About the project
The Jewish Taiwan Archive is a project from Jordyn Haime, a 2021 student Fulbright grantee researching Jewish identity in Taiwan. Combining Haime's journalistic skills and research interests, the goal is to document the history and modern day stories of Jewish life in Taiwan.
Judaism in China is a major area of interest for Sinologists and those in Jewish studies, from the ancient community of Jews in Kaifeng to the 19th and 20th-century Jewish enclaves in Harbin, Shanghai other cities. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan have also been widely researched. But Taiwan has been left behind despite its rich Jewish history. Across 10 months of research, Haime used archives and documents, field research, and hours of interviews to pay homage to Taiwan's Jews and help establish their rightful place in Asian Jewish history.
A historical timeline of Taiwan's Jewish community is available in this website's 'history' section, informed by participant narratives, interviews with surviving early and contemporary members, and documentation. The 'stories' section features articles about Jewish topics in Taiwan published in magazines, newspapers and on this blog.
From an outsider's and researcher's perspective, this site does not favor a single narrative but seeks to paint an objective picture of Judaism in Taiwan.
About Jordyn Haime
Jordyn Haime was a 2021 Fulbright Taiwan research fellow and is now a freelance journalist living in Taipei. Under her Fulbright grant, she worked to fill in the gaps in Taiwan's Jewish history and present. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire in May 2020 with degrees in journalism and international affairs and minors in Asian studies and Chinese.
Haime has experience as a journalist for New Hampshire Public Radio and the Granite State News Collaborative, and as a freelance journalist for national and international news publications, magazines and websites. She enjoys exploring issues of identity, politics and justice. Click here for her portfolio site.
Acknowledgements
This project was made possible by the Fulbright program, which has allowed for the unique and invaluable opportunity to spend 10 months immersed in Taiwan to understand the community’s history, people and culture. Fulbright graciously paired me with the Taiwan Jewish Community and National Chengchi University as my warm hosts, providing important access to resources and information crucial to executing this project.
Special thanks to Don Shapiro, who provided me with all available documentation and endless anecdotes about the Taiwan Jewish Community, and to Mei-Ling Hsu of National Chengchi University.