Taiwan’s Jewish Boom

Anyone who has studied Jewish local histories knows that the institution that really marks the creation of a community is a cemetery. Prayer can be recited alone, and before the 20th century there were Jews in Bavarian and Ukrainian villages who only prayed in a synagogue on holidays, when they would travel to the nearest town. Kosher meat could be imported, and a monthly trip elsewhere to visit a mikveh could be arranged. But death respects no schedule, and both Jewish law and popular attitudes were uncompromising in the need to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. A graveyard is also a sign of permanence.