Shabbat and holiday services were held regularly in the U.S. military chapel in the Headquarters Support Activities compound on Taipei’s Zhongshan North Road. The cross on the wall would be replaced by a Mogen David, and an Aron Kodesh on wheels would be brought in as the Christian altar was wheeled out. Services were usually officiated over by lay leaders. The nearest rabbi was a U.S. military chaplain based in the Philippines, who would visit Taiwan several times a year.

As Taiwan’s industrial and trading capacity grew over the following decades, more and more Jewish businessmen from the United States, Israel, and Europe were drawn to Taiwan. Many came on brief buying trips a few times a year, while some others established offices and set up residence in Taipei. The Jewish services in the military chapel were opened to civilians interested in attending.

During the 1960s, an informal Orthodox congregation also began to meet at the now-extinct President Hotel on Dehui Road, then the leading business hotel in Taipei. Taiwan was then emerging as a major export center, and Jewish buyers of garments, shoes, and other products were constantly visiting the island. A minyan – consisting of a combination of visitors and residents – was assured for virtually every service, and the hotel kitchen was taught how to bake challah and other Jewish delicacies.

In the 1970s, following President Nixon’s trip to China, it appeared increasingly likely that the U.S. would end diplomatic ties with Taiwan and withdraw its military presence.

Thus, the residing Jewish families decided to establish the Taiwan Jewish Community (TJC) and eventually the Taipei City Government allowed it to register as the non-profit foundation “財團法人台北市猶太教會” in February 28th 1977.

Michael D. Friedman donated the initial funds to establish the Foundation and served as its first Chairman in conjunction with Morris I. Morris and Harry Eisenbaum as Board members.

Among the founders was Yaacov Liberman, as well, who served as the community Chairman for the first decade. Liberman, who had grown up in China as part of the Russian-Jewish community that had sought refuge there, was the representative in Taiwan of the Eisenberg Trading Group from Israel. At the community’s peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s, membership included more than 50 families and events were held at the Center several times a week.

The Taiwan Jewish Community occupied a succession of rented, one- or two-story houses in the more suburban Shilin and Tienmu neighborhoods where many of the expatriate families resided. Every two or three years it was forced to move to a new location, usually because the property owner had decided to raze the existing structure to erect a taller apartment building.

The size of the Community began declining in the 1990s due to changes in Taiwan’s economic structure. Some of the industries in which the members were most active, especially garments and footwear, became less competitive in Taiwan as labor costs increased. When many of those affected by this change relocated to other countries in Asia, the community discontinued the rental of premises to maintain a community center.

At that point, the TJC combined with another minyan that had been meeting in downtown Taipei under the leadership of Rabbi Ephraim Ferdinand Einhorn, who was born in Vienna, educated in Italy, Belgium, and England, and ordained in London. In the 1940s he had served as Information Director for the World Jewish Congress, and for a period of years was a troubleshooter assisting suppressed Jewish communities in the Arab world. After serving as a rabbi at congregations in Canada and the U.S., he started his own trading business, and it was in that capacity that he came to Taiwan in 1975.

For many years, the Einhorn minyan met at the Landis Taipei Hotel, originally known as The Ritz, and in 2008 the venue moved to the Sheraton Hotel. When in 2015 the Sheraton was no longer able to make the room available, the “shul” relocated to space in an office building,, arranged through the generosity of one of the community members, Jeffrey D. Schwartz.

Despite his old age, Rabbi Einhorn held services every Shabbat over the decades with the loyal assistance of several others. The shul has lit the Shabbat candles every week throughout the years as well as holds High Holidays and other festival celebrations, mostly at the American Club in Taipei.

At the age of 102, Rabbi Einhorn continued to be the community’s spiritual leader. Beginning in 2019, however, he was assisted by Leon Fenster, who moved to Taipei. With support from the Foundation’s Chairman, the board, many families and members alike, Leon helped reinvigorate the community.

In July of 2023, Rabbi Dr. Cody R. Bahir joined the TJC, becoming the community’s first full-time rabbi, and Taiwan’s first non-Orthodox rabbi in history. Since then, Rabbi Cody—with the help of his wife Sonia Bahir—have been working closely with the board and a group of dedicated volunteers to build upon the rich history of this community.

— By Don Shapiro, TJC Chairman in the 1980s-1990s, and updated by Rabbi Cody