Beth El Synagogue (Shanghai)

For similarly named synagogues, see Beth-El.

Beth El Synagogue
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism (former)
Rite	Nusach Sefard
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue (1887–1920)
Location
Location	Peking Road, Shanghai
Country	China
Architecture
Date established	1887 (as a congregation)
Completed	1887
Destroyed	c. 1950s

The Beth El Synagogue was an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Shanghai, China.

Jews began to settle in Shanghai in 1848. ^[1] At that time, most were Sephardic Jews from Baghdad and Bombay. ^[1] During the 1870s, the Baghdadi Jewish community used rented space for religious worship. ^[1] Beth El Synagogue was established in 1887. ^[1] It was located on Peking Road, a major thoroughfare in the English settlement, ^[2] and was the first formally established Synagogue in Shanghai. ^{[3] : 28}

Jacob Elias and Edward Elias Sassoon built the Ohel Rachel Synagogue to replace Beth El Synagogue; and it opened in March 1920. ^[1] The synagogue was destroyed, most likely in the 1950s. ^[4]

See also

• Judaism portal
• China portal

• History of the Jews in China
• List of synagogues in Shanghai

References

1. "Shanghai Jewish History". Shanghai Jewish Center. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
2. Jacobs, Joseph (1906). "Shanghai". In Ezra, N. E. B. (ed.). Jewish Encyclopedia.
3. Tang, Yating (2025). The Sound of Exile: European Jewish Refugees in Shanghai, 1938-1947. Modern Jewish history. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. ISBN   978-0-8156-5733-0.
4. Xin, XU (March 2014). "Tracing Judaism in China" (PDF). JISMOR. 8. Retrieved October 28, 2024.

Further reading

• Kowner R., ed. (2023). "East Asia: Communities and Strife in the Sinosphere". Jewish Communities in Modern Asia: Their Rise, Demise and Resurgence. Cambridge University Press. pp. 205–292. doi:10.1017/9781009162609. ISBN   978-1-009-16260-9.
• Ti, W. P. (1992). "A Peek Backwards Into the Jewish Community of Shanghai (This paper is dedicated to the memory of the late Mr Hans Diestel)". Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 32: 149–163. JSTOR   23891046.