How are Jews in China coping with the coronavirus?

“We are not leaving,” said Chabad Rabbi Dovi Henig. “We are open and continue to spread the light of joy and love to everyone."

By ROSSELLA TERCATIN
A staff member checks the temperature of a passenger entering a subway station, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China January 28, 2020. (photo credit: CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/ REUTERS)
A staff member checks the temperature of a passenger entering a subway station, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China January 28, 2020.
(photo credit: CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/ REUTERS)
How is the Jewish community in China facing the crisis provoked by the coronavirus?
Data provided to the World Jewish Congress states that about 2,500 Jews live in China, mostly expats concentrated in the nation’s biggest cities.
According to Chabad.org, the Hassidic group has 15 emissaries in the country and they are working round the clock to assist both locals and tourists to cope with the increasingly restrictive measures taken by Chinese authorities to prevent the virus from spreading.
“We are not leaving,” Rabbi Dovi Henig wrote on social media according to Chabad.org. “We are open and continue to spread the light of joy and love to everyone, and are in contact with all staying in the area, ready to serve, help and assist.” With his wife Sarale, Henig is co-director of Chabad of Chengdu, a city located about 6-hours by train from Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic.
About 150 Jews live in Chengdu according to the report. As many other Chinese centers, the city has been put under lockdown.
“People are afraid to gather together,” the rabbi added, “afraid maybe someone will come who is infected.” He said that only nine people showed up for Shabbat celebration last week, a sign of the fear that is tangible among the city’s residents.
According to Chabad.org, one of the emissaries in Beijing helped with the evacuation of two Jewish women visiting Wuhan from California, after being alerted by their local rabbi in Palo Alto. The two, a mother and a daugther, were flown back on Tuesday on a US cargo plane that brought home over 200 Americans, including government officials.
The report added the emissaries all over the country are working to set a joint Chabad of China relief fund to assist the communities in need.