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Travel Diaryby Mark S. Bloomas ritual objects. Unfortunately, theroof recently caved in, so they are notmeeting anywhere, and thus he wasunable to gather them for me to meetwith them or do any teaching. He alsoshowed us the site of the former mikveh,which, believe it or not, now is the boilerroom of a local hospital. It is locked, sowe were unable to peek in. Shi Lei hasseen it, and the people in town refer toit as the “old Jewish well.” The hospitalis also the site of the former synagogue,so just outside, we sang “Ma Tovu, howgoodly are your tents, O Jacob, yourdwelling places, O Israel,” to remindus that we were standing on formerlysacred space.He also took us to what they call“Teach Torah Lane,” where the Jewishcommunity used to live. It is now arather poor part of town, where we sawtwo very sad sites: a cock trained forfighting was walking around and a pileof animal excrement. This lane has longbeen forgotten. How far it is from theTorah that used to be taught there.We all connected with the story of theseJews. One really memorable part of theKaifeng trip involved my son Jonah.On the Shanghai Jewish tour, the tourguide had him go to a little toy shopand told him he could pick out any toyin the store. He picked a basketball,and if you know Jonah, that is not asurprise. Because we don’t have thespace to carry around a basketball for5 months, he decided he wanted togive it to a boy in Kaifeng about his ownage. He wanted to give it to someonein the Jewish community, but since wecouldn’t meet any, he decided to give itto the first boy he saw at “Teach TorahLane.” It was a very sweet moment.It was an emotional parting from Shi Lei,who was such an amazing host. Beforemy trip I was contacted by an individualwho had lived in Kaifeng for a year andtaught Judaism to some of the membersof the community. This person hopesto get rabbis interested in convertingthe community formally. Shi Lei’s take,along with other teachers, is that thissadly has divided the community ratherthan uniting it. It is hard to know whoor what to believe. The situation isfurther complicated because thereare definite cultural differences thatare hard for us in the West tounderstand. Many of us wouldwelcome the descendants of the KaifengJewish community to the fold withouthesitation, but they may not be willing togo there in the way that the rest of theJewish world would require in order forthem to gain acceptance. Regardless,controversy aside, it was a specialmoment and a meaningful journey thatwe will remember forever.Rabbi Mark S. Bloom joined TempleBeth Abraham of Oakland, Californiaas its rabbi in July of 2001.Previously, Rabbi Bloom servedpulpits in Cranston, Rhode Island,South Salem, New York and Sydney,Australia. He was ordained at theHebrew Union College in Cincinnati,Ohio in 1995 and received bothBachelors and Masters Degreesin Communication Studies fromNorthwestern University. He is theauthor of Out of the Mouths ofBabes: What Children Can TeachUs About Spirituality, Jewish Issuesand the Jewish People.40