Moses Synagogue Essay

As a land mark in Tilanqiao, the Shanghai Jewish Museum was originally the Moses Synagogue. Constructed by Russian Jews in 1907, the synagogue had been used for religious and communal purposes by German Jewish refugees when they segregated in the area. Throughout the war, the Moses Synagogue played an important role in the Jewish communal formation. A Shanghai-lander, the sister-in-law of a cantor in that synagogue remembered: “the synagogue brought people who together and provided them a space to pry. Many of them were laymen, not all were schooled people.” Although forming a community among themselves does not necessarily mean that they were distant from other ethnics like the Chinese and the Japanese, the Moses Synagogue did in a way witness
In this decade, the exhibits were mainly photographs and pictures, showing the basic history and everyday-life of the Shanghai-landers. While there had been volunteer guides in the museum, they were mostly old residents in Tilanqiao who had witnessed the history. The target audience of the synagogue were mostly foreigners, whereas domestic audience was a concern. Little if any ideological and political investigations were made in the synagogue, which mainly served the purpose of commemoration and reception than publicity. As a result, the history of Shanghai-landers represented at this initial stage in the Moses Synagogue was closest to the memories of the Shanghai-landers than at any other stages. In terms of content, “misfortune” was the main theme of the