Jordyn Haime

Illustrative: Visitors at the Wave Summit in Beijing, China on August 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

November 9, 2023, 1:01 pm

Since Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, antisemitism has exploded online in China

Viral video taunts parents of half-Chinese Israeli-born Noa Argamani, held hostage by Hamas; other posts criticize actions against Palestinians, compare Israel to Nazi Germany

By Jordyn Haime

A member of the Bnei Menashe community in northeastern India works to construct a temporary structure used in celebrating Sukkot. (Courtesy Shavei Israel via JTA)

October 6, 2023, 10:11 am

Displaced by ethnic violence, India’s Bnei Menashe Jews construct sukkahs nonetheless

As conflict in the northeastern state of Manipur enters its sixth month, a Jewish community fleeing decimated homes and burned synagogues is starting to see its exile as permanent

By Jordyn Haime

'Zhen Yu and the Snake,' by Erica Lyons. (Courtesy via JTA)

October 2, 2023, 6:33 am

Talmudic tale with 12th-century Chinese twist expands Jewish world for young minds

In ‘Zhen Yu and the Snake,’ author Erica Lyons adapts a well-known story about Rabbi Akiva’s daughter while also highlighting China’s rich Jewish history

By Jordyn Haime

Austin Haeems with his etrog trees in Ahmedabad, India. (Courtesy of Haeems/via JTA)

September 29, 2023, 2:51 am

Why are Asian Jews importing etrogs on Sukkot even though their countries grow them?

With the discovery of the Chinese ‘Buddha’s hand’ citron, debates over the kashrut of local fruit have caused some Jewish residents to order etrogs from Israel or elsewhere online

By Jordyn Haime

Jeremy Freeman, in the kitchen of his Freeman Shokudo restaurant, in Tokyo, Japan. (Jordyn Haime via JTA)

August 23, 2023, 10:39 am

US expat brings Jewish comfort food to Tokyo’s hip culinary scene

Jeremy Freeman and his wife Maiko opened Freeman Shokudo in 2021 after moving to Japan, selling classics like pastrami sandwiches, but also some deeply unkosher choices

By Jordyn Haime

Nobuki Sugihara and family at a ceremony honoring his late father Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania in 1940 who issued transit visas that saved thousands of Jews (Times of Israel)

August 1, 2023, 8:42 pm

Researchers say Japan exaggerated the story of ‘Japanese Schindler’ Chiune Sugihara

In recent years, the Lithuania-based diplomat who issued thousands of visas to Jews became a household name – but is his lionization part of a familiar post-Holocaust phenomenon?

By Jordyn Haime

Over 100 Bnei Menashe have taken shelter in a synagogue in Mizoram amid sectarian violence. (Shavei Israel via JTA)

June 19, 2023, 5:33 am

India’s Bnei Menashe community in crisis as Manipur rocked by ethnic violence

NGO Shavei Israel says 1 Jewish victim has been killed, over 1,000 displaced, and 2 synagogues burned as houses and businesses of the minority Kuki tribe are razed

By Jordyn Haime

Nazis are villains in the "Hellsing" series and many other anime shows. (Screenshot/ YouTube, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

May 4, 2023, 2:57 am

Does anime have a Nazi problem? Some Jewish fans think so

Japanese animation medium hit with criticism for alleged glorification of antisemitism, fascism; some experts say Nazi references more to do with Japan’s history, culture

By Jordyn Haime

Israeli Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau, third from bottom right, meets with Jeffrey Schwartz, third from left, at the Jeffrey D. Schwartz Jewish Community Center in Taipei, in February 2023. (Courtesy of the Jeffrey D. Schwartz and Na Tang Jewish Taiwan Cultural Association)

March 2, 2023, 8:50 am

Israeli chief rabbi visits Taiwan in milestone for country’s Jewish community

David Lau participates in ceremony dedicating cultural center, attends regional summit of rabbis, meets with Taiwanese officials; says impressed by locals’ dedication to tradition

By Jordyn Haime

Ho Feng-Shan poses for a photo taken while he was a Chinese consul in Egypt. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images/ via JTA)

February 20, 2023, 4:45 pm

Historical fiction novel about real-life Chinese rescuer of Jews sparks controversy

The daughter of Ho Feng-Shan, a Vienna-based diplomat who in WWII issued thousands of illicit exit visas to Shanghai, protests the blurring of fact and fiction in ‘Night Angels’

By Jordyn Haime

From left: Brod goreng, corn fritters and negi latkes. (Screenshot from YouTube/Beqs Kitchen/Rosita Goldstein/Jeremy Freeman via JTA)

December 24, 2022, 5:51 am

4 Hanukkah recipes from across Asia that mix local cultures with Diaspora traditions

Some Jewish communities on the continent are said to go back millenia, while others stem from more recent arrivals – but they all have their own delicious take on Jewish cuisine

By Jordyn Haime

Jews 'have special emotions toward the Chinese,' Rabbi Matt Trusch explains in a Douyin video aimed at the vast Chinese audience. (Courtesy/ via JTA)

August 26, 2022, 5:40 am

A Texas rabbi is fighting Jewish stereotypes on China’s TikTok

Matt Trusch lived in China for years, but it’s been tough to go back to visit during the pandemic era. Now he’s found a way to connect with Chinese speakers that has gone viral

By Jordyn Haime

Illustrative: Jews pray during Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, at the Magen Abraham Synagogue in Ahmedabad, India on September 28, 2020. (Sam Panthaky/AFP)

July 26, 2022, 10:58 am

Stone pillar in southern India may shed new light on region’s oldest synagogue

Jewish groups have history in India dating back to antiquity; pillar found not far from Chennai, where Sephardic Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition formed a community

By Jordyn Haime

A vehicle with Nazi symbols on it that was parked near the Israeli consulate in Chengdu, China (Twitter)

July 26, 2022, 10:03 am

Car covered with Nazi symbols raises alarm in China, leads to arrest of local

Israeli consulate in Chengdu alerts Chinese authorities to vehicle displaying swastika and eagle; owner, arrested, says he was not aware of their meaning

By Jordyn Haime

A Taiwanese dance teacher practices Israeli folk dance in Yilan, Taiwan. (Jordyn Haime)/ JTA

July 4, 2022, 5:34 am

How Israeli songs became integral to Taiwan’s national folk dancing tradition

Dating back to the nationalist Kuomintang government era, the pastime is still beloved by many Taiwanese of a certain age – and Hebrew classics make up a big part of the repertoire

By Jordyn Haime