Former Site of the Synagogue

Former Site of the Synagogue

The synagogue was once the center of Jewish community activities in Tianjin during the early 20th century. Built in 1940, it was located at the intersection of Creek Road and Dublin Road in the then British Concession of Tianjin, later at No. 14 Shanghai Road, Tenth District (now the intersection of Nanjing Road and Zhengzhou Road). The synagogue originally belonged to the Jewish Religious Association of the Russian Concession in Tianjin. After the opening of Tianjin as a port, the city gradually became the third-largest hub of Jewish settlement in China after Shanghai and Harbin.

In 1905, the Jewish Religious Association (Tianjin Hebrew Association) was established, founded by a Jew named Gilieshevich. At that time, the Tianjin Jewish Religious Association oversaw welfare and relief institutions such as a Jewish hospital, a Jewish nursing home, a Jewish dining hall, and a Jewish cemetery. The Jewish community in Tianjin also published newspapers, founded Jewish schools, and established the Tianjin Hebrew Association to carry out religious and cultural activities. In 1937, the construction of the Tianjin Synagogue began, and it was completed in 1940. In 1948, Jews residing in Tianjin celebrated the founding of Israel here. Later, a large number of Jews returned to settle in Israel, while the Chinese Civil War made the Jewish community in Tianjin feel unsafe, prompting many Russian Jews to return to the Soviet Union. Due to the declining income of most Jews in Tianjin and the need to support impoverished members, the Jewish association proposed selling the property. Taking into account the financial situation of the Jewish association, the Tianjin Municipal People’s Government funded the purchase of the synagogue in 1955 through the Catholic Patriotic Association, which converted it into the Xiaoyingmen Catholic Church in August of the same year. In 1958, the Jewish Religious Association officially announced the cessation of its activities. Although very few Jews remained in Tianjin, the community continued to receive funding from the Shanghai Jewish Community Committee between 1956 and 1959. In 1992, the site was rented out to Hong Kong's Chaozhouxuan Restaurant but was later vacated following opposition from religious groups. It has been vacant since then. On March 16, 2006, during a meeting between the Mayor of Tianjin and Israeli Ambassador to China Eytan, the ambassador expressed interest in restoring the synagogue and engaging in other cultural activities in Tianjin. -- At the meeting, it was announced that the synagogue would be protected as a cultural heritage site. In 2009, the Tianjin Synagogue underwent renovation and was repurposed as the Sino-French Club.

The Tianjin Synagogue was designed by a Nordic architect and is a church with Jewish architectural style. The original roof featured a metal Star of David, and the top of the building’s façade also had an embedded Star of David, both of which have been removed but traces of the stars can still be faintly seen. The original iron gate of the synagogue had a fence shaped like a Star of David, and the stained glass windows of the main entrance displayed the symbol of the seven-branched menorah.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Tianjin Cultural Relics Protection Units