1919 May: Conference for Kaifeng Jews
White and Blackstone organised the three-day conference
Bishop William Charles White (1873–1960) and Reverend J.H. Blackstone organised a three-day conference to educate and revive the communal spirit of the Kaifeng Jews. Reverend Blackstone was the son of William Eugene Blackstone (1841–1935), an American evangelist who championed Zionism to the Jewish people. The event created opportunities for the Jews to familiarise themselves with one another; the organisers provided free meals and entertainment.
All seven clans were present, including the Zhang Clan
Jewish convention organized by Bishop William Charles White and Reverend J.H. Blackstone in May 1919 [Zane Archives]
Forty families enrolled in the conference; the heads of 32 families were present at the gathering. All seven clans were represented, including the Zhangs (张), who were previously reported to have either left the city or assimilated.
Most of the families did not know each other very well but recalled stories from their parents and grandparents about the different Jewish clans that lived in Kaifeng.
Only the Shi (石) clan was said to have kept family records.
Most showed no interest in the event
For the most part, they were uninterested in the event as they no longer had a social network amongst themselves and held no knowledge of Jewish practices of any kind. Bishop White noted, the conference “failed to achieve its purpose, and not a spark of interest in the glorious past and the prophetic future of Israel could be revoked. Chinese Israelites had definitely come to an end.”
200 families still claimed Jewish ancestry
It was estimated, however, that there were at least 200 families that still claimed to be Jewish in Kaifeng. In 1913, White noted that there were only about 50 individuals of Jewish descent in the city. This event revealed that there were many more Jews than his initial supposition.