focusing his career on Jewish history, culture, and values. His interest, he said, was sparked "by the Jewish people's ability to modernize, yet also transmit its heritage." He traced the dynamics of the relationship between China and Israel to Israel's founding in 1948, and spoke of the expanding field of Jewish studies beginning to spread throughout China.
Professor Xin, who is currently the only professor of Jewish Studies in his country, says his curiosity grew in the 1970s, after he noticed the success of several Jewish authors such as Saul Bellow and Isaac Bashevis. In 1985, he met a Jew for the first time, a man named James Friend who was visiting Nanjing University from the University of Chicago. Xin returned to America with Friend and was introduced to Jewish practices. Now, Xin now teaches an array of Jewish studies courses on the undergraduate and graduate levels back in China. He is also responsible for the creation and implementation of a Judaic library in Nanjing University.
During the lecture, Xin described the history of the state of Israel from the vantage point of China. He began by highlighting the similarities between the Jewish and Chinese cultures, noting that both have remained steadfast over several millenia. Xin explained that the Chinese had a positive reception to the Zionist movement, viewing it as a revivalist movement of an oppressed people. In 1948, China issued statements of support for Israel and, as Xin pointed out, Israel was the only Middle Eastern state at the time to recognize communist China. He pointed out several reasons for the countries' alliance including the fact that both were fighting for international recognition.